Halbert ShananSHANAN HALBERT (Labour—Northcote): E te Māngai o te Whare tēnā rawa atu ki a koe. Kaupeka ki runga kaupeka ki raro kūī kūī whiti ora e! E mihi ana ki ngā rangi e mihi ana ngā whenua he mihi ki ngā maunga o Ngāi Tahu tēnā rawa atu ki a koutou tēnā koutou nau mai haere mai.[Mr Speaker warm greetings to you. Kaupeka above and below alive and flourishing! Greetings to the skies greetings to the land greetings to the mountains of Ngāi Tahu a warm greeting to you welcome welcome.]Thank you Mr Speaker. It's wonderful this afternoon to put my voice my thoughts my opinions and my aspirations to the Canterbury Regional Council (Ngāi Tahu Representation) Bill.I haven't shared it too often but I have a middle name; it is Kiritea". It came about because I had a wonderful name gifted from my grandfather Iria I Te Rangi—a beautiful name that has followed many generations in my family. I come from a wonderful father with heritage from Ngāti Whitikaupeka Rongowhakaata and I have a beautiful mother European by descent yea high blonde blue-eyed. So that comes together that when I was born I came out quite fair with blonde hair slightly brown skin and was gifted the name "Kiritea" simply because Iria I Te Rangi was too Māori for such a fair boy. In some ways that is a travesty—a travesty that such a strong generational name was taken away from me. Similarly taken was my language my opportunity in life to grow up being Māori and European but also growing up being Māori having access to my reo having access to my culture having access to my whānau and here at the age of 40 I'm still learning te reo Māori today still reconnecting with my whakapapa still reconnecting with my whānau back in Mōkai Pātea and still attempting to settle the whenua that was taken from my family.I tell this story because I find the particular conversation around co-governance I find the negativity the tension with these types of conversations personally challenging because ki tēnei taha my beautiful mum blonde blue-eyed beautiful European whānau that I lovely dearly and on that side ki tērā taha my Māori whānau who desperately wish that we had all the joys in the world the knowledge the mātauranga to be uniquely who we are to have the voice that we absolutely want to have. And that tension runs deep and as I sit here listening to the debate in the House this afternoon I feel the tension across my brow I look at the whānau up there I look at my colleagues across the room and I look at our members here in Labour and this is one moment in time why I joined this party why I got involved in politics because I believe that our country Aotearoa New Zealand can be better. That's what I signed up for. That's what we signed up for and that's what they signed up for. And that is what our whānau want.Those are the types of things that as politicians we stand up for what we believe in. We stand up for the change and the things that matter and I look to this particular bill and I think that this bill will empower Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu to appoint two members to their council after the 2019 elections—two members. So there will be 16 members on council—16. So when we discuss democracy in our minds democracy to some people is purely about numbers and votes. Democracy is about representation of people. It is about the representation of all people—Simon Court: You're here because people voted.SHANAN HALBERT: —representation of all people—and comments like that are arrogant. They are ignorant and they do not stand up for the challenges that Māori face to stand and represent in this House. It is not an equal system and by no means did any Māori have an easy pathway to get here. I look to Tāmaki-makau-rau where I am from and that's the example whānau mā that I draw from. I think of the law that they changed across the room back in 2009 when they established the super city. They put in place the Māori Statutory Board which aimed to improve the representation of Māori the voice of Māori across Tāmaki-makau-rau in the growing city that we are. We wanted Māori to be a part of that discussion not left behind.Simon Court: A good idea.SHANAN HALBERT: Now that was 13 years ago. It was a very good idea—it was a very good idea. In my time in Tāmaki-makau-rau I have had the blessings and joys of seeing that growth of our city our biculturalism our stories and mātauranga of mana whenua in that city. It is imprinted in that city now to the extent that across new buildings and infrastructure in transport we see Māori designs everywhere from mana whenua so that all of our tamariki our generations to come will see their imprint across the infrastructure of our city. That's not just hopes aspirations and ideologies; that is the beauty of Aotearoa New Zealand where we stand here together—that we uniquely acknowledge and accept all of our voices to be heard. If we seek to look at democracy as purely one vote—one vote per person a mathematical equation—that is not going to achieve the representation that we seek as a country. That is not going to make us richer in the Aotearoa New Zealand that we all aspire for our tamariki mokopuna for our children and young people moving forward.What this bill does is enable local authorities to promote legislative change at a local level. This is Ngāi Tahu this is Canterbury uniquely identifying a representative system that they believe in that they believe helps fulfil their aspirations. If anyone in this House believes that it doesn't meet the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act you are factually wrong. This bill has been through that process. It is within the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act—Tim van de Molen: Everyone's entitled to your opinion!SHANAN HALBERT: It's not my opinion. I have been through the process and that misinformation from the ACT Party must stop. That is wrong Simon Court.Simon Court: Point of order. The member was referring to that statement as if it was made by the ACT Party. I just want to correct the record. That statement was not.SHANAN HALBERT: Thank you Mr Speaker. I acknowledge that. My point is that the misinformation that is shared around whether it's this bill or whether it's co-governance or whether it's three waters—now is the time for our country to embrace the rich culture representation and equity that this country truly deserves. It's about setting us up now for our tamariki mokopuna for our future generations. But here we're sweating two appointed members to a council out of 16 and if we're really concerned—if we're really concerned—what's lost? What is lost here? It is only the things that are gained for Canterbury the things that are gained for Kai Tahu to fulfil their aspirations their wawata the things that they want for their rohe for their iwi. This bill would have the effect of reinstating the mana whenua representation on Canterbury Regional Council and that is an important thing. The misinformation the negativity needs to end. Kia tau. We need to ensure that we have the best democratic models to set us up for a beautiful—a beautiful—inclusive future. Nō reira e mihi ana ki a koutou. Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa."