Lyndon HūhanaHŪHANA LYNDON (Green): Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. I stand on behalf of the Green Party and share with this Whare that te Iwi Māori are sick of the attacks of this coalition Government on our people. Te reo Māori Te Aka Whai Ora 7AA Oranga Tamariki the mega-prison boot camps killing our people with tobacco reviewing all Treaty clauses within legislation and ripping them out Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act—you dare attack our takutai moana touch it watch te Iwi Māori respond. We are sick of it. Te Iwi Māori is seeing what you're doing to us. The community sees you; migrants see you—SPEAKER: No no. With all due respect I'm not doing anything to anyone.HŪHANA LYNDON: Can't say you".SPEAKER: No.HŪHANA LYNDON: Thank you. This Government—I'll pull it back.SPEAKER: And please just stay loosely at least within the bounds of the third reading of this bill.HŪHANA LYNDON: Yes thank you. I'm getting to my point that this Government continues to attack te Iwi Māori. We've sat in this House and debated this legislation for how long? Last week we tried our best to reason with this Government. We shared 10000-plus submissions came in within a five-day period. Our people mobilised. Over 90 percent supported retention of Māori wards—90 percent easily. We sat over three days truncated position truncated way of closing out the people of New Zealand but there you go—we did it. And our select committee did its best. We had a variety of submitters that came in whether it be democracy groups whether it be university students whether it be migrant groups even our marae came in and they shared: "Retain our Māori wards."I want to share what Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board offered in this submission to us in the whare. "The Bill represents an irresponsible exercise of power. It is a retrograde and racist step: no other type of ward or constituency (including rural wards) [or ratepayer wards] requires a poll." This proposal appears to have an intended impact to divide our people and it's been politicised misrepresenting actually the mahitahi that we have in our communities. And Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board went on to talk about their strong relationship in council and that this will divide our community.I've shared in the past that the chair of our Māori standing committee at Northland Regional Council Pita Tipene has said that this Government is missing the heart of our communities and the people of New Zealand because we've gone so much further—we've gone so much further in our mahitahi but they want to lock us up they want to throw away the key and exclude us from the local government decision-making table. Waipā District Council: localism in action. They shared with us at the select committee: "Waipā District Council established [our] first Māori ward in May 2021 following [a] comprehensive [engagement] with our community. That consultation drew … 900 submissions"—that's 900 community members that came out to have a voice on this issue. Don't talk about localism when you're shutting out the people of Waipā because 84 percent of those 900 submissions supported the establishment of a Māori ward.[Authorised te reo Māori text to be inserted by the Hansard Office.][Authorised translation to be inserted by the Hansard Office.]In 2021 they established their Māori ward in Waipā because of the desire of the community. That desire was reflected in the councillors who all voted ae because they listened to the community. It is then and it is now still the desire of Waipā District Council to retain their Māori ward but this Government is forcing us back. "Back on track" they say—"Back on track" but it's sending us back back back. It's dividing our communities. It's saying "No Māori you don't get a say. You're going to have to fight it out with community groups that come in. In fact all those external forces like what happened in Palmerston North you're going to have to fight it out with Hobson's Pledge again because they're going to come in and they're going to saturate our community with racist rhetoric. Tamaira Hook cousin from Te Rāwhiti—humble young man don't get involved in this type of thing but he put a submission in out of the 10000-plus—managed to find Tamaira. Tamaira said "Maori wards ensure the fair representation and participation of Maori in local government." Kia ora tātou. "They hold the function of upholding democratic principles by allowing voters on the Maori electoral roll to have specific representation on local [government]. Maori wards ensure that Maori have a platform to articulate our own needs and contribute to local decision making". Thank you cousin Tamaira. He is providing the voice of young people he is providing the voice of rural community because Te Rāwhiti is miles away from Kawakawa miles away from Whangaruru.Bringing to the heart of why Far North District Council has been so successful this term—so successful because you've got mahitahi tangata Tiriti tangata whenua. And while you might say "Far North District Council you've already got Māori on there." Yes we do but it's a plus plus because now we have a full representation of the large number of community members across the rohe: Hokianga mai Te Rāwhiti mai you've got whānau from Whangaroa and Te Hiku all at the decision-making table mahitahi together. It's really disappointing that we're at this point because this is it. We're going to have to go out and tell our communities that we've lost the battle because our communities have said "Hold on to the Māori wards." We have done so much to achieve this and now we are taking a step back. Over 50 mayors wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister which has been ignored and they told the Prime Minister that this is a clear overreach in local decision-making. Those 50 mayors have said that this is a distraction from the important work that they do in local government. But somehow this Government seems to think that they know better than the 50 mayors that wrote to them.How many of our councils actually asked for this? I say that because I don't think that they really wanted to do this; it's being forced upon them—it is being forced upon them. So when we're saying we're upholding localism we're seeking for local voice local government at no time asked for this. Our communities fought back—10000-plus—and said "no". Our young people have said in their submissions "We tautoko local representation." Like cousin Nīkau Wi Neera here in Wellington. Māori are important and these Māori wards brought to the table skills expertise tirohanga Māori and connection into Māori communities that local government doesn't always have.So enough is enough. Local government is being attacked. When we see the changes in the Resource Management Act and the removal of Te Mana o te Wai we're getting stripped back. We're going so far back. Why are we doing this at such a time where we've seen an integration of community of mahitahi—we can't even do a karakia at Te Whatu Ora any more. These attacks on our people are not OK. Te Iwi Māori is watching this Government. We in the Opposition are watching this Government. And I can tell you te Iwi Māori is not happy with what's happening today what's happened last week and what's going to happen into the future—just like we've got the gang patch legislation this afternoon.Now it's critical that at this time at this juncture in local government we mahitahi because the long-term plans are just being completed and long-term plans require a diverse range of voices. Māori often don't engage in these local government planning processes. So when you have Māori ward councillors they can bring the council into Māori communities; whether it's your rugby club whether it's at your marae or the local community hall in Oakura Whangaruru. They can drag you into the Māori community as a council. And I think that's the missed opportunity that we have here. Te Iwi Māori voice is important Māori wards are important and this Government is turning its back on the voice of community the voice of local government who did not ask for this on top of them. Kia ora tātou."