Paraone Pita: Hawke’s Bay Regional Planning Committee Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeParaone Pita: Hawke’s Bay Regional Planning Committee Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 04 November 2014. Volume:694;Page:602. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]PITA PARAONE (NZ First):Ā tēnā koe Mr Assistant Speaker tēnā anō tātou. Koutou ngā manuhiri ngā kairīwhi o ngā rōpū i ’hakararangitia i roto i te pire nei e tū wāhi poto tēnei ki te tautoko ngā mihi i mihingia e tō tātou Minita mō ngā Take Māori ki a koutou ki te hou mai nei i roto i tēnei Whare. Nā reira tēnā koutou.[Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker and greetings to us once again. Acknowledgments to you the visitors and to those of you filling in for your parties and lauded in this bill. This is but a short call to endorse the tributes accorded by our Minister of Māori Development to you who came into this House. So greetings to you collectively.]I stand on behalf of New Zealand First to first of all indicate our support for this bill going to the Māori Affairs Committee. In doing so we certainly support the intent of it. The fact that this planning committee has already been in existence for a wee while now does beg the question as to why we should have legislation. It also begs the question why there is a clause in the bill that says that the committee once this bill is passed is to meet. The question that arises for me is what the position of those decisions made by the committee leading up to the introduction of this bill is. I have no doubt that during the select committee process that question will be answered.I think that the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and the respective groups that are listed in the bill should be commended for the approach they have taken to addressing these issues within their rohe. It does raise another question for us in New Zealand First if you consider the signals that the Government is making the intent in respect of the Resource Management Act. I just wonder whether or not the intended changes to that piece of legislation may mean that we are setting up a committee that probably could become toothless so to speak in that the very concerns that two parties particularly may have—tangata whenua and the regional council—may be removed from the original Resource Management Act. Again the select committee process is an opportunity for us to hear not only from officials but from the regional council and those iwi groups that are listed in this bill.The fact is though that this is part of a Treaty settlement and I think the Government needs to be congratulated on accepting this process. I just want to say to our relations in Ngāti Kahungunu that we from Te Tai Tokerau—and there are a number of us in this House—feel obliged that we should support our relatives albeit that they left us some centuries ago left us bereft and today we are still settling our Treaty claims while you progress. Tēnā pea tukuna mai he aroha ki a mātou o Te Tai Tokerau kia hoki mai ki te kāinga. Kia ahatia? Kia ahatia? Ko te mea nui kua tau kē tēnei pire. Nā koutou e hiahia ana kia kite atu i te ’hakamana o tēnei pire hei ture. Nā reira ki ā mātou i roto o Aotearoa Tuatahi e tū kaha ana ki te tautoko i tā koutou hiahia.[Perhaps you might consider cutting us of Northland a bit of slack by saying come home to do what to achieve what? The important thing is that this bill has been settled. You wanted this bill enacted. Therefore to us of New Zealand First we strongly endorse your wish.]Again this is just a short call. I commend this bill to the House.