Young Jonathan: Public Works (Offer Back of and Compensation for Acquired Land) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Young Jonathan: Public Works (Offer Back of and Compensation for Acquired Land) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 17 June 2009. Volume:655;Page:4429. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
JONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth) 
: 
 Let me acknowledge the generosity of the Maori people over the years in supporting this great nation of New Zealand that we are building together. I also acknowledge the excellent effort that Mr Te Ururoa Flavell has put into presenting this Public Works (Offer Back of and Compensation for Acquired Land) Amendment Bill from the Maori Party. I congratulate him on his first member’s bill which we as a Government are very very happy to support being referred to a select committee. As a member of the Local Government and Environment Committee I look forward to the opportunity to go through this bill and be part of the discussion and debate that will see some of the issues come to the fore. 
I will just bring clarification to a matter raised by that colleague in the ACT Party David Garrett. I say that I am also pleased to acknowledge that although there was a long dispute regarding the area of land in Raglan that was turned into a 9-hole golf course—it was going to be turned into an 18-hole golf course—back in 1981 it was returned to the local iwi. Significantly my father the Minister of Lands at that particular point in time was part of the facilitation of that. So I count it a great privilege today to stand here in this House to speak on such an issue an issue that I believe is of the utmost importance to the people of New Zealand’s plan as a nation to go forward together as people of this great territory. As my colleague Nicky Wagner has so aptly stated the Crown must act in good faith towards Maori. To take land for a specific purpose and not use it for that purpose without returning it to its original owners is potentially in breach of the good faith that we believe we must be engaged in to go forward as New Zealanders. So we support this bill in its first reading and support it proceeding to the select committee. 
This is a significantly complex bill not necessarily in its drafting—although I congratulate the drafters on their good work—but in its implementation. It touches on many aspects of public amenity. If a public amenity has been moved from its original purpose—for example a railway station may have been converted into a public park—it is deemed to be surplus and will be offered back to the original owners. That creates a complex process of implementation which is why at the select committee level we are going to enjoy working through the intricacies that this bill presents. But it is a process that I believe is important to pursue in order for this nation to continue to go forward. 
In 1981 a new regime was introduced in New Zealand to protect the original landowners. It required the Commissioner of Works now the Chief Executive of Land Information New Zealand or a local authority to dispose of land no longer required for a public work to the person from whom the land was acquired—the former owner. In the case where the former owner was deceased the land was offered to the former owner’s successor. If there was no successor then finally the land was offered for public sale. 
It is the current policy of State-owned enterprises to offer surplus public land to the land bank that holds public land for Treaty settlements. This allows the land to be made available to iwi as they progress in their Treaty of Waitangi settlements. However although that may appear to be a reasonable action to enable the redress of Treaty issues there is the issue that the original owners of the land a specific hapu or iwi may not actually be part of the iwi group who negotiate with the Crown for that land. So in a sense although Treaty issues can be redressed through that measure possible disenfranchisement may continue. This bill seeks to offer land acquired for public works back to the original landowner at the time when the land was acquired or taken. This in fact will stop the process of unused land being land banked. 
I believe that this is a bill that New Zealanders will want to participate in discussing and we encourage New Zealanders—Pakeha and Maori alike and all people who count New Zealand as their home—to participate in making submissions to the select committee. 
Debate interrupted.