SpeechPart 1 Preliminary ProvisionsHon TE URUROA FLAVELL (Minister for Māori Development): Ā tēnā tātau katoa titia tēnei kaupapa ki te ngākau ki te wairua o tātau o Te Ao Māori ka mihi rā ki te āhuatanga o ngā kōrero kua puta i uta i kāinga i ngā marama i ngā tau kua hipa ake anā kua eke ki tēnei wā i tēnei pō huri noa i tō tātau Whare tēnā koutou kia ora tātau katoa.[Acknowledgments to us all. Adorn this matter to the heart and spirit of ours and of Māoridom. I commend the tenor of the sentiments that have emerged from the coastland and home in the months and past years right up to the present moment to this evening. So to you collectively throughout our House my congratulations and appreciation to us all.]Can I start by firstly acknowledging the Māori Affairs Committee which listened to submissions the chair for carrying out the obligations of the committee and indeed others who took his place throughout the debate. Can I also thank all of the submitters; many many of them provided solid advice throughout the debate and discussions. I want particularly to thank all of the officials for the hard work that has been done over these last couple of years to get us to this point in time and will hopefully thank them in another way at another time. But there has been a hell of a lot of work done and indeed I thank the Parliamentary Counsel Office for the work that has been done to present the documents that sit on the Table. I also want to acknowledge the Attorney-General the Hon Christopher Finlayson for his assistance and help as we have moved through this bill.This bill is the most significant reform of Māori land law since Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993. That Act refocused the law from one that assimilated and alienated Māori land to one that promoted its retention. However a range of reviews have highlighted the need to give owners greater autonomy to make their own decisions about their land as in mana motuhake to enhance protections so that the remaining Māori land stays in Māori hands as in taonga tuku iho and to provide better support to enable owners to develop their land whakawhanake. These matters underpin Part 1 of the bill.The bill recognises the mana and tino rangatiratanga Māori exercise over our whenua and protects the right of Māori land owners to retain occupy control and develop our land. It might seem obvious but the law has taken a long time to recognise mana and tino rangatiratanga even though Māori land owners have consistently called for them to be recognised. The bill's purpose statement is supported by a set of significant and important principles which all decision makers will need to recognise. These include the principles that Māori land endures as taonga tuku iho by virtue of whakapapa that tikanga Māori is fundamental to matters involving Māori land and that Te Tiriti o Waitangi is central to the application of laws affecting Māori land.The bill is also underpinned by the idea that Māori land owners have the absolute right to design their own governance arrangements and to set rules making it harder to dispose of Māori land. The mana of decision making will sit with the owners not with the Māori Land Court. Owners will also be able to refer matters they cannot agree on to a disputes resolution process.The purpose and principles clauses reflect the concepts and align with the key principles expressed in the preamble of the current Act. The bill recognises the guarantees given to Māori under Te Tiriti o Waitangi and ensures that the concept of retention continues to be one of the key focus points of Māori land law.I would like to state very clearly that the bill will not lead to the loss of Māori land. In fact the bill makes it harder to sell Māori land. The thresholds that need to be met for sales and permanent alienation are the same as those under the current Act but with the major difference that owners will have the ability to increase these thresholds up to 100 percent if they so wish. That would make sales virtually impossible. Added to that the bill makes it impossible to sell Māori freehold land that has been converted to collective ownerships and prevents the sale or acquisition of Māori customary land or land reserved as whenua tāpui. The bill gives the Māori Land Court a critical role in ensuring that the law relating to whenua Māori is observed. The level of protection for Māori land has never been stronger than it is under this particular bill.Part 1 of the bill also contains the interpretation and related provisions. The terminology defined in this part reflects a deliberate change of focus and has been carefully chosen to reflect modern drafting concepts—for example Māori reservation" will become "whenua tāpui" "agent" will become "kaiwhakahaere" "preferred classes of alienees" will become "preferred recipients" "alienation" will become "disposition" and "undivided interest" will become "individual freehold interest". Other new terms reflect new concepts in the bill such as kaiwhakahaere kaiwhakamarumaru kaitiaki and rangatōpū.Part 1 of the bill also recognises an important feature and that is that tikanga Māori is central to matters involving Māori land and the law must give way to tikanga on a range of matters. For instance tikanga Māori will determine relationships of descent when whāngai and adoptions are involved. It will also determine eligibility to become an owner of Māori land. Care has been taken to avoid codifying what constitutes tikanga Māori. The bill directs courts to determine any question as to tikanga Māori that applies in a particular situation on the basis of evidence.I have tabled some Supplementary Order Papers that amend various aspects of the bill. Supplementary Order Paper 279 addresses concerns that the proposal to address barriers contained in other laws that prevent Māori using their land do not go far enough. Provisions are included that relate to the application of the Public Works Act discussed a little bit earlier the rating of Māori land and the application of the Rates Rebate Scheme. This Supplementary Order Paper also makes a number of minor and technical amendments to Part 1 as well as to other parts of the bill that were identified through quality assurance and peer review processes. As is the practice with legislation of this kind this Supplementary Order Paper is in the form of a revision-tracked version of the bill. Supplementary Order Paper 279 has been supplemented by two others that include consequential amendments to the Māori Purposes (Wi Pere Trust) Act 1991 and provide for a review of the new Act 7 years after it comes into force.I would like to take the opportunity to comment on a point that has been repeatedly raised about the reforms—namely that they have been rushed and that Māori land owners have not been adequately consulted. I particularly want to address this in relation to the purpose and principles given their importance to the way the bill has been interpreted and applied.The bill has been developed through a long thorough and considered process of review and engagement. Over the past 4 years 171 consultation hui and wānanga workshops have been held. Drawing on the experience of owners and other people with an interest in Māori land appropriate changes have been made to improve specific aspects of the bill. For instance the evolution of the purpose and the principles began with the aims of the reform articulated by the review panel. Initial drafting was developed in conjunction with iwi advisers reviewed and then developed on the basis of submissions received on the exposure draft that was released in 2015 and was further refined following feedback on a further draft that I released in 2016. This has been a careful and thorough process of listening and reflecting not just over months but actually years.Through Part 1 of the bill the reform seeks to strengthen Māori land ownership to ensure no more whenua is lost unnecessarily and to let whānau make decisions about their land in the way they believe is appropriate.I look forward to the debate which is likely to be fairly lengthy bearing in mind this is a big piece of legislation. I look forward to the discussion and the input from all members across the House. I encourage members to work together to achieve the admirable goals that I think are implicit in what we are doing about whenua Māori. Kia ora tātou."