Kapa-Kingi MariamenoMARIAMENO KAPA-KINGI (Matarau—Te Pāti Māori ): Tēnā koe e te Māngai tēnā tātou katoa. I stand here to debate the absolute necessity to have Māori wards to have Māori representation within the political sphere—Hon Paul Goldsmith: Is that local?MARIAMENO KAPA-KINGI: —of this country at a local and regional level. And I'll leave the cheerleaders for later. Excuse me Mr Speaker.Tai Tokerau is home to one of the largest populations of Māori within the country. Over one third of our demographic identifies as Māori and fortunately so do I. I've been a Māori for a while so I'm good for this debate. So it is vital that our community is represented at the decision-making table. Māori wards ensure that we as Māori and us in Te Tai Tokerau and even Grant for that matter are represented in local government decision-making processesot just stand up and have a little karakia and a waiata. For Te Tai Tokerau Māori wards have only recently been introduced. And much like any of these other initiatives they just don't get the opportunity to give it a real go. They've barely had the opportunity to flourish. The current Government has attempted to withdraw or cut what is both essential and necessary for us—and I mean the Māori us" and I mean the Treaty partner "us". What is most important right now is that Māori maintain the absolute right to actively participate in decision-making processes when it comes to both local and regional government.Given the historical barriers such as Māori continuing to negotiate intergenerational harm which is oppression colonisation and de-culturation Māori engagement with political institutions is limited and hard and difficult to break through. This often leaves Māori under-represented in political spaces and by extension vulnerable to racism—the misconstrued perspectives that those in decision-making positions hold toward Māori. Māori wards are designed to bridge the gap between Māori and bring our own voices into that debate and into that discussion and particularly into the decision-making spaces. So dang it's a good idea and it's going to be chucked out but again that's not surprising given the current climate that we're having to deal with.These wards are therefore designed to support Māori in their—and I really want to be clear on this one—tino rangatiratanga as guaranteed in Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It won't be the last time that I'll ever use those words. This Government has shamefully voted to uphold Pākehā dominance and undermine Māori rights to representation in local government. Once again we have a Pākehā majority deciding that they know what's better for me and Māori and Māori in Te Tai Tokerau and not even Grant can support that.This type of thinking is outdated and systemically racist. Far North District Council—getting to the good bit—illustrates just how outdated this thinking is. In March 2021 they collected the community's feedback on Māori wards in their representation review. Of those who submitted responses 81.76 percent supported Māori wards. Please let that sink in[Authorised te reo Māori text to be inserted by the Hansard Office.][Authorised translation to be inserted by the Hansard Office.]Please let that sink in and comprehend is probably the other thing.So the Far North district councillors voted to establish Māori wards for the 2022 and 2025 local body elections. Moko Tepania—if you don't know him great guy mayor and knows exactly what his people in Far North District Council are about. The mayor for Far North has openly expressed his contempt towards the ridiculous actions this Government has taken.And much like our policing community in their responses to Government actions we hear the same rhetoric from local government: "We don't need Wellington to tell us what to do." Additionally to hold these referendums it will cost communities. It'll cost Far North District Council more than it absolutely should given there's not a lot of funding and investment in the Far North in any case. This type of expenditure is incredibly wasteful for vulnerable communities.A lack of education inspires a lack of understanding and by extension creates fear. This is exactly what our current Government illustrates to us is that their lack of education in issues regarding our people inspires lack of understanding and creates their fear of us being equal with them. Thank you Mr Speaker. Kia ora tātou te Whare."