New Zealand Parliamentary Debate

Local Government (Rating Cap) Amendment Bill [4480]

It is also timely to be considering this bill on this day, when the importance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi is being debated. According to Pita Rikys, it was critical for Maori to get the power relationship right via a clear Treaty statement, and provision of effective mechanisms and structures. Mechanisms must provide real accountability, and the structures must allow for effective rangatiratanga. The Maori Party believes that mana whenua should have an equal say with local/regional authorities on all matters concerned with the rating or non-rating of Maori land. We also believe that both Maori and the wider public should have a say as to whether a rating cap is the best way to regulate and monitor rate increases, and whether the current method of assessing rates is the best one. There are real issues for Maori people's relationship to the land and the practical circumstances of Maori land in joint ownership.

We look forward to this bill providing clarity, transparency, and accountability, in establishing the critical foundation that our land provides in our view of the world. We cannot underestimate the crucial importance of land in our world view. In the 1987 court case, New Zealand Maori Council and Latimer v Attorney-General and Others, the New Zealand Maori Council stated: Maori land provides us with a sense of identity, belonging, and continuity. It is proof of our continued existence not only as a people, but as the tangata whenua of this country. It is proof of our tribal and kin group ties. Maori land represents turangawaewae. It is proof of our link with the ancestors of our past, and with the generations yet to come. It is an assurance that we shall forever exist as a people, for as long as the land shall last.

These are the values we take into this bill, as we do with every other bill coming before the House. We will vote to support this bill, based on our belief that controls and consistency need to be in place so that we can stay on our land, care for our land, and be tangata whenua in the truest form. Thank you all.

Debate interrupted.

The House adjourned at 9. 59 p.m.