Horomia Parekura: Maori Trustee Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Horomia Parekura: Maori Trustee Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:654;Page:3021] 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Labour—Ikaroa-Rawhiti) 
: 
 E tika ana i runga i te tu nei ki te mihi kau ana ki a koe e te Minita Maori. Tena koe. Tena koe mo to kaha ki te mau ake i te tino take nei i tenei wa. No reira tena koe. 
[ 
It is apt as I rise to take this call that I acknowledge you the Minister of Maori Affairs. Greetings to you. Congratulations on your efforts to date in bringing this very important matter before us. Well done. 
] 
Labour certainly supports the introduction of the changes to establish the Maori Trustee as a stand-alone organisation and we understand the importance of amending provisions relating to the Maori Trustee’s organisational form and financial accountability. At present the Maori Trustee is an office conferred on an employee of Te Puni Kokiri but that is soon to change. The Maori Trustee Amendment Bill will establish the Maori Trustee as a stand-alone organisation separate from Te Puni Kokiri. This will underline the independence that the people have sought for the Maori Trustee for generations. It is to ensure that the Maori Trustee is able to carry out the exact fiduciary responsibilities of the position. 
The bill provides for robust accountability for public funding by including the Maori Trustee in schedule 4 of the Public Finance Act 1989. This will have the effect of applying appropriate reporting and other accountability provisions for the Maori Trustee in respect of funding provided by the Crown while maintaining the Maori Trustee’s independence. For years the Crown has financed certain activities and there will be a clear differentiation now about where that ends and where the private aspects of the Maori Trustee start. The reporting requirements will include preparing an annual report with a statement of service performance. The bill provides that the Maori Trustee will be appointed by the Minister of Maori Affairs—which I support totally—for a renewable term of up to 5 years. Further amendments will enable the new stand-alone Maori Trustee to employ his or her own staff and to appoint a deputy Maori Trustee. 
In the sense of forward thinking this bill is about modernising and moving forward an important organisation that manages a very very sizable amount of Maori assets. The bill makes changes to the way in which interest on money held in trust in the common fund is determined. The bill provides that the Maori Trustee must pay the amount earned by the trustee in interest less a management fee; that provision is quite specific. The Maori Trustee will be required to review on a quarterly basis the amounts paid in the light of appropriate market rates given the nature of the common fund and the conditions under which the trustee operates. Together these changes underline the Maori Trustee’s role and independence and enhance the trustee’s accountability for public funding while protecting and furthering the interests of the trustee’s beneficiaries. 
The real question asks whether this bill goes far enough. There are issues relevant to Te Ture Whenua legislation—the second part of which I tried to bring alongside this bill—and I again encourage the Minister of Maori Affairs to re-look at that and see what relevance it has in relation to his wish to build economic surety for our people. 
There was a good turnout at the consultations we held all around the country. There have been several consultations with Maori in relation to this bill on the proposal for the stand-alone Maori Trustee. Wider discussion emerged at hui about the possibility of the Maori Trustee taking more of a leadership role to promote Maori development. I know there is the opinion that Maori can be left alone to do their own thing and that needs to be encouraged. But there are some fundamentals within what the Maori Trustee works with in relation to succession planning through all that multiplicity of assets. A whole lot of assets are not succeeded to—firstly because people do not care to claim them. It can also be because the assets are too small or because the people have moved off somewhere and are hard to find. My learned colleague Tau Henare suggested the other evening that we got Baycorp and the Inland Revenue Department to find out where those owners were; I am not too sure about that. 
More seriously it is really really important to understand the differentiation between a customary asset which is perceived as an equitable asset and those freehold titles of Pakeha and other people. At the end of the day the accumulated strength in the sense of small shareholdings coming together is offset—and penalised at times because Maori have to pay market rates on the land. They pay the maximum for the valuation which is really geared around the saleability of property but the majority of those lands are never sold—never sold. That is an unfairness. I listened to Mr Hide formulating new ideas on the super-city council this afternoon but this is a very very serious problem for Maori because the productivity of those lands is huge in areas like Gisborne Hawke’s Bay Wairarapa Bay of Plenty— 
Hon John Carter 
: Northland. 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: —and Northland. They really add to the export numbers yet they are penalised for being that valuable asset. I say to Mr Hide that I hope the super-city council will take a better look at that issue and be fairer. I applaud the super-city move and if we get the three Maori seats and his sort of advice to make sure that that asset is recognised that is a good start. 
Hon Member 
: Only three? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: If there are more seats then we will be more appreciative. Both the National Party and its new ally the Maori Party need to put into action the call from our people to encourage the Maori Trustee to take more of a leadership role in Maori development. Maori are feeling the sharp edges of a recession and some of us cannot chortle about those of our people who struggle—those on a lower income or with assets not well used. I want to say again that the valuation on those lands managed by the Maori Trustee is geared against saleability and that the majority of those lands will never be sold. Maybe it has come into the minds of Maori to sell something to get something else. Valuations have gone up on other properties which are sold now at ridiculous prices but our people get penalised. As I have said now more than ever Maori need support. 
You know at the end of the day this bill is very important to Maori and I commend all the officials from Te Puni Kokiri and the Maori Trust Office. I commend the Maori Affairs Committee and I commend the Minister of Maori Affairs for having the courage to take this through. I further commend him to be seriously forward-looking and make sure he has a look at the second part that we were working on; I would be more than happy to help him do that. 
The main change to the bill concerns the termination of the appointment of the Maori Trustee. As was said formerly he was previously appointed by the chief executive officer of Te Puni Kokiri; the Minister of Maori Affairs now has that responsibility. And the operation of the Maori Trustee’s account is a very very important part. When there are accumulated funds and nobody knows where to send them someone has to use a clear forward-thinking mindset to get a solution generated; whether it is for those beneficiaries in iwi clusters or in rohe clusters someone needs to make a move. The funds should not be left in the account just for someone to guess what should be done with them. 
Section 19 of the Maori Trustee Act 1953 provided that the Maori Trustee’s account had to be operated only by cheques or other instruments signed by authorised officers. Section 21 of the Maori Trustee Act 1953 stated that the Maori Trustee gave authority to officers to sign cheques or other instruments. So all the issues such as that one have needed to be modernised and moved forward. As for money held in the common fund and invested in the fund the select committee has recommended that the term “distributable income” replace the term “interest” in clause 11 of the bill. The Maori Trustee Act 1953 had required that interest earned from the investment of money in the common fund was paid into the general purposes fund. 
I certainly pay due respect to all of those staff members and the people who have given loyally to the Maori Trust Office—the management and those of our people who have passed on. That office is one of the most tangible things that we still maintain and have control of like our language. The land is our land generally—the lot that was not flogged—and we can do something about the stuff we have now. There is modernisation in the sense of ensuring that we lift the asset value to its capacity but the main thing about the usage is that we can trim the operation down ensure that owners are found and ensure the assets are utilised. I will not say “better” utilised because a lot of Maori assets are well maintained and well managed at the moment. The myth that everything is in scrub and bracken is starting to fade away. Our people are capable and our people want to compete in this modern world but—bear with me—I say again that it is important that the differentiations here need to be managed. But this is a good bill; I commend the Minister of Maori Affairs again and the officials.