te Heuheu Georgina: Foreshore and Seabed Bill — In Committee Procedure 
te Heuheu Georgina: Foreshore and Seabed Bill — In Committee Procedure 
[Volume:621;Page:17160] 
Hon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU (National) 
: 
 I shudder to think what New Zealanders are thinking about Parliament this morning. They look to this place for leadership and I guess they just keep on looking—they will always keep on looking. In my view leadership has not been demonstrated by this minority Government not in the way it has put this whole process together and not in terms of the substance of the bill. This bill sets up a hoax. It is a cruel hoax. It promises everything to everybody then sets up a convoluted framework that will have people involved in judicial processes that will go on and on. At the end of the process the expectations that have been raised for all New Zealanders will surely not be realised. That is why I say it is not leadership.  
The main bill is called the Foreshore and Seabed Bill. It should be called— 
Hon Dover Samuels 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. I seek leave for the leader of the National Party to take a call. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Clem Simich) 
: No I do not want any points of order along those lines. That was actually out of order. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. I seek leave to take a call on behalf of the leader of the National Party. That is in order. It is! 
The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Clem Simich) 
: I know that the member’s comment is closer to being in order but I really do not want to hear any more points of order along those lines. [ 
Interruption 
] I am not giving an actual warning but it will be pretty sudden when I do. I do not want to hear such points of order. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. There have been two points of order that were totally out of order. Georgina te Heuheu should have her time from the beginning of her speech. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Clem Simich) 
: I accept that and I am well aware of it. She will have ample time. 
Hon GEORGINA TE HEUHEU 
: Mr Samuels has just demonstrated the kind of lack of leadership I was referring to.  
This bill is a hoax. On the one hand Winston Peters says to Maori: “Don’t worry your mana”—I am not sure how he sees that but I will give him the benefit of the doubt—“will be upheld.” Gosh he should tell that to all those Maori who are already planning to disrupt things this Christmas. On the other hand he says to all New Zealanders: “Don’t you worry. Your access to the beaches will be unimpeded because this foreshore and seabed will be in Crown ownership in perpetuity for your benefit forever and a day.” Clearly that is not true. He was wanting to be able to talk in that way before we knew that Nanaia Mahuta was going to support the bill anyway. Whereas Winston Peters kept saying that New Zealand First would fix it in the end his support probably was not required.  
This is all politics and we should not deny that. Politics have ruled this whole process and this bill since the Court of Appeal decision last year. A more appropriate title for Dr Cullen’s monument—this will be his monument no doubt; a bit of a cruel monument his epitaph—would be the “Foreshore and Seabed (‘We won. You lost. Eat that!’) Bill” because that is how he is treating New Zealanders in the bill he is presenting to Parliament and overseeing the passing of into law today. Shame on him!  
I am pleased that the Hon Dover Samuels can stand and give such confident assurance to New Zealanders: “Don’t worry. This Christmas you can go down to the beach take your slip-slop”—or whatever he said—“and your barbie. Everything is OK.” There is a report out this morning that Anaru Kira of Ngati Kura plans to block Dover Samuels’ own beach in Matauri Bay so that when he goes home either today or tomorrow he will somehow have to find access to his own beach. If that is a warning of things to come then this bill has failed badly in what it purports to do.  
I refer to the contribution from the Minister of Maori Affairs because he is the leading Maori. He holds the highest position on behalf of Maori and somewhere in his speech I think I was able to pick out one or two things. I could not understand most of it but I think he was alluding to the fact that all our young and bright Maori are developing and coming through. That is the one thing I do agree with him on. I do not know that there was much leadership shown there. However that is what we are stuck with.  
I say again to Maori people: “Don’t get angry! Don’t give them the benefit of seeing you get angry.” There is no point in that for our young people. I want young Maori in our schools and colleges to take hope because there is a whole side of Maori activity that is never talked about or proclaimed. I congratulate the entrepreneurs particularly Maori women in business and young Maori in business. I congratulate the Federation of Maori Authorities which oversees over a thousand economic entities some of them significant undertakings in managing multimillion dollar assets and in contributing to our economy. Members can see in this morning’s  
Dominion Post 
 if they have not already seen it a picture of a whole group of people having lunch on the side of Lake Taupo in a huge glasshouse. That trust the Tuaropaki Trust generates power and contributes to the national grid by supplying power to 30000 users. That is where Maori are at.