Paraone Pita: Treaty of Waitangi (Removal of Conflict of Interest) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Paraone Pita: Treaty of Waitangi (Removal of Conflict of Interest) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:640;Page:10288] 
PITA PARAONE (NZ First) 
: 
 I move  
That the Treaty of Waitangi (Removal of Conflict of Interest) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I intend to move that this bill be considered by the Justice and Electoral Committee. To begin let me be clear and I merely raise this as a matter of clarification as it has been queried by some outside of this House who have tried to frame New Zealand First’s motives in terms of the personalities involved. They are wrong. 
This bill was drawn from the ballot in October last year and at the time I said that it presents an opportunity to remove what we in New Zealand First see as an inherent conflict of interest in the operation of the courts and special jurisdictions sphere of the Ministry of Justice. This bill is not intended to place into question the integrity of the Chief Judge of the Maori Land Court and/or the chairman of the Waitangi Tribunal. New Zealand First does not care who fills the roles; we simply believe that they should not be filled by one and the same person as is the current position. This bill has come about from the concern held by New Zealand First of the perception of a possible conflict of interest. New Zealand First has thought about it with reason and with logic and has given the bill due consideration before bringing it to this House. 
The bill removes the inherent conflict of interest that presently exists that allows serving judges of the High Court or Maori Land Court including the Chief Judge of the Maori Land Court to serve as members of the Waitangi Tribunal and where the judge is either a serving or retired judge of the High Court or the Chief Judge of the Maori Land Court to preside as chairperson of the tribunal. However some may think that it may be fine for a judge of the Maori Land Court to continue to sit on the Waitangi Tribunal but not as its chairperson. We in New Zealand First would like to think that this possibility will be considered during the select committee process. 
Serving judges of the High Court from time to time—and if they have not as yet then they certainly have the capacity to do so—adjudicate on Treaty of Waitangi claims and in the Maori Land Court. As such they have to adjudicate on decisions made by the Waitangi Tribunal particularly in relation to land claims. It would seem highly dubious to us in New Zealand First to allow serving judges of either court to preside over matters on the Waitangi Tribunal when they may have presided over those matters in the High Court or indeed the Maori Land Court. It seems also highly dubious to allow serving judges of either court to preside over matters on the tribunal when they may have presided over these matters in the High Court or the Maori Land Court. This bill removes the possibility of this occurring. 
The bill removes the ability of serving judges of the High Court or the Maori Land Court to serve as members of the Waitangi Tribunal in any capacity. Instead it provides for retired judges of the High Court or the Maori Land Court including the Chief Judge of the Maori Land Court to be members of the Waitangi Tribunal and where that retired judge is either a retired judge of the High Court or a retired Chief Judge of the Maori Land Court to preside as chairperson of the tribunal. That is covered in clause 4. 
This bill raises an important practical issue that ought to be addressed beyond the first reading debate. We in New Zealand First also believe that there are sufficient Maori with the talents and qualifications to fill these roles without keeping the roles to a very small pool of people. We simply cannot accept that there are not other Maori with sufficient qualifications and experience who can be appointed to one or other of the two roles that we are talking about in this bill. 
As an aside I note that earlier during this parliamentary term under the auspices of the Maori Purposes Bill sponsored by the Minister of Maori Affairs this House passed a measure allowing for an increase in the number of Maori Land Court judges to be appointed. Why was this? It was because it recognised the increase in the workload that judges of this court would have to deal with as a consequence of a particular Treaty settlement. 
From that same bill this House supported a clause that allowed for the Chief Judge of the Maori Land Court to delegate his duties to his deputy. In my mind I have regarded this as not only recognising the importance of ensuring the responsibilities of the Chief Judge of the Maori Land Court are able to be maintained but as also recognising the fact that the workload of being Chief Judge of the Maori Land Court and being chair of the Waitangi Tribunal simultaneously is such that such a delegation was a necessity to ensure the smooth running of these two organisations. I am not suggesting that this in itself is sufficient reason for this House to adopt this bill but it certainly gives rise for further consideration of the intent of this bill. 
On behalf of New Zealand First I ask that this House seriously consider sending this bill to a select committee to allow the people of New Zealand—not least those who are involved in the judiciary—to express their views and to hear what they have to say on this matter. I support the referral of this bill to the select committee.