Paraone Pita: Maori Trustee and Maori Development Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Paraone Pita: Maori Trustee and Maori Development Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:645;Page:14575] 
PITA PARAONE (NZ First) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Tena ano tatou o te Whare nei. 
Firstly can I say that I take part in the first reading of this bill with some mixed feelings in the sense that it was not too long ago that I actually worked in the office of the Maori Trustee ending my term of employment with that office as the regional operations manager in Whangarei. In listening to the debate so far I empathise with the staff of the Maori Trust Office if they are listening to this debate. In the former Department of Maori Affairs when the services of that department were devolved there was a lot of anxiety amongst staff. I am sure that if Maori Trust Office staff are listening to this debate tonight their anxiety will certainly be heightened particularly by some of the comments that have been made. But having said that I suppose I do declare my vested interest in this particular bill because of my being a former staff member. 
I cannot continue without making some reference to the fact that the reading of this bill was commenced by the Minster of Finance. He said in his opening remarks that this was a very very important bill for the Minister of Maori Affairs and I was somewhat surprised that that Minister did not take the first call. However he did redeem himself by taking part when he did. 
I will reiterate some of the work that the Maori Trustee actually does. First of all the position is a corporation sole created by the enactment of the Maori Trustee Act 1953 and its role is to help manage Maori land. It is independent of the Crown but is subject to controls similar to those applying to Government departments. It reports annually to Parliament it has been in existence since 1921 and it is now governed by the Maori Trustee Act 1953. The Maori Trustee is responsible for acting either as a trustee or an agent for owners of Maori land usually in leasing that land collecting and paying rent and other income to owners investing trust moneys keeping landowners informed about how their land is managed and also looking after unclaimed moneys. As a consequence of that duty from time to time a list of unclaimed moneys is regularly published for distribution to organisations around the country. But the Maori Trustee also has the task of keeping landowners informed about how their land is managed and about the investment of trust moneys. 
I have to ask myself with this bill what new responsibilities will the Maori Trustee have? Can the intent of this bill not be implemented by way of any form of legislation other than separate legislation whereby this bill is calling for the separate establishment of an organisation called Maori Business Aotearoa New Zealand? If we look at the acronym it is MBANZ; I just wonder whether it should be “rubber bands”. I ask this question: why are we doing this? In terms of those who have already contributed to this debate and criticised the Minister I must say that I would have to side with the Minister as his intent is to look at the economic development of Maori. 
Hon Georgina te Heuheu 
: Can’t even do that properly. 
PITA PARAONE 
: Well that is why we ought to be supporting any legislation that does that for Maori. The big question surrounding this legislation that has been raised by a number of speakers tonight concerns the use of the $35 million that is currently in the general purposes fund. I know that the Minister through his department has had a number of consultation huis around the country— 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Who with? 
PITA PARAONE 
: —with various Maori organisations and some beneficiaries. But I have it on good authority—[ 
Interruption 
] 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Can I just advise members on both my left and right that the rules permitting interjections are predicated on the assumption that the person being interjected against has the call. There are members on my right and my left who do not have the call and therefore are not permitted to interject against each other. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. As a point of clarification my interjections were to comments that were made by the speaker not by another member of the House. I just want to clear that up. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I thank the member but the reality is that it has been going on all night. 
PITA PARAONE 
: Reference has been made to the sum of $35 million. At the present time I understand that that money is held in the general purposes fund of the Maori Trust Office. The big question is who actually owns that money. Although most of it is probably unclaimed moneys at the end of the day I believe that those still belong to the beneficiaries—whoever they might be and wherever they might be—or to their estates. However as I alluded to earlier on a number of consultation huis were held around the country. I am given to understand that no reference was made to the intended use of this money by the new organisation so I am not quite sure whether in fact Maori beneficiaries are aware of this. This is one of the reasons why New Zealand First will certainly be supporting this bill being referred to a select committee. We have always maintained that the select committee process gives the people of New Zealand the opportunity to have their say on legislation. I believe we will certainly hear from those who are affected by this bill and we will hear what their thoughts are on the use of this funding. 
The development of an old idea was what one speaker referred to earlier and he was making reference to a Maori bank. Perhaps this could be seen as a Maori bank but at the end of the day it can only be established at the behest of the Maori people of New Zealand. If they do not support it then what is the point of having something like this? 
Another question I would like to ask is why are we having a new entity? Why are we establishing an organisation a group that is alleged to be independent? I ask myself how independence can be had if the board in its make-up and the chairman—in this case the Maori Trustee—will all be Crown-appointed. I know that some members of the House have strong feelings about this and again I think that the select committee process will allow those who will be affected by it to express their views. And I ask this final question: why can legislative changes not be implemented outside the scope of this bill in order to achieve the aim that I am sure all members of this House want for New Zealand let alone for the Maori people? 
In conclusion I reiterate the stance that New Zealand First will be taking on this bill. We will certainly be supporting it going to a select committee. Kia ora.