Horomia Parekura: Maori Purposes Bill (No 2) — Second Reading 
Horomia Parekura: Maori Purposes Bill (No 2) — Second Reading 
[Volume:646;Page:15673] 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Minister of Maori Affairs) 
: 
 I move  
That the Maori Purposes Bill (No 2) be now read a second time 
. Maori Purposes bills are convenient vehicles to provide for the ongoing maintenance of a wide range of legislation that affects Maori. The Maori Purposes Bill (No 2) carries on this tradition by bringing together amendments to a number of Acts related to Maori affairs namely the Maniapoto Maori Trust Board Act 1988 the Maori Trust Boards Act 1955 the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 and Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993. The changes proposed in the bill are on the whole housekeeping in nature. They either update legislative provisions currently out of date or improve existing provisions. 
Part 1 of the bill amends the Maniapoto Maori Trust Board Act 1988 to update provisions in that Act including a name change for the Maniapoto kaumatua council and a formalisation of the establishment of a seventh regional management committee for Kawhia Harbour. Part 2 amends the Maniapoto Maori Trust Board Act 1955 to specify a minimum voting age for trust board elections and validates voting irregularities that may have occurred in the past. Part 2 also updates section 10 of the Act to reflect the new annual payment to be made by the Crown to the Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board under a new agreement relating to Lake Taupo. Part 3 amends the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 to increase the maximum membership of the Waitangi Tribunal from 16 to 20 members and it also makes technical drafting changes to section 6 of that Act. Finally Part 4 corrects two minor drafting errors in Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993. The Maori Affairs Committee has recognised the mechanical nature of these amendments and has recommended that the bill be passed without change. 
I take this opportunity to thank the Maori Affairs Committee members for their careful consideration of the bill. I also thank those who submitted on the bill and acknowledge their contributions to this important process. 
Although I have emphasised the technical nature of these amendments I note that their passage into law will be significant to a number of Maori groups. A case in point is the amendments to the Maniapoto Maori Trust Board Act 1988. Some years ago five marae from Kawhia Harbour came together to establish a regional management committee. The purpose of this committee is to provide a means for these marae to facilitate participation in decision making relating to their area. The Maniapoto Maori Trust Board fully supports the committee’s operation but cannot be provided with the necessary funding until the committee is properly formalised in legislation. This formal recognition will be achieved with the passage of the bill and these marae will be fully funded to continue their good work. 
I note that some submitters opposed the establishment of a regional management committee that represented two of these marae Te Mahoe Pa and Mokai Kainga. The Maori Affairs Committee asked my officials to consult with the Maniapoto Maori Trust Board on the issues raised by submitters and to clarify whether submitters had the mandate to speak on behalf of these marae. To these ends my officials consulted with the trust board and representatives from Te Mahoe Pa and Mokai Kainga marae. The trust board of Te Mahoe Pa and Mokai Kainga confirmed that they continued to fully support the establishment of the committee and did not support the korero of the submitters. The select committee acknowledges this further consultation in its report and agrees that submitters were not supported. I am glad that the committee was assisted by this additional information and I thank the trust board and marae representatives for their quick and clear response to this issue. I note that there is still a point of clarity to resolve in relation to how the consultation is described in the committee’s report. I requested that the committee consider correcting its report to accurately describe who was consulted on this issue. 
I move to the amendment to section 10 of the Maori Trust Boards Act 1955. This is a significant amendment for Ngati Tuwharetoa. It is on the passage of this bill that a key condition of the agreement between the Crown and Ngati Tuwharetoa relating to Lake Taupo will be triggered. In late 2007 the Crown and Ngati Tuwharetoa came to a comprehensive agreement relating to Lake Taupo under which the Crown agreed to pay the Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board a new annual payment. Before the trust board can start to receive the new payment on behalf of Ngati Tuwharetoa section 10 of the Maori Trust Boards Act needs to be updated to record the new amounts. Ngati Tuwharetoa has been waiting for this amendment to take effect so it can get on with business and realise the potential of its settlement. This will become a reality on the passage of the bill. On 1 July this year Ngati Tuwharetoa will start receiving its annual payment. 
We will also see the membership of the Waitangi Tribunal increase by four. Currently up to 16 people can be appointed to the Waitangi Tribunal. This will increase to 20 on the enactment of the bill. This expansion of the tribunal’s membership comes at an important time as the deadline for submitting historical treaty claims approaches. The tribunal is committed to reporting back by 2015 on all historical claims it receives. It has requested extra people power to meet this goal. With the potential to appoint four extra members the tribunal will be able to request additional expertise as and when it needs it over the forthcoming years to assist it to inquire into and report on all historical treaty claims. I take this opportunity today to thank current members of the Waitangi Tribunal for all their work. I hope that the provision of four extra members will help ease the pressure on current members particularly kaumatua members who work tirelessly to assist the tribunal in its important endeavour. 
With the passage of this bill we will also see the minimum voting age for Maori trust board elections lowered from 20 to 18 years. This will be a welcome change for those Maori trust boards that are also fishery settlement entities. These trust boards must comply with both the Maori Trust Boards Act and the Maori Fisheries Act. However both Acts have different voting ages which create problems with trust boards come election time. They have to ask whether they should let their older rangatahi vote as allowed by the Maori Fisheries Act or instead comply with the Maori Trust Boards Act and exclude them. Opting either way trust boards breach their statutory obligations under one or the other Act. 
Trust boards will no longer be in this bind once the Maori Trust Boards Act is amended. The lowering of the minimum voting age to 18 years will bring much needed clarity to the election processes of Maori trust boards. It will also mean that 18 and 19-year-old trust board beneficiaries can be legitimately involved in deciding who will manage their governance entity and fishery assets. As acknowledged by the New Zealand Maori Council in its submission on the bill the lowering of the voting age will also allow rangatahi to engage in a process that one day they will drive. The bill will also remedy any adverse effects that may have resulted from two different minimum voting ages being on the statute book. 
As I have mentioned some trust boards have complied with the Maori Fisheries Act and let 18 and 19-year-olds vote. Doing so technically breaches the Maori Trust Boards Act so it is necessary to validate the instances where this has occurred. I therefore wholeheartedly support the committee’s recommendation that the bill proceed as it is with no amendment. I hope that it progresses through its remaining parliamentary stages at a healthy pace and that these important legislative changes are realised in the very near future. I commend this bill to the House.