Paul TamathaTAMATHA PAUL (Green—Wellington Central): Kia ora Mr Chair. Thank you for allowing me to take a call. My questions pertain to the Treaty provisions some more because I think that I have a different perspective to offer from that of my Labour colleague Dr McLellan which is why I've got an Amendment Paper to restore the Treaty provisions within the bill. In your answer just then Minister you said that that was not the Department of Corrections' problem—the overrepresentation of Māori—but it absolutely is. You yourself have acknowledged the disgrace that it is that Māori are overrepresented throughout our justice system and that is the responsibility of Corrections to address that overrepresentation. The Treaty provisions in the Corrections Amendment Bill would have allowed for equitable rehabilitation and reintegration for Māori. There was a requirement for the chief executive to ensure the development maintenance and implementation of a strategy that is focused on improving outcomes for Māori in the corrections system to address longstanding Māori needs. The provisions were making access to cultural activities a purpose for which prisoners could be temporarily released or removed from the prison which is important so that they can attend things like tangi and other cultural activities; ensuring that prisoners have access to cultural activities regardless of the prison in which they are detained; and were enabling the views of whānau hapū and iwi to be taken into account where appropriate and practicable in decisions about which prison offenders are accommodated in. The reason that those Treaty provisions were inserted in the bill by the previous Government was because Māori are overrepresented in every single stage within the justice system. Whether it is the moment that they're apprehended by police through the remand process through sentencing through the time served or through reintegration back into society Māori are not experiencing or receiving the same treatment and outcomes as non-Māori. In Te Tiriti o Waitangi article 3 talks about the rights of Māori to have equitable outcomes to their non-Māori counterparts so in not putting those Treaty provisions within the bill it completely ignores that the founding document of our country provides for those equitable outcomes between Māori and non-Māori. So where is the onus on the chief executive or the members of the Department of Corrections to meet those needs and to address the institutional racism that is baked in throughout our justice system? We know that there is racism baked in throughout our justice system because researchers have made that clear. Advocates criminologists—people across our society have made it clear that there is racism baked into our justice system. If we want to look at the statistics that back up those claims we know that the main one is that despite the fact that Māori make up only 17 percent of the general population they account for 38 percent of people proceeded against by police 42 percent of adults convicted and 57 percent of adults sentenced to prison. Of people within youth justice custody 67 percent of those are Māori and in our women's prisons 68 percent of that population is Māori. We are among the most incarcerated people in the world and I refuse to believe that that is something that is genetic or inherent within our people. It's a reflection of the impacts of colonisation—legacies of poverty and trauma within communities that have come about as a result of colonisation. I'm not saying that having Treaty provisions within this Act will turn those statistics around overnight but what it does demonstrate is a genuine and sincere commitment from the leadership of Corrections and from the Minister himself to rectify those disparities which are a disgrace. So I guess my question is: why is it that the Government's coalition agreement is more important than rectifying discrepancies between Māori and non-Māori and what advice did you receive on the detrimental impact of removing the Treaty provisions from this bill? One of the core aspects of rehabilitation for people who are in prison is their ability to take responsibility for the harm that they have caused and to be accountable for the harm that they have caused. So how is it that we can have these expectations of the 10000 people in prison that they will be responsible for their actions and harms caused if the ministry itself is not willing to take accountability and be responsible for the harm that they have caused in perpetuating the impacts of colonisation and how are we supposed to have certainty that people in prison will be able to access programmes and initiatives that address their cultural needs as a pathway towards their rehabilitation? We went to Waikeria Prison on Monday and we got to visit the kia mārama unit and that's one of the few Māori units throughout our prisons in New Zealand. We were able to talk to people in prison who had been a part of that unit and they talked to us about the importance of learning their pepeha learning karakia learning waiata—that access to their culture that they've never had before. In the abuse in State care report which details the abuse endured by people in State care during that time period one of the harms that was highlighted was the disconnection of children from their culture and whakapapa which led to the creation of gangs as we know them and the over-incarceration of Māori. If we know that meeting people's cultural needs is an important aspect of their willingness to engage with rehabilitation programmes and if we know that people having their cultural needs met is an important aspect for them to have pride in their identity and be able to see themselves differently than the way that they are treated—which is often like animals—then that's going to be an important step towards rehabilitation. So can the Minister talk about whether he might consider supporting my Amendment Paper 81 to restore the Treaty provisions in the Corrections Amendment Bill and can he talk a bit more about the overrepresentation of Māori and why he might believe that the work that Corrections is doing is sufficient in addressing the overrepresentation of Māori?