SpeechHon TE URUROA FLAVELL (Minister for Māori Development): Tēnā koe Mr Chair. Kia ora anō tātou katoa. As raised last night by the member Miss Whaitiri—she asked that I set out the premise of this particular part so I will endeavour to do so and help her and her colleagues along—in particular Mr Rino Tirikatene.This part of the bill covers the status of Māori land and provides for the new concept of whenua tāpui. Currently there are two categories of Māori land: Māori customary land and Māori freehold land. The bill continues to provide for these categories however since the focus of the bill is Māori land the status of general land and general land owned by Māori is not provided for in this particular bill.Māori customary land is a statutory recognition of land held by our people—by Māori—in accordance with tikanga Māori. The Māori Land Court will continue to have jurisdiction to determine whether land is Māori customary land. The bill however changes the court's role in relation to other matters associated with Māori customary land. In particular the court will no longer be able to create individual ownership interests.Māori customary land will be held in collective ownership. If the court changes its status to Māori freehold land the land will remain in collective ownership. This change is important. By protecting Māori customary land from disposal the relevant provisions reinforce the principle that Māori land endures as a taonga tuku iho by virtue of whakapapa. Consistent with providing for tino rangatiratanga the bill recognises that the mana to decide what happens with their land sits with the owners themselves. However the bill also supports the principle of retention by strengthening protections to prevent the loss of Māori freehold land.Parts 3 and 4 of the bill regulate owner decision-making processes and dealings with Māori land respectively.The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Trevor Mallard): I draw the member back to Part 2.Hon TE URUROA FLAVELL: I am; I am just getting there. The combined effort of these parts provides a strong protective mechanism. For example none of the critical thresholds for sale gift exchange or long-term lease of Māori freehold land have been reduced in any way under this bill. The thresholds for sale remain at least 75 percent of the shareholding in the land but unlike the current Act the bill enables owners to raise those thresholds up to 100 percent if they wish.The bill also continues to protect the right of those with a tikanga-based association with the land to have first right to acquire it on a sale and strengthens the process to protect that right under the current Act. The bill prevents Māori freehold land from being gifted to anyone who does not have a tikanga-based association with the land. The Māori Land Court will continue to have a role to ensure that these protection measures are complied with.The whenua tāpui regime replaces but is very similar to the current regime of Māori reservations. Under the bill's transitional provisions all existing Māori reservations will be referred to as whenua tāpui. The two-step process under the current Act—requiring a Māori Land Court recommendation and a gazetted decision by the chief executive of Te Puni Kōkiri—will now be replaced by a single-step process of a Māori Land Court order or for Crown land a gazetted decision by a Minister.The bill establishes administering bodies for whenua tāpui. This aligns with reserves under the Reserves Act. It provides for a recognisable legal entity for whenua tāpui and removes the current inconsistencies where for example the Māori Land Court appoints trustees for some Māori reservations but not others. The purpose for which whenua tāpui may be established is the same as that set out in the current Act for establishing Māori reservations although the language has been modernised. For example the term village site" has been replaced by "papakāinga housing site".The bill provides a pathway for marae and urupā to be owned collectively by the people they were set up for if that is the owners' wish. It also provides that land reserved as whenua tāpui cannot be disposed of.Kawenata tiaki whenua provides a simple and straightforward mechanism for governance bodies and their owners to protect places that are culturally or historically important or have special significance from a tikanga Māori perspective. Without this mechanism they would have to go through a costly process of cancelling existing governance arrangements seeking Māori Land Court agreements to establish a whenua tāpui over the special places and then re-establish a governance arrangement over the rest of the land. Not only is this a simpler process but it aligns with the recognition of tino rangatiratanga. This is because governance bodies on behalf of their owners will be able to establish kawenata tiaki whenua themselves without needing permission or approval from other outsider agencies or the court.That gives a good overview about what is in Part 2 of this bill. I will leave it for the Committee to debate."