Seymour DavidDAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT): Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise on behalf of ACT in opposition to the Local Electoral (Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill and I think it's worth just asking the question before I go any further what sort of conditions do we know from the lens of human history going across many countries across decades and centuries help people to prosper to live good lives where they can provide for themselves and their families and feel safe and secure? I think that's basically the question we should be asking on all legislation in this House and we should seek to legislate when there's an opportunity to make our country a better place for people to prosper. Often we find the need to legislate because our laws are preventing people from doing that. People might ask in the case of this particular legislation is there a problem where the laws are stopping us from being a place where people can live safe and prosperous lives.Well the people behind this bill say The problem is that Māori are somehow excluded from representation in New Zealand's democracy." If that was the case then there might well be a reason for this House to legislate. But hang on the problem can't be here in Parliament where Māori are over-represented—and I don't see that as a bad thing. The problem can't be in the ACT Party caucus we've got more Māori than National does these days 30 percent—twice the population average of Māori. So what is the problem at local government? Maybe there's a problem where actually Māori somehow are unable to be elected to positions on councils up and down this country. Helpfully Local Government New Zealand have put out a report about what sort of people are sitting on our councils. The most extraordinary thing—Māori are about 14 15 percent of the New Zealand population. Well guess what proportion of councillors elected in New Zealand are Māori! Fourteen percent 15 percent. You know if you accept that then prima facie there is no problem for this legislation to solve because we're already getting the outcome of proportionate representation along the lines of ethnicity if that's the problem that a person has.But then we go back to our question of how we create a prosperous society where people feel safe. Well one thing that's helpful—other than proportional democratic representation—is a belief among the people of New Zealand that the processes to which they're subject are democratic. We've heard from people in favour of this bill that the current situation is not democratic because only 5 percent of people can overturn a decision of the elected majority. But they I hope know that that's not true—that doesn't describe the current situation at all. The current situation is that 5 percent of electors in a particular council have to sign a petition to have a referendum and then everybody can vote. And then only a majority of everybody can overturn it so it's not 5 percent; it's a majority of people who vote that can overturn the decision of elected representatives and actually it's a majority of those who vote who elect the councils depending on the exact electoral system that council has. So the idea that there's something undemocratic here is completely untrue. So it can't be that problem. The next problem that people might say is: that the legislation as it stands is discriminatory that it allows Māori wards to be challenged by petition and referendum but not other types of wards. On that basis the Government putting up this bill has a point. But here's the thing: if we want to create a more democratic society where people can be safe and prosperous and feel included then the right thing to do—if their objection was to people petitioning and using referenda to remove only Māori wards there's a very simple change they could have made—is they could have given people the right to recall all types of wards. That would have been simple if they truly believed in democracy and equality but they haven't done that and why? Well I suspect it's because every time there's been a vote those pesky people—you know the electors of New Zealand the ratepayers that fund the councils—they've been getting it wrong. You see they're supposed to say yes to Māori wards and almost every time they're asked they say no. There's two possibilities for how the Government could deal with that situation: they could accept the will of the people or they could just stop asking and that is why they've decided to stop asking. That is the wrong approach to solving the problem.If it was just solving the problem the wrong way then maybe we could say "OK we understand that the Government's gone a bit wrong here but at least there'll be an opportunity for it to be properly discussed and debated throughout our country and people will feel included in the democratic process." But they haven't done that. Having only a week for select committees to take submissions is the same as not taking submissions for all practical purposes unless—and here's the real travesty—you happen to be a person who was tipped off and knew about the shortened process and had your submissions prepared well ahead of time. And again if our overall goal is a prosperous safe and inclusive society then I can't think of anything that does more damage to public confidence in this House and in the democratic process than a rushed and rigged process that actually excludes people's views. So here's where it ends up. You have a whole lot of people in New Zealand who are fair-minded conciliatory and decent and want to see a safe and prosperous country but they also want to be treated alike in dignity with everybody else and have their views heard. That opportunity was not only denied of many people in New Zealand but actually they believe—quite rightly—that the process was rigged. The effect of that is that this Government is actually eroding the social capital it's eroding the trust and it's eroding the goodwill in our democratic institutions—and how ironic! For a Government that set out to start putting wellbeing as one of the main measures of how it's Government was doing they've actually damaged New Zealand's social capital even though that's one of the things that they say we should be paying more attention to. Where it ultimately leads is that you get a divided and angry country filled with people who couldn't be heard because the Government made a law that had no good reason other than they were voting the wrong way and it made that law through a process that didn't give them the normal consultation that they expect from New Zealand's Parliament. It was done by a majoritarian Government simply because they thought they could because numerically it was possible in Parliament.Well I've been reflecting—especially through the first weeks of January—about what makes our country special and one of them is that we manage to restrain the exercise and wielding of power just because we can out of respect for each other and respect for our processes. The people on the Labour Party benches should think very carefully. If we really believe that getting rid of veto powers or polls on Māori wards is the right thing to do was it really worth the erosion of trust the erosion of our democratic principles the erosion of social capital in this country to get it done one election earlier? Was that really worth it? Because if that's what people on the Labour Party benches think then we are set to become a more divided country with a meaner politics with less inclusion where actually the problems that we're seeking to solve—particularly for Māori—of being more prosperous and more safe is actually going to be made harder by what this Government has done. So I say to the members opposite if you want to build an inclusive safe and prosperous New Zealand the opportunity is there for you. The Standing Orders allow you to revert this bill back to select committee for further consultation after second reading. If other people on the Labour side do that you'll be remembered for doing the right thing for New Zealand. Meanwhile ACT opposes this silly piece of rushed legislation. Thank you Madam Speaker."