Ririnui Mita: Māori Trustee Amendment Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeRirinui Mita: Māori Trustee Amendment Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 05 May 2009. Volume:654;Page:2864. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon MITA RIRINUI (Labour):I congratulate the previous speaker Paul Quinn on a very robust contribution to this debate. It was something like 120 decibels. We have been reminded on a number of occasions throughout the afternoon that we are referring to particular parts of the Māori Trustee Amendment Bill. As Tau Henare said earlier there seems to be a strong desire for people to be acknowledged for their contribution but I will steal a bit of the limelight away from the previous speaker and remind him that this bill was introduced to the House by the former Minister of Māori Affairs. All the provisions within the bill are the provisions that the previous Minister of Māori Affairs insisted be included in the bill and all of the what we call transitional provisions and consequential amendments—from clauses 24 to 28—were introduced to the House by the former Minister of Māori Affairs.It is very interesting that one of the previous speakers Tau Henare made mention of clause 28. I could see by the reaction of a lot of the members on the opposite side of the Chamber that there was considerable concern and a reaction to the misunderstanding of that particular clause. I thank the Minister for clarifying the matter because had he not clarified it then one of us on this side of the Chamber would have had the obligation to do that. We are talking about transitional provisions mainly about roles and responsibilities and making sure that assets are not only accounted for but protected and that the Māori Trustee is aware of his roles and responsibilities including accountability as the Māori Trustee under the new legislation.We should spend quite a bit of time talking about the issues that relate to employees. I congratulate Tau Henare on the fact that he raised an employment issue and it is probably incumbent on members to spend some time talking about employment conditions. My understanding of the bill is that the previous undertakings are transferred across. The employees will continue to be employed under the same conditions and protections as they had as employees of the Māori Trustee and all of those conditions are highlighted. There is considerable comfort to employees of the Māori Trust Office that they will not be disadvantaged in any way shape or form whatsoever with the new arrangements—particularly as the new legislation takes effect. Changes in employment arrangements are of concern to anyone when there is restructuring—in this case a restructuring of the legislation—and the transferring of employees to a new organisation. I congratulate the Minister in the chair on clarifying that situation and I am sure that those staff employed by the Māori Trustee will find the transition transfer and arrangements to be smooth and without too much difficulty.When we talk about transitional provisions and consequential amendments we must keep in mind that we are talking about the well-being and continual employment of staff members. They themselves should be kept informed as to what the changes may mean if anything to them as employees. That is a very very important matter that we need to discuss at the Committee stage for Part 2 of the Māori Trustee Amendment Bill. It is not just a transfer of responsibilities but also a transfer of employment rights of staff members to the new Māori Trustee office and the new regime. That is my contribution on this particular part of the bill. I congratulate the former Minister of Māori Affairs on his foresight in ensuring that these provisions are in place.