Tirikatene RinoRINO TIRIKATENE (Labour—Te Tai Tonga) (remote): Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. Thank you for the opportunity to speak on this bill; I'm delighted to speak in support of it. Can I congratulate the Rotorua District Council for bringing this unique issue to the House which we are addressing in this bill and can I especially thank the member in charge of the bill my good colleague Tāmati Coffey and thank him also for outlining the rich whakapapa that underpins this bill which goes right back to those early agreements and that partnership that was forged through the township agreement—through the founding of the Rotorua township. And can I also acknowledge the Te Arawa Waka ngā iwi o Te Arawa Waka who are steadfast absolute mana whenua in such a beautiful region of the country. I do agree this is a very beautiful region and I actually thought Tāmati Coffey was describing Te Tai Tonga—the great South Island—when he was describing Rotorua. But minus the mud pools and the hillsides these are very very similar equivalent areas that we are connected to.But I want to cut to the point. This is a local bill which the Rotorua District Council has brought to this House. The actual bill has been voted on unanimously in support by the council. So contrary to what the previous member did say the 6-5 split vote—that's irrelevant to this bill; that was in relation to some previous iterations of compositions which were considered in the past. But this bill has the full support of the Rotorua District Council and that is why we have the fulsome support behind it too. This is all about giving expression to that partnership as my good colleague Tāmati has outlined and we can do this through the creation and the adoption of the Māori ward legislation. That is so significant and I want to acknowledge my colleague the Hon Nanaia Mahuta and our good Government for introducing such a landmark piece of legislation which is going to transform local government right across Aotearoa. I'm looking forward to the results of the elections later this year and seeing so many new Māori faces around the council tables.So this bill puts in place the optimal composition for representation for the Rotorua District Council. They've been going through a representation review process and then coming up through that process it comes up against the Local Electoral Act and certain formulas and calculations that lie within that Act. This bill is a way to provide a unique solution which ensures that the desired composition which provides a fair representative partnership reflected around the council table is given effect—as has been mentioned one mayor to be voted on at large three councillors voted within a Māori ward by the Māori roll three general members elected within a general ward and four members elected at large. So excuse me if I might have—I'm sure I got that right. But the 10 members of the council will be represented as such. That's what this bill does and there is some haste to the passage of this bill to ensure that it coincides with or is able to flow into the upcoming elections that will take place this year. And this arrangement will be in effect for the next two elections to follow. So can I once again just thank the Rotorua District Council and Tāmati Coffey for bringing this important bill to the House. I'm no stranger to local bills and I'm currently the member in charge of the Canterbury Regional Council (Ngāi Tahu Representation) Bill. And again they're all about ensuring that mana whenua presence and representation around the table which is so important and that reflects the promise of the Treaty—that that can be reflected around the council table not only in my hope around the permanent representation down south with Ngāi Tahu but also now through this bill through the composition that will give equal weight and equal balance between the mana whenua Te Arawa; the iwi; the Māori roll; and the general members.