Whaitiri MekaHon MEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti): Madam Speaker can I first acknowledge the sponsor of this bill Rino Tirikatene who has worked tirelessly around getting views not just at the Māori Affairs Committee but the submissions that came before the select committee. His whakapapa doesn't need repeating but I do want to acknowledge his tīpuna and the mana of the Tirikatene whānau that have stood in this House prior to Rino Tirikatene to advocate for Māori rights. I want to acknowledge the work that Rino has done.This week we've had very robust debates and I've heard members particularly on that side call certain bills a constitutional outrage—constitutional outrage. What this bill is doing is trying to plead for a constitutional rebalancing—a constitutional rebalancing—and for the submitters that came before our select committee those were many of the issues. I want to point to a couple of themes that came from the 740-odd submitters and the 23 that appeared before the select committee because they raised some interesting points in their submissions.The majority were Māori submitters and this is why this House needs to understand that Māori have a particular lens when they are looking at things like this particular bill the entrenchment of the Māori seats. They look at it through the lens of our obligations as guaranteed under the Treaty of Waitangi—the partnership that that document prevails and makes available to the indigenous Māori people of this country. So they look at their rights as protected under the Treaty and apply their lens in submissions on this particular bill.They looked at that they looked at the issue around equality and they also looked at the issues around the constitution. What Rino has done here is take those arguments from the various submitters and apply them here in this bill. I have sat here listening to the Opposition members thinking around their view about opposing it—not clear enough around more Māori coming into Parliament. It really is the opportunity to safeguard the rights of the indigenous people as guaranteed under the Treaty of Waitangi like many of the submitters that came in front of us.You see approximately half of the Māori voting population are on the Māori roll; the other half are on the general roll. People will say Well then we don't need the Māori seats." But the point is that the expectation of speaking up on kaupapa Māori is actually not only with the Māori seats but with every seat holder in this House. Every seat holder in this House must be advocating for the rights and interests of Māori voters around the country.Adrian Rurawhe: But do they?Hon MEKA WHAITIRI: But do they? No. And we heard that from Mr Dan Bidois who talked about delegating those responsibilities to the seven Māori seats. The reality is that Māori voters choose the Māori seats and the general seats. So therefore my point is about the obligations of all members of this House—all members of this House—to deliver gains and opportunity for Māori. That's why I'm standing in support of this bill: because it actually goes to the very heart of the rights and interests guaranteed under the Treaty of Waitangi. I have not yet heard a single argument on that side that addresses the issue around equality around constitutional balance which is what this bill is asking this House to take but also the rights and interests as guaranteed under the Treaty of Waitangi. My colleague the Hon Willie Jackson talked about the New Zealand First position. I'm really saddened that they're not supporting this bill. I remember when a leader that you would know—a rangatira the late Apirana Mahuika when he came to this House to negotiate the Ngati Porou Treaty settlement he simply said this: it was payback time—it was payback time for the Crown and Ngati Porou. And I say this to the New Zealand First Party: it's payback time because in 1996 the Māori seats enabled New Zealand First to come into this Parliament as a party—no other seats; the Māori seats—and so I simply say to New Zealand First: it is payback time. We seek the support of this bill. I commend it to the House."