Whaitiri MekaMEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti): Tēnā koe Mr Tiamana tēnā koe. E ngā mema o Te Whare nei tēnā tātau katoa. Ā e ngā uri o te rangatira nei Wī Pere kei te mihi kei te mihi kei te mihi. Kei te mihi i runga i ō mātou tohetohe mō tō koutou pire Wī Pere bill. Kei te tautoko Te Pāti Reipa i tēnei pire nō reirā tēnā tātau katoa. [Salutations Mr Chairman and thank you. I acknowledge us all members of this House. So to you the relatives of this esteemed person Wī Pere I acknowledge applaud and commend you collectively. I acknowledge you on top of our differences of views in regards to your Wī Pere bill. The Labour Party supports this bill so well done to all of us.]Labour supports the Wī Pere part of this omnibus bill. It is unfortunate in all honesty that we have—and I acknowledge the Minister for Māori Development's acknowledgment—three Supplementary Order Papers (SOPs) that came to the Table 15 minutes before question time. That then opens a whole other kettle of fish. But I want to focus on Part 1 of the bill and I want to have the opportunity to talk specifically to my SOP SOP 205. The best way I can describe the rationale behind my SOP is that it tables one of the significant contributions to the Māori Affairs Committee hearing. It is only three pages long but I think it is important that all members hear this particular submitter a descendant of Wī Pere. It goes like this: 1. This submission is from Robyn Mere Rauna of Te Aitanga A Mahaki Rongowhakaata & Ngai Tāmanuhiri. 2. He mokopuna ahau a Wi Pere. Wi Pere was Eastern Māori District Member of Parliament from 1884-1887 member of the House of Representatives from 1884-1887 and 1894-1905 and a member of the Legislative Council from 1907-1912. 3. I am a lineal descendant of Wiremu Pere and Arapera o Te Rangi Tautahi through their son Moanaroa Pere and his wife Riria Kaihote Winiata. From Moanaroa Pere and Riria Kaihote Winiata my great grandmother Teria Pere was born. She married Tame Ihimaera and they had my grandmother Meritaiakupe Smiler. My grandmother married Hape Rauna and had my father Tiopira. My father married my mother Drina Maynard and they had me. 4. My Wi Pere Trust Shareholder ID number is 24563. 5. I am self-employed working in various project roles for the Turanga Iwi of Te Aitanga A Mahaki and Rongowhakaata. I also serve on two boards as a Trustee of the Eastern & Central Community Trust and Board member of Community Law Aotearoa. I have a law degree and a master's in business administration both from the University of Waikato. … 7. To summarise I discuss the issues raised by the Maori Purposes Bill … a. Limited jurisdiction of the Maori Land Court & Access to Justice; b. The potential risk posed to corpus lands;"—and I acknowledge the Minister has addressed this and the select committee in protecting or removing the corpus land away from general title—"and c. My proposal for the future." I raise this because in Robyn's submission the point around ensuring that the governance of the Wī Pere Trust remains with the Māori Land Court is one of access to natural justice and the cost of filing with the High Court. I want to acknowledge the chairman of the Māori Affairs Committee Tutehounuku Korako who acknowledged that perhaps under this bill you will not get many filing claims with the High Court. If that is the case why have we got it in this bill? Why have we got the High Court in there if we do not expect them to be lodging any claims with the High Court? Robyn then goes on to the Māori Land Court where she says that it "should be for the preferred judiciary to determine any dispute relating to the administration and governance of the trust."—again because of the Māori customary expertise of the Māori Land Court where the High Court does not have that. Of course she raises the issue around cost. What is also interesting is that she talks about her tipuna Wī Pere. She says that he was "a staunch advocate for nga mea Maori. His vision to establish our [whānau] trust was born out of a need to protect our collective whanau interests and our ancestral lands. 12. The Maori Land Court is naturally best placed to advise and arbitrate on matters Maori especially as they relate to our whanau our collective interests our ancestral lands our Marae our papakainga and our urupa. 13. Section 26 of the Bill states that the High Court will determine who is the lineal descendant of Wi Pere."—and I want to acknowledge the Māori Affairs Committee in acknowledging that that is not the role of the High Court and we have made the necessary adjustment back to the Māori Land Court in so far as lineal descent of Wī Pere is concerned. "14. Section 35 and 36 severely restricts and limits the powers of the Maori Land Court. I do not understand the rationale for only partially accepting its role but not the whole to include inquiry into the administration and governance of the Trust." Robyn goes on to say: "15. I can only assume that it is to restrict and control inquiry into the administration and governance of the Trust as well as a demonstration of the lack of confidence in the Maori Land Court. This concerns me." This is a lineal descendant with a law degree who is very active in the governance role up in the Gisborne area and she is saying on examination of this bill that she has concern about the role of her tipuna's trust and the role that the Māori Land Court plays going forward. As she says she proposes for the future of the Wī Pere Trust that "a. Changes should be made to the Bill retaining in full the powers and jurisdiction of the Maori Land Court to inquire into all matters of the Trust with the exception being investment lands (general title land)." Here I say again this is a descendant who is not short in understanding bills and legislation and whose heart in terms of her tipuna also delves into the fact that land in the Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa area of Gisborne has its own chequered history. This particular submission that I have referenced in my contribution today is the reason why I have put the SOP forward. We have this particular Government that says that the Māori land tenure in this country is broken. It proposes that it is broken and so we have to fix it. We are talking about the Wī Pere legislation but you can also align this against Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill. What this Government and in particular this Minister for Māori Development are espousing is that the Māori land tenure has got the balance wrong—too much protection; not enough development. They also say that one of the principles around the Māori land system that they are trying to fix is that it is about tino rangatiratanga. Here you have a direct descendant who is saying waiho—leave it with the Māori Land Court. With all due respect this is the issue I have in presenting my SOP. I hope I can get the support of this House. This submission is from a direct descendant with a law degree who is involved in very strong iwi governance roles in the Tūranga area who has the history of that area saying "Waiho. Leave it with the Māori Land Court." That is my background to my SOP and keeping the status quo of the Māori Land Court having the jurisdiction of the Wī Pere Trust like I said. This side of the House supports modernising the Wī Pere Trust. We have all visited—many of us have been on the farm. We want to acknowledge the great things that are happening there but in terms of ensuring that all descendants of Wī Pere can be involved in the running of the organisation and that if they have to go to the court their rights are not prohibited because of the cost of going to the High Court. Again Labour supports the Wī Pere legislation and we want to make that very clear. Kia ora tātou.Progress to be reported presently.House resumed.The Chairperson reported the Policing (Cost Recovery) Amendment Bill without amendment progress on the Māori Purposes Bill and no progress on the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Amendment Bill.Report adopted."