Horomia Parekura: Maori Purposes Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
Horomia Parekura: Maori Purposes Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
[Volume:644;Page:13966] 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Minister of Maori Affairs) 
: 
 I move  
That the Maori Purposes Bill (No 2) be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be considered by the Maori Affairs Committee that the committee report back to the House on or before 27 March 2008 and that the committee have the authority to meet at any time while the House is sitting except during oral questions during any evening of a day on which there has been a sitting of the House and on a Friday in a week in which there has been a sitting of the House despite Standing Orders 192 and 195(1)(b) and (c).  
This bill brings together amendments to a variety of legislation related to Maori affairs including the Maniapoto Maori Trust Board Act 1988 the Maori Trust Boards Act 1955 the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 and Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993. On the whole the changes are in the nature of housekeeping. They update legislative provisions currently out of date or improve existing provisions. None the less they are important to the groups affected by these provisions. 
Firstly the bill will amend the Maniapoto Maori Trust Board Act 1988 and the Maori Trust Boards Regulations 1985 to provide for a seventh regional management committee to represent Maniapoto marae from the Kawhia Harbour region. Until this occurs a new regional management committee cannot officially represent its constituent marae on the Maniapoto Maori Trust Board vote on trust board matters or receive operational funding. By bringing about the formal recognition of the new regional management committee in legislation the bill ensures that Kawhia marae will be able to fully participate in the decision making of their iwi governance entity. The Maniapoto Maori Trust Board has also requested that the Act be updated to record the new name of the Maniapoto council of elders. Accordingly the bill replaces references to the council’s previous name Te Mauri o Maniapoto with its new name Te Kaumatua Kaunihera o Maniapoto throughout the Maniapoto Maori Trust Board Act.  
The bill will also align the minimum voting ages under the Maori Trust Boards Act 1955 and the Maori Fisheries Act 2004. Some Maori trust boards also act as trustees of their iwis’ fisheries settlement entity. This means in practice that when iwi members vote for members of their trust board they are also voting for the trustees of their fisheries settlement entity. There is confusion however over who is eligible to vote in these elections. Under the Maori Trust Boards Act iwi members must be 20 years or over to vote whereas under the Maori Fisheries Act 2004 18 and 19-year-olds can also vote. This inconsistency in minimum voting ages causes statutory compliance issues for trust boards. If trust boards let only beneficiaries aged 20 years or over vote they will comply with the Maori Trust Boards Act but be in breach of the Maori Fisheries Act. Equally if trust boards let 18 and 19-year-olds vote they will comply with the Maori Fisheries Act but be in breach of the Maori Trust Boards Act. To remove this confusion the bill will change the minimum voting age under the Maori Trust Boards Act to 18 years. This will bring the Act into line with not only the Maori Fisheries Act but also society’s common understanding of the age of maturity and the voting age for general and other elections.  
The bill will also remedy any irregularities in voting that may have occurred due to the inconsistency in minimum voting ages. Some trust boards may have opted to comply with the Maori Fisheries Act and allowed 18 and 19-year-olds to vote. The bill will validate instances where this may have occurred by providing that the election of trust board members prior to enactment of this bill will not be invalid on the basis of under-age voting. This validation will remedy any adverse effects of the statutory inconsistency and provide certainty for trust boards and beneficiaries.  
The bill will also execute a key condition of the agreement between the Crown and the Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board relating to Lake Taupo. In 2007 the Crown and the Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board came to a final settlement in relation to the trust board’s property rights in Lake Taupo. Under the agreement the trust board will receive a lump-sum payment and a new annual payment from the Crown. The bill will amend the Maori Trust Boards Act to provide for the new annual payment so that the trust board will begin to receive a key part of its compensation package. 
The bill will also provide for an increase in the membership of the Waitangi Tribunal from 16 to 20 members. The Government is committed to settling all historical Treaty claims by 2020. An important part of reaching this goal will be the ability of the tribunal to inquire into and report on the historical Treaty claims it receives. The tribunal is committed to completing this process by 2015 but has identified that to do so will place further pressure on its already busy membership. The bill addresses this issue by providing the tribunal with four extra members. It is hoped that this increased support will assist the tribunal to achieve its goal of inquiring into and reporting on historical treaty claims by 2015—contributing to the Government’s goal of settling all historical Treaty claims by 2020.  
The bill also makes technical drafting changes to section 6 of the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. Section 6 is a key provision of the Act as it sets out the rights of Maori to make claims against the Crown in respect of alleged breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi and the tribunal’s jurisdiction to consider them. Since the fisheries settlement in 1992 section 6 has been amended every time a settlement is achieved to specify the effect of each settlement on the tribunal’s jurisdiction. This drafting practice has led to 26 subsections being added to section 6 overshadowing its key provisions. Without the proposed amendment more subsections would be added as future settlements are achieved. The bill will move these subsections to a new schedule to the Act and add a single provision to section 6 stating that the jurisdiction of the tribunal is subject to the Treaty settlement legislation listed in the new schedule. Finally the bill tidies up a number of minor drafting errors in some of the other Acts and updates information as required.  
In conclusion I thank the many people who participated in the consultation process for these provisions. Although these amendments may be technical in nature they will create certainty for a number of Maori groups by ensuring that the legal frameworks in which they operate are up to date and reflect current situations.