Halbert ShananSHANAN HALBERT (Labour): Thank you Mr Speaker. And there it is—the arrogance and the ignorance of the National Party and this Government. This Government is taking New Zealand race relations backwards backwards by decades by centuries. It was only this week that many of us were in Ōrākau remembering the lives that were lost in the battles in the Waikato in Kihikihi. At that time I stood alongside my Māori Affairs Committee colleagues and they were sympathetic. I saw the empathy that actually I believe every person in this House has when it comes to dealing with the challenges of race relations in this country with the sad history that some of this country has. Yet across the room I see Cameron Brewer with his chest out talking about taking this country backwards. What other group in this country is subject to a referendum like this subject to putting out a poll where they have to be considered by all people as to what their unique contribution in this country is how they are represented? And there we have Cameron Brewer talking actually about the abolition and the unnecessary need for the Māori seats that represent Māori under Te Tiriti o Waitangi in this country. It is shocking. There we had it last night with James Meager calling my colleague Kieran McAnulty and one of the Green colleagues white saviours". These are people that believe in the Treaty of Waitangi in this country that believe in the rights of Māori representation and the fact that as a country we can do better. Part of this conversation last night and today is very sad. It's not the empathy from the other side that I saw when we visited Ōrākau on Monday. I'm sad about that because I do believe that this House can be better representative of our tangata whenua in this country that actually we don't need to go backwards.This is not the priority of New Zealanders at this time. Yes race relations for many decades have been challenging—but to go back on a referendum to go back on a piece of legislation that has only created benefits for communities in this country all communities all people and yes Māori? I remember going through the initial legislation and hearing submissions in this particular round. I'm disappointed that this Government isn't interested in listening to councils on this particular matter. Many many councils told them that they do not support this legislation that is going through the House today. In fact today I'm calling out the Minister. He's National's version of David Seymour because under his leadership and this Government's leadership we have seen some of the most racist legislation come through this House in a mere six months. I go back to how we started this year around hauora the disestablishment of the Māori Health Authority. I think of the utu politics of this Minister and his intention to quickly change the names back of Waka Kotahi to change back road signs that listed Māori names within our communities.So in this House today I do believe this is another example of this Government's racist legislation that will continue throughout this term of Government but more importantly of their ignorance and their arrogance when they actually believe that legislation like this will take the country forward. In fact it's backwards."