Kua tirohia e Te Komiti Whiriwhiri Take Māori Te Pire Whakatikatika Kāwanatanga ā-Rohe (Rētitanga o te Whenua Māori). Kīhai te komiti i whakaae ki te tūtohu kia whakamanatia. Heoi ka tūtohu tahi mātou katoa kia whakamana Te Whare i ngā menemana e takoto ana i raro nei mēnā ka whakatauria kia kōkiri te pire.

Ka rapu Te Pire Whakatikatika Kāwanatanga ā-Rohe (Rētitanga o te Whenua Māori) kia whānui te tautokonga o ngā kaipupuri o te whenua whirīhoura Māori ki te whakapāpā atu, ki te whakamahi, ki te whakawhanake, ki te noho i runga i ō rātou whenua. Ka whakahou hoki i ētahi āhuatanga o te Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 e tukituki ana ki ngā hiahia onāianei o te whakahoanga Māori Karauna.

I tua atu i te menemana i te Local Government (Rating) Act, ka oti i te pire ētahi menemana ririki ki ētahi atu whakatureture, pēnei me te Local Government Act 2002, Te Ture Whenua Māori 1993, me te Rates Rebate Act 1973.

Kapi ai e tēnei kōrero ngā menemana matua nā mātou i tūtohu ki te pire i whakaurua rā. Kīhai mātou e matapaki menemana ririki, menemana hangarau rānei.

Ka whakaurua e te Rārangi 11 i whakaurua rā tētahi wāhanga hou ki te Pire, te 20A, kia āhei ai te mahi i ngā poraka huhua o te whenua Māori hei poraka kotahi. Ka wātea te tangata e whakamahi ana i ētahi poraka whenua huhua hei poraka ōhanga kotahi ki te tono kia mahia aua poraka hei poraka kotahi, e pā ana ki te whakawānga rēti. Me whakaae te mana takiwā ka tika mēnā e ea ana ōna whakaaro i takea mai aua poraka i te poraka kotahi.

Ka whakarerekē te rārangi 37 o te pire i whakaurua rā i te wāhanga 78 o te Ture hei aukati i te Kōti ā-Rohe kei whakamanatia te hokonga, te rīhitanga rānei o te whenua i whakarērea, māna e ea ana ōna whakaaro ehara tērā i te whenua whirīhoura Māori i hurihia hei whenua arowhānui i raro i te Māori Affairs Amendment Act 1967. Waihoki ina e puritia tonutia ana te whenua e aua kaipupuri anō rā (e ō rātou uri rānei), ā, e whiwhi painga tonu ana rātou.

E hiahia ana mātou ki te whakapakari i te ritenga nei ki te tūraru kei hokona pokerehūtia te whenua Māori. Ka marohi mātou kia paiherea te mana takiwā, te rapu nei i te whakaaetanga o te kōti ki te hoko, ki te rīhi rānei i te whenua i whakarērea, ki te whakaatu ehara taua whenua i te whenua whirīhoura Māori i mua atu, te whakamāramatia i runga nei. Ka tūtohu mātou kia whakaurua te rārangi hou 36A hei menemana i te wāhanga 77 o te Ture. Ka whakahau tā mātou menemana i tētahi mana takiwā ki te hoatu taunakitanga ki te Kōti ā-Rohe ehara te whenua i whakarērea i te momo whenua e whakamāramatia ana i roto i te wāhanga hou 62A(1) e marohitia nei.

Ka whakauru te rārangi 39 o te pire i ngā wāhanga hou ki te Ture, te 90A me te 90D. Ka whakaritea e aua wāhanga hou te pūatatanga ā-pūtea, ā, ka hoatu ki te tumuaki o tētahi mana takiwā, ki tōna māngai rānei, te mana ki te whakakore i ngā rēti kāore e taea te kapo.

Ka tūtohu mātou kia menemanatia te wāhanga hou e marohitia ana, te 90A(1), kia kī me (kaua ko te ‘ka taea’) whakakore ngā rēti mēnā ki ngā whakaaro o te tumuaki e kore e taea “tōkeketia” te kapo. Ka mārama kehokeho te tohutohu ki te tumuaki ki te whakatūturu ka whakamahia tōna mana mehemea he pēnei ōna whakaaro. He mea whakahoahoa te tōkeketanga mō te whakawānga o te āheinga ki te kapo i ngā rēti kia mārama ai me kaua e noho te whakakorenga hei mahi tōtika mēnā e korekore rawa e taea ngā rēti te kapo.

Ka tūtohu hoki mātou kia whakaurua te rārangi hou 90A(2) kia wātea ai te kaiwhakautu rēti ki te tono kia whakaarohia e te tumuaki tētahi whakakorenga rēti i raro i te wāhanga (1). Ka herea te tumuaki ki te whakamōhio ā-tuhi i te kaiwhakautu rēti ki tana whakatau i roto i ngā rā e 30. E mōhio ana mātou ka āhei te tuku ki te Kaitiaki Mana Tangata i ngā amuamu e pā ana ki ngā whakatau, he ōkawa nō te hātepe tono.¹

Ka hoatu te rārangi 46 (e whakauru ana i ngā wāhanga 98A ki te 98F) i te wāhi ki ngā takiwā rēti wehewehe i runga whenua whirīhoura Māori, te rētitia nei hei kotahi i te wā nei. Ko te pūtake o te ritenga ko te whakamana i ngā kainoho o ngā kāinga ki te whai wāhi ki te hōtaka whakahoki rēti, ā, ko te whakamārama i te whakahaerenga rēti. He uaua ngā hātepe i te wā nei, mēnā he huhua ngā kāinga i runga i te poraka kotahi.

Ka tūtohu mātou kia menemanatia te rārangi 50(6) o te pire hei whakatūturu ehara te rēhitatanga o te whenua Māori ki te Hōtaka Tauhoko Puhanga (ETS) i te whakamahinga o taua whenua. Ka āta whakamāramatia tēnei hanga i roto i te pire, ka tūturu ai ka kore e whakapāhunutia te rēhitatanga o taua tū whenua. Pakari noa te ngahere, ka kore e tika ki te whakautu tonu i ngā rēti, he mutu nō te whiwhinga pūtea mai i ngā tukunga waro.

Ka mōhio hoki mātou he nui rawa ngā whenua Māori e taupāngia ana, ā, mēnā ehara i te whenua Māori ka noho pea hei wāhanga o ngā whenua e tiakina ana e Te Papa Atawhai e kore nei e taea te rēti.

I whakaurua te pire nei ki Te Whare i te Taite te 27 o Huitanguru, 2020. I muri tata mai i te whakaurunga, ka noho rāhui te motu i runga i te pānga mai o te Mate Urutā Karauna, ka hīkina ngā huihuinga o Te Whare, me te aha ka wātea ngā komiti ki te huihui ā-whitiata noa iho. Nā runga i ēnei take, ā, ahakoa te hikinga o te rā pūrongo mā te kotahi marama, e whakapono ana a Nāhinara kāore i rawaka te hātepe nei kia tika ai te whakaaroaro i ngā kai ō roto o te pire.

E pupuri ana a Nāhinara ki tāna, arā me tuhi anō Te Ture Whenua Māori 1993 katoa kia ū tika ai te takune ā-kaupapa here o te pire nei. He wāwāhi nō te pire nei, i ōna tuhinga kupu onāianei, i ngā whakatureture Whenua Māori o te wā nei.

E āwangawanga ana a Nāhinara kei whakarite te pire i tētahi ritenga whakakore rēti e kaha ake ana te tautoko i tētahi hunga, tēnā i tētahi hunga. Ahakoa te tautoko a Nāhinara i te takune o te pire, arā te hurihanga o te whenua Māori huakore hei whenua whaihua, e noho tonu ana te pupuritanga o te whenua Māori e ngā kaipupuri tokomaha hei take nui, e kore pea e rongoātia e tētahi ritenga whakakore rēti.

E māharahara ana a Nāhinara kāore i āta whakaarohia e te Kāwanatanga ngā pānga o te pire nei ki ngā kaipupuri whenua, nāna nei te whenua i whakatapu mō tōna uara ā-taiao, mō ōna wai rere hoki. Ko te hua pea o te hanganga e whakatūria ana e te pire e tuhia pēneitia ana, ko te whenua huakore, kāore hoki ngā rēti e whakakorea. Me te aha ka hē kē atu ngā tautohetohe i waenga i ngā kaipupuri whenua me ō rātou kaunihera.

Waihoki, ka huri tuarā te pire ki ngā kaunihera nāna nei i whakauru ngā hātepe whakawhāiti rēti, me te āheinga hoki ki te whakakore i ngā rēti hītori, i ngā nama hoki. Me te aha ka hāmenetia ngā kaunihera kua oti kē i a rātou aua pūnaha te whakatū.

Hei whakakapi ake, e āmaimai ana a Nāhinara i ngā mana herekore e whakaurua ana e te pire nei. Mā reira ngā Tumuaki o ngā Kaunihera e wātea ai ki te whakakore i ngā rēti hītori, i ngā nama hoki, me te kore noa ō ētahi pūnaha haepapa hei pūrongo i ngā hātepe, i ngā tukanga e hiahiatia ana hei whakamahi i aua mana.

The Māori Affairs Committee has examined the Local Government (Rating of Whenua Māori) Amendment Bill. The committee is unable to agree to recommend that it be passed. However, we recommend unanimously that the House adopt the amendments set out below if it decides that the bill should proceed.

The Local Government (Rating of Whenua Māori) Amendment Bill seeks to broadly support owners of Māori freehold land to engage with, use, develop and live on their land. It also modernises some aspects of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 that are inconsistent with today’s expectations of Māori–Crown relationships.

As well as amending the Local Government (Rating) Act, the bill would make minor amendments to other legislation, including the Local Government Act 2002, Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993, and the Rates Rebate Act 1973.

This commentary covers the main amendments we recommend to the bill as introduced. We do not discuss minor or technical amendments.

As introduced, clause 11 would insert new section 20A into the Local Government (Rating) Act, to enable two or more blocks of Māori land to be rated as one. A person using multiple blocks of land as a single economic unit may make an application to have them treated as one for the purposes of a rates assessment. The application must be accepted by the local authority if it is satisfied that they have originated from the same block.

Clause 37 of the bill as introduced would amend section 78 of the Act to prevent the District Court from authorising the sale or lease of abandoned land unless it is satisfied that the land is not land that was once Māori freehold land that was converted to general land under the Māori Affairs Amendment Act 1967 and that is still beneficially owned by the same owners (or their descendants).

We wish to strengthen the provision against the risk of inadvertent sale of Māori land. We propose doing so by placing an obligation on the local authority, when seeking court approval to sell or lease abandoned land, to demonstrate that the land was not once Māori freehold land of the type described above. We recommend inserting new clause 36A to amend section 77 of the Act. Our change would require a local authority to provide evidence to the District Court that the abandoned land is not of the type described in proposed new section 62A(1).

Clause 39 would insert new sections 90A to 90D into the Act. These new sections would provide for financial transparency and empower the chief executive of a local authority, or their delegate, to write off rates that cannot be recovered.

We recommend amending new section 90A(1) to require that rates must (as opposed to “may”) be written off if a chief executive is of the opinion that they cannot “reasonably” be recovered. This would make a clear directive to chief executives to ensure that their power is to be exercised if they are of that opinion. The addition of reasonability to the test of whether rates are recoverable is designed to make it clear that a write-off should not be seen as appropriate only when rates are practically impossible to recover.

We also recommend inserting new section 90A(2) to enable a ratepayer to make an application requesting the chief executive to consider a rates write-off under subsection (1). The chief executive would be required to notify the ratepayer of their decision in writing within 30 days. We note that providing for a formal application process would enable complaints about decisions to be referred to the Ombudsman.²

Clause 46 (inserting new sections 98A to 98F) provides for separate rating areas on Māori freehold land that is currently rated as a whole. The purpose of the provision is to enable occupants of homes to access the rates rebate scheme and to generally simplify the administration of rates. These processes are currently complex when several homes exist on the same block.

We recommend amending clause 50(6) of the bill to ensure that registration of Māori land in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) does not constitute a use of that land. Making this explicit in the bill would ensure that registration of such land is not discouraged. Once a forest reaches full maturity it would be inequitable to continue to pay rates as the income from carbon credits under the ETS would have ended.

We also note that a considerable amount of Māori land is inaccessible and would likely form part of the Crown’s non-rateable conservation estate if it were not Māori land.

This bill was introduced to the House on Thursday, 27 February 2020. Soon after its introduction, the House adjourned owing to the COVID-19 lockdown, meaning committees were only able to meet via videoconference. Owing to these factors, and despite a one month extension to the report-back date, National believes this process has been insufficient in adequately considering the contents of the bill.

National remains convinced that the policy intent of this bill would be best served through a comprehensive re-write of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993. This is because, as drafted, the bill fragments existing Whenua Māori legislation.

National is worried that the bill would establish a rates remission regime favouring one group over another. While National is supportive of the bill’s intent of turning unproductive Māori land into productive land, the multi-ownership nature of Māori land remains an issue in itself that a rates remission regime may not remedy.

National is concerned that the Government has not given enough thought to the ramifications this bill will have on landowners who have set land aside for environmental value and waterways. As drafted, the regime established in the bill could lead to this land becoming unproductive without rates remissions, exacerbating disputes between landowners and their respective councils.

Further, the bill ignores those councils that have already introduced respective rates reduction processes with the ability to write off historic rates and arrears. This effectively penalises councils who already have these systems in place.

Finally, National has concerns over the discretionary powers introduced by the bill. These would allow council chief executives to write off historic rates and arrears without any built-in accountability mechanisms to report on the processes and procedures required to exercise those powers.