Finlayson ChristopherHon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations): I begin by acknowledging David Shearer who I think is one of the nicest people in public life I have ever met and I wish him all the very best for the future.Tonight is very important because it marks another step—a very significant step—towards a much-needed long-awaited reform of the law relating to Māori land. I acknowledge my colleague Te Ururoa Flavell who I believe is the greatest Minister of Māori Affairs or Minister for Māori Development since Sir Apirana Ngata and his record is very very impressive. I am very disappointed in the crummy minority view that was presented to the House on this bill by among others Pita Paraone who should know better.These are fundamental reforms because it is often misunderstood why it is necessary to make special provision within our laws for Māori land. Māori land tenure is entirely different from general land tenure to begin with. It is not derived from the Crown through a system of estates; it is derived from ancient customary rights that have their basis in tikanga Māori. Māori have always said—but without always being heard by lawmakers—that within Māori culture there is a unique and special connection with the land and I hear it time and time again as the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations. Māori land ownership is about stewardship and connection rather than proprietorship and it is about permanence rather than transience. After a long line of statutes that have tried to characterise Māori land in terms of English-derived land law we finally have a bill that recognises these different and special characteristics of Māori land.Can I say something about the report of the Māori Affairs Committee. I note that the committee considered more than 150 submissions travelled around the country to hear nearly 50 submitters in person and gave extensive consideration to the bill. The number of submissions is less than half the number received last year when an exposure draft of the bill was released. This clearly demonstrates not only for this legislation but for other legislation the value of the exposure draft procedure which I as the Attorney-General am responsible for and the very positive response by the Minister in addressing the points raised by submitters before the bill was introduced. I would like to see in areas of complex law reform more use being made of the exposure draft approach because I think it is a much better approach than simply introducing a bill and referring it to a select committee. So I encourage that for all Ministers of this Government.One of the recommendations made by the select committee is to include an explicit provision that judges of the Māori Land Court are appointed on the advice of the Minister for Māori Development after consultation with the Attorney-General. That recommendation became necessary as a consequence of what seems to have been a concerted campaign of misinformation. Where the inspiration for this unfortunate campaign came from entirely escapes me. Judges of the Māori Land Court have always been appointed on the recommendation of the Minister for Māori Development and his predecessors in that portfolio after consulting the Attorney-General and nothing in the bill as introduced changed that. The reason it was not explicitly stated was with respect self-evident. It was an acknowledgement of the constitutional separation between the executive and the judiciary which is a fundamental characteristic of our democracy—there should be nothing that could create the perception that judges are somehow beholden to Ministers. So it is surprising to say the least that the primary push for the change recommended by the select committee appears to have come from the Māori Land Court judges themselves.It never ceases to amaze me that so many people in this country do not recognise the importance of the separation of powers. It is something that comes up time and time again and I personally—although accepting what the Māori Affairs Committee said—am disappointed that such a self-evident proposition needed to be spelt out because the separation of powers is something that is very important and I hope that the Māori Land Court judges accept that. It is important to record that this bill continues to recognise the Māori Land Court as a legal institution of great importance where Māori land owners can get access to justice. It is a difficult area of the law. It requires judges who know something about the law and it is very important work to be done by the judges and not simply when they have got spare time from dealing with issues in the Waitangi Tribunal. This is why of course they were appointed as judges of the court—to do this work.The bill enhances the standing of the Māori Land Court as a court of law by freeing it from administrative and management tasks and ensuring it has jurisdiction to deal with a wide range of legal issues with powers and remedies available to it that would normally be associated with the higher courts. And exactly these reforms occurred in the early 1980s with the High Court and then a couple of years later with the District Court but when it occurs with the Māori Land Court somehow it is some kind of plot to undermine the Māori Land Court and I say with the greatest of respect that that is utter nonsense.Some people have been led to believe that the current Act works well and does not need to be changed.Meka Whaitiri: Who says that? Who says that?Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: But under the current Act there are still thousands of owners who remain disconnected from their land and Meka Whaitiri as the MP for her seat down the East Coast should know that. It is one of the reasons why the late great Apirana Mahuika asked me to start this project so Meka Whaitiri cannot be doing a very good job in her electorate if she does not understand that. Fragmentation is actually getting worse not better. Some trusts and incorporations are doing well but too many I say to Meka Whaitiri are struggling. There is little in the current Act for all those small unmanaged blocks and there is nothing in the current Act to help owners with dispute resolution.Some people do not see any benefit in having a whole new Act and to them I say that under this bill owners will finally be able to set the rules making it harder to dispose of Māori land. Owners will finally be able to design their own governance arrangements. There will be access to tikanga-based dispute resolution and the law will finally recognise that the mana of decision making sits with the owners and not with the court and that is timely and it is overdue.We can finally do something about getting a better deal for Māori land owners on things like rates paper roads and landlocked Māori land. In my time as Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations I have seen it time and time and time again that landlocked land is a huge problem that needs to be addressed which is why Mr Flavell and I have actually been talking about it and working on the issue. Take the Rangitīkei District for example where 20 percent of the land is governed by Te Ture Whenua Māori Act. Much of that land is landlocked and it has acted de facto as a means of dispossessing Māori from enjoying the benefit of their land and things have to change.These are just some of the things that make this bill such a significant and important reform and one that deserves the support of this House. So I too acknowledge the hard work of the committee and the constructive and well-considered recommendations made by the committee. I acknowledge the wonderful work of the officials especially John Grant one of the finest public servants with whom I have worked over the years.The bill returns to the House with improvements that align well with the overall aim of this reform bringing clarity to the more complex areas of the bill and responding fully to the points that were raised by submitters. It is unique in this House to be considering a bill that has had the benefit of more than 20 in-depth reports and reviews 3 years of careful development 171 hui wānanga and workshops 581 written submissions independent analysis three exposure drafts a Waitangi Tribunal report specialist technical input and a ministerial advisory group as well as a thorough examination by the select committee. And Meka Whaitiri says that is not enough—what a load of rubbish. I commend the bill to the House.