Waititi RawiriRAWIRI WAITITI (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori) (remote): Kia ora tēnā koe e te Pīka otirā tēnā tātou e te Whare. Tangihia ō tātou mate. Ki te tumuaki o te Kīngitanga a Anaru Tamihana e takoto mai rā ki te poho o tōna whare ki runga o Rukumoana whoatu rā e hoa.Hoki mai rā ki a tātou i tēnei ahiahi tēnā tātou e hika mā. Ka tū awahau ka kōrero awahau mō te Pāti Māori ki te kōrero ki te whakakorengia i tēnei mōtini.[Hello greetings Mr Speaker as well as to the whole House. To lament our dead. To the head of the King Movement to Anaru Tamihana who lies now in the embrace of his meeting house on Rukumoana marae rest in peace my friend.Returning to us all this afternoon greetings everyone. I stand to speak on behalf of the Māori Party to speak to the negation of this motion]—the continuation of the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020.Now the COVID-19 virus spread like colonisation across the world. It was clear from the outset that in Aotearoa it would mostly affect tangata whenua and shut down businesses forcing people into lockdown in their own whare. The COVID-19 pandemic amplified pre-existing racial disparities having devastating impacts on the physical economic spiritual cultural and educational wellbeing of Māori communities lacking the infrastructure to protect their whānau remotely educate their tamariki and remain in mahi during a public health crisis that shattered illusions of Te Tiriti progress.Over the last two years we have seen whānau hapū iwi and Māori organisations demonstrate exemplary leadership and step up to provide the Māori response as the Crown had nothing in place and simply could not reach the places we could. It becomes clearer every day especially given there is still no public Māori response plan for the Crown that this will remain the case; that we cannot rely on the system in place at a national level.Māori have made huge sacrifices to ensure the team of 5 million are protected. We changed our tangihanga protocols changed tikanga closed marae set up iwi checkpoints and border control in some areas to ensure our vulnerable communities were protected. Despite all of this the Government has continued to exclude Māori from pandemic decision-making and coordination. Not releasing Māori data at a crucial time of the vaccination roll-out was outright cruel. Starting the vaccination at those who were 65-plus and those who had pre-existing health issues meant that Māori mortality rates were not considered as Māori die seven to 10 years earlier than non-Māori. This also meant we missed the opportunity to develop a truly whānau-centred approach. The Government's COVID response plan meant we left over half of Māori behind because 70 percent of our people are 40 years and younger. As a result we have a response that is entirely out of touch with the needs of our people. A response that singles out marae—the cultural economic spiritual and political centre of Māori life—by allowing warrantless entry by an officer of the State. This is something that could have easily been fixed but instead provides further reasons for us not to support this motion. We will not support the continuation of an Act that gives the Crown extraordinary powers to enter private properties without warrant including our marae our papakāinga our homes. There are no good reasons to justify the invasion of tangata whenua and constantly ignore our rights to be undisturbed as promised in article 2 of the Treaty of Waitangi.This Government said they had removed it but hadn't. Section 20: Powers of entry: (1) An enforcement officer may enter without a warrant any land building craft vehicle place or thing if they have reasonable grounds to believe that a person is failing to comply with any aspect of a [section 11] order. (2) However subsection (1) does not apply to a private dwellinghouse [or marae]. (3) A constable may enter a private dwellinghouse [or marae] without warrant only if they have reasonable grounds to believe that people have gathered there in contravention of a [section 11] order and entry is necessary for the purpose of giving a direction under section 21." And then subsection (4) states: "A constable exercising a power of entry under this section may use reasonable force in order to effect entry into or onto the land building craft vehicle place or thing if following a request a person present refuses entry or does not allow entry within a reasonable time." This Act represents a failure of inclusive leadership and a missed opportunity. It is a failure of inclusive leadership because it fails to provide a pandemic response that works for all peoples of all cultures and socio-economic circumstances. It entrenches rather than eliminates inequities and disparities.We are dealing with a once-in-a-generation crisis and we need to use all the tools at our disposal to keep each other accountable to the people we are here to represent. Tangata whenua know what happens when pandemics are not managed properly. It is our people who bear the brunt of the virus. Throughout this pandemic our people have been leading their own responses. We exercised our mana motuhake to lead our own solutions to protect our whakapapa for the generations to come. We oppose this bill as we have done in the past. Kia ora tātou katoa."