Bennett David: Maori Trustee Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Bennett David: Maori Trustee Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:654;Page:2864] 
DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East) 
: 
 For anyone who does not know that was the previous Minister of Maori Affairs a Labour member who was speaking. He has talked about this bill as being imaginative and something that is good for Maori. When we compare that comment with a Labour member who spoke before him who said it was dull conservatism we see that the Labour Party does not actually know what it thinks about this bill. On the one hand it looks at this bill and sees it as being imaginative and something it wants to support. On the other hand it cannot say it supports the bill because it cannot support the National Party doing the right thing by Maori. That is the reality behind the Labour Party. 
When we look at the Maori Trustee Amendment Bill we see there are two parts that were originally considered. Part 1 which I do not think anyone has any problem with establishes a stand-alone Maori Trustee organisation. People see the benefit in that. Recognising that reflects the maturity of Parliament and a maturity in the way we deal with issues of land ownership. The second area of this bill which is more contentious is related basically to the siphoning off—as the great Tau Henare described it—of money into a fund that Labour would use to invest in what it thought was right at any particular time. That was more contentious because it did not relate to any aspect of land ownership. 
There is an increasing maturity in how we deal with the issues that need to be dealt with by Parliament. The National Party has supported the legislation coming forward but only in the sense of Part 1 which deals constructively with the issue of trying to find a solution that represents more modern thinking around land ownership. It gives Maoridom the ability to have control over that ownership through the Maori Trustee being a stand-alone organisation rather than just an employee of Te Puni Kokiri. That is part of the process that will go on. It still enables the unique aspects of Maori ownership to be part of what the Maori Trustee will deal with but in an increasing role of independence from the State and independence from a Government department that is in control of Maori land. I think that is a good starting point and it will probably lead to more development over time in this area in the future. 
If we go back to what Labour was looking to do when it originally introduced this bill it wanted to have control over another slush fund to dictate where that money would go. That is basic Labour theory: that it knows best how to spend somebody else’s money. It does not trust other people to be able to deal with their own assets. It certainly does not trust Maori to be able to deal with their own assets. Labour says that it knows best. That was the whole decision-making process behind the Labour Party. At the select committee and at the last election the good people of New Zealand decided that they did not want to be told any more that the Labour Party knows best. They want to have the ability to make those decisions for themselves. They want independence. 
Hon Parekura Horomia 
: Like the ACC board! When was that? 
DAVID BENNETT 
: The previous Minister of Maori Affairs is going on about things that do not even relate to this bill. If he actually stayed on the point and talked about what was in the best interests of the Maori Trustee it would be more appropriate for this debate. That is what we are doing; we are concentrating on the issues at hand we are looking at what is in the best interest of Maori and the Maori Trustee role and we are coming to constructive solutions that are in the best interests of New Zealand and the Maori Trustee going forward. 
That independence is actually very important because the title of this bill identifies an entity that we commonly consider has an independent role—a trustee. When we talk about legislation related to a trustee we normally expect the person to be independent and making the right decisions in relation to looking after somebody else’s funds. That is what we are doing here. We are setting up a stand-alone organisation that is free from political pressure which I know Labour members find very difficult to stomach. They want to have organisations that they can control so they can dictate their terms but the National Government does not want that. We want something that is free from that political pressure.