Horomia Parekura: Maori Purposes Bill — First Reading 
Horomia Parekura: Maori Purposes Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:668;Page:15363] 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Labour—Ikaroa-Rawhiti) 
: 
 E tika atu ki te mihi atu ki te ahua o te pire nei. E mihi kau ana ki te Minita Maori mo tona kaha ki te whakaoti atu i tenei take e tu roaroa atu. Mai i te timata o te korero mo te pire nei e tika atu ki te mihi atu ki te kuia whaea morehu a Nan e rere atu e tapuke atu ra ratou i te wahi ra o Pakipaki.  
[ 
It is appropriate that I acknowledge the make-up of this bill. I congratulate the Minister of Maori Affairs on his efforts in bringing this longstanding matter to fruition. I commend matriarch Nan Bartlett who was involved in the genesis of this bill from the outset and who lies in her resting place at Pakipaki 
.] 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: I am sorry to interrupt the member. Our interpretation channel is not working. We are asking for the interpreter to come in. [ 
Interruption 
] The interpreter is here. I ask the member to start from the beginning again because we have not had an interpretation. 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: Tena tatou. E tika atu i runga i te tu nei ki te mihi atu ki te pire nei te otinga e mau roaroa atu engari e tae atu tatau e tata ana ki te otinga. E tika atu ki te mihi atu ki te Minita Maori i mau atu i te take nei ki roto i te Whare hei oti pai atu nga take e wha e puta ana mai i te tuhinga nei. E mihi kau ana ki te rere haere o te whaea matua o te whanau nei a Nan Bartlett e tapuke atu ratou a te kuia ra i te wahi o Pakipaki. 
E kite atu tatau te timata mo te korero mo te poari o Pukepuke Tangiora e pai ana tera e haere atu ki te korero mo te hi ika tera ano wetahi o nga take e roaroa atu. Na te korero i roto i te pepa nei mo nga poari o nga whenua me nga take e pa ana ki ia iwi ki ia iwi kei te puta atu i roto i te tuhinga nei. Ko te ture whenua wetahi o nga tino ture e tuku atu tatou a ngai Maori mai ra ano. Na te pai hoki e whitiwhiti atu tatou nga take e wha hei oti pai. 
[ 
Greetings to us all. How fitting it is that I rise to commend this bill as it nears its concluding stages. It has been a long time in the making but we are nearly there and close to completion. It is fitting that the part played by the Minister of Maori Affairs in bringing this matter to the House is acknowledged so that the four issues that emerge in this document are addressed satisfactorily. I acknowledge the matriarch of this family Nan Bartlett who seemed to be here there and everywhere in the process and who lies buried there at Pakipaki. 
We saw the beginnings of the talk pertaining to the Pukepuke Tangiora Trust and that was fine. It went there to talk about fishing but there were also some longstanding issues. Now included in this document is a statement about the boards of the lands and the issues relating to each tribe. From a long way back the Land Act has always been of huge significance to Maoridom. The great thing about it is that we can exchange views about the four issues and arrive at a satisfactory outcome. 
] 
Labour will certainly be supporting the Maori Purposes Bill brought here by the Minister of Maori Affairs. The bill brings together four separate relevant issues that have been spread out over a period of time. The Pukepuke Tangiora estate is one that has developed its assets and progressed the fortunes of the beneficiaries. It is seen fit for the bill to ensure that the beneficiaries can define for themselves how they want to do things and that is something we support. The rationale of moving it to the Maori Land Court is something that needs a bit more work. We cite that it is being unbundled from the Crown but it is going to the Crown in a different form so we need to be really clear on how we are differentiating that. The departure in one sense—from what I have heard from the Minister of Maori Affairs—and still hanging on at the end is something that needs to be differentiated because I do believe that the Minister of Maori Affairs should not be too far away from supporting the beneficiaries and the estate. 
The bill removes as earlier suggested the Crown’s involvement in the administration of the estate and confirms the Maori Land Court’s jurisdiction. That is quite interesting because in the initial stages the removal from the courts was one of the essences really pushed by the trustees and the beneficiaries and it is going back there. We will see how it progresses over time. The bill also extends the distribution period to 5 years after the death of the last remaining life beneficiary in order to provide sufficient time to make decisions on a future governance entity to hold and manage the estate assets. This is certainly supported but surely if they can come to an agreement within 3 months 6 months or 1 year then I hope there is enough in the legislation to allow that and that the period is not prolonged for the sake of setting a time line that has outreached too far. 
The original will of Pukepuke Tangiora which came into effect in 1938 provided for the estate to be managed for the benefit of her son his wife and their nine children. A number of changes have been made to the administration of the estate through legislation from 1943 to 1976 resulting in the Crown being involved in the appointment of trustees the fixing of trustees’ salaries and the expenditure of certain funds. If it is now about putting the onus on the beneficiaries then that is well done if they are supported. It would be too untoward to hope that no differences will arise but how that is managed is another issue. 
Also under the will of Pukepuke Tangiora as modified by legislation in 1943 the residual estate will be distributed to beneficiaries on the death of the last remaining life beneficiary. It is important that we define that again. How do we quantify “residual” in the sense of this estate where does it go and why does it need to go? The collective effort of the past trustees and the beneficiaries’ guidance has seen the estate grow consolidate and be well worth while for the family. 
Officials consulted the trustees and beneficiaries. The trustees support the amendments and the beneficiaries support the removal of Crown involvement but are unable to agree on the appropriate length of time for the extension period. That is something I think needs to be firmed up in the legislation as we pass it through Parliament. We need to be quite clear so that they have options; it should not be so defined or narrowed down that they cannot move. This is supposed to be about freeing things up for the sake of the beneficiaries. It would fare well if we were a bit more definitive in relation to how the funds of the estate are distributed. Certainly people like Nema Bartlett and the other trustees need to be commended for the efforts they are presently putting in. 
I move on to the amendments to the Maori Fisheries Act 2004. The bill will allow the transfer of the status and certain fisheries settlement assets of a mandated iwi organisation to another separate entity within the governance arrangements of the same iwi. That is a very very strong banner that needs to be supported to ensure that it becomes what it says and that it means what it says. At the outset of building the mandated iwi organisations there were tensions and strains over who should manage them—the capability of our people. It has been well proven in the sense of Maoris’ role in managing the fisheries estate and business; they have lifted it to a level in recent years that it was never lifted to before. Currently the Maori Fisheries Act 2004 prevents this transfer without triggering protective provisions requiring the sale of assets to the highest bidder from other iwi organisations and Te Ohu Kai Moana Trustee Ltd. This is an unintended consequence of the legislation and to ensure that the assets are still within those iwi who choose to maintain them within their organisation brings another opportunity to the fast-growing asset-holders in this country—that is Maori iwi. I think that is really good. 
The Maori trust boards issue has been a long journey. Years ago when I was the Minister of Maori Affairs in the beginning the books were behind by 6 years on average. Now that they have been tidied up the trust boards have caught up. It is certainly encouraging to hear that people put the responsibility of the running and the development of these assets and the maintaining of the trust boards’ interests back on to the beneficiaries. Again I would encourage the Minister of Maori Affairs not to be too far away from that action. Some trust boards are firing ahead very very well. They have sizable assets and a lot of support like the Tuwharetoa board and others but there are— 
Paul Quinn 
: Ngati Awa. 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: —and like the Ngati Awa board—others that are struggling. Some are like the Ngati Awa board which is progressing very well since it has had new management and support all around it. All of those who are involved in developing it need to be thanked as is the case with all the trust boards. But the time has come when we have enough strength we have enough capability and we have enough modernisation and we do not need to be patronised. I would certainly commend that we support these changes albeit they are incidental. I commend this bill for further discussion.