Bill hampers party romance

Hone Harawira says he’s ‘‘scared’’ the biggest Maori land reforms in decades could go through without the majority of Maori having a clue what they do.

The Mana leader, who was given a clear run by the Maori Party in the Te Tai Tokerau seat at the election, cannot get his head around the Ture Whenua Bill. He said, on that basis, he could guarantee ‘‘99.9 per cent of ... my electorate haven’t even read it’’.

Maori Party co-leader and Maori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell, once a fierce rival of Harawira, is driving the bill through Parliament and agreed to sit down with his former opponent after Harawira dismissed the reforms as a ‘‘poisonous and destructive cancer’’.

‘‘To assume a bill that is 400 pages long and gone through more than 200 changes should be just accepted on the basis of one minister saying ‘it’s alright I’ve got this sorted’ is clearly not acceptable,’’ Harawira said.

The pair met last week and Harawira did leave the meeting agreeing some aspects of the bill were worthwhile.

But, on the whole the two parties, which have agreed to help each other win back the Maori seats from Labour, fundamentally disagree on most of the reforms.

‘‘The most destructive aspect continues to remain, which is nobody’s even read the bill. More so than anything else, legislation on Maori land reform, and nobody knows what’s in it – that’s hugely scary,’’ Harawira said ‘‘For that reason I still think it should be stopped. The minister has put a lot of effort in, I don’t doubt that ... it doesn’t make him right though.’’

While Harawira said he supported the bill’s intention to try to protect Maori land from being taken under the Public Works Act and getting access for Maori landowners to landlocked properties, he was still waiting for an explanation on what the Maori Land Service – a ‘‘key element of the bill’’ – would do.

Harawira said Flavell could not explain the role of the Maori Land Service ‘‘and his officials couldn’t either for that matter’’. Flavell agreed the land service was a work in progress but said the bill was the base for it and the building of the service was well under way.

More than 130 hui were held and more than 3000 people turned up – and that was in addition to the select committee process. Between hui and workshops, he said, the bill had had more consultation than anything else in his time in Parliament.

‘‘This isn’t about just pleasing Hone and the Mana Party. It’s about ensuring we’re going to honour the discussion from all those hui and the submitters over time and I think we’ve done that.’’

Harawira has asked Flavell to consider putting forward an Omnibus Bill, which Mana would support, that pushes ahead with the parts they agree with and allows more consultation on the aspects that are less clear. Flavell said he would consider that option but when Harawira initially criticised the bill he had not even read it so he was not in a position to offer any ‘‘credible criticism’’.