Court SimonSIMON COURT (ACT): Thank you very much Madam Chair. So following on from that question and just reframing back to the question I asked before we don't yet understand the value of the rates remissions and we don't understand how councils which will be able to—and in fact what appears to be obliged—provide rates remissions; because this is a far more kind of permissive approach rather than an enforcement approach to rates recovery and we understand why that is your intention having brought this to the House. But what we don't understand is how much are councils in the hole for what's the value currently outstanding of rates on whenua Māori land and how are they supposed to make this up when they have a huge infrastructure deficit? I'm asking this question again because despite your answer before which did address other matters these absolutely critical matters to the delivery of infrastructure and provision of services to these communities remain unanswered. The ACT Party is not able to support this bill without understanding that matter as well as what other opportunities there are to actually solve this problem apart from this piece of legislation. So I would like to be able to take away from the House tonight and go back and talk to the stakeholders that I've committed to respond to exactly where the money that is going to be sacrificed—because it must be sitting on an accounts receivable (AR) ledger in many dozens maybe all 67 of the territorial authorities and the regional councils; it must be sitting there in AR. There must be accountants saying You know what? We've got budget for water projects we've got this budget for footpaths for parks and reserves and community facilities libraries"—whatever it is that that council has a budget for—"but we don't have the money because we've got this outstanding number in accounts receivable. It's not like we can call Baycorp. It's not like it's Penny Bright—she's not out there protesting every day in Avondale so you know it's not like we know where she is."The problem is that this is essentially a fiscal black hole for local government. While we understand your heartfelt and compassionate approach to these families to these whānau who want to develop their land and feel this is a big barrier to walking through the doors of the council—and I can only imagine what it is like when you discover an unpaid parking ticket in your glove box and you realise it has probably been referred to justice and it is going to cost you a lot more. I know that sinking feeling. I'll admit to having a parking ticket but no more than that in my life OK?Kieran McAnulty: Take some personal responsibility come on!SIMON COURT: Well you know I did pay it—I did pay it. I didn't ring up the council and ask to be let off. I'm not one of those people writing long letters Mr McAnulty.But what we do need to know and what I will ask for again is a detailed explanation of the value of the rates remission that is forecast by the officials and how Government having passed this legislation proposes to make that up to those local authorities which are already suffering a significant reduction in income some of them due to COVID and a lack of tourism. Auckland Council we know is suffering terribly because they haven't been able to recover a lot of costs through facilities through events and so on and there must be others—Northland for example is missing out on tourism; we know that the West Coast of the South Island and other parts are also missing out on revenue. Local councils are missing out on tourism revenue. This is just another black hole. So I would appreciate Minister you filling us in exactly on the value of the rates that will be remitted and how the Government proposes to make that up to their partners in local government. Thank you very much."