Harawira Hone: Insolvency Bill Companies Amendment Bill Insolvency (Cross-border) Bill — Third Readings 
Harawira Hone: Insolvency Bill Companies Amendment Bill Insolvency (Cross-border) Bill — Third Readings 
[Volume:634;Page:6179] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Maori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
Tena koe Mr Speaker. Tenatatou katoa i te Whare. The other day I was reading an article about Frank Acheson judge of the Tokerau district North Auckland and president of the Tokerau District Maori Land Board back in the 1920s. The article provides a good starting point for discussion on these bills. Judge Acheson had a whole host of ideas with which to address Maori poverty in the north. He believed that the only way to deal with poverty was to establish long-term development schemes through which Maori could develop their remaining tribal lands. One such scheme was a dairying project up Shane Jones’ way in the far north. 
Acheson’s decisions as a judge were variously described as being innovative and alarming. He was involved in a series of Maori claims to the foreshore and ruled that the Native Land Court could issue title a decision backed by the Court of Appeal in 2003. He prepared a report for NgatiWhatua in which he concluded that the Orakei block should have been protected from alienation. He insisted that he could take judicial notice of the Treaty of Waitangi in the case of Lake Tangonge near Kaitaia. In his 1929 judgment on Lake Omapere he ruled that Maori customary law recognised the ownership of lakes that in 1840 Lake Omapere was the property of Ngapuhi and that Ngapuhi’s rights were protected by the Treaty of Waitangi. Judge Acheson had his flaws—we all do. But for all that he was a far-sighted and exceptional New Zealander who did his bit to create a history we could all be proud of. That is of course until 1943 when he was suddenly inexplicably and compulsorily retired. Why? Because of the alleged insolvency of the Tokerau District Maori Land Board. 
The case of Judge Acheson shows us that being innovative progressive and enterprising is no guarantee to a positive business outcome. It also proves that if one’s spirit of enterprise takes one down the road that is scorned by the mainstream then that mainstream will happily use any shaky financial situation to close one down. These bills are supposed to enable people like Acheson to deal with financial difficulty and to still be open and innovative. The Maori Party welcomes the opportunity for people to bounce back from insolvency and fully participate again in economic life. It was an opportunity Frank Acheson was deprived of. His efforts to protect Maori customary land were right and will be remembered through the commitment that the Maori Party has made to repealing the Foreshore and Seabed Act and to giving the Maori Land Court the right again to consider Maori land title applications. 
That opportunity to start again is a vital part of these three bills. Of course it is better if we can stop people getting into strife in the first place. We note the advice from the Federation of Maori Authorities which has spoken out continually about how business success is limited by our Draconian tax laws which are so costly and cumbersome that small businesses just cannot keep up. The Federation of Maori Authorities also suggested that the Government set up some early intervention strategies for businesses in difficulty. I cannot help but recall the findings from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor that although Maori are innovative and enterprising only 37 percent of Maoribusinesses survive beyond 3 years compared with 62 percent for non-Maori. If the Government were to adopt the Federation of Maori Authorities’ proposals for early intervention Maori businesses and thereby the whole economy would benefit. The Maori Party would be keen to see how the Minister responds to this positive suggestion. 
On top of that of course there is the dreaded Inland Revenue Department which likes to tax poor people for every dollar they earn while allowing the corporates to get away with their tax scams. The department has placed itself at the head of the creditors’ queue that forms when companies go belly up. The Commerce Committee also recommended a number of options to make for easier wind-ups such as allowing judgments to be handled electronically rather than in person—which kind of reduces the human dimension the kanohi ki te kanohi but provides another choice. 
 I would like to return to the idea of Crown priority whereby the Inland Revenue Department gets first cut in insolvency cases. I raise this in the context of the Government’s recent victim Te Wananga o Aotearoa. It was said to be near bankruptcy last May when the Minister of Education said that the wananga was in danger of not being able to pay its staff and a lot of its creditors. In announcing the crisis the Minister said: “the financial situation at the wananga is so precarious that I am obliged to take all action available to me under the Education Act for the sake of the students staff and creditors. To not do anything would be irresponsible.” 
Yet just a few months later the Waitangi Tribunal found that in fact the Government had breached its Treaty obligations by forcefully limiting the type and range of education that the wananga could provide by undermining the wananga’s authority by failing to ensure that partnership agreements were concluded by taking control of the institution and by failing to ensure continuing consultation. I raise the wananga case because to have instituted Crown priority would have only made the problem worse and ignored the real issue—the breach of the Government’s Treaty obligations. 
Crown priority was dropped in the UK in 2003 to encourage businesses to get back on their feet and to ensure that creditors were paid out as well—moves that the Maori Party wholeheartedly supports. Our emphasis throughout this whole debate has been based on our kaupapa of manaakitanga whanaungatanga and kotahitanga in order to limit the damage to positive business relationships to support business rehabilitation and to encourage people to get back on their feet rather than punish them for their efforts. We welcome the introduction of more flexible ways of dealing with insolvency. We encourage consideration of positive early intervention. We support a review of business tax to facilitate greater employment better wages and higher investment research development and innovation. 
We urge the Government to heed the call of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor to provide support to Maori businesses after the initial flush of business start-up has worn thin. As Pita Paraone has often said what is good for Maori has to be good for the country. Kia ora tatou katoa.