3. Question No. 3—Prime MinisterDAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 3—Prime Minister3. DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government's statements and actions?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes in particular our recent announcements around climate change—and I do want to acknowledge the work of Minister Shaw—that New Zealand's become the first country in the world to introduce a law that requires the financial sector to disclose the impacts of climate change on their business and explain how they will manage climate-related risk and opportunities through the Financial Sector (Climate-related Disclosures and Other Matters) Amendment Bill that has been recently introduced to the House. And of course that the Government is rolling out its plan for a carbon-neutral public sector by 2025 by committing funding to a range of clean-energy projects including coal boiler replacements fossil fuel boiler replacements and projects that'll achieve a total saving of around 26000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next 10 years.David Seymour: Does she stand by Grant Robertson writing to the chair of Air New Zealand asking that they among other things support economic development maintain a comprehensive domestic route network engage in the development of new aviation fuels for New Zealand enhance its role as a leader for best-practice workplace relations continue acting as a responsible corporate citizen and achieve these objectives while operating as a commercially sustainable and capital-efficient business ending with a note that the Minister would like to get involved in renewal of the board?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Yes.David Seymour: Does the Prime Minister understand that the Companies Act requires those directors to act in what they see as the best interest of the company and they have been put in an impossible position by this letter from the Minister of Finance?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: To answer the first half of the question yes.David Seymour: Does the Prime Minister stand by her Cabinet commissioning and then releasing this report He Puapua and releasing it only in a highly redacted form.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I of course would need to go back and see the degree of redaction but I stand by the decisions of my Cabinet colleagues and Cabinet.David Seymour: Why hasn't the Government done as the report suggests and made a major public announcement of its plan to bring New Zealand into what the report calls Declaration compliance" a reference to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Look I'd say to the member for the level of specificity that the member is asking for I would just encourage the member to put a question on notice and I would be happy to give a fulsome response.David Seymour: So will the Government rule out as the report calls for a "Treaty-based constitution"?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I'm not quite entirely sure it sits at the core of the member's question here. We have obligations to report on New Zealand's compliance with a number of declarations that we have historically been involved in beyond just this term of office. If the member is trying to imply that there is anything other than us complying with our obligations there he'd be most welcome to state that clearly and frankly because I really question what it is he is implying with this line of questioning.Hon Nanaia Mahuta: Can the Prime Minister confirm that the previous National Government under the then previous Minister of Māori Affairs Dr Pita Sharples actually went to sign up to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and can the Prime Minister also clarify the basis upon which the next steps towards working through a national plan of action might well be a positive progression?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I can confirm that and with great fanfare and that then falls upon future Governments to ensure following that that in real terms we act upon our obligations as signatories.David Seymour: Why then does the Prime Minister suppose the previous Government led by Helen Clark refused to sign the UN declaration?SPEAKER: Order! Order!Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I don't have a responsibility.SPEAKER: It's a question of responsibility.David Seymour: Point of order Mr Speaker. Surely if the previous question was in order in relation to a previous Government then a question relating to the one previous to that is in order.SPEAKER: No. Well the line that I took on that was that the action of the previous Government caused an issue for this Government to have to deal with and therefore was something for which the Government was responsible. If a previous Government two back doesn't do something and it causes no obligation on the current Government to do anything then I can't see where the ministerial responsibility sits.Chris Bishop: Point of order. SPEAKER: Is it a fresh point of order or is it the same thing being re-argued? Chris Bishop: Well it's just a clarification sir because that—SPEAKER: Well there's no such thing as a point of clarification and the member knows that. Chris Bishop: Well point of order. SPEAKER: A point of order Chris Bishop. Chris Bishop: Is it the case now that if in your opinion something done by a previous Government has an implication for a future Government that brings questions within scope? SPEAKER: I think the member should have a look at Speakers' rulings probably around page 167 where he will find that where an action is required of the current Government—if it was caused by the previous Government it comes in. If it's not if there's no—if nothing flows that the current Government is responsible for then the question is out of order. David Seymour: Will the Government rule out establishing a Māori Parliament as called for by the report He Puapua? Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Obviously we have no intention of making such a constitutional change. However we do commit ourselves to making sure that we are upholding our obligations as Treaty partners by making sure that for instance we have the same ability for Māori to be housed to have job opportunities to have decent health outcomes—all of which we have a long way to go. And I would hope that the member would see those as responsibilities that this Parliament collectively needs to act on. David Seymour: Why then did her Government close kura hourua a policy designed to help with Māori educational achievement endorsed by the Iwi Chairs Forum? Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: We've had a long-held view on charter schools and the member is aware of that. David Seymour: How should New Zealanders reading He Puapua understand which parts of it the Government intends to implement and which parts it doesn't? Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: This has not been a Government that's shied away from having frank conversations over the fact that to date we have not reached the point that we are obliged to in terms of seeing equity for Māori in the outcomes that I have just outlined: housing employment health. We should be open to discussing ways that we can get there and fulfil the obligations that we place on ourselves but equally ones that the United Nations is encouraging too. But you see in our formal Government responses those that we pick up and take forward and those that we don't. David Seymour: Will the Government then rule out "significantly increased return of Crown lands and waters" to Māori ownership in addition to Treaty settlements? Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I'm not going to get into a hypothetical back and forth here but of course we do have a Treaty process that this House has broadly collectively stood by and continues to do so. Māori have rightly raised issues around water allocation and the fact that our system today has acted on a "first in first served" basis and for undeveloped Māori land that has led to inequality and unfairness that needs to be resolved. But those are all issues successive Governments have faced. We're quite committed to try to find resolution to them."