Mahuta Nanaia: Land Transfer Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMahuta Nanaia: Land Transfer Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 15 March 2016. Volume:712;Page:9697. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Hauraki-Waikato): I stand to raise a couple of points and understanding the comments made by my colleagues want to highlight to the House that Te Ture Whenua Maori Act a significant piece of land legislation is also in the process of draft iterations yet to be introduced to the House. It is really for that very matter that I think it is important to draw the attention of the House to the potential interlocking impact of the Land Transfer Bill on Te Ture Whenua Maori Act reform in ways that may have unintended consequences or just because of the timing and the sequencing have not been lined up as well as they could. In fact my colleague Meka Whaitiri would be the very person to stand in this House and comment on this bill but here are a few things that I have captured from her concerns around Te Ture Whenua Maori Act reform that I would like to draw the attention of the House to.Firstly there is no other bit of legislation in relation to land transfer that is more important to Māori than Te Ture Whenua Maori Act. The consultations that have taken place have been extensive—yes they have. However they have continued to raise concerns amongst Māori landowners—actually small family landowners—about the extent to which that legislation assures protection of their interests in land. When we are talking about land transfer in a very practical sense for a number of Māori landowners one of the practical problems that they have is unlocking landlocked land. If for example paper roads—Māori roads unformed legal roads—are not registered on their land people have to go through a whole rigmarole to go to Land Information New Zealand to be able to investigate whether or not that is the case. If it is not recorded on the title then they have to go through the Māori Land Court. This is one simple problem that relates to the Land Transfer Bill and I think in terms of good conscience and due diligence of the select committee to consider fully the impact of going towards new legislation—and I understand all the reasons why you might want to do that—this type of issue needs to be looked at.I raised earlier the issue of interlocking legislation. Take for example the provisions of the Rating Valuations Act 1998. Section 5B specifically relates to Māori land and the Land Transfer Act 1952. I think that the select committee should consider the extent to which the Rating Valuations Act as it refers to Māori land is or is not accommodating in taking forward the specific provisions of that Act with this piece of legislation. Take also a practical situation where a number of reserve lands which were gifted by Māori a very long time ago are administered by local government and whether or not those protections and those registrations on title will carry forward. I raise that again to implore the conscience of the select committee to have a look at these types of issues to give the assurance that if it is housekeeping legislation if it is a tidy-up then nothing is lost and there are no unintended consequences in terms of taking these matters forward but also providing the types of protections over Māori land and the registrations on the title that should be there.There is another area of interest: there are Ngā Whenua Rāhui kawenata that are deemed to be an interest in land but not necessarily recorded on the title of those particular lands. It seems to me that again if you take a surface read of this bill that type of history of land gifted for a specific purpose with a specific intent—the history of that could be lost if it is not recorded on the title in the way that the bill requires that it should be.I have commented—and I am sure my colleague Meka Whaitiri would want me to make the very important point—around lands that have been taken under the Public Works Act. This is not a new issue for Parliament; there have been all types of arguments that have been brought to the attention of members of this House around the significant challenges of addressing this fully. It is not just a matter for this Land Transfer Bill; it relates to other bits of legislation: the Local Government Act Te Ture Whenua Maori Act and the like. But I did want to make mention of the Public Works Act and the potential impact of losing the historic nature of how land was acquired under this piece of legislation. If I have got that wrong I am happy to have got that point wrong but I think it does require at least a question in the select committee to pursue that because it would be in the interests of members across the House—because this is not just a Māori issue—to satisfy themselves again that there are no unintended consequences of rewriting this legislation.In fact the provisions that relate to land over 100 years ago and again I am summarising—in short it seems to me that there is the potential that land with a 100-year-long history perhaps may not have the full registration of interests on its title. If that is the case it does cover the very issues that go to the heart of Treaty settlements. I think in some practical way as Labour has put the date for settling historical claims at 2020 if it was the case that all historical claims were settled at a point in time one might consider that these types of issues would not be a matter because they would all be resolved under the Treaty settlement process. But again due diligence of the select committee I think should just pursue with a little bit of effort whether or not this is a problematic issue that has been created—albeit an unintended consequence.Members on our side of the House have raised a number of issues around land transfer and having surety of ownership in purchasing land but I really want to focus the substance of my contribution on how Māori interests in land are being dealt with under Te Ture Whenua Maori Act. There remain outstanding issues that are of utmost concern. I am really really worried about the nature of the legislation being proposed in Te Ture Whenua Maori Act reform coming to the House. I really want to register that that Act and this bill to a degree go hand in hand a point that was made by my colleague Marama Davidson. I implore the select committee to just pull through some of the key concerns ask the questions and pursue the matters that are going to give greatest assurance that in tidying up three Acts in this Land Transfer Bill you are not creating unintended consequences that create greater grievances in the House and less surety for people who want to purchase land. Kia ora.