Ngarewa-Packer DebbieDEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori): Talofa lava. Tēnā koe e te Pīka. Tēnā tātou o te Whare ngā āhuatanga o te wā.[Greetings and salutations to the House.]I rise on behalf of Te Paati Māori to speak to the first reading of the Intelligence and Security (Review) Amendment Bill. A review of the intelligence and security system is long overdue and should be an opportunity to feed in to make the system better. It is tika that a review takes place and that it is brought forward given the increase in white supremacist violence and hate speech in recent months and years. A comprehensive review of the Act and the relevant agencies including the NZSIS the GCSB and the New Zealand Police has been advocated by tangata whenua for decades.We know based on the royal commission into the horrific terrorist attack on Muslin whānau in Christchurch on 15 March 2019 that the intelligence agencies were monitoring and targeting completely the wrong people. The reality is that they were not at all focused on white supremacists and their organisations despite them having a longstanding history of violence in this country including firebombing marae and attacking Māori on the streets. Instead we know that the majority of the operations targeted peaceful Muslim citizens and tangata whenua activists.White supremacy and racism are the biggest pandemics we face in this country and yet the Crown has weaponised fears around terrorism to target and vilify tangata whenua and have used anti-terror laws to criminalise our people as we saw with the Urewera raids. As I know from firsthand experience there is a culture among the State sector of harassing and intimidating Māori environmental campaigners and really just about anyone who pushes policies that seek to undo the harm of the colonial capitalist State.In 2018 I was the CEO of Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ruanui. It was revealed that the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment had contracted a private firm Thompson and Clark Investigations Ltd to spy on Ngāti Ruanui and our allies who were fighting seabed mining permits off the South Taranaki coast. This demonstrates how deep the systemic problems are. A bureaucratic culture which allows for intelligence agencies let alone Public Service departments to spy on non-violent political campaigners is fundamentally rotten.Te Paati Māori will be supporting this bill at first reading because we think it's imperative that a review takes place. However our support is not unconditional. It is our view that the Act should be amended further to require the appointed reviewers to establish a public engagement process that includes specific engagement with tangata whenua as Te Tiriti partners and invites submissions from the general public. There must be an opportunity for our people for security experts and for human rights advocates to be able to submit so that we can create the best possible intelligence and security framework for Aotearoa.The review should be based solely on the royal commission despite some good recommendations coming out of that. We must acknowledge—sorry I need to say that again. The review should not be based solely on the royal commission despite some good recommendations coming out of that. We must acknowledge that a balance must be struck in legislation and regulations between ensuring agencies have the power to protect our people while also guaranteeing human rights such as privacy. Above all we need to be assured that our security agencies which operate with very little accountability or transparency have shifted their focus on to the real threats to our peace harmony and security in Aotearoa. We look forward to canvassing these issues as the bill makes its way through the House. Nō reira tēnā tātou katoa.