Sharples Pita: Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Sharples Pita: Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:628;Page:570] 
Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 This bill is essentially to preserve the position of the minority Labour-led Government. This Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Bill lacks integrity. This bill is based on fear. It is a glue to hold together a very shaky coalition relationship. It is a prop to assist very different party philosophies to stay together. It is a device to prevent the Government coalition from imploding. 
Coming back to integrity—or the lack of it—I say that the Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Bill seems to be part of the deal that New Zealand First struck with those who were desperate to hold on to power so that they might exercise this power in any way they saw fit. The Maori Party on the other hand was created on the basis of integrity. Our co-leader Tariana Turia showed integrity when she walked away from those who had lost it. The Maori Party does not see the need for such a bill. Since the inception of the Maori Party we have declared that—regardless of what people may think of us—we will as parliamentarians in this House and indeed as citizens of our country always act with integrity. 
We have spent some time discussing this bill and although we initially supported the concept we realised that integrity could not be legislated for. The Maori Party questions the need for a bill that has been designed to enhance public confidence in the integrity of the electoral system. Our party is driven by kaupapa one of which is integrity. Even if this bill is passed into law we do not believe that we would ever have occasion to use it. We do not need the gorilla of laws to frighten or threaten us in order to guide our behaviour. Ours is not a party that uses fear intimidation or bullying as a means of achieving discipline. Discipline must come from within. 
We also ask why it is necessary to enhance the maintenance of political party proportional representation in Parliament. Should not the real litmus test—the integrity of parliamentarians—be evident to all through the performance in this very House the performance on the streets the performance of politicians walking the talk the performance of parliamentarians taking Parliament to the people? 
 We believe in the power of korero whakawhiti and humarie. We believe in reconciliation and restorative processes and we believe in our ability to arrive at consensus without rancour and bitter divisiveness. We will talk with anyone and we have demonstrated that in our short time as a party in this House. Talking with people does not mean selling one’s soul or selling out to one’s people. Although we are new in this House we will never ever sell out on our people. Talking brings understanding and informed decision-making. 
There will be opportunities for difference and this is one party that celebrates difference. We have neither central control nor rigid hierarchical control. Our process of reaching decisions is through consensus. It is a kaupapa Maori solution. It was laid down by our national executive and accepted by our 21000 members. In that respect we have come from a culture that has never had to use the law to achieve integrity. 
Is not our greatest possibility to enhance public confidence in the integrity of the electoral system evident through the challenges we set before ourselves? They are personal standards that are acted out in a political arena. There are members in this House like Ross Robertson Nandor Tanczos Sue Kedgley and of course we in the Maori Party who are extremely keen on establishing a code of conduct for use in this House. A code of conduct would include not using race or ethnicity as political footballs. That is something I referred to in my maiden speech and seems commonplace in this House. The public of this country want integrity in this House to mean standards of behaviour—appropriate codes of decorum—not subservience to a party line. Blind loyalty to party allegiances is the King Kong factor breathing over us. We should instead be reflecting how our party philosophy directs us to act not acting in fear because a gorilla might drop in on us. The Maori Party has come into Parliament to stand up and be counted for the things that matter. We will uphold integrity as being of the highest value in our behaviour and our processes in this House. This is of our own making. 
We note that New Zealand First will be supporting the Labour Government sponsored Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Bill because as its leader has stated it is a positive step in ensuring stability. This is perhaps an admission or a confession by New Zealand First that it lacks the discipline—in fact the stability—to ensure that this marriage to Labour will be of at least 3 years’ duration. 
The title of this bill has the word “integrity” in brackets. We want to bring the concept of integrity out of the brackets and back into Parliament. We do not believe that the Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Bill will do this. It is for this reason that we do not support this bill.