Mahuta NanaiaHon NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Hauraki-Waikato): I join with Labour colleagues to support the passage of this bill and acknowledge the effort that its sponsor Catherine Delahunty has gone to to put together a case for it to be considered by the select committee.If we look at the evidence and the current shareholding of Māori land that has been retained one would see a disproportionate argument in the way in which Government members have said there would be unequal treatment. The reality is that huge tracts of Māori land have been taken either by confiscation through the Public Works Act through some deeds of sale that were a little bit dubious or through a number of measures. But it is right and I want to acknowledge that Treaty settlements in part are one way to address some of these historical wrongdoings of the taking of Māori land. I believe that the bill should go to the select committee because there will be a number of families with some very practical examples of where lands have been taken under the Public Works Act for a specific purpose and not given back to the families when it was not used.Let us look at Te Kūiti for example and the aerodrome there. I connect to the people of Maniapoto. This is a very good example where land was taken for a specific purpose not used for that purpose and for some reason got acquired by the local council and then for some reason got sold to a local lawyer who happened to be the lawyer of the council. It then became the aerodrome. There is no remedy for that family to be able to get that land back except by going through a tribunal process arguing their case and then saying: Actually what was supposed to be a public work which did not happen now has to be resolved by a Treaty settlement." I understand the nature of the historical I guess basis on which that issue arose but you can see how there would be a lack of faith by the several people who have had direct experience of a process that really does fail them.What this does is it raises issues that sit outside for example current processes. One of the biggest challenges for Te Ture Whenua Maori Act is that issues relating to the Public Works Act are not actually addressed at all within the context of that particular bill that is currently being considered by the Māori Affairs Committee. If the Government was genuine about equal treatment before the law then surely it would want to ensure that this bill at least gets through the first reading and goes to the select committee so that we can hear the breadth of interest around this particular issue. This is about protecting whenua. It is not about anything else but ensuring that people have a legitimate ability to protect whenua and I think that is an important thing.I listened carefully to the chair of our select committee who is a very good chair and his concerns around what he said was the unequal treatment in the application of this bill but you would only have to read the advice coming from the chief legal counsel around the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act test which is that there is justified reason for having a limited discretion in the way in which this bill proposes. I would say on that basis alone the House should seriously consider—if for no other reason than a fair hearing—passing this bill's first reading so that it would get to the select committee for a full consideration of the way in which the bill could actually impact not perceptually impact on the protection of Māori land that sits outside of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act and to then determine the extent to which it is an unequal treatment. I think the determination that was made which has Minister Finlayson's name on it will show that it is quite justified to have a measure of this level to be able to protect Māori land—what little Māori land is left in Māori hands.There are numerous examples throughout all our regions where land has been taken from Māori under the Public Works Act and the avenue to be able to secure it back has been a long and winding road. Many have had no prospect of relief. For that reason alone to the sponsoring member Catherine Delahunty I say that I certainly support the bill going through its first reading and to the select committee. I hope that members will consider it seriously."