Pugh MaureenMAUREEN PUGH (National): Thank you very much Madam Chair. I'd just like to pay tribute to my colleagues Stuart Smith and Todd Muller for the contributions they've made on this particular clause in the bill the Local Electoral (Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill.I'd like to ask the Minister please if we could turn our minds to clause 6 in new Schedule 1 where it talks about where territorial authorities or regional councils have made a resolution under section 19ZD before the commencement date ceases to have effect on the commencement date. Paragraph (b) in there talks about where the clause applies to a resolution of a territorial authority or regional council if the poll has not been held as at the commencement date" of this bill.Minister in some cases the poll may not have been held but in my experience in local government if it has gotten to the point of being discussed and I would estimate that quite a lot of preparation work had already been done in terms of setting up a poll—I'm not sure if there are any councils in New Zealand that find themselves in that position with this new bill in front of us. But what would be the implication or the recompense to those councils who have incurred the cost of the prep work that is required in setting up in readiness to undertake a poll if that has been the case for that particular council?There will be a huge amount of staff time invested possibly even some advertising already done. So in terms of the cost that has already been incurred by councils in preparing for a poll will there be some kind of recompense for them? It may be my Scottish blood but I've always maintained that this is ratepayers' money that we talk about when councils are investing. Even if it staff time it is not the councils' money; it is the ratepayers' money.So an answer to that question would be helpful and I'd like to pick up too on another issue that has been raised and the Minister herself mentioned it in one of her responses about equality. As my colleague Stuart Smith just talked about in terms of "equal" are we on the pathway to equal in terms of 50:50 partnership and if that's the case then can we be honest about that and can we actually accept that point? You know is that the target that we're heading for and I think if that is the case then that is a whole conversation another conversation that we need to have. Does "equal" then refer to proportionality—so the proportion of population perhaps so that it is equal in representation which we've heard in other parts of this bill is around 14 percent which we have already met in terms of Māori representation—or are we talking about as Stuart Smith said equal opportunity?I'd like to reflect on the situation that occurs in my own patch in Westland where we have Te Rūnanga o Makaawhio Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Waewae who already sit around the council table as true partners and with a huge amount of mutual respect for the organisation. So there are no decisions made in that particular local authority where local iwi are not fully engaged and fully participating.I just have concerns that these relationships that are built over a huge amount of time and with the individuals involved—that that gets us to the point where we have partners around the council table in the decision making and that with a blanket rule from top down that discourages the bottom-up relationship building that is already going on in this country. I have concerns that we may damage some of those relationships as we go forward with this top-down approach.So Minister I respectfully ask that you consider these points that I have made. Thank you very much."