Mooney JosephJOSEPH MOONEY (National—Southland): Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise as the member for Southland to speak on this bill. The National Party opposes the Canterbury Regional Council (Ngāi Tahu Representation) Bill.The proposed legislation provides mana whenua representation on the Canterbury Regional Council while giving Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu the right to appoint up to two members of the council in addition to elected members and to ensure that once appointed those members have the same status as elected members for all purposes. The National Party opposes this legislation because the proposed provisions are undemocratic. The proposed two additional members of the council would be appointed by Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu rather than being elected by the public of whom Ngāi Tahu are members.It is a longstanding principle in Western democracies that where taxes or rates are levied there should be a mechanism for those who pay to exercise control through voting. The provisions in this bill provide for the potential for Māori wards to also be introduced in Canterbury including the potential for more appointed positions and the provisions in this bill also provides for less effective mana whenua representation in the current Tumu Taiao who advise the council.This bill weakens Canterbury's local democracy by creating a workaround of the democratic norm that community representatives legitimately exercise public power on the basis of being elected to make decisions on behalf of their communities. Accordingly the addition of two additional councillors who are not elected would dilute the Canterbury region's democratic representation by investing those two unelected appointees with the same voting rights and powers as elected members. Such an arrangement will weaken the council's accountability to Cantabrians.I note that the long history of New Zealand—New Zealand's a young country but we're one of the oldest democracies. Originally the voting rights were based on the possession of property in this country. However Māori men were granted universal suffrage in 1867 with four electorates for Māori—three in the North Islands and one in the South Island—because only a small number of Māori owned individual freehold land at that time and many Māori could not vote.So Māori men were actually given the universal suffrage in this country before all other men who did not own land. Universal male suffrage was introduced 12 years later for all men on 12 December 1879 and that gave them the right to vote whether or not they owned property. It was 19 September 1893 that New Zealand became the first self-governing country in the world in which women had the right to vote in parliamentary elections. So that's 129 years of history in this country of universal suffrage giving everyone in this country an equal right to vote in elections. This bill undermines that principle of 129 years of electoral universal suffrage in this country giving all adults—male and female—the same right to vote for those who exercise power and control over their lives.This bill also in my view is irreconcilable with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was proclaimed in 1948 and Article 21 says Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in their country." It also says "The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of Government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures." Again this bill undermines that Universal Declaration of Human Rights which makes it clear that there should be universal and equal suffrage for all voters in this country.I note Ngāi Tahu are a fantastic iwi who have done incredible things since 1998 when they were given a settlement of $170 million—the Treaty settlement. They have grown that to an asset base that now stands at about $1.2 billion. Over $320 million has been distributed to support tribal programmes. Ngāi Tahu annually contribute over $200 million to the South Island economy through job creation through purchasing and spending profits locally. So National and myself strongly acknowledge Ngāi Tahu as an important well organised tribe who are essential to the South Island's future prosperity and resilience. Based on these strengths Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu are well positioned to present and support credible competent candidates that run for local or regional office who can succeed without reliance on preferential legislation.We very much support Ngāi Tahu; we do not support this bill."