Waititi RawiriRAWIRI WAITITI (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori) (remote): Thank you Madam Chair. Tēnā tātou. Well it's a pleasure to speak today during the committee stage of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Bill on behalf of Te Paati Māori and my colleague and health spokesperson Debbie Ngarewa-Packer who is currently sick with COVID and is quite gutted that she won't be able to be in the Chamber for this debate. But Debbie has told me how frustrating it has been on the Pae Ora Legislation Committee as Government members refuse to even include simple acknowledgments of tino rangatiratanga in the legislation. We should not have to scrap for what should be the bare minimum in all legislation that goes through this House let alone a bill as important for Māori as this one.While we continue to acknowledge the Government for adopting—in part—our 2020 policy to establish a Māori health authority I think the Government should have read the policy a little bit more closely. That policy made clear how crucial it was that the authority had statutory independence and that it be funded to an equitable level. We have just seen in Budget 2022 how new funding entrenches inequities and actually widens the funding gap with the Pākehā system. The Minister has said he wants the authority to really make a difference for Māori but how can it when it only receives 0.6 percent of the Vote Health budget despite Māori making up more than 17 to 19 percent of Aotearoa's population? How can it when it doesn't have the same functions and powers as Health New Zealand? I've just heard the Minister talk about the importance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi going hand in hand in the whole development of what is supposed to be the biggest health reforms in nearly a century. But Te Tiriti o Waitangi promises parity and promises equality and we're not seeing any of that in this particular bill.The passage of this bill and establishment of the Māori Health Authority will make a huge impact in reducing Māori health disparities. That is why we will continue to support the bill through the House. But it must be funded for what it is supposed to do. At the moment it will be funded to fail. However this House must not set up tangata whenua to fail in the new system. We must ensure the legislation helps guarantee success. Under the current funding it will not be successful. Therefore we have to put several amendments to strengthen the bill.Supplementary Order Paper 168 amends Part 1 to recognise our people's tino rangatiratanga. It does this by inserting a new clause that requires the legislation to uphold the tino rangatiratanga of tangata whenua in Aotearoa. It also replaces all references to the Treaty principles with references to the articles of the Treaty. For legislation to be compliant with Te Tiriti o Waitangi it must implement the actual text of the agreement that was signed in 1840—the articles which include the reaffirmation of the tino rangatiratanga of hapū and iwi. References to the Treaty principles in law have been used to water down the Crown's commitments to its relationship with tangata whenua. Te Tiriti o Waitangi was a contractual agreement not a statement of principles. We must not allow the Crown to pretend otherwise.We are calling on the Government to admit they made a mistake in the drafting of the bill and at select committee and we must do the right thing. This is a straightforward amendment that will make the bill more compliant with Te Tiriti o Waitangi if that is the priority of the Minister and this Government. Parties across the House have the opportunity to show that they are committed to upholding our nation's founding agreement and I look forward to the Minister's comments in this particular area. Kia ora tātou.