Quinn Paul: Maori Trustee Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Quinn Paul: Maori Trustee Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
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PAUL QUINN (National) 
: 
 It is my pleasure to be able to take a call on this very important legislation the Maori Trustee Amendment Bill. 
I start by making a couple of comments about what I have heard in the debate. We are a very responsible Government but a number of times Opposition members have criticised us for not providing the opportunity to thoroughly debate bills as they pass through the House. I have been sitting here for some time and so far have heard only two members of the Opposition rise to speak; they were supposedly speaking to this bill yet neither of them actually spoke to it. I sat patiently and listened with great intent and interest hoping to hear some pearls of wisdom from my second cousin Mita Ririnui because of course one looks up to the elders to be inspired by their learned knowledge. All one can say in summary about what he had to pass on was that it was a whole lot of valedictions to members who have departed from this House—most of them booted out at the last election. I am not sure why he went through the process of mentioning them all and I guess embarrassing them by drawing the House’s attention to the fact they are no longer here. I am not quite sure but I guess he had his reasons. So I did not learn anything about the bill from him. We have just had a contribution from Ms Nanaia Mahuta and again sadly Ms Mahuta spent most of her time slagging off the National Party about its non-contribution if you will to Maori development and singing the praises in a wayward fashion of the previous Minister of Maori Affairs. 
Having been on the edges of the bill’s formation—if I can put it that way—one of the things that struck me is that it was introduced into the House in November 2007. I note also that an enormous amount of work was done prior to its introduction with lots of to-ing and fro-ing as to what would be in the bill in respect of getting it before the House. The simple fact is that although the name of the previous Minister the Hon Parekura Horomia is attached to the bill I suggest that it is there in name only. 
I say that because in the first reading debate the bill was fundamentally in two parts. One aspect dealt with the separation of the Maori Trustee from Te Puni Kokiri and making it a stand-alone organisation. The other aspect was about rolling that organisation into some sort of Maori incorporation. At that time the National Party opposed the bill simply because of the second limb of the proposal. The Maori Affairs Committee considered this bill and deliberated on it and it is pleasing to note that the intellectual grunt provided by the National Party members and Maori Party members on the committee at that time—now members of the current Government—clearly drove the restructuring of this bill. 
The bill before us now in its second reading is actually what the National Party wanted. That is the concept of a Maori incorporation—if I can phrase it in such a way; sort of a money-laundering thing—has been removed. It was the sort of thing that Shane Jones was probably keen to get his hands on simply because he is the master of double-dipping. In that respect I can enlighten the House that in 2006-07 he was double-dipping to the extent of an annualised figure in excess of $100000 in his role at Te Ohu Kaimoana. When he talks to me about double-dipping—for volunteer work in fact—I remind him of the large fees that he was earning not only at that commission but also from the taxpayer. He was taking from Maori people and the taxpayer to continue the lifestyle that he chose. I notice that he did not have his way because we removed the Maori incorporation— 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I think the member should be reminded to stick to the point of this bill and leave the testosterone alone. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Thank you for those comments. 
Nathan Guy 
: The member raising the point of order has been a member for a long time and she will realise that a first second or third reading is a wide-ranging debate. My colleague like the rest of the House is engaging in this robust debate under the Standing Orders. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Thank you for those comments. I will ask the member however— 
Hon Shane Jones 
: Mr Speaker— 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Is this a new point of order? 
Hon Shane Jones 
: Yes it is. I would like to point out the key difference between that member and myself: I was good at my job. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: That is not a point of order. I ask the honourable member Paul Quinn to continue and to confine his comments to the Maori Trustee Amendment Bill. 
PAUL QUINN 
: I think the  
Hansard 
 will demonstrate that I was talking about the separation of this bill at the moment the junior Labour whip stood to take the point of order. To say that I was not addressing this bill is not correct. Perhaps the member should have her hearing checked. 
I will get back to the point that was so rudely interrupted. The second limb of the proposal which I was talking about before I was interrupted has now been removed thanks to the leadership shown by the National Party and the Maori Party which are now the Government in taking responsibility for this bill. We are dealing now with only the reorganisation and the stand-alone nature of the Maori Trustee. 
I turn more specifically now to some of the detail in this bill. As I just said it establishes the Maori Trustee as a stand-alone organisation. The second intention of the original bill was to propose arrangements for a statutory corporation which of course we have now removed. So the two limbs that we are now talking about are first a stand-alone organisation and more important transparency—proper reporting back by those who must do so. The bill allows the Maori Trustee to be free from political pressure which of course was a concern given the way the previous Government used to appoint all its cronies—like Dianne Yates—to various boards as it tried to silently move those members on. Judith Tizard might have turned up on a board somewhere—who knows? The bill provides for better more open communication between the Maori Trustee and the beneficial owners. 
It is indeed with some pleasure that I stand and support the Minister of Maori Affairs who is now responsible for driving this bill through the House and who is showing outstanding leadership in that role—one that we are all very proud of as a Government. It gives me great pleasure to be able to join with my colleagues who spoke previously in giving my full and unequivocal support to this bill. Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker.