Lyndon Hūhana; Pugh Maureen; McAnulty KieranHŪHANA LYNDON (Green): Kia ora auntie. Ngā mihi. Questions to the Minister of Local Government and reflecting and building on what Matua Adrian has already shared in terms of the experience or the lack of experience that Ngā Iwi o Te Awa Tupua have felt or not felt in the repeal process.I want to go to the question or the statements around Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the repeal bill. The repeal bill will repeal the water service entities and restore the provision of water services to local government and their obligations to iwi and hapū under the Local Government Act 2002 (LGA) which are consistent with the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.May I draw the attention of the Minister to the fact that the way with which the Local Government Act is applied in terms of the relationship with hapū and iwi is inconsistent. In fact if we're going back to the future many hapū and iwi—and I'm glad to see the MP for Northland in the House; we don't have Whangārei here—don't even have input in terms of asset management planning. We don't know where the infrastructure sits and we make requests as hapū and iwi for information share. We are constantly chasing councils as they exist today in terms of three waters asset management and even the flood responses and Cyclone Gabrielle. And considering the fact that we're going back to the Local Government Act 2002 I do want to understand on behalf of te Iwi Māori: what does the plan look like for us? And what security do we have that local government will give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi in their application of the LGA in this space moving forward?Building again on what was shared from Matua Adrian I'd like to ask about hapū and iwi engagement in the development of this legislation as there have already been questions made. Have the people of Te Awa Tupua o Whanganui been consulted? I would like to know beyond councils and the engagement that the coalition Government is having with local government right now what is the hapū and iwi relationship that the Government has with this proposal and how are hapū and iwi responding to you as you engage with them? You know maybe I've missed the memo maybe there've been hui. Who are you talking to in te Iwi Māori and how are they responding to the proposed repeals?In closing question to the Minister in terms of—thank you you say that you are honouring existing Treaty settlements. OK choice. But for those of us in hapū and iwi land who don't have Treaty settlements to protect our waterways what guarantee or protections are there for hapū and iwi that our Te Tiriti rights will not be undermined and that in fact our waterways will be protected so wai tūtae doesn't flow out into Whangārei Harbour any more? Or you know that we will have the opportunity for safe drinking water in rural communities?We have been put on notice; it's the week of remembering Cyclone Gabrielle. Auckland Wellington the big cities—we saw the breakages. These are not new things. But also for rural New Zealand like those of us from Tai Tokerau we saw the devastation of what Cyclone Gabrielle did to us and our kainga.As a young woman from the Pipiwai Valley—Te Orewai hapū Ngāti Hine Te Iwi—our families have had 10 months of no fresh drinking water from Te Awa o Hikurangi. Councils have been grappling as to how they can provide fresh drinking water to families apart from trucking in water tankers to the community for 10 months. So I am worried for our people at home in rural communities that councils will be geared up and powered up to be able to provide local drinking water solutions for those communities in the back blocks of Tai Tokerau Tairāwhiti wherever we might be.So in closing Madam Chair I'd like to share a waiata to remember the waterways that are sometimes forgotten in planning.Rere ana rere ana te awa o Hikurangi. Huri atu huri mai te awa o Hikurangi. E toru waku maunga: Hikurangi Mōtatau Huri raro Manukōrihi tū i te pō tū i te ao e. [The river of Hikurangi flows it flows. The river of Hikurangi turns away and turns back. I have three mountains: Hikurangi Mōtatau Turn to the north Manukōrihi that stands by night and by day.] CHAIRPERSON (Maureen Pugh): The member's time has expired. Can I please ask the member to take her seat.Hūhana Lyndon: I will sit. Thank you very much. Kia ora.CHAIRPERSON (Maureen Pugh): Also I understand that the member is new to the House. It is not appropriate to mention the absence of a member in the House—someone who is not here. Can I just make a general comment too that this part is quite narrow; it is the purpose of the legislation or of the bill. So we have strayed a little bit away from the tight preliminary provisions in Part 1. So I'll just remind the members to come back to Part 1.Hon KIERAN McANULTY (Labour): Point of order Madam Chair. Thank you for that Madam Chair. I'm concerned that there has been a warning about relevancy before the Minister of Local Government has even responded to a single question. It's very difficult for members to continue to provide relevant contributions when our subsequent contributions rely on the response from the Minister. Now if the Minister had answered our questions and members stood up and provided irrelevant contributions you would be absolutely right. But I think in that instance it was premature.CHAIRPERSON (Maureen Pugh): Thank you. Regardless the speeches need to be relevant to the part that we're debating at the moment.