Smith Murray: Maori Purposes Bill (No 2) — Second Reading Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
Smith Murray: Maori Purposes Bill (No 2) — Second Reading Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
[Volume:607;Page:4825] 
MURRAY SMITH (United Future) 
: 
 I support the proposed amendment from the Government to remove the words “in the opinion of the Chairperson” but I do not believe it goes far enough to fix the problem that we have. If we go back to schedule 2 of the Treaty of Waitangi Act we find that clause 1 provides: “Any member of the Tribunal whose term of office has expired or who has resigned from office shall whether or not that member’s successor has come into office continue in office for the purpose of completing any proceedings heard by the Tribunal before the expiry of the member’s term of office or the member’s resignation.” That gives the situation where a person may have resigned from the tribunal but nevertheless is required to sit on the tribunal until a particular matter has been dealt with. In those circumstances it is difficult to envisage a situation where there would be a vacancy voluntarily for the chairperson to fill. 
Clause 2 “Vacation of office” in that schedule allows a person to be removed from office for reasons of “inefficiency inability to perform the functions of the office neglect of duty or misconduct proved to the satisfaction of the Governor-General.” It seems to me that the powers of removal are already in the Act but for clarification it is necessary for those powers of removal to be inserted into clause 5AA which is inserted by clause 5 of the bill. That will make it clear that effectively the power to replace somebody by way of an appointment comes into play only in a situation where there has been a vacation of office under the provisions of the Act as they currently stand. 
I will therefore move an amendment that would add to the words at the commencement of clause 5 the words: “Notwithstanding clause 1 …”. Clause 5AA(1) in clause 5 would then read: “For the purposes of an inquiry into a particular claim or other matter under section 5(1) the Chairperson may appoint another member of the Tribunal or a Judge of the Maori Land Court to replace a presiding officer or former presiding officer holding office under clause 5(1)(a)” and would then have the following words added at the end: “whose office has been vacated pursuant to clause (2)”. That would make it clear that it is a power of appointment to replace somebody whose office has been vacated pursuant to clause 2 of schedule 2 of the Act as it currently stands. It would then be very clear that there is no power of replacement invested in the chairperson but simply that the chairperson has a power of appointment which is what I believe the provision was intended to do. The same amendment would need to be made to clause 5AB inserted by clause 5 as well because it has the same wording. 
I will table my amendment and members can consider it. I think it will remedy the deficiencies that we have had but as I said I am quite happy with the Government’s proposed amendment to take out the discretionary provision “in the opinion of the Chairperson” so that it takes the subjective element out of the process.