Kirkpatrick Dana; Tuiono TeanauDANA KIRKPATRICK (National—East Coast): Thank you. I rise as the last speaker in the third reading of the Māori Fisheries Amendment Bill.Carl Bates: Best till last.Hon Member: Save the best till last.DANA KIRKPATRICK: Thank you—I'm not sure about that. But anyway look it's an honour to speak on the bill which also has a huge impact on an electorate such as mine which has an enormous area of coastline and of fisheries with an economy that is largely based on its access to the moana and the whenua.So firstly I'd like to just commend the members from the previous Māori Affairs Committee for the work done for previous Ministers that have worked on this and to all of those submitters who gave up their time to come and speak and present their views on the bill. It's been a long journey—for some of them since 2015 when this all started. But you know the bipartisan support across the House has meant that that we have now reached this final point in the reading of this bill.The future fishing economy and the way that we protect that the way manage the fisheries and how we honour the connection of iwi and hapū to the moana is important going forward. In my electorate we have as has been alluded to by some of my colleagues the Whakatōhea mussel factory and various agriculture industries or sectors working hard to establish that connection but also to make an economic return from it in order to support their people and their communities. So we think this a great piece of work from all of those involved.The bill will give iwi greater autonomy. It will tidy up those governance issues and set the platform for ensuring that Māori can take the opportunity to leverage that connection with the moana and they can now focus forward on ensuring future prosperity and investment.I thought that perhaps it would be useful seeing as I am the last speaker for this bill to just talk a little bit about the main provisions that the bill provides for—this is the last time so we will just go through a couple of those. The bill provides for mandated iwi organisations to take more direct control of Te Ohu Kaimoana and Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd. The electoral college system will be removed and instead mandated iwi organisations recognised iwi organisations and representative Māori organisations will vote to appoint directors of the entity. The bill proposes to allow Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd shareholders to annually review and set the dividend percentage they receive. Major transactions will require a 75 percent iwi majority of voting threshold. So by tidying up the governance entity I think we provide some clarity. Everybody could be clear about what works and how it's going to operate going forward.I think just for our Government's perspective we support the bill. We have done the work alongside our colleagues across the House to ensure that that happens. But we're really interested in getting our primary industries and our fishing sector back on track. The Government's plan is to rebuild the economy and get it working for all Kiwis which includes those iwi and hapū entities that want to be able to access the fisheries as part of this. It's only through a strong economy we know that we can solve the cost of living crisis that we can deliver future prosperity across much different communities and across our country lift incomes and then afford the public services that we all deserve.So the Māori economy as we know is estimated at nearly $70 billion and fisheries make up a huge proportion of this. The bill will help boost our Māori fishing sector to rebuild our economy. I think just in closing the future management in connection with the moana as I have spoken about will be provided for now in an efficient way. This bill brings that clarity for all. With that I am very proud to be the last speaker and to commend the bill to the House.Motion agreed to.Bill read a third time.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Teanau Tuiono): That concludes the business on the extended sitting motion. Accordingly the House stands adjourned until 2 p.m. today.The House adjourned at 12.08 p.m. (Wednesday)