Whaitiri Meka: Hawke’s Bay Regional Planning Committee Bill — In Committee Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWhaitiri Meka: Hawke’s Bay Regional Planning Committee Bill — In Committee Third Reading[Sitting date: 11 August 2015. Volume:707;Page:5686. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti):Tēnā koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Ngā mema o te Whare nei tēnā tātau katoa. E te hau kāinga kua tae mai nei nau mai hoki mai ki ō tātou Whare i tēnei wā i runga i te kaupapa whakahirahira o te wā nei. Nō reira hari koa ana te ngākau ki te kitekite anō i a koutou tēnā koutou![Greetings Mr Assistant Speaker. To the members of this House greetings to us all. And to the people from home who have arrived here come hither and welcome back to our House at this moment on this inspiring proposal of this time. Therefore it is so heartening to set eyes on you once again—congratulations!]I stand with members on this side of the House in wholeheartedly welcoming the third reading of this bill the Hawke’s Bay Regional Planning Committee Bill. Can I please acknowledge those who have travelled long distances to be here to hear the passage of this important piece of legislation. Can I acknowledge the origins of this bill being the Ngāti Pāhauwera Treaty Claims Settlement Act. Can I mihi to my whānau of Ngāti Pāhauwera Toro Waaka—good to have you here in the House. Also I acknowledge our whānau from Maungaharuru-Tangitū Tania Hopmans. Tēnei te mihi ki a koe ki a koutou katoa. I also see our chairman of the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council Fenton Wilson. Ka nui te mihi ki a koe Fenton. It is lovely to have you here again to witness the third reading of this important bill.I want to acknowledge the work of the Māori Affairs Committee. There was mention that we had eight submissions presented to the select committee. Six clearly supported this bill. Some had some reservations but I do want to acknowledge the work of the Māori Affairs Committee and our chair and our members here in bringing this bill back to the House. I want to say just in terms of the select committee process that I know that although there were only eight who actually submitted the importance of this bill was well discussed back home in terms of unlocking the co-governance arrangement which is clearly I think going to benefit the Hawke’s Bay region. When I see eight submissions I can almost triple that to know that the people at home have a very very keen interest in this particular bill and what it will enable. So I want to commend those who did submit.I also do not want to shy away from some of the points I raised in the second reading because if you are going to raise an issue then you want to stand by that. There were a couple of issues that I did raise in the second reading. One was around representation and I acknowledge all the iwi who are currently at the table. I wanted the issue around coverage—and I will again welcome all the iwi who are at the table. We still have a major entity back in the Hawke’s Bay Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Inc. which through the Maori Fisheries Act does have some responsibilities that will probably extend what we are passing through this bill. So the cautionary note I made at the second reading which I say again at the third reading was that it will be something that needs to be managed between the iwi at the table and the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council simply because we do not want anything coming unstuck over what we are starting to pass through this House here. Kōrero is definitely a better proposition to have than to be litigating in the courts so I just wanted to make that point.The other point I raised was one around skills and capabilities. I acknowledge the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s commitment of $100000 to help with the resourcing of this committee but again as we get into the technical areas of the Resource Management Act that requires quite a bit of investment particularly if you have got iwi at the table to unlock the intricacies I guess of the legislation that surrounds the Resource Management Act. Again I just raise that point to ensure that what we are setting up here is well resourced—well resourced—so that it can do the job that we all want it to do.I also want to acknowledge that in working out a co-arrangement that would best suit the Hawke’s Bay we did reference a similar arrangement in the Ngāti Awa and the Ngāti Tama claims to ensure that this particular arrangement was fit for purpose. So I want to acknowledge the research that went into that.I am glad to stand here to say that I am from the Hawke’s Bay. Our primary industry is critical to the survival of our economy. Having good governance and good decision-making ensures not only that our land and our water are protected but that they are allowed to grow the opportunities that we very much have become accustomed to in Hawke’s Bay and we also want to protect. So in accepting and supporting this bill I see it as a continuum of both iwi and local government having a say in the future of the Hawke’s Bay. I want to acknowledge the Minister’s introductory point around this committee’s role as being purely recommendatory and say that the final decision sits at the local government level. We have local elections coming up in 2016 and we will be encouraging as many people from the Hawke’s Bay—hopefully we will see more iwi at both the regional council as well as the city council.So I really want to support this bill coming through the House. I can see the potential and the fortitude that the negotiators of Ngāti Pāhauwera have set. I have shared my cautionary notes about ensuring that this is an ongoing arrangement. I also want to acknowledge the hard work of the Napier MP my colleague Stuart Nash who I want to say works really tirelessly for Napier and for the people of Hawke’s Bay. It is a pleasure to work with Stu and his absolute commitment not only to making us the best region in New Zealand but also to holding on to that log of wood when another colleague of ours hopes to be travelling down with the Northland team on Sunday to try to take it off us. So—The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): I am just going to warn the member against irony.MEKA WHAITIRI: I again want to assure the House that I look forward to the passage of the final reading of this bill. I can see the potential like I said that it will unlock in Hawke’s Bay. I wish that all the iwi who have come today and the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council let it be a model for all co-governance arrangements in Hawke’s Bay because I can see the opportunity that it will unlock there for our people whom we represent. I commend this bill to the House.