Korako NukNUK KORAKO (National): Kia ora e Te Mana Whakawā. It is my pleasure to take this call on the Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill in the first reading. In the lead-up to this bill coming to the House I have had a number of people speak to me about it with the assumption that as someone of Māori descent with a number of interests in Māori land I would be supporting this bill wholeheartedly. That is not the case. But before I get into the reasons I think this bill is unnecessary and quite unhelpful actually. I want to acknowledge some of the common ground though that has actually been covered. The Public Works Act was in the past often used as a mechanism to alienate Māori land. A huge percentage of alienation of Māori land actually happened because of this Act. Our land was preferred for public works because Māori had less political power than anyone else actually in this country and so could not so effectively fight back against the alienation of land. Seizure of land under the Act happened without consultation—indeed with barely any communication—and in many cases the public works for which the land was used did not actually benefit Māori. In some cases there was no compensation paid for Māori land which was illegal under the Act but nevertheless it was another example of an abuse of power by the Government of the day. But that is not how the Public Works Act works in practice today—that is not how it works in practice today. The practices that allowed wholesale alienation of Māori land without consultation are actually no longer allowed under the Act—they are no longer allowed under the Act. We have debated many Treaty settlement bills in this House that provide full and final settlement to iwi for the confiscations that occurred under the previous versions of the Public Works Act—under the previous versions of the Public Works Act. Given the settlements and often official apologies that have been given and accepted for past wrongs and the fact that there is no prospect of the Public Works Act being used for ongoing confiscation of land that is why I do not believe that this bill is necessary. And given the way this bill creates a different regime for Māori and non-Māori I believe it actually has the potential to do more harm than actual good. If the member and her party believe that land should never be acquired for a fair price for public works then the member's bill she puts up should be to scrap the Public Works Act—just scrap it. That is not something that I would agree with because I think there are certain works that are in the public interest and the Government should actually have the power to compulsorily acquire that land. If the member was to disagree with me and put it up as a bill to repeal the Public Works Act I could respect it but what she has actually done instead is put up a bill that suggests that as a Pākehā her land should be open to compulsory acquisition while the Māori land in which I have interests needs a special protection not afforded to her land. Division" and "separatism" are words that are thrown around very lightly by some who oppose Treaty settlements who argue that the only way to be united in this country is to ignore the wrongs of the past and actually forget about our Māori heritage. These are words too often used as a dog whistle to those whose views are at best the result of ignorance of our history or at worst outright racism but many of these terms have been misused to oppose Treaty settlements. Māori involvement in resource management or in pretty much any policy that seeks to advance Māori or compensate them for the wrongs of the past—the risk of separatism and racial division in our country as we know is still very very real. This bill is the kind of provision that I believe does lead to separatism and actually racial division. Treaty settlements have a huge potential to bring our country together. So many things this Government is doing to improve educational outcomes for Māori to lift families out of poverty and to do a better job for our most vulnerable mokopuna have the potential to eliminate the divisions that currently exist between Māori and Pākehā. Māori have been disadvantaged in this country for far too long and I know that the sponsoring member and I will agree on that—we will agree on that—but the solution to that problem is to acknowledge the Crown's past wrongs to deliver the apologies that iwi have been waiting so long for to deliver the redress that provides a way forward for iwi to acknowledge the special place that iwi have in our country under Te Tiriti o Waitangi and to move into the future with a new relationship and a new understanding between the Crown and Māori. But the new relationship cannot be built on having special privileges for Māori. It cannot be built on special privileges. "Māori privilege" is actually a loaded term. It is a loaded term and another that is so often misused. Māori have been told that we are privileged since before the Treaty of Waitangi was signed but in most cases that just means we have had the privilege of having our land taken from us and our rights trampled on. There is no such thing as Māori privilege but in overturning and moving on from decades of ill-treatment by the Government our road to the future is not to have privilege bestowed on us by the member's bill. Our road to the future is to live as equals in our nation under Te Tiriti o Waitangi with the full rights and responsibilities of citizenship. That was what the Treaty of Waitangi should have given us; instead we got ripped off and disenfranchised. But the solution is not to create new rights for Māori that are not afforded to every other New Zealander. We do not want to be a special class with special privileges—we do not want to be that. We just want to be equal citizens in our own country. I cannot support this bill despite Catherine Delahunty's best intentions. They are your best intentions but this is not the right thing for Māori and it is not the right thing for New Zealand so I cannot support this bill. Kia ora."