Sharples Pita: Maori Purposes Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
Sharples Pita: Maori Purposes Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
[Volume:644;Page:13974] 
Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Tena koe Madam Assistant Speaker. As has been noted before this bill is an omnibus bill amending four Acts: the Maniapoto Maori Trust Board Act 1988 the Maori Trust Boards Act 1955 the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 and Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993. In considering these bills I thought of some words of my ancestors—he kai kei te hara a te kaki. It is a literal reference to food that causes the throat to sin which is an allusion to the sin of overindulgence—ara kai kia makona. Gluttony is a fault that is severely criticised amongst Maoridom and gluttony is the fault we level at this Maori Purposes Bill (No 2). The only consolation we can offer the House is the fact that the excesses of this bill today are at least somewhat restrained by the fact that the amendments to the Maori Trustee Act 1953 will be considered at a later stage.  
We want to place on record our appreciation that the Minister of Maori Affairs listened to our concerns about the overcrowding of bills that have come before this House. We will never understand the logic of squashing a whole heap of different legislative items together for the sake of getting them through the House. We are pleased that the very significant proposals being put up around creating the Maori Trustee as a stand-alone organisation have been deferred for another day. I say kia ora to Parekura.  
But getting back to the feast that is being debated today I turn to the bill that we will digest in its four separate parts. The chameleon actions of this Government towards the age of youth never cease to astound us. On the one hand the Minimum Wage (New Entrants) Amendment Bill creates a situation in which 16 and 17-year-olds are entitled only to 80 percent of the adult wage and then this bill looks to promote a minimum voting age of 18 years.  
The amendments to the Maori Trust Boards Act address yet another peculiarity around age—this time the fact that the current minimum voting age under the Act is 20 years. The thing is that the Maori trust boards that come within the jurisdiction of this bill are mandated iwi organisations subject to the Maori Fisheries Act 2004 in which the minimum voting age is 18 years. This is not the first piece of legislation and it is bound not to be the last in which the merry-go-round of eligibility ages for youth is creating havoc for legislators. We suggest that a useful outcome of this specific issue in the Maori Purposes Bill (No 2) to validate the voting age as 18 might be to consider a broader item of legislation that addresses the uncertainty around consistency with matters of age.  
Another aspect of the amendments to the Maori Trust Boards Act is the amendment to give effect to the recent agreement made between Ngati Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board and the Crown to repeal annuity and revenue-sharing arrangements in place of a lump-sum payment. This aspect of the bill has a fascinating whakapapa dating back some 80 years to 1927 when the Crown legislated to vest title in Lake Taupo the Waikato River—up to and including the Huka Falls—and most of the rivers flowing into Lake Taupo.  
It was only 15 years ago in 1992 following years of negotiations that the Crown agreed to return title to the trust board as trustee for its beneficiaries. The passage of the last decade and more has seen the Ngati Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board involved in complex negotiations towards securing title in respect of the lake bed and the bed of the Waikato River to the Huka Falls. Having secured title the board negotiated with the Crown to grant licences and concessions for commercial purposes and to charge for them.  
This series of negotiations contained in a deed signed on 10 September 2007 has freed up Tuwharetoa to negotiate with local government in the management of the lake as a taonga of Ngati Tuwharetoa. This bill therefore comes at the end of some 80 years of perseverance and commitment from Tuwharetoa to give effect to that September agreement to repeal annuity and revenue-sharing arrangements in place of an annual payment to Ngati Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board. 
We support the opportunity for Tuwharetoa to proceed in this regard but we must place on record the ongoing issues that remain to be dealt with regarding the anomaly to do with water—that is that Tuwharetoa has rights over space above the water but not over the water itself. To use a word that has been used in this Chamber today is this not something of a Clayton’s concept if ever there was one?  
I refer now to the Ngati Maniapoto Maori Trust Board. The amendment relating to the trust board is a significant but safe set of proposals around naming and representation rights. The bill will change the name of the Maniapoto council of elders from Te Mauri o Maniapoto to Te Kaumatua Kaunihera o Maniapoto. Both the council and the trust board agree that the new name better reflects the nature of the council and given the obvious unity we will of course support the proposal which reflects their interests.  
The bill also amends the Maori Trust Boards Regulations 1985 to enable a new Nga Tai o Kawhia Regional Management Committee for the Kawhia Harbour region to have representation on the Ngati Maniapoto Maori Trust Board. That is another amendment that we as the Maori Party a proud and independent Maori voice in Parliament will of course support to ensure that all Maniapoto-affiliated marae are represented both by a regional management committee and by a representative on the trust board.  
The Maori Purposes Bill (No 2) also introduces two amendments to Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993: one to remove an incorrect reference to section 227 in section 40(2); and two to of all things correct the spelling of “incorporation”. I might be out of order here but really how can it take 14 years for someone to realise that “incorporation” is spelt with two i’s and not one!  
I move now to the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. The last course in the hakari laid out in the Maori Purposes Bill (No 2) will be to increase the statutory cap on the membership of the Waitangi Tribunal from 16 to 20. This move to enhance the membership is in response to an anticipated increase in its workload as a result of the rushing forward of the closing date for the submission of historical Treaty claims in 2008. This is a very significant amendment and one that we wholeheartedly support. Any proposal to assist iwi in having their claims heard before the tribunal is to be supported.  
Indeed this was a proposal that we first announced on 9 May 2007 in our release calling for more resourcing for the Waitangi Tribunal. We have constantly sought support for the enhancement of the role of the Waitangi Tribunal so it can deal with claims more speedily. The tribunal needs to be resourced sufficiently so it can work full time. We are hopeful that increasing the statutory cap on the membership of the Waitangi Tribunal will be a step in the right direction and will lead also to the opportunity to review more widely regarding functions and funding.  
We note however that setting deadlines for historical claims will not actually do anything to bring the process to an end. Just as the amendments to specify a voting age of 18 bring up far broader issues around entitlement no one in this House can ignore the wider context around the Treaty settlement process. Improving the settlement process from a Maori perspective will ensure that the claims will be settled earlier that they will be settled fairly and that there is broad consensus for the process and therefore greater commitment to settlement resolution. This bill does not achieve the progress we so desperately need but it does establish a starting point for at least the conversation to occur. We will support this bill going to the select committee to ensure that the conversation is given space to take place.