Sharples Pita: Third Readings — 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Sharples Pita: Third Readings — 
[Sitting date: 15 May 2008. Volume:647;Page:16042. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Deputy Speaker. First of all I acknowledge the Government for allowing me to jump the queue and get back to my students. 
A kei konei etahi o nga iwi koneke na reira Ngati Tuwharetoa Ngati Maniapoto Ngati Hikairo me nga karangarangatanga maha i waenganui i a tatau i tenei rangi tenei au e mihi atu ki a kotou kua hara mai nei ki ro Whare i te ra nei. Tena koutou. 
[ 
Yes there are some tribal figureheads here so to you Ngati Tuwharetoa Ngati Maniapoto Ngati Hikairo and the many callings in our midst today I acknowledge your presence here in the House; greetings 
.]  
I welcome our people here to this Whare. They have come not because they are lawbreakers; they have come as lawmakers. Their physical presence is a sign of their commitment to working with the process to make a difference. I am reminded that 140 years ago a man of Ngai Te Ruruku Ngati Matepu and Ngati Parua stood in this House as the first Maori member of Parliament to speak. My tipuna Tareha te Moananui in his opening address urged the Government to enact wise laws to promote good and for Maori and Pakeha to work together. The various whanau hapu and iwi who stand to be most affected by the undertakings of this legislation that is gathered under the concept of Maori purposes are still urging the Government to enact wise laws to promote good. 
In the case of this Maori purposes legislation we recognise there are many positive enhancements to administrative arrangements included in the series of bills. We do of course support the proposal to confirm a consistent minimum voting age of 18 years as proposed in the Maori Trust Boards Amendment Bill. In the second reading of the bill we raised the facts around the demographics of the Maori population namely that 46 percent of our population is under 19 years of age. In light of this fact and considering the value of consistency with other legislative and statutory provisions around age we are very happy to support the amendment to specify a new minimum voting age of 18 years. 
Another element within the series of four bills is the important developments that have emerged from years—indeed decades—of negotiation between the Crown and the Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board. This amendment reflects part of the compensation due to the Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board in settlement of the trust board’s property rights in Lake Taupo. It sets in place a process by which the board as the owner of the bed of Lake Taupo is able to license and charge other commercial users including those wanting to erect new jetties or structures. The Maori Party takes this opportunity to congratulate Tuwharetoa and commend them for their endurance in the journey towards self-determination and we do of course look forward to their further success in the future as they come back to the Crown to establish their rights of ownership of not just the space above the water but of the water itself. 
Another major feature of this legislation that we support is the proposal to amend the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 to increase the statutory cap on the membership of the Waitangi Tribunal from 16 to 20. Indeed this is a specific proposal that derives its source from our 2007 Budget recommendation to enhance the role of the Waitangi Tribunal so that it can deal with claims more speedily. The Maori Party has actively advocated for the tribunal to be resourced sufficiently so it can work full time. We appreciate the response that the Government has made to our proposal and welcome the improvements that will arise. It would almost appear that the challenge of my ancestor Tareha te Moananui “to enact wise laws to promote good” is finally being taken up. 
However there is the matter of Mokai Kainga. According to Ngati Hikairo the legislation as it stands includes a proposal that will have a direct impact on their traditional tribal boundaries. Tony Spelman spokesperson for Ngati Hikairo advised the Maori Affairs Committee that the legislation would have the effect of extending Ngati Maniapoto authority into its area without any reference to the mana whenua rights of Ngati Hikairo. There was concern that the groups that Te Puni Kokiri had consulted on this matter were the Maniapoto Maori Trust Board and Mokai Kainga marae. The advice they fed back to the select committee was therefore limited in excluding Te Runanganui o Ngati Hikairo from its report. 
As deputy chair of the Maori Affairs Committee I was always concerned that we had a quality of information available from Te Runanganui o Ngati Hikairo and Ngati Maniapoto in order to assist in our deliberations. We were pleased when Te Runanganui o Ngati Nikairo and Nga Tai o Kawhia came forward with a proposal to address their concerns by means of a simple insertion within the bill. The suggestion was that the bill recognise “that Ngati Hikairo through Te Runanganui o Ngati Hikairo exercises a mana whenua relationship within the Kawhia rohe and that nothing in this bill shall be interpreted as diminishing their mana whenua status in that rohe.” 
We have learnt also that Ngati Hikairo are committed to working with Nga Tai o Kawhia the regional management committee established under this bill to ensure that how it will all work in practice will not diminish their mana whenua. The Minister has assured us that there was no intention to redefine the boundaries of Ngati Hikairo. However a Minister’s intentions and the actual interpretation of the law can be vastly different things and if the law this bill sets in place does not in practice represent a wise law to promote the collective good then it would be appropriate that the amendment suggested by Ngati Hikairo and Nga Tai o Kawhia return to this House. 
The Maori Party is consistently overwhelmed by the willingness of whanau hapu and iwi to demonstrate manaakitanga—to live by time-honoured practices that reflect and respect the status of relationships with each other. We acknowledge Ngati Maniapoto Ngati Hikairo and Nga Tai o Kawhia for their efforts to work with the process to do all they can to ensure their concerns are heard and to work productively for the benefit of the Kawhia rohe and its people. We believe that the issues between Mokai Kainga marae between Ngati Hikairo and Ngati Maniapoto belong with the people themselves. It is their authority their mana that will ultimately sort any unresolved issues through. Kei a koutou te tikanga. 
Finally it would be extremely disappointing if any party chose to object to the request from the Maniapoto council of elders that their name be amended from Te Mauri o Maniapoto to Te Kaumatua Kaunihera o Maniapoto. It is their prerogative and absolute right to determine the name by which they want to be called and Parliament must honour that desire of the people. 
The Maori Party has given this series of bills careful and comprehensive consideration. Although there are limitations around the coverage of the issues put forward by Ngati Hikairo we are satisfied that on balance there is sufficient merit throughout all the other proposals to support these bills at their third reading. In conclusion I repeat to this House: “I te mutunga ake kei nga iwi nei nga tikanga. Kia ora tatou.