Davidson MaramaMARAMA DAVIDSON (Green): Tēnā koe e Te Māngai o Te Whare. Huri noa ki a tātau katoa tēnā koutou. In September 2009 the then Principal Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft said that what we know is that young Māori who are connected to their identity and culture do not offend any more than non-Māori. Wāhine Māori and Māori people for years have been saying this very thing. The research backs this up but we have known this for ever.The starting point for us as a country should be that when tamariki Māori are with safe whānau Māori they are at the strongest that they can be. That is the starting point of where our policy transformations our Government support and our State responsibility have to begin. The research backs this up Andrew Becroft backs this up Māori Women's Welfare League knows this and has been saying it for ever and social workers know this and have been saying this for ever. That is our starting point. When tamariki Māori are with safe whānau Māori they are at their strongest and when they are at their strongest we as Aotearoa are at our strongest. So that is the starting point. We will not be supporting the legislation that feeds into the dangerous narrative that Māori whānau do not love our children as much. I want to note that matua Winston Peters and the New Zealand First Party have clearly put it on the table that they do not think that whakapapa is important. They do not have an understanding that the strength and the well-being of tamariki Māori depends on whakapapa. They are not mutually exclusive. We are not saying that we want Māori to be unsafely placed.The Green Party understands intrinsically that tamariki Māori are strongest when they are with safe whānau Māori. All of our support and legislation and reforms should be geared with that starting point. It should be the inspiration of our nation. And I want to say that most of whānau Māori are safe. The narrative that we continue in this House by supporting this legislation which wants to weaken the priority to keep tamariki Māori with whānau Māori—when we uphold that legislation we are feeding the narrative that Māori do not love our children as much and that we do not understand how to properly and safely care for our children. The Green Party will not stand next to any legislation that upholds that damaging narrative. It is a narrative that States have upheld against indigenous peoples around the world for generations. The State manipulation to remove children under the sneaky guise that we are not strong enough to care for our children has been a damaging and proactive one all around the world. We know this. The Green Party knows this and we will strongly oppose any changes and any proposals that uphold that racist narrative.Instead of State removal of Māori children we should be looking at State responsibility to ensure that all whānau have what they need to live good lives. That is when our housing is working that is when our education is delivering and that is when our justice system is not blatantly and systemically racist. That is when everything is working to ensure that families have what they need to live good lives.I want to finish by congratulating the Hands Off Our Tamariki campaign which has worked hard and has been holding meetings around the country for many months now and is analysing how neglectful and violent our State has been as a foster parent. It has been researching and analysing that for a long time—Māori at the coalface like Paora Crawford Moyle like Moana Jackson. And I will finish—please Mr Deputy Speaker—by acknowledging the many whāngai parents everywhere in our communities who absolutely have been taking on our tamariki Māori for ever. Thank you.