Mooney JosephJOSEPH MOONEY (National—Southland): Thank you Mr Speaker. Look I just wanted to thank everyone who's contributed to the debate tonight and just respond to a couple of points.The National Party wholeheartedly recognises that Māori land is a sensitive issue and that's why this bill has been very very careful and has actually done a lot of work to strengthen the protections for Māori land for Māori whenua. So this would ensure that there's further protection to make sure that that land is not alienated from Māori. That's been a very very key component of this bill. But equally it is focused on how to unlock the potential of that land for Māori. Because we hear constantly that Māori cannot build on their own land they cannot develop their own land. You know we're talking about 5 percent of New Zealand which is in Māori ownership but cannot be utilised properly. That is an issue that has not been solved; I have not heard from the opposition tonight on how they propose to solve that issue.Look I note back in 2011 the Labour Party said the most effective way to ensure the wellbeing of Māori is to grow the position of Māori in the economy. The National Party wholeheartedly agrees with that position and that's what this bill is all about. Labour's 2011 manifesto further observed that Māori are no longer passive bystanders of the New Zealand economy; they are active participants.In 2018 the Māori economy was worth over $68 billion. Asset values have increased significantly since then. It's on track to be worth $100 billion dollars by 2030. That is fantastic and we want to support measures that can actually encourage that development. If we can help solve this issue of 5 percent of New Zealand landmass—1.4 million hectares of land—that is owned by Māori so they can utilise it themselves they can enhance the protection of that but also develop it and decide what is best for it; that was what we want to do and that is what this bill is about.I've heard just a couple of speakers talk about paternalism and this bill is actually quite the opposite. This is about enhancing the tino rangatiratanga of Māori in respect of the governance of their own land. The current Te Ture Whenua Maori Act unfortunately has an element of paternalism in it in that the Māori Land Court is required to make decisions in respect of pretty much everything in respect of Māori land. So that is actually paternalistic and we with this bill are actually trying to solve that issue and take it away from paternalism and give that power to Māori to decide what is best for them and the development of their own land.I do thank the member for Manurewa Arena Williams for writing to me today and for detailing at some length the reasons why she would not be supporting the bill. I would just say that this is not the same bill as the one she campaigned against a number of years ago. This bill has been the result of an extensive consultation including the circulation of exposure draft for submissions which is not usually done.The current version of this bill is the result of over 21 drafts considering feedback from submissions from numerous reports consultations 20 hui across the country and a select committee report. The real way to solve the issues that have been raised by the Government—the Government parties and Green Party—tonight is to actually send this to select committee so we can hear from submitters about how to solve these issues because these are complex issues.These have not been solved yet and the issue still remains. Māori cannot for example build papa kāinga on much of their land. That is something that's just not good enough in 2022 and this is what we want to solve.I do want to thank Nicole McKee from the ACT Party for engaging with me. I wrote to every member of every other party in the House and she was the only one who actually came back to me before today and interacted with me on this bill. It shows I think the value that the ACT Party places on actually trying to solve these issues.I acknowledge that the Government parties want to solve these issues as well but it would be good if we could move past just being partisan on these issues and actually look at how to solve them. Because I mean fundamentally we don't want to just kick the can down the road for another generation to try to fix. We need to actually do the hard mahi now for this generation of Māori land owners so they can get on the ladder and utilise the land for the betterment of their tamariki and future generations.I do acknowledge Nanaia Mahuta has put some measures in place but the valuation and rating of Māori freehold land for example is a symptom of the problem not a solution because Māori can't actually utilise their land to develop and use it for their own purposes. Thank you Mr Speaker.