Flavell Te Ururoa: Resource Legislation Amendment Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFlavell Te Ururoa: Resource Legislation Amendment Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 03 December 2015. Volume:710;Page:8559. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon TE URUROA FLAVELL (Co-Leader—Māori Party):Ka nui te mihi ki a koe otirā ki a tātou katoa. He tīmatanga kōrero māku me pēnei rawa te kōrero: “Ko Rangi ko Papa ka puta ko Rongo ko Tāne Mahuta ko Tangaroa ko Tūmatauenga ko Haumia-Tiketike ko Tawhirimātea. I tokona te Rangi ki runga ko Papatūānuku ki raro ka puta te ira tangata ki te whai ao ki te ao mārama. Ko ia rā e Rongo whakairia ki runga tūturu whiti whakamaua kia tīna tīna hui e tāiki e!”[I appreciate you greatly Mr Deputy Speaker and all of us at the same time. Let me begin my address in this manner: “Rangi and Papa consorted with each other and Rongo Tangaroa Tūmatauenga Haumia-Tiketike and Tawhirimātea were born. When Rangi was separated to remain above and Papa below the human element emerged into the world of light and understanding. Therefore suspend it in the heavens above Rongo so that it remains fixed there permanently; oh yes securely!”]I recited a very brief karakia—some might say a whakapapa and some might say just an ordinary kōrero but I think that kōrero actually sets out the relationship that Māori have with our environment. You would understand too being a member who has been here for a long time that kaitiakitanga is a kaupapa one of the founding kaupapa of the Māori Party—protecting the environment and giving legislative effect to the important cultural and spiritual relationship that our people have with the environment. It has been one of the key focus areas that we have worked on in Parliament since I have been here and indeed since the Māori Party has been here. In giving effect to kaitiakitanga we promote sustainable development of the natural resource with the protection and restoration and enhancement of our environment.When the National Government announced its intention to fundamentally rewrite the Resource Management Act in favour of economic development in 2013 our position was pretty clear. The Māori Party along with United Future would not support such a fundamental change that would weaken the core environmental principles and purposes of the Act. Sections 6 and 7 in Part 2 of the Act affirm the national importance of preserving our natural environment including: “the relationship of Māori and their culture and traditions with their ancestral lands water sites waahi tapu and other taonga.” So on that basis the Government’s proposed Resource Management Act reforms were effectively stalled for 2 years.Earlier this year the National Party released a broad outline of its proposed Resource Management Act reforms and signalled its desire to achieve a broad political consensus. We signalled that we would be happy to support procedural changes that reduce unnecessary bureaucracy. We share the general concerns of most New Zealanders which is to increase the supply of affordable houses for all whānau. We also recognise that some of the proposed changes around streamlining the consent process and creating national templates will save time and money for homeowners.So for the last 9 months we have had discussions with the National Party in good faith to reach a compromise position. We have sought advice from independent practitioners and the iwi leaders technical advisory group and I would like to acknowledge the immense value of working with the iwi leaders group and independent practitioners at the pre-bill stage. Their input has been critical to securing our political support. The working groups have worked their way carefully through the 180 pages of the resource management legislation and the almost 700 pages of the current Resource Management Act. They have identified some key areas for change and others are for further negotiation.All this background leads the Māori Party to support the Resource Legislation Amendment Bill. Our major aim has been achieved and that is to retain sections 6 and 7 with some small amendments. Can I acknowledge the Hon Dr Nick Smith for working with us to achieve a positive outcome to this point in time. But it is not all over yet. We have contributed new provisions to the Resource Management Act including a requirement for all local councils around the country to better engage with iwi. As mana whenua and kaitiaki of natural resources in their rohe iwi and hapū have a vital role to play in keeping the balance between the protection and development of the local environment. We realise that some councils are well advanced in their relationship with mana whenua but there are many others that are not. The new provisions proposed in the Act will not override existing mechanisms for iwi participation outlined in Treaty settlements or override iwi management plans. The new provisions will have iwi involved at the front end of local council planning rather than responding at the end.To be clear we do not support every single provision of the bill as it stands. However we are satisfied with the point that we have reached with our negotiations with the National Party and indeed with the Hon Nick Smith and the commitment made by the National Party to address these concerns as we work through the select committee process. We will be supporting the bill that far and we look forward as Mr Parker mentioned to having good debate where all parties can contribute and look forward to seeing how it goes into the future for this bill. My colleague Marama Fox will I think outline further the things that the Māori Party has contributed in framing up this piece of legislation. Ka nui te mihi.