Manfeild Park Bill

SIMON POWER (National—Rangitikei) Link to this

I move, That the Manfeild Park Bill be now read a third time. Many of the arguments contained within this bill have been canvassed thoroughly in the second reading. I do not intend to delay the House any longer, but I do want to say to the Māori Party members that I listened very closely to the concerns raised by them in both the first and second readings. I acknowledge that these matters are often difficult.

I met with Dennis Emery on a couple of occasions, and also spoke to him on the phone on a couple of occasions, to try to progress some of the concerns of Ngāti Kauwhata and of the iwi represented by him. But, in the end, the concerns raised by those iwi, in the minds of the members of the Local Government and Environment Committee, are best dealt with by the Waitangi Tribunal. In fact, two claims currently sit before the Waitangi Tribunal to address the matters put to the House by the honourable Tariana Turia. I am not saying the select committee in any way sought or intended to undermine the rights of local iwi to have those claims heard in full. In fact, it was my hope that the passage of this bill would assist them at the time the Waitangi Tribunal considers the two claims that are currently lodged before it. But it is not the role of the Local Government and Environment Committee, nor is it the role of this bill, to provide a decision on the merits or otherwise of the claims currently before the Waitangi Tribunal. It is my hope that the two iwi concerned with the matters contained in this bill will have an opportunity at the Waitangi Tribunal to put those claims in full, and it is my genuine hope that they are resolved in a way that those local iwi will be happy with.

This bill is designed to create a very scant and non-prescriptive answer to some concerns at law that were contained in the way property was held, particularly by the Feilding Industrial, Agricultural and Pastoral Association, an association that is subject to its own legislation. This bill is the only legislative way to alleviate those concerns in a manner that would see this particular instrument provide the mechanism to allow the Manfeild Park Trust to exist in a way whereby the land would be made available according to the wishes and for the betterment of the wider Manawatū community.

I thank those parties that have supported this bill. In particular, as I said in the second reading, I thank the Hon Steve Maharey for his support, and the Government for its support. But I do not want to finish without acknowledging the very real concerns that have been expressed, particularly by Tariana Turia in her contribution in the second reading. It is my hope that another forum will provide the answers to those questions. I thank the House for its support.