Katene Rahui:  
Katene Rahui:  
[Volume:654;Page:71] 
RAHUI KATENE (Maori Party—Te Tai Tonga) 
: 
 When considering Part 3 of the Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill which establishes the Auckland Transition Agency it is alarming that there is no provision for mana whenua on the Auckland Transition Agency. It is a shame this bill will not be going to a select committee and I hope the National Government will take up that offer from the Labour Party of sending the bill to a select committee to avoid sitting next week. It is really important that the people have a chance to speak to a select committee and put their views on Part 3 regarding the make-up of the Auckland Transition Agency—people such as Raewyn Bennett the first and present member for the Maori constituency of Mauao Maori on the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. She was first elected to that position in 2004 and was returned unopposed in 2007. 
Hon Mita Ririnui 
: “Who done that?”. 
RAHUI KATENE 
: That was Raewyn Bennett. 
Hon Mita Ririnui 
: “Who done that?”. 
RAHUI KATENE 
: Very good! Ms Bennett was able to make a submission to the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance and I am sure she would love to make a submission on the bill particularly on Part 3. In her submission to the royal commission she said she supported “a governance arrangement for Auckland that ensures that the purpose of the Local Government Act 2002: Section 10 is ethically and properly carried out: (a) to enable democratic local decision-making and action by and on behalf of communities and (b) to promote the social economic environmental and cultural well-being of communities in the present and for the future.” 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: Who said that? 
RAHUI KATENE 
: Ms Raewyn Bennett. I am reading from her submission to the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance which I am sure she would love to be able to give to the select committee. She also said: “3) I believe that these purposes can only be properly met by the establishment of designated Maori seats within any Governance arrangements for Auckland proportionate to the number of Maori voters using the same formula as set out in the Bay of Plenty Regional Council (Maori Constituency Empowering) Bill.”—Good one!—“4) “Maori have a treaty arrangement with the Crown and there are other valid reasons why their representation on institutions in Aotearoa as indigenous peoples should be accommodated. … 5) Maori feature in all the negative social indicators in any part of New Zealand. Over half of Maori in Aotearoa fall into the three highest deprivation deciles. The UN Human Development reports from 1990 to the present which have among other things influenced the development of the Local Govt Act 2002 have made clear links between peoples’ lack of political power and poverty. 6) Being able to freely choose from a choice of candidates who have relevance to you amounts to political freedom. The numerous conflicts around the world say that people do not want to settle for anything less. This ability to choose political representatives who have relevance to you is a basic human right. This is not available to Maori in Auckland at present.”—and it is not available under Part 3 of this bill—“People of the majority culture are advantaged over Maori because they can choose political candidates without having to make compromises. 7) Addressing wellbeings for Maori (and in the process dealing effectively with the low social economic and cultural outcomes) as required in the Local Govt Act clearly requires people whose lives are so affected to be politically empowered in order to properly operationalise the Act. A start to properly addressing their low-socio-economic status (and thus meet the well-being outcomes in the Local Govt Act 2002) should be made by establishing designated Maori seats. … 8) In his report as hearings commissioner on the proposal to establish a Maori constituency in the Bay of Plenty Regional Council Judge Trapski considered 760 written submissions for the proposal and 252 against the proposal. He made a special mention of how people interpreted “democracy”. 9) In addition to Judge Trapski’s reasons for rejecting that claim I believe that the “one man one vote” version of democracy is often a reflection of the insecurity people have about themselves and their place in the world.”