McClay Todd: Maori Trustee Amendment Bill — In Committee 
McClay Todd: Maori Trustee Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:653;Page:2774] 
TODD McCLAY (National—Rotorua) 
: 
 It is a great pleasure to take a call on this important bill the Maori Trustee Amendment Bill and Part 1 of it which we are speaking on. I was sitting in my office looking at the television and I saw my great friend Paul Quinn up on his feet telling the Opposition what this bill is all about. I was moved enough to walk from the building on the other side of the parliamentary complex and come to the Chamber to support Paul. He is a great speaker. 
I make reference to something that others have said earlier—in particular the Hon Nanaia Mahuta and her concern that the public of New Zealand should know that this was the previous Government’s bill. In fact all I have heard over the last 5 months is “Here is another one of our bills that we brought forward.” I put this down to the scattergun effect of a re-election strategy on the part of the previous Government. It put up a lot of bills did nothing at all about them but pretended it was doing everything so that the world would be a great place. When it was thrown out of Government by the people of New Zealand it said “This was our bill; we were going to fix this problem.” Labour had its chance and it did not fix the problems. 
Nanaia Mahuta also spoke about the very great member of Parliament for Hamilton David Bennett a second-term member who is now in Government. The member was saying she was unsure whether the people of the Waikato were proud that he was representing them. I ask David what his majority was on election night. Did it go up from that of 3 years ago? I think the answer to that is yes it did. I can confirm to the Hon Nanaia Mahuta with whom I had the pleasure of sharing a television platform and talking about issues to do with Maori people during the election campaign that I enjoyed doing that. She spoke a lot of wisdom there and I thought she was a very nice lady; I am not sure whether that is the case today. She has not yet said she will support this bill but I know she is going to despite all the excuses she gives us. Nanaia Mahuta spoke about my good friend David Bennett in Hamilton and she said he had been drinking too much water from the Waikato River. I have been to Hamilton. [ 
Interruption 
] It was from another catchment was it? Well I have been to Hamilton with David Bennett and I can confirm that that member does not drink water at all. 
As I come directly to the bill and Part 1 of it I say there are some very important things here particularly about the way that the Maori Trustee will be appointed. The Minister of Maori Affairs will appoint the Maori Trustee for a period of 5 years. This appointment must be made in writing. Trustees cannot take up the position until they receive their letter. They can be reappointed for other periods of time up to 5 years. It is important that the legislation states what is to happen in the case that a Government or a Minister has not decided on who may replace a trustee when the 5-year period is up. Let us think about the importance of that in the bill. Let us think about the situation a good 15 years from now when the members opposite are hoping to weakly limp back into Government. That could be three more appointments of trustees from now. A new Minister who has limped from the Opposition into Government 15 years from now might not be able to make up his or her mind whom to appoint or what should happen to the important money that is tied up in trust which the trustee administers on behalf of Maori landowners. What this legislation means is that the trustee would stay in place. The bill specifically says that until a Minister is able to decide who is to be appointed then upon the termination of his or her appointment the current trustee remains in place and continues to look after the people he or she is responsible for. 
When I looked at the Maori Trustee’s website I saw it makes great comments about Part 1 of this bill. It says the Maori Trustee’s role is to protect and enhance the interests of Maori clients and their resources. That is why it is important that Ministers make good decisions. Let us hope 15 years from now that the Opposition does not limp into Government because the current Minister of Maori Affairs is going to do a very good job in this area. 
It is important that the Maori Trustee is a stand-alone organisation. Why is this important? The Maori Trustee deals with a number of disagreements that have taken place between different agencies and sets those aside so that those who would benefit from the funds being held in trust can do so. The bill of course amends the Maori Trustee Act 1953.