Mahuta NanaiaHon NANAIA MAHUTA (Minister for Māori Development): Tuatahi tēnei ka tāpiri atu āku mihi āku roimata āku tangi ki a rātou kua hinga kei Whakaari arā ki ngā whānau e tauawhi nei ngā āhuatanga ki reira Ngāti Awa koutou o Mātaatua waka tēnei ka whakaaro ake ki a koutou. Tatū atu rā ki a koe te mema mō Te Tai Rāwhiti arā heke iho mai ki a Tamati Coffey ki a Kiritapu Allan koutou e kaha ana te noho ki te taha o te hapori kia tauawhi i a rātou kia hāpai i a rātou i tēnei wā taumaha. Nō reira tēnā koutou ā tēnā tātou. [Firstly I add my acknowledgments my tears my weeping to those who have fallen at Whakaari / White Island that is to the families supporting one another the circumstances there Ngāti Awa you the people of the Mātaatua canoe I am thinking of you. And arriving with you the member for Te Tai Rāwhiti and through to Tamati Coffey and Kiritapu Allan you who are making every effort at being with the community and supporting them carrying them at this difficult time. Therefore I acknowledge you greetings to us all.] I rise to make a contribution having listened to many of the statements made in the House. It's moments like this where you realise just how fragile our democratic freedoms are when we debate a bill such as entrenching the Māori seats. The Electoral (Entrenchment of Māori Seats) Amendment Bill sponsored by my colleague the MP for Te Tai Tonga Rino Tirikatene tests the underbelly of opinion represented in this Parliament on an issue that is very simple on the face of it. It is whether or not we have the temerity to be able to treat the general and Māori seats in the same manner in so far as entrenching their existence. The member's bill seeks to amend section 268 of the Electoral Act 1993 which entrenches provisions relating to the division of New Zealand into general electorates. That means as has been stated in the House that to repeal or amend any of those provisions a 75 percent majority of all members of the House of Representatives would be required to carry the provision during the committee of the whole House stage of Parliament's legislative process. However the Māori electorates can be amended or repealed by a simple majority. What Rino Tirikatene believes—as do many other Māori electorate members—is that the equality of the treatment of the Māori seats in relation to the general seats is a very simple mechanism. We believe that as a signal in terms of how far we've come as a society it's a good test. It's a good test of our moral fortitude to try and apply the principles that we espouse on so many other issues in this House. So I'm saddened to hear some of the speeches that have been brought to light in the House on this particular bill. But time will take its course no doubt and there will be a time irrespective of what the current thinking will be that there will be a broad consensus that entrenching the Māori seats as we do the general seats is a necessary thing to do—a signal to the rest of the country that we have moved on and will continue to do so. Now I was quite interested in reading the select committee advice which clearly clearly stated at that time that the bill would comply with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 as it would not cause any material disadvantage for non-Māori groups. They were also advised that entrenching the seats would not give greater voting rights to those on the Māori roll or cause disproportionate representation in Parliament and still parties in this House reject the premise that entrenching the Māori seats as we do the general seats is not a matter of equality that should be dealt with in this way. But even David McGee said that In theory"—yes—"a Government could seek to amend or repeal" an entrenched provision. However and importantly he noted "This is no unintended loophole; when the entrenching procedures were introduced in 1956 it was believed that a Parliament could not bind its successor and that entrenchment signalled the moral force of broadly accepted democratic rules. An attempt to exploit single entrenchment to circumvent the protection of the reserved provisions would be constitutionally improper and arguably a breach of constitutional convention." and there the clarity is. We all say across the whole House that the founding document for New Zealand is the Treaty of Waitangi and there is a strong reference point to ensure that recognition of Māori within New Zealand is somewhat different to representation alongside any other group. Even the establishment of the Māori seats way back when they occurred was actually to contain the Māori opinion and voice within our democratic institutions because Māori were the majority of the population group. Now our member Rino Tirikatene is testing the fortitude of this Parliament to say "Is the time right"—because we believe it is—"to entrench the seats to give a clear signal to the nation that not only do we recognise the constitutional foundations of our great country but we also recognise it within this Parliament?" That's not to cast division between types of MPs: general seat MPs vis-à-vis Māori electorate MPs vis-à-vis list MPs. What it seeks to do is broaden our perspective about the constitutional basis in the views that certainly are advocated from the Māori electorate seats to be able to try and influence and shape the kind of nation that we want to be. Comments were raised on the other side of the House around various parties' political views on this matter. I would like to think actually that we're taking a parliamentary view and approach to this particular bill because that's what's going to be required. I've been an electorate MP for some time. When I first became an electorate MP the seat was called Te Tai Hauāuru. Then it was changed—the name of the seat and the boundaries were changed—to Tainui and now it is Hauraki-Waikato. Through the whole period of time that I've been a representative in the House I have seen fine members representing the Māori electorates as list MPs across the House representing a range of perspectives for Māori but can I say this: it has always been the Māori electorate seats that on issues of rangatiratanga fundamental issues relating to article 2 of the Treaty—often that is where you will hear the strongest voice and advocacy come through from the Māori electorate MPs. That's not to diminish or dismiss any other Māori representative in this House; it's merely to state that that is the expectation of people who vote in the Māori electorates—that they want that element heard on many many things. Can I also say that MMP is a peculiarity of our country that has in my mind broadened the depth and breadth of Māori representation across the House. There was a time and it actually goes back to the time when New Zealand First held the Māori seats that Māori members from across the House—and I was in Opposition at the time—actually saw merit in coming together to rectify an anomaly at law that disadvantaged Māori. It prejudicially disadvantaged Māori and that was with the Māori Reserved Land Amendment Act. That issue in terms of disadvantage was advocated from the Māori electorates but every other Māori member in the House no matter what party they belonged to saw merit in that issue and joined forces to be able to pass that political bill beyond party political differences. Why? Because we knew ultimately there was a fundamental injustice being served. I want to commend Rino Tirikatene because the legacy of representation that his family has had in this House brings these types of issues to the fore so that in a moment we have the chance to take this opportunity to say "Have we the courage to do what we say we're doing on many many other issues"—which is to ensure that there is equality of treatment before the law—"to ensure that the Māori and the general electorate seats can be treated the same and be entrenched—be entrenched?" But it's an indication of our moral fortitude. The point isn't lost on many of us on this side of the House that our colleague Rino Tirikatene is the right member to raise this issue because of the legacy of representation that his whānau has had in this House to be able to carry a memory and a discourse related to the Treaty related to Māori representation and related to advocacy on those issues that define us as a nation but make us unique as well. So I hope again that as people are engaging and listening to this particular debate we take a chance and step back from any party political view and ask ourselves as a Parliament are we courageous enough to be able to make a decision on this particular matter so that we can build a bridge to the next step of our great challenge which is making New Zealand a better place for everyone that lives here in our great country and ensuring that the Treaty becomes a korowai for people rather than a whāriki? Tēnā tātou katoa."