Hipango HareteHARETE HIPANGO (National): Pō mārie Mr Speaker me koutou mā. [Good evening Mr Speaker. Good evening everyone.] I stand as the last speaker for the National Party in support of the bill—and acknowledgment to Tangi Utikere the member for Palmerston North. In my role as a list MP for the National Party from Whanganui I'm of the neighbouring city. I'm going to speak in terms of my Māori development relationship role that I carry for the National Party and the 'hakapapa—that's the genealogy—and the whanaungatanga—the relationships—that I have to Manawatū Palmerston North Papaioea—that's the Māori name for Palmerston North.This bill as has well been spoken to this evening is about an amendment to the Palmerston North Reserves Empowering Act 1966. The placement of the particular reserve is in a central part of Palmerston North not far from the Manawatū River and not far from a kura that my oldest daughter attended Tū Toa which is at the Hokowhitu campus. Again the correlation of the relationships of the people to the whenua: Rangitane are the mana whenua of this area.In my Māori development spokesperson role sitting on the Māori Affairs Committee this morning we heard from the Minister for Māori Development talking about papa kāinga and Māori housing. Through that lens I noted with particular interest that in the select committee bill the amendment—the bill will pass without amendment and the emphasis and focus was to insert a provision there to enable the council to be able to sell this particular reserve. The member from Nelson said that the amendment would be to sell it for housing or development. My understanding is that the amendment bill doesn't specifically state that; that was a preferred option of the council.What I did note that hadn't been noted within the select committee report—and I didn't sit on the Environment Committee—is that there was no consideration from the 29 submissions eight of those that were heard and from the members on that select committee for an option for the gifting or the return of the land. I looked through the Rangitāne settlement Act of 2016 to go to the redress clauses within that bill and to see what arrangement relationship association Ngāti Rangitāne has with the local authority and there's none that covers this particular reserve. But through my Māori lens and again the 'hakapapa and the whanaungatanga I questioned why there hadn't been consideration for that provision particularly when we know—and I don't know the particular 'hakapapa of this whenua and how it came to be as a reserve. But the amendment is specific that it only enables the district council if the reserve is deemed surplus to sell. And there is a provision also within the 1966 Act section 4A Power of sale" that specifically states under subsection (5) "No land shall be sold under this section for a price that is less than the capital value of the land".So this is the second reading. It's supported by the National Party. I flag that because it limits the district council only to the specific provision of sale as opposed to an opportunity or the discretion to gift. I did a little bit of Google research this evening not knowing that I was speaking on this bill until later this afternoon and I saw that the Tauranga Council back in December 2019 made the decision to gift surplus land back to tangata whenua stating that it was time to do the right thing. So I mention that because I've heard in the House this evening the significance and the importance of relationships but those relationships must hearken back to the 'hakapapa of the whenua—that this particular reserve is now going to be deemed under this amendment as only for sale and then the option for the district council to decide or deem for what particular use.In finishing I'll just talk about some of my whakawhanaungatanga. I talked about again the correlation of this whenua to the school Tū Toa which my daughter attended and relationships. I spent a lot of time in Palmerston North in my younger days netballing. The last time I was in Palmerston North was for the New Zealand Māori Netball Tournament earlier this year. Tū Toa: the origins of the school come from the Durie whānau Nathan Durie with his wife Yvette McCausland-Durie who have been mentors and exemplars for many of our Māori youth going through our education system. Tū Toa now named Manukura—Tū Toa still exists but the offspring of that is Manukura. Yvette McCausland-Durie has been an exemplar for our Māori youth in the sporting and in the academic domain and of course Yvette is well known as the coach of the netball Pulse team. So those are relationships and I remember in my younger days—and I know that my daughter when she was at Tū Toa now named Manukura used to train around this area through Ongley Park Manawaroa Park and around the Huia Street Reserve.So as I tend to I will always make a correlation of a personal association which I've done through those relationships. I acknowledge Ngāti Rangitane I acknowledge the Palmerston North District Council and councillors and the member in the House this evening who's sponsoring this bill through Tangi Utikere. As this bill goes to third reading perhaps those members on the select committee might turn their minds to possibly a Supplementary Order Paper possibly not but I look and I share and I express that there needs to be a diversity of how we look at these issues. Tēnā tātou katoa."