Parata Hekia: Climate Change Response (Moderated Emissions Trading) Amendment Bill — Procedure Second Reading In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Parata Hekia: Climate Change Response (Moderated Emissions Trading) Amendment Bill — Procedure Second Reading In Committee 
[Sitting date: 24 November 2009. Volume:659;Page:7954. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
HEKIA PARATA (National) 
: 
 Tena koe e te Heamana tena tatou huri noa i to tatou Whare e hui komiti nei i tenei wa. Good evening. I am delighted to take a call to speak on Part 1 of the Climate Change Response (Moderated Emissions Trading) Amendment Bill and in particular in contrast to the previous speaker Jeannette Fitzsimons I would like to commend the Maori Party. I would like to congratulate and thank the Maori Party for being prepared to see that it needed to negotiate an outcome that was in the best long-term interests of Aotearoa New Zealand; that it was able to see that a balance needed to be struck between the environment and the economy and that it understands that being in Government is a hard and difficult task and that we do have to negotiate the best possible outcomes out of a range of many difficult and complicated choices. So I congratulate the Maori Party because it has been prepared to engage with the hard issues. It has been prepared to be open to a wider constituency to listen to those people who voted it into Parliament to hear what they have to say and to represent those issues in its negotiations with the Government which is what its responsibility as a coalition partner is. 
The Maori Party has been far from race based. It has been concerned with the implications for all New Zealanders while taking particular account of concerns raised with them by iwi and Maori organisations. It is committed to the growth of the independent wealth of iwi and hapu and far from being interested in seeing the tax burden grow the Maori Party wants to see iwi grow their own wealth so that they can contribute to the well-being of their own whanau and hapu. It is not prepared as perhaps those on the other side of this Chamber are to condemn Maori to perpetual dependency on the State. So yes the Maori Party has been prepared to step up. It has been prepared to see the long-term possibilities for iwi and Maori organisations to be engaged with the Government in making— 
Iain Lees-Galloway 
: It’s a sell-out and you know it! 
HEKIA PARATA 
: No actually. I do not know it I say to Mr Lees-Galloway. I do not stand up here and talk nonsense. I talk from having a thorough and deep background with the very people who have been in negotiation with this Government and I am proud of this Government’s willingness to do more than talk and patronise as the previous Labour Government did for 9 long years condemning Maori people to be dependent on the State for ever and a day. This Government is not prepared to do it and its coalition partner is not prepared to do it so you can sit there and make snide and smug remarks about a people in a community— 
H V Ross Robertson 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. I am sorry to interrupt the member in full flight because she was quite passionate in her speech but she brought you into the debate and as you well know that is not acceptable in the Chamber. She needs to refer to members on the other side by their full name or their title. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch) 
: I thank the member for those comments and he is correct. It was a free-flowing debate and I did not take exception but I ask the member to refrain from bringing the Chair into the debate. 
HEKIA PARATA 
: My apologies to the Committee and to yourself for doing that. 
I move on from congratulating the general courage of the Maori Party to the particular and specific contribution that the honourable member Rahui Katene has made in tabling an amendment that would add new clause 5B to Part 1. I congratulate her because the amendment reflects a very detailed and considered approach. It advances the development of Treaty clauses that we have hitherto seen in its specificity and in its application to particular parts of this legislation. It reflects the commitment moreover of iwi to work with the Government to ensure that the law can be fairly applied. So rather than talk about iwi involvement this Government together with its coalition partner has been prepared to legislate for iwi involvement to see the value that they have to contribute and to understand that they want to be included partners in the designing and negotiating of what is best for our country and not to be left as the previous Government often left them in litigious situations arguing to the Government that their case be heard. So I congratulate Rahui Katene on that amendment and on the other amendments she has tabled. 
The member’s amendments also provide for the involvement of iwi and Maori organisations where they are likely to have an interest. Those interests range from the developing of Orders in Council to consulting on the pre-1990 forest land allocation plan to the fishing allocation plan. The amendments describe how a review panel is constituted and provide for membership by someone who is knowledgable about and experienced in the application of tikanga and the Treaty of Waitangi. They talk about the need for the terms of reference for those reviews also to pay heed to the Treaty of Waitangi. They talk about regulation-making powers in relation to eligible agricultural activities. Iwi and Maori organisations have an interest in all of those issues. They are committed to developing their own wealth as I was saying previously before I was stopped in the full flow of my passion for this endeavour on behalf of iwi and Maori. 
The legislation generally and these amendments in particular pave the way for something new in New Zealand. They pave the way for the possibility of having an authentic Aotearoa New Zealand in that these provisions allow for iwi and Maori to be involved in the application of regulations and legislation to the particular activities that give iwi and Maori the potential of having a base that will in turn allow them to look after their own people. 
Finally I reiterate that this legislation and these amendments in particular reflect this Government’s willingness to work with its coalition partner. Nga mihi ki te Pati Maori ki a koutou katoa e tu tautoko ana e whai kaha ana nga tikanga e pa ana ki a tatou te iwi Maori ara nga iwi Maori. I thank the Maori Party for being prepared to support iwi and Maori in having their voice heard in being participants in the making of laws that seek to put the best process and advice in place that in turn we believe will lead to the best outcomes and that recognise that iwi and Maori have a part to play in the navigation of this country and are not simply passengers and victims. We are interested in navigation and we will continue to oppose the Opposition which does not see that as being a valuable and viable part for iwi and Maori to play. Hoi ano ra tena koutou kia ora tatou katoa.