Lyndon HūhanaHŪHANA LYNDON (Green): Tēnā koe Mr Chair. Mihi ana ki a koe. I want to address with the Minister the binding poll component of the legislation because I've just been reviewing some of the advice that's been received and thinking about the law society and the way that they shared that binding polls for Māori wards is inconsistent with existing democratic decision-making frameworks." Now the bill actually overrides the decisions of local government and actually the ability for Māori to determine whether they want Māori wards or not would be a better solution. But of course we're asking all general Joe Public to make a decision around how Māori and Māori on the electoral roll will be represented in local government.In 2020 the Department of Internal Affairs said in their report that binding-poll provisions had proved almost insurmountable as a barrier to Māori establishing Māori wards and constituencies because they raised in their report in 2020 that between 2002 and 2019 only two councils had established Māori wards via binding polls seven council resolutions were revoked via polls and seven council-initiated polls were voted down. So that leads to the question of why it needs to be binding because ultimately referendums can be a good mechanism to consult with your community just like a hui. And there's provision within the legislation that other referendums can continue on their merry way. But for some reason Māori get singled out again as the Te Tiriti partner who is relegated to the back seat in local democracies and local government. And here we are back to square one again where Joe Public at large will have a say on how Māori voice is represented in local government.This is the New Zealand Law Society; this isn't even the Waitangi Tribunal. We haven't even got into their report yet. But the law society said that the Government's lack of engagement with their Te Tiriti partners on this matter because it's affecting Māori in the binding polls area is actually one of the cruxes of the matters and they recommended that there needed to be a conversation before this legislation came into the House. Now once a Government is formed it is bound by its commitments and obligations as the Crown to Māori through Te Tiriti o Waitangi and should therefore follow—this is best practice—policy-development consultation processes which are consistent with the existing Te Tiriti obligations and commitments.Now we know the Government did not talk to Māori before they brought it into the House and that's one of the disappointing elements in terms of how you say that this legislation does not undermine Te Tiriti o Waitangi and yet they never considered talking to the Māori who are the most affected by this. So my question to the Minister is around the binding polls and why it has to be a binding poll on us.And in fact the referendum could actually be a really good thing if it was to provide a litmus test and be one of the many mechanisms to test where the community is at generally because if I reflect on the select committee those three days of over 10000 people who had provided written submissions and then came before us over a three-day period after five days of space for to actually submit our whakaaro—largely they all supported the retention of Māori wards. So it's peculiar that actually when it comes time for this legislation to come before the House our select committee voted us down and yet the people of New Zealand spoke really really clearly that they supported—Tauiwi mai Pākehā mai our youth and our university students. I'm getting texts now saying "Is it done? Is it over and out?" And I said no because we are here to fight for the retention of Māori wards as per the Te Tiriti obligations of this Government. And in fact they are ignoring the advice of the New Zealand Law Society. Let it be put on record that they are ignoring the advice. And I want to explore with the Minister: why does it need to be a binding poll? Because actually the referendum could be awesome as an engagement tool but ultimately it's binding for Māori but it's not binding for other things. Kia ora tātou."