Henare Peeni: Resource Legislation Amendment Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHenare Peeni: Resource Legislation Amendment Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 03 December 2015. Volume:710;Page:8574. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]PEENI HENARE (Labour—Tāmaki Makaurau): Tēnā koe e Te Māngai o Te Whare otirā tēna tātau katoa. [Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker and greetings to us all at the same time.]Marama Fox: Tēnā koe.PEENI HENARE: Tēnā koe!It is a custom long held by the Māori people that when mum gives birth you take the placenta and you bury the placenta in the ground. So as a linguist of Te Reo Māori I say that the word “whenua” actually means placenta. What we are talking about here is the land and environment. So the long-held association Māori have with the land with our whenua is important and it is important that we protect that moving forward. I want to acknowledge too the beginning of Mr Flavell’s contribution to the Resource Legislation Amendment Bill because he also set out what out what I would describe as a whakapapa or a genealogy of Māori and their association with the environment and the land. I just wanted to make that point here: whenua—land; whenua—placenta. We are for ever locked into the land.I also want to raise two other expressions: “toitū te whenua” and “toitū te tangata” [land is permanent and so is mankind]. I want to relate it to the economics as well as the environment. This is I think central in the theme of this particular bill. I actually took quite great joy sitting here listening to Mr Dunne’s contribution on this bill. I thought it was well considered. I remember as a young person hearing about the Resource Management Act. I would have been about 10 I think it was when Mr Dunne set out on this bold piece of legislation but even at that age I remember hearing about the Resource Management Act and I enjoyed his journey that he took us on to bring us to this point.It reminds me of the campaign of the National Party in 2014 where it had this waka all rowing in one direction. Well what is clear in the contributions on this bill to date is that it appears that one of the rowers has jumped out of the boat and one of the other rowers has actually been thrown out of the boat. I think Mr Dunne’s contribution really highlighted the flaw in the process that we have come to right now at this point in time with regard to this bill.In May 1991 the Resource Management Act was a bold piece of legislation and now here we are after the Labour Party putting out the olive branch all year to the Minister and to the Government to work together—to work together not only with regard to the Resource Management Act but on opportunities and ways perhaps we could solve the housing crisis because there is still a housing crisis and I suspect that even as this bill passes through there will still be a housing crisis. I have said it may times in this House that the biggest job my staff have in Tāmaki Makaurau is housing issues. It is not just about State housing; it is about the working poor. It is about our families who cannot even get into the housing market and that is a significant issue. As this bill progresses forward I suspect that we will still have a housing crisis.I want to at this point in time acknowledge the hard work by the member for Te Atatū Phil Twyford. He has kept his foot on the throat of this Government with regard to the housing crisis. It includes the Resource Management Act it includes economics it includes the Auckland Council and it includes all of those in New Zealand who are keen to see housing affordability for our people—people who are keen to enter into the housing market. I am talking about housing. Why? Because this particular bill is offered up to the people of New Zealand to solve housing to provide better economic opportunities and thus more jobs for our people. As I flick through briefly the many many pages that have been presented in such a short time as described by Mr O’Rourke I cannot see how that is going to happen. It is not clear and it is not obvious to everybody.I want to pick up the point by the member Marama Fox when she talked about the Resource Management Act. I would like to think it is real Māori advocacy because although I commend that and say that it will encourage and it will enable and empower iwi to be involved at the forefront of the planning—and that is what this offers to our people—we will be diligently and with a microscope making sure that that is actually what happens. I think everybody in the House will look really hard at this to make sure that tangata whenua as I described at the beginning of my contribution still have an important part to play—and that must be protected. I am a big advocate of that.One concern however that I do have is that this Government in its let us say bulldozer-type manner in settling Treaty claims and Treaty issues particularly in Tāmaki-makau-rau in its rush to do that I think it has redefined what “iwi” means. You will find perhaps in Tāmaki-makau-rau that some as a result of the settlements have actually had their rights taken away. I wonder how that is going to play out as this particular bill moves forward. I will be there advocating for those people to make sure that their voice is heard.The bill will go through to the select committee process and I can guarantee you that we will be looking really hard at this particular bill. We have talked about it for a long time. We have offered to assist the Minister and this Government in developing the Resource Management Act and we have done so for a long time. And now as described by Mr O’Rourke we have come to this very short process where we are actually able to pore through the detail. In the absence of that opportunity we will almost certainly be scrutinising the progression of this bill wherever it may go. The hope is that if it does go through to the select committee we will be encouraging submissions from right across the board. We will be encouraging submissions from whānau from iwi from hapū and from concerned citizens because there are many. There are many concerned citizens when it comes to the approach of this Government and this particular bill. So we will be encouraging that if the bill gets to the select committee.We will also be making sure that our voices are heard to keep this Government accountable and to make sure that the things that are offered in the speeches and contributions that have already been given in the House actually do happen—that there are more houses that there are more jobs that the economy does do better that housing affordability is there for our people and also that the process is streamlined and made a lot more efficient. I think we will all agree with that. If you can make the consent process a bit more efficient I think everybody would agree that that is a good thing. But we have to make sure that we do not cut corners. We have to make sure that everybody is heard and everybody has a say on such an important issue. We have to make sure that that is what happens and we will be keeping a keen eye on it.I want to finish by once again congratulating Phil Twyford on his staunch advocacy for this particular issue around housing and on the hard work he has done. I also thank members on this side of the House who I am sure will be keeping a keen eye on this bill. Kia ora.