Flavell Te Ururoa: Military Manoeuvres Act Repeal Bill — First Reading 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Military Manoeuvres Act Repeal Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:666;Page:13818] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Kia ora tatou. For starters I acknowledge Mr Bakshi for having the Military Manoeuvres Act Repeal Bill pulled out of the hat because I know what it is like trying to get a bill out of the hat especially a member’s bill. So I congratulate him. I support the general comments in respect of wiping the Military Manoeuvres Act off the statute book. It has not been used for 30 years. Obviously the Maori Party will support that move. 
I want to take the opportunity to give some other background to this bill and to acknowledge a kuia who has passed away today and to put that into some sort of perspective. There is a bit of history here but it goes back to the Military Manoeuvres Act of 1915 which says any land can be made available to the New Zealand defence forces for military manoeuvres. In talking about that law today for the information of those who do not know this I say a kuia by the name Te Manawanui Pauro of Kaiwhaiki in Whanganui is being mourned. I am told that 103 years was her age. She passed away today. I can imagine that in her lifetime she would have welcomed home—[ 
Interruption 
]—troops who went away overseas in World War I. So it adds another dimension to this debate to think that this amazing kuia of over a century in age in her lifetime would have seen and experienced the Military Manoeuvres Act in operation. 
As other speakers have said basically that law enabled the Governor-General to declare that any land could be made available for military manoeuvres such as military training or war games. It was a special circumstance I believe: a bill passed as a reaction to the advent of the First World War and the consequences of military mobilisation. The question is whether it is still necessary to conduct such military manoeuvres today. In light of the fact that the legislation has not been used for 30 years the answer is that it is probably not necessary. 
Any legislation that is used to justify the taking of Maori land will provoke extra scrutiny in particular from us. So in the course of researching this bill we approached the Ministry of Defence to understand whether the law had had any immediate impact on Maori land Maori landowners or even Maori personnel working in the forces. The Military Manoeuvres Act did not permit the taking of land for defence purposes but rather permitted the New Zealand Army to occupy land for military manoeuvres by proclamation—in other words for temporary activity. No interest in the land was ever required so that is pretty good. The land always remained owned by the legal owner and its use by the Defence Force ended with the end of the military manoeuvres authorised by the proclamation. 
That is not to say that Maori land was not acquired for defence purposes—it certainly was—but that was under the Public Works Act 1981 which was obviously a fair way on in time from the Military Manoeuvres Act. The Public Works Act was the focus of my member’s bill earlier in the year. The Waitangi Tribunal has found that the compulsory taking of land and resources without consent and sometimes without compensation by legislation unsanctioned by Maori communities has given rise to an enduring and powerful grievance. My bill proposed that land sold to the Crown should be offered back to the original owners and/or their descendants or that compensation should be offered. As we all know that fine bill was voted down so the vexed issue of the acquisition of Maori land and more important its return will remain to be dealt with on another day. Suffice it to say that the impact of the Public Works Act has been significant right across areas of current legislation and in this bill. For instance land was acquired in 1915 at Featherston for a camping ground under the provisions of the Public Works Act 1908. In fact the New Zealand Defence Force still holds lands at Trentham Military Camp under the public works and reservations legislation. 
We cannot address the issue of the public works legislation in this bill but we see no reason not to support the initiative put forward by Mr Bakshi to repeal the outdated Military Manoeuvres Act. As such as I said we will support this bill when the vote is taken on it.