New Zealand Parliamentary Debate

Local Government (Rating Cap) Amendment Bill [4479]

whakapono a te Pati Maori, kia orite te mana o te mana whenua ki te mana o nga kaunihera a-rohe i nga wa e wanangahia ana kia reiti, kahore ranei te whenua Maori. E whakapono ana matou, ma te Maori, ma te iwi whanui hoki e whakaritea: ko te mahi whakapotae reiti te ara totika; me whakatu tikanga hou; me u ranei ki nga tikanga utu reiti o enei ra. Ko enei nga tino kaupapa kia whakaarohia e te Maori: ko tona whakapapa ki te whenua; me te whakaaro kia u, kia mahitahi hoki i te whenua ra.

Ko ta matou wawata mo te pire nei, kia puta mai te maramatanga, kia marama te kite i nga mahi e mahingia ana, kia kaua te tangata e ki, ehara nana, na tetahi atu, a, kia hangaia he ahuatanga hei ki, ko te whenua, ko tatou. Me kaua tatou e wareware i te tuturutanga o te whenua ki te ao Maori. I te Kooti i te tau 1987, e mea ana Te Kaunihera Maori o Niu Tireni i tona tautohe ki te Roia Nui o te Kawanatanga me Wetahi Atu: Na te whenua ka mohio matou ko wai matou, i ahu mai matou i hea, e haere ana matou ki hea. He whakaaturanga kia mohio ai te ao, he iwi matou mai rano, he tangata whenua o tenei whenua, a, he tohu ano i nga kaupapa a-iwi, whanaungatanga hoki. Ko te whenua te turangawaewae. Tera te tohu o te wakapapa, te honohono ki nga tupuna kua ngaro atu, nga reanga kei te haere mai. He tohu tuturu mo ake tonu atu, mena he whenua, he Maori ano hoki.

Anei nga kaupapa e kawe nei e matou i tenei ra, a, i nga pire katoa kei roto i tenei Whare. E tautoko ana matou i te pire nei i runga i te whakapono, kia whai mana enei ture, kia whakaritea he kaupapa, kia taea e matou te noho ki o matou whenua, hei tiaki i te whenua, ka taea te korero, ae marika, ko matou te tangata whenua. Kia ora tatou katoa.

An interpretation in English was given to the House. The Maori Party supports initiatives where accountability and transparency are important. The bill amends the Local Government( Rating) Act 2002 by capping the level of rates increases that local authorities may impose on residents. It stops local authorities from setting excessive increases. For tangata whenua, the history of rating in Aotearoa has been variable and inconsistent. In the last century, the property tax department was found to be valuing Maori land well above the market rate, and those Maori who could not pay their rates promptly lost their lands. In another incident, in the last century, we learn that lands in the King Country were being valued low, in order to make it easier for Europeans to buy them. The argument was that the land was worth less, indeed worthless, because it was in multiple ownership. So manipulation of valuation legislation is a shameful part of our history.

Large tracts of Maori freehold land are unoccupied and unimproved. This land creates a significant rating burden on the Maori owners, who often do not have the means or, in some cases, the desire to make economic use of the land. Often this is due to the nature of the ownership, or because the land has some special significance that will make it undesirable to develop or reside on, or is isolated and marginal in quality.

The Local Government( Rating) Act 2002 supported the use of Maori land by the owners for traditional purposes. It was introduced also to make it easy for owners to develop the land for economic use. It took into account the presence of wahi tapu that may affect the use of the land for other purposes.

One section of the Local Government( Rating) Act requires that Maori freehold land be liable for rates in the same manner as if it were general land. But what has happened in the last few years is that tangata whenua have experienced excessive rate increases of three to four times the inflation rate imposed by some councils. In essence, Maori are being rated off our own lands. That was why the Maori Party voted against lump-sum payments for capital projects in the Local Government Law Reform Bill, which was just another form of rating increase.