Whaitiri Meka: New Zealand Mission Trust Board (Otamataha) Empowering Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWhaitiri Meka: New Zealand Mission Trust Board (Otamataha) Empowering Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 07 May 2014. Volume:698;Page:17599. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti):Tēnā koe.Tēnātātou katoa. I am honoured to stand in support of my fellow Māori Affairs Committee members in supporting the second reading of the New Zealand Mission Trust Board (Otamataha) Empowering Bill. Like my colleagues on this side of the House I am committed to a fast and swift passage of what is an important bill for thehapū of Ngāti Tapu andNgāiTamarāwaho of Tauranga Moana.Just to remind us all the aim of the bill is to transfer certain assets of the New Zealand Mission Trust Board in Tauranga to the Ōtamataha Trust to be held on the trusts set out in the Ōtamataha Trust deed so that the assets and any income derived from them can be used for the benefit of thehapū of Ngāti Tapu andNgāiTamarāwaho.Every Treaty settlement or related bill is unique. They do share some similarities but each and every one of them has their unique characteristics. As a member of the Māori Affairs Committee it was no surprise that when one of our submitters presented it was clear that the issue of inclusion came up. That was thewhānau fromNgāiTūkairangi. As we see in a lot of Treaty bills somewhānau or somehapū do not see theirhapū named in bills and feel excluded or left out.On this particular occasion when we travelled to Tauranga Moana we were presented with a submission urging the select committee to includeNgāiTūkairangi as beneficiaries of the Ōtamataha Trust. I want to go on record as saying that the select committee did give this significant consideration in terms of what we would present back to the House. I thought it would be useful to just feed back what the select committee said in relation toNgāiTūkairangi’s submission for inclusion in the trust.Essentially the select committee considered whether the bill should be amended to includeNgāiTūkairangi as beneficiaries of the trust. That was important to those who submitted. We understand that when membership of the New Zealand Mission Trust Board was given tohapū in the 1990sNgāiTūkairangi chose to withdraw from involvement in the trust. The Waitangi Tribunal has found thatNgāiTūkairangi hold interests in the land in question but the strength of their customary interests has not been determined.We considered the inclusion ofNgāiTūkairangi as a thirdhapū beneficiary of the new Ōtamataha Trust but we believe that their interests must be balanced against the wishes of the existing trustees in the deed of the new trust. The Ōtamataha Trust deed was amended by the New Zealand Mission Trust in March 2014 to allowNgāiTūkairangi members to benefit from the Ōtamataha Trust through their whakapapa links to the historicalhapū of TeMaterāwaho whose connections to the land are now recognised in the trust deed. The definition of Ngāti Tapu has now been extended to include any person with the above whakapapa. So the point around its inclusion in this particular bill was I felt like I mentioned earlier given enough consideration and the conclusion of the trust is that the uri ofNgāiTūkairangi benefit from the trust as they share whakapapa with Ngāti Tapu.The second point that is unique to this particular bill or that this bill brings to mind—and it was mentioned by a member in the House Catherine Delahunty—is the role of churches in our history as a nation and not just historically but also in the economic make-up of this nation. It was touched on in terms of how many churches and missions have benefited economically from Māori land and Māori whenua. In thinking about this particular bill we see it gifting back to the rightful owners and thehapū mentioned but it did bring to mind the many other trusts and mission societies out there that are sitting on what was considered very fertile and prosperous Māori whenua and that I also encourage to participate.One that comes to mind is the Te Aute Trust Board. I do want to mihi to my fellow members who mentioned our Māori boarding schools. I have two in my electorate Te Aute College and Hukarere Girls’ College—sorry I do not have two; I have three. I have the Turakina Māori Girls College outside my electorate but I also haveSt Joseph’s Māori Girls’ College in my electorate. They—particularly the Hukarere and Te Aute boards—were gifted a huge set of land Te Aute endowment land and to this day the state of both Te Aute College hostels and those of Hukarere leave a lot to be desired although I know that the leases of the land are doing very very well.I know that there is another bill coming through this House in terms of the settlement around Te Aute lands but I was just picking up the point with a plea to our church leaders to practise I guess the sharing and the aroha. If you are sitting on major assets then a lot of Māori boarding schools are in need of repair and support. I really just needed to make mention of that and try to convince our churches to participate in the education of our Māori students.It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge thehapū ofNgātiTapu andNgāiTamarāwaho for their pursuing this bill. Way back in the 1970s we had stories by different submitters so I know that it has been something passionate for the people of these particularhapū to see the return of this whenua.I want to pay tribute to the local MP for Waiariki Te Ururoa Flavell.Tēnā koe Te Ururoa for your shepherding this bill through and championing it on behalf of the people of Tauranga Moana.Nō reiratēnei te mihi ki a koe.Lastly the role of the Māori Affairs Committee—we work as a very good unit. Our chairman the Hon Tau Henare does crack the whip. It is proven by the amount of Treaty bills that come into this House that we do work very collaboratively together asmembers of the Māori Affairs Committee. But it is throughTau’s leadership that we get through as much as we do and that we treat all our submitters with the dignity and respect that they all deserve.So again I stand in total support of this bill and I commend it to the House. Kia oratātou.