Whaitiri Meka: Hawke’s Bay Regional Planning Committee Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWhaitiri Meka: Hawke’s Bay Regional Planning Committee Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 04 November 2014. Volume:694;Page:596. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti):Ā tēnā koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Te Whare e tū nei ā tēnā koutou. Paritū ki runga Tūrakirae ki raro ngā roherohenga o tōku iwi Ngāti Kahungunu. Kahungunu ki uta Kahungunu ki tai Kahungunu ararau te hononga māreikura o Kahungunu Kahungunu Ringa-hora te mana o ōku whenua e mihi atu nei tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa.[Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker and acknowledgments to you the House before me collectively. The tribal boundaries of my Ngāti Kahungunu people extend to Paritū above and to Tūrakirae below. Kahungunu extends inland and shoreward. It is transient and of noble connections. Kahungunu begat of Ringa-hora is I prestige of my lands extending this greeting to you all so accolades salutations and congratulations.]It is my privilege to join in support of the first reading of this bill. Can I first acknowledge ōku rau rangatira o te hau kāinga kua tae mai haere mai nau mai piki mai ki tō tātau Whare. He mihi maioha he mihi mahana ki a koutou katoa. [Welcome to you my leaders of a hundred fold from back home. Welcome and ascend our House. It is with affection and warmth that I welcome you all.] I have to be on my best behaviour because I have got some kaumātua sitting up in the gallery and I do welcome them sincerely here to the first reading of this important bill. Like the previous speaker the Hon Te Ururoa Flavell I want to ensure that this bill goes through speedily to the select committee. I too want to stand in support of something that makes absolute sense where our people from home can assert their mana whenua and their tino rangatiratanga status particularly when it comes to local government. So I do want to acknowledge my wholehearted support for this bill.Can I pause just a wee bit to acknowledge the mihi that has gone out this morning for those who have lost dear ones. I too want to acknowledge the passing of Eru Thompson. I actually interviewed Eru for a job in Tainui many many years ago so I do have fond memories of him. I farewell him in his journey and my mihi goes to his whānau as well.Looking up in the gallery at my people from home I see my Uncle Bevan and I think of my Auntie Noreen Taylor. I want to acknowledge you uncle for being here and I particularly want to acknowledge the passing of Auntie Noreen who was a stellar person not only on our marae in Pātiki but for all the work she did in Kahungunu on behalf of our people. E mihi kau ana ki a koe ki a koutou katoa. [A prolonged acknowledgment is extended to you all.]I like other speakers are going to say on this bill want to ensure that the legislation that we are reading in the House today and at the select committee in time is fit for purpose and is future proof. When I look at the bill I particularly want to draw people’s attention to the preamble recitals (2) and (3). For the benefit of the people in the House recital (2) states: “In the Deed of Settlement dated 17 December 2010 between the Crown and Ngāti Pāhauwera the Crown committed to establish a committee comprised of an equal number of Council members and representatives of Treaty settlement claimant groups whose role would relate to natural resource planning processes that affect the region and include drafting and recommending to the Council plan and policy changes affecting natural resources in the region:”. When you turn your attention to the preamble recital (3) it then goes on to say: “The Deed of Settlement dated 25 May 2013 between the Crown and the Maungaharuru-Tangitū Hapū records that the trustees of the Maungaharuru-Tangitū Trust the Council and other Hawke’s Bay iwi and hapū have agreed interim terms of reference for the committee that were adopted by the Council on 14 December 2011:”.When I read those two recitals I understand that the purpose of this bill is that tangata whenua mana whenua can exercise their rights at the table with the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council. When I read these two particular recitals one—recital (2)—is of a very technical component. It talks about having an in-depth knowledge of the Resource Management Act and the technicalities that come through planning. That is what I get when I read recital (2). When I read recital (3) we look at all the Treaty settlement payment groups plus other Hawke’s Bay iwi. I know that the previous speaker acknowledged the make-up of the tangata whenua members of the regional planning committee. We have one member appointed from Maungaharuru-Tangitū. We have one member from Ngāti Pāhauwera. We have one member from Tūhoe Te Uru Taumatua. I would like to think that Kahungunu was large enough to take over Tūhoe but we are not quite there yet. We have one member from the Ngati Tuwharetoa Hapu Forum Trust. We have one member from Mana Ahuri Inc. which is the hapū of Napier. We have one member appointed by Ngāti Hineuru which is on the Napier-Taupō road. We have one member appointed from Te Tira Whakaemi o Te Wairoa hōpūpū hōngenengene mā te tangirau. We have two members appointed from He Toa Takitini which is the Heretaunga to Tamatea—Hastings down to Central Hawke’s Bay—region. Of course what we are also seeking in terms of membership is one appointed by the appointer for Ngāti Ruapani ki Waikaremoana.I am more than happy that these listed members make up the Treaty settlement groups over which the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has jurisdiction but I cannot help but feel that there is a responsibility to have memberships that represent a completely iwi-wide perspective to ensure that that is not lost in the scheme of what we are passing in front of us. I will declare a conflict of interest being a former chief executive of Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Inc. I am still a bit mystified as to what has gone on around the involvement at the table in terms of this meeting. I am sure it will come out in the select committee consideration. But my earlier points that I made in referencing those two recitals were around membership and capability.What I want to share with the House is a report that I have received from the environment and natural resources unit of Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Inc. The breadth and cover of a two-person unit in terms of both the resourcing matters back in the Kahungunu rohe—like I said from Paritū down to Turakirae—the expertise and I guess knowledge of dealing at both a Resource Management Act level and from an iwi-wide perspective are lost in terms of the membership grouping that we are passing through the House in this bill. I guess what I am putting out there—and it will come up like I said through the select committee consideration—is the possibility of including the iwi-wide perspective in this arrangement to ensure that things like freshwater issues like marine protection and like developing capacity in terms of scientists at the local level are not lost.I want to be very clear for my whānau sitting in the gallery. This is not to say that the members whom we enlisted cannot do the job. The contribution I am making is to support this piece of legislation through capacity and through membership that can also put a wide-view lens on what are going to be really critical issues currently facing our people back home in Kahungunu Hawke’s Bay when it comes to fresh water when it comes to oil drilling and when it comes to marine farming and aquafarming. We need to be able to bring all our skills and capabilities to the fore. It is my pleasure to stand and support this bill prefaced on the fact that we need to employ all available skills and expertise to ensure that this bill is future proof fit for purpose and successful. Nō reira I commend this bill to the House.