Maori Trustee Amendment Bill; third reading

Dr Pita Sharples; Minister of Maori Affairs

Thursday 7 May 2009; 3.30pm

Tena koe te whare e huihuinga i tenei rangi

I move that the Maori Trustee Amendment Bill be now read a third time.

This is an extremely significant day in the life of this Parliament.

It is a time to honour all those who have placed this issue of the Maori Trustee firmly on the political agenda for decades, long before we came to this House.

I acknowledge the challenges of the Henare / Wright Review in 1989; the Charters, Sykes and Nikora Review of 1991; the Maori Affairs Select Committee Report of 2001.

I think of all the calls from beneficial owners who have been moved to place their submissions before Parliament, to reform the role of the Maori Trustee.

It has been a long time coming since the establishment of the function in 1921.

More recently, I want to recognise the work of the previous Minister for his role in the preliminary stages of this Bill.  Tena koe Parekura.

But this Bill is significant for one reason.  This Bill represents the first Bill presented by an independent Maori Party.   

It makes for fascinating analysis to consider the passage of history marked this week in Parliament. 

Five years ago, yesterday, the Parliament passed the First Reading of the Foreshore and Seabed Act – and today, the Minister of Maori Affairs, from the party that arose out of opposition to that Act, now stands to deliver on legislation.

This is a significant Bill.

It establishes the Maori Trustee as a stand-alone organisation – an aspiration that so many have had before this Bill took shape.

The Bill changes the way payments on money held in trust in the Common Fund administered by the Māori Trustee are determined.

The Bill is supported by funding increases for services to the Māori Trustee which are already in place.

These are all achievements which we are proud to deliver on.

Delivering on expectations is a commitment that we take very seriously – and we realise that these expectations, of course, have a very long whakapapa to them.

During the Bill’s second reading, members of this House spoke of the importance of the role of the Māori Trustee. 

One of the legacies of the long, sad history of past government Māori land policies is the on-going need for a Māori Trustee. 

We are very aware of the levels of concern that tangata whenua have expressed, over the years, with the different roles the Māori Trustee has been required to play in the management, and at times the acquisition, of Māori land.  

And we acknowledge too, that there are still some situations, in which the beneficial owners have had considerable difficulty in being able to exercise due care and regard for the protection of their whenua.

Some Māori land is so fragmented that the separate blocks are not economic.  Land may be isolated with no road access. 

The owners may have had to move long ago in search of work and a roof over their heads. 

Nonetheless this land continues to have huge cultural and spiritual significance to whānau and to wider groupings.  

Toi te Kupu, toi te mana, toi te whenua.

These three…language, prestige and land are the foundations of Te Ao Maori; our past, our present; our future. 

The responsibility of the Maori Trustee brings with it then, the investment that tangata whenua place in preserving the important connections between people and the land; the tangata and the whenua. 

There are some cases where the current owners may not be known or may not be able to be found. 

Many of our people have lost knowledge of their connection to the land of their ancestors.  The demands of the modern world may have driven them to cities in New Zealand and overseas. 

And so I stand here today, pleased to support the role of the Maori Trustee, in ensuring these sacred bonds are upheld.

The Crown will fund the stand-alone Māori Trustee for a range of functions.  These include finding owners of land held in trust, and where practicable helping owners move towards managing their own land.  

One of the themes emerging from the Māori Economic Workshop that I held in January was the real potential for Māori, and for New Zealand, if Māori assets were better utilised.   And this is one of the areas that was identified for further work following the Prime Minister’s Summit on Employment.

Making sure that the Māori Trustee is a strong and viable organisation is one aspect of this approach. 

In 2007 the Māori Trustee acted as trustee or agent for over 188,000 owners and over 111,000 hectares of Māori land.  

Following the conclusion of the review of the Māori Trustee, funding for the Māori Trustee was increased last year.   This was the beginning of the end of a long and complex process which began nearly two decades ago and which has included looking at many options for the Māori Trustee.

Today, it is up to all of us in this House to finally bring this process to an end. 

This Bill will make the Māori Trustee a stand-alone organisation, able to focus firmly on providing high quality services to Māori. 

The Bill will put in place reporting arrangements for public funding. 

This will involve including the Māori Trustee as an organisation on the 4th Schedule of the Public Finance Act 1989.  These arrangements reflect the Māori Trustee’s independence while providing transparency and accountability for public money.

As part of the shift to a stand alone organisation, the Māori Trustee will need to be appointed in a new way.  At present the Māori Trustee is an office conferred on an employee of Te Puni Kōkiri.  Under the Bill the Māori Trustee will be appointed by the Minister of Māori Affairs. 

And I am very aware of the serious responsibility this places upon me, and of my responsibilities to beneficial owners.

To provide continuity for the new organisation, the Bill provides that the current Māori Trustee will become the new Māori Trustee for a term of up to five years.   Employees of the Māori Trust Office will be transferred to the new organisation.  I believe this provides certainty for staff and continuity for clients.

The Bill will remove the potential for a differential between what the Māori Trustee earns from money held in trust in the Common Fund, and what the Māori Trustee is required to pay beneficial owners. 

Under the new system account holders will get what the Māori Trustee receives in returns from the investment of the Common Fund, less a management fee where applicable. 

This is a key part of the Bill.  It means that the return received by owners of Māori land administered by the Māori Trustee will better reflect the returns received by the Māori Trustee.

The Māori Trustee will also be required to report to account holders on these matters.    The Māori Trust Office Regulations 1954 will be amended to be consistent with the changes set out in the Bill.

I want to place on public record, that the reforms set out in this Bill were widely supported during consultation in 2007.  The Bill was also unanimously supported by select committee. 

The bill implements much needed and long awaited changes to the Māori Trustee Act 1953. 

So once again I want to thank all those many people and committees who have contributed in this exercise.

The bill has attracted much debate throughout all of the stages, most of it constructive and helpful.

Today we will pass this Bill and we will have a stand alone organisation for the Maori Trustee.

It is therefore with much pleasure that I commend this Bill to the House.

ends

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