Wall Louisa; Rurawhe AdrianLOUISA WALL (Labour): Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare tēnā koutou katoa. I guess the question before us tonight is what rights do our tangata whenua Māori have in local government decision-making and what status do Māori have as the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa? Lest we forget we're a colonised country. Lest we forget that actually Māori have undergone racist and incredibly detrimental actions by the Crown in our country for us to be able to stand proudly as New Zealand's indigenous people. When we look at the issue of indigenous representation yes we should look at our New Zealand Parliament. We created the Māori seats and we continue to have the Māori seats because for our democracy we believe that specific Māori representation and specific Māori voices in this Parliament are fundamental to how our democracy will function because of the status we have as the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand. The reality within local government is that we do not have the same mechanism. If we look back to 2001 when the Local Electoral Act 2001 was enacted section 4 requires local government to provide for fair and effective Māori representation. The problem that we have is they don't have enough tools to ensure that Māori have a say around the decision-making table of local government. I want to acknowledge the leadership of Nanaia Mahuta—her leadership in bringing this to the House after a conversation that was started in 2018. As she articulated Local Government New Zealand came to her. They said Please do this we need it we need your leadership." And yes we'll be frank the coalition Government in the last Parliament would not agree to this legislative reform. So was it explicitly in Labour's manifesto? No. Was it explicitly in the Minister of Local Government's manifesto and agenda for change? Absolutely. Was it in the manifesto and change for local government? Do our local government leaders want this? Absolutely they do.So we are responding to the leaders that have been voted for by electors and all these councils. When you look at the different councils who have wanted to do this I particularly want to focus on New Plymouth. It's an opportunity to acknowledge Andrew Judd when he was the mayor who tried to get this through and has spent six years travelling around Aotearoa. He's had over 350 consultations with people in Aotearoa about the importance of ensuring that tangata whenua have a say in local government decision-making.I want to acknowledge Taupō District Council who in 2017 actually had a vote. And guess what? They didn't vote for Māori wards but what they did commit to is working with their iwi with their tangata whenua to find a mechanism for them to work together because they wanted to give effect to the Local Electoral Act they wanted to give effect to the Treaty of Waitangi to their Treaty partnership. Then in 2020 they actually had another vote and they as a council decided that they wanted the Māori wards. I want to commend David Trewavas and the people of Taupō where I whakapapa to so that's where my passion comes from. Have they been talking? They have talked they have consulted and one of the people said to them that they wanted to talk about partnership. They talked about the partnership between the council and iwi. They all noted that fundamental change was required that they needed as Treaty partners to work together on issues like taking care of our taiao our environment. They wanted a solution that they sought from the Minister of Local Government.Because the reality is we never had to have a vote and a poll in each of our constituencies if you're a specific Māori member of Parliament. This Parliament made a law and said "We are creating Māori seats to ensure that Māori have a say in the decision making of Parliament." In fact that's what we're doing for local government now. We're giving local government the tools to ensure that they can create a specific Māori voice within their local government decision-making so they can give effect to the Treaty just like we do.I just want to finish. One of the conclusions of Taupō District Council's Māori wards—they said "It is not if wards should be introduced but rather a question of when" and bullet point 3 on page 1 says they're actively advocating with Local Government New Zealand and central government for changes to legislation to better provide for Māori having a voice in decision making. Our councils want them. The people who voted for them—if they don't want them in the next election that's up to the people. But they've voted for leaders in their local communities who have brought this issue to Parliament and we are going to do everything we can to support our local leaders to implement legislation that enables them to have better relationships with tangata whenua and our Māori people. Kia ora.DEPUTY SPEAKER: This is a split call. I call Barbara Kuriger—five minutes."