Whaitiri MekaMĀORI PURPOSES BILLSecond ReadingHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Minister of Customs) on behalf of the Minister for Māori Development: E te Māngai o te Whare tēnā koe. Otirā e ngā mema katoa o te Whare nei tēnā tātou katoa. Today I present the legislative statement on the Māori Purposes Bill.DEPUTY SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon MEKA WHAITIRI: I move That the Māori Purposes Bill be now read a second time. Firstly I'd like to thank those who have made submissions on the bill for their time and for sharing their whakaaro on these matters. I'd also like to thank the Māori Affairs Committee for its thoughtful consideration of the bill. Although the amendments included in this bill are considered minor or technical in nature they remove barriers and unnecessary administrative compliance for a number of Māori entities. In doing so they support Māori entities to better manage their own affairs make use of new technologies and exercise their rangatiratanga. This aligns with the Government's commitment to building strong partnerships with Māori and working with Māori to improve wellbeing outcomes. The Māori Purposes Bill is an omnibus bill that proposes minor technical and non-controversial updates and improvements to Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 the Maori Purposes Act 1959 the Maori Trust Boards Act 1955 and the Maori Community Development Act 1962.The amendments to Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993—the bill contains four specific sets of amendments to Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993. The first set of amendments ensures the Ruapuha Uekaha Hapū Trust continues to exist with the same beneficiaries as intended by the 1990 settlement of the Wai 51 Treaty claim. The Ruapuha Uekaha Hapū Trust was established to give effect to an early Treaty settlement concerning lands at Waitomo Caves. It was intended that the beneficiaries of the settlement would be all the descendants of the original 22 owners of the relevant lands. However since 1990 succession orders made by the Māori Land Court meant that should the trust be terminated the people entitled to interest in the land may not include all the descendants of the original owners as intended in the Wai 51 settlement. The proposed amendment in this bill would mean that powers under Te Ture Whenua Maori Act to terminate a trust do not apply to the Ruapuha Uekaha Hapū Trust ensuring the Wai 51 settlement can continue as intended. The Ruapuha Uekaha Hapū Trust made submissions in support of these amendments.Other amendments to Te Ture Whenua Maori Act extend certain time frames for decision making allow assembled owners of Māori land the option of meeting by electronic means and correct a te reo Māori mistake in the preamble of the Act. Amendments to the Maori Purposes Act 1959—the proposed amendments to the Maori Purposes Act 1959 relate to Lake Rotoaira Trust and its trout fishery. Lake Rotoaira is privately owned Māori freehold land and the Lake Rotoaira Trust is an ahuwhenua trust under Te Ture Whenua Maori Act. The bill proposes several amendments to provide the Lake Rotoaira Trust with more autonomy and flexibility to manage the lake and associated trout fishery. The proposed amendments include things like increasing trustees' power to recommend fishing conditions for the lake and to manage the fishery updating the maximum penalty for offences under the Act and clarifying that entry to the lake without an entry permit does not authorise fishing. These amendments are supported by the Lake Rotoaira Trust.Amendments to the Maori Trust Boards Act 1955—the amendments proposed to the Maori Trust Boards Act 1955 are aimed at ensuring Māori trust boards can operate efficiently. These will allow for electronic voting in trust board elections; remove Māori trust boards from the Cabinet Fees Framework as they are further removed or more distanced from the Crown than other entities subject to the framework; streamline the process for board members resignations; and remove the Taranaki Māori Trust Board annuity payment following the agreed buy-out of the annuity by the Crown annuity. All Māori trust boards have been contacted about this proposal and all those who responded to consultation support the proposal.Finally the Maori Community Development Act 1962—the amendment proposed in relation to the Maori Community Development Act 1962 all required district Māori councils to submit the audited financial statements directly to the New Zealand Māori Council the body district Māori councils are legally accountable to rather than to Te Puni Kōkiri's chief executive. After the first reading on 25 November 2021 this bill was referred to the Māori Affairs Committee and the committee called for submissions between 8 December 2021 and 26 January 2022. Five submissions were received on the bill—a small but not unexpected number given the nature of this bill. The majority of submissions supported the bill. I mentioned earlier the submission received in support of the bill from the Ruapuha Uekaha Hapū Trust. The Ruapuha Uekaha Hapū Trust have been seeking the amendments proposed in this bill in relation to their trust for a number of years. I particularly want to acknowledge the lengthy involvement of Josephine Anderson who brought the original Wai 51 claim more than 30 years ago and also appeared before the select committee on behalf of the trust. Again I thank the Māori Affairs Committee for their diligent scrutiny of the bill and their collaborative approach to ensuring this legislation is passed in a timely manner. The select committee's report back was succinct and no significant amendments to the bill were proposed. However some minor typos in the bill as introduced have been corrected which of course I support. As I said earlier unlike some of the bills that come before this House which propose entirely new regimes or substantive changes to existing legislation this bill makes a number of minor and technical amendments to four Acts relevant to Māori affairs. While these changes are minor and technical in nature they support the ability of Māori identities to manage their businesses and exercise their rangatiratanga. These changes also ensure that Māori entities are operating under up-to-date legislation that allows them to utilise modern technologies. With that I commend this House to the bill. DEPUTY SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be agreed to. Hon Meka Whaitiri: Aroha mai—this bill to the House.