Flavell Te UruroaMĀORI PURPOSES BILLSecond ReadingHon TE URUROA FLAVELL (Minister for Māori Development): Tēnā koe Mr Assistant Speaker kia ora tātou katoa e noho nei i tēnei wā te wā e whakanuia ana te tekau tau o te noho o Kīngi Tūheitia i tōna taumata e whakanuia ana ki runga o Tūrangawaewae i tēnei wā. Ka mihi ki a ia ā ki Te Kāhui Ariki ki Te Kīngitanga e whakanuia ana i a rātou. Ka mutu ko te āhuatanga ō tō tātou mate waiho rātou kia tangihia ā anei tātou i tēnei rā huri noa kia ora tātou. [Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker and salutations to us all seated here at this moment in time at the time that the 10th year of King Tuheitia's reign is being celebrated at Tūrangawaewae. I congratulate him the royal entourage and the King movement in the celebration. Furthermore and in terms of the circumstances relating to our deaths allow them to be mourned over so here we are today; my appreciation to us all throughout. ]I move That the Māori Purposes Bill be now read a second time. The Māori Purposes Bill amends the Maori Purposes Act 1991 the legislation governing the Wī Pere Trust. This bill responds to requests for empowerment from the trustees of that trust. They wanted flexibility to balance their goals for cultural social and economic development and preservation. This bill provides more autonomy for the trust and accountabilities to beneficiaries. This bill comes from them and what they want and what their beneficiaries want. I want to take a moment to acknowledge Wī Pere as I did in the first reading of this particular bill. He was acknowledged by Sir Apirana Ngata as a man of great mana who made significant gains for Māori land owners in the Tai Rāwhiti and East Coast region. I also want to mihi to the trustees the custodians of Wī Pere's legacy and to the beneficiaries some of whom are in the gallery I hope today. [Interruption] They are here today and have been following with great interest the movement of this bill. The second reading follows a consultation process run by the trustees of the trust with the beneficiaries and the consideration of the bill by the select committee. I want to thank very much the Māori Affairs Committee chaired by Nuk Korako. You heard and were responsive to the submitters. You also permitted consultation with the trust on changes to its initial constitution and they are very comfortable with those I believe. I very much appreciate your work. The bill as reported back strengthens the original intent of the bill. The technical changes provide clarity and simplicity. I think it has landed at the right place. Let me provide a little bit of an overview of the bill and also some information on some of the concerns raised in the first reading and an outline of the key changes to the bill made in response to some of the submissions. In respect of autonomy and accountability in this bill Ministers will no longer be responsible for any aspect of the trust's administration. For example where previously the Minister for Māori Development has appointed trustees beneficiaries will now elect their representatives. This is as it should be—the owners and trustees making decisions about the land for themselves. This bill also replaces the trustees with an incorporated trust board. That board will hold and manage trust property within the accountabilities set out in this bill. For example the trust board must promote the purpose of the trust so that trust property is used to the benefit of the beneficiaries. The trust board must also comply with the legal obligations including the Trustee Act 1956 and its constitution. The constitution is a new way for the trust's internal management rules to be set out; legislation will no longer be needed to do so. The bill has minimum requirements for the constitution and the trust's initial constitution is attached to the bill. As reported back by the Māori Affairs Committee the constitution now allows beneficiaries to propose changes to the constitution if they represent at least 10 percent of beneficial interests. The constitution now requires a minimum of five trust board members so that a quorum requires at least three members. Additionally the constitution must now be reviewed within 5 years. In terms of succession—an issue raised during the discussions—the bill clarifies the trust's succession arrangements set out in the legislation. Lineal descendants of Wī Pere may succeed to beneficial interests in the trust. Spouses children and remoter issue who are not lineal descendants can succeed only to a life interest. As reported back from the Māori Affairs Committee the Māori Land Court is given clear jurisdiction to determine whether a person is a lineal descendant. The bill relocates the management of the register of beneficiaries from the Māori Land Court to the trust board. It will now maintain the register and notify the Māori Land Court of any changes. There was a comment about general land in the discussions in the first reading. We need to know that since the 1930s legislation governing the trust has deemed the trust's general land to be Māori freehold land. The bill changes this. It allows general land that was deemed to be Māori freehold land to revert to general land status. Approximately 29 percent of the trust's total landholdings will revert. For certainty this land is listed in the bill. This does not include the trust's corpus lands set aside as papakāinga and māra kai. The trust will also be able to acquire new general title land which will remain as general land. These changes align this bill with other legislation that supports tino rangatiratanga. Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill is an example. That bill explicitly recognises and provides for mana and tino rangatiratanga over the land. There is another example in Treaty settlements. Settling groups choose whether they receive land as Māori freehold title or in another form and many groups do choose general land. The arrangements for general land will have no effect at all on land that has always been Māori freehold land being approximately 71 percent of the trust's total landholdings. The protections for this Māori freehold land are reinforced within the bill and it remains under the protection of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993. In terms of jurisdiction the High Court will have jurisdiction for governance and administration matters and over general land. The Māori Land Court will continue to have jurisdiction for the trust's Māori freehold land. Finally I want to address two issues. They are technical issues by nature. Firstly the bill includes cross-references to Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993. Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill which focuses on national matters rather than on one particular trust has now had its first reading. After this bill has been enacted cross-references to Te Ture Whenua Maori Act will be updated by way of consequential amendments. Secondly the Māori Purposes Bill also addresses a wholly separate matter: the correction of a wording error in the Maori Trust Boards (Transitional Provisions) Order 2012. The wrongly described Tauranga Māori Trust Board will be correctly identified as the Tauranga Moana Māori Trust Board.In closing this bill provides for mana motuhake. It supports the trust board to be more flexible in its choices whether it preserves or develops assets or whether it uses land for cultural or commercial purposes. Those choices will be made within an environment of accountability. I am very confident that this bill does what other legislation in relation to the Wī Pere Trust has aimed to do: to support the legacy of Wī Pere so trust property can be used to the benefit of the beneficiaries. Finally can I thank briefly those officials who have worked on this bill. It has been much appreciated particularly in light of the feedback from the Māori Affairs Committee and submitters. I commend this bill to the House.