Parata Hekia: Maori Trustee Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Parata Hekia: Maori Trustee Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:653;Page:2327] 
HEKIA PARATA (National) 
: 
 Tena koe e te Mana Whakawa otira tena tatou katoa. 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Deputy Speaker and indeed to all of us 
.] 
I rise to speak in support of the Maori Trustee Amendment Bill in its second reading. I think it might be helpful to provide a little bit of historical context to the Maori Trustee and the Maori Trust Office so that we might better consider the particular provisions of the bill before us. I can do no better than to remind members of that snippet of historical context that was provided in the first reading by my colleague now the Attorney-General the Hon Christopher Finlayson. 
In 1882 the Native Reserves Act was passed. It provided for the vesting of Crown administered Maori reserves in the Public Trustee. The Public Trustee was the first trustee of these lands. That trustee later had added to the office two Maori trustees but the reading of history suggests that that was a very unsatisfactory arrangement because the board failed to meet regularly and did not provide an opportunity for its Maori members to represent Maori interests. 
In the early 20th century the majority of the accounts vested in the Public Trustee came under four principal Acts: the Native Reserves Act of 1882 the Westland and Nelson Native Reserves Act of 1887 the West Coast Settlement Reserves Act of 1892 and section 185 of the Native Land Act of 1909. However because of the concerns on the part of Maori owners at the administration of their reserves by the Public Trustee the whole issue was reviewed—as is the way of many Maori enterprises—in 1913. There was a commission of inquiry into the Public Trust Office and it was latterly recommended that an independent body should be established. That is how the first Maori Trustee was born in 1920 after the First World War. 
In 1932 an amendment Act saw the amalgamation of the office with the department itself and under the 1932 Act the position of trustee was combined with the position of under-secretary of the department. That history directly leads us to the consideration of the bill before us today. This is the second reading of this bill; the first reading occurred under the previous administration. 
Hon Shane Jones 
: A brilliant administration it was. 
HEKIA PARATA 
: Previous speakers tell us that it was not as brilliant as the member opposite is suggesting. 
In fact there were two parts to the bill the second part directly proving the necessity for the first part. The first part suggests that the Maori Trust Office should be stand-alone so that it may be untrammelled in its focus on protecting the beneficial owners and their interests. In the first reading of the bill there was provision for the establishment of a new entity that would basically become a capital fund for lending and moneys from the Maori Trustee were going to be used to capitalise that fund. Thus a decision was being made—yet again on behalf of the beneficial owners without their full consultation or understanding—that there was a better way of using their moneys and their interests. One would venture to suggest that it was one of the last vestiges of the paternalistic bureaucracy that Maori have suffered under for many many long years. 
I stand to heartily endorse this second reading now that the two parts have been separated. I just say that the former Minister talked about the desirability of maintaining the second part of the bill and I completely understand that the intent of that part of the bill was honourable and that it was intended to be of assistance to Maori. However I continue to believe that it would have been a misappropriation of the beneficial owners’ moneys and their interests. So now that this Minister is proposing that the second part be taken out of the bill and that the stand-alone provisions for the Maori Trustee be the focus of our attention instead I am delighted to support it. 
Hon Judith Collins 
: Very good. 
HEKIA PARATA 
: Thank you. I now turn to an overview of the bill. Following the deliberations of the Maori Affairs Committee a number of amendments have been made principal amongst which is the one that I have already referred to—the Maori Trust Office being a stand-alone entity. The second is that the appointment of the Maori Trustee should occur— 
Hon Shane Jones 
: Who will he be accountable to? 
HEKIA PARATA 
: Well I say to Mr Jones that it may not be a he. The person appointed will be a person capable of carrying out the role independent of their gender and the Minister must observe the rules of natural justice in exercising that power. 
The term “interest” is to be replaced with the term “distributable income” which is a far more accurate description of how moneys are to be paid to account holders. The bill instructs that income from the investment of money in the common fund form part of the common fund rather than being transferred to the existing general purpose fund and distributed from that account. The Maori Trust fund is as complex as most trust funds are and so the opportunity to clarify and simplify as much of that complexity as possible is a highly desirable outcome. 
The bill allows for the accumulated debt of the Maori Trustee to be written off and so it should because the accumulated debt has occurred as a result of the Maori Trustee trying to observe the many restrictions and constraints upon the actions of that office that have been largely—if not exclusively—imposed by the Crown. The bill requires that the Maori Trustee conduct a quarterly comparison of the distributable income and fair market value of similar distributions with similar funds. Again this allows the beneficial owners to achieve the priority and the considerations of the Maori Trustee which they should always have enjoyed by ensuring that there is an explicit benchmark by which comparisons can be made as to the funds that beneficial owners should be receiving. 
I take a moment to remind members that the appropriate vocabulary when discussing the people who have interests in these is “beneficial owners”. I trust members have noticed that I have been labouring on this term. There has been use of the term “beneficiaries” which is quite a different category of people—no less no more—but the point is that the trust provides for people who have a property right an ownership interest and the opportunity to receive distributable income from that. 
Hon Shane Jones 
: Oh they don’t even know it’s there. 
HEKIA PARATA 
: I say to Mr Jones that that is precisely why we have a trustee whose responsibility it is to ensure that whether or not a beneficial owner knows he or she has a property right it is incumbent upon that office-holder to make every attempt to ensure that the beneficial owner is made aware of the potential for receiving some interest off that ownership right. 
The bill goes on to introduce a requirement for disclosure by the Maori Trustee to account holders of the amount of distributable income payable the management fee charged or retained by the trustee the net amount of distributable income to be paid and other matters that the Maori Trustee considers necessary or desirable. 
Quickly coming to my peroration I say that generally the bill introduces a level of accountability for the office of the Maori Trustee that has not been previously required. The bill allows for the Maori Trustee to be free from political pressure by establishing it as a stand-alone organisation. It provides for better more open communication between the Maori Trustee and its beneficial owners. 
The provisions of the bill mean that the beneficiaries of the Maori Trustee can be sure they are receiving equitable income from the common fund. Our support for the bill shows our commitment to property rights to the recognition thereof to the fair market rate at which those interests should be recognised to removing complicated bureaucracy and to ensuring that Maori have the opportunity to be independent in respect of their own property. It also shows that in the current financial climate it is important that all public entities be seen as transparent and accountable. 
Moreover it demonstrates the commitment in the National-led Government to our coalition with our partners the Maori Party together with whom we are committed to ensuring that there are fair and equitable outcomes for Maori and that the legislation we pass in this House has the opportunity to realise some of the values that our Prime Minister has talked about such as putting real discipline around Government spending. 
Finally I point out that the trustee’s assets are collectively owned by and for the benefit of the trust’s beneficial owners. Those assets are not owned by anyone else but them and therefore they deserve to have the best machinery possible to defend them.