7. Question No. 7—Prime MinisterDEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER (Co-Leader—Te Pāti Māori) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 7—Prime Minister7. DEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER (Co-Leader—Te Pāti Māori) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all of his Government's policies and actions?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON (Prime Minister): Yes in the context they were given.Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: How can he justify introducing legislation to abolish Te Aka Whai Ora two days before the Waitangi Tribunal's urgent hearing into Te Aka Whai Ora when his Government has known since 19 January that an inquiry was set to take place?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: Because we opposed it from its very conception we spoke about it extensively in Opposition and opposed it in Opposition we campaigned on it in the election campaign and we put it into our 100-day plan as part of forming a new Government. It's been very well signalled that we do not believe that bureaucracy is the way in which we drive better health outcomes for Māori.Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: Does he agree that by ignoring the tribunal's request to introduce legislation to abolish Te Aka Whai Ora after the inquiry has been completed his Government is bypassing judicial process and oversight?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: No the tribunal will again have the jurisdiction to consider a claim after the legislation comes into effect. But we have been very very clear in our opposition to the Māori Health Authority. We do not believe it's the way in which we deliver better health outcomes for Māori—period.Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: How can he justify dismantling the Māori Health Authority in the same week as repealing smoke-free legislation when Māori die seven years earlier on average than non-Māori and smoking is our leading cause of premature death?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: We have seen tremendous halving of smoking rates amongst Māori—from memory something like 37 percent down to 16 percent in the space of a decade—under the legislation that we're supporting putting back into law. So we're going to continue to drive smoking rates down for Māori and for non-Māori and we're going to continue to get better health outcomes for Māori by using local iwi providers—localism and devolution not centralisation and control—and I thought that member would appreciate that.Hon David Seymour: Is the Prime Minister trying to say that New Zealand is not actually governed by the Waitangi Tribunal but instead by a Government elected by the people at democratic elections?SPEAKER: Well that was a really interesting statement. We'll move on to another supplementary.Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: Does he consider a Government's use of urgency to progress a political agenda without public scrutiny to be an abuse of the democratic process?Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: In Opposition we opposed the Māori Health Authority from its very conception—we have opposed it in Opposition. We went to the election campaign and said we would dismantle it. We formed a Government; within a matter of days we had a hundred-day plan to dismantle it—49 actions in 100 days. That's what we're doing.Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: Point of order. Look I—SPEAKER: We'll just wait for a bit of silence.Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: Tēnā koe te Pīka. The question was the use of urgency—SPEAKER: Point of order the Rt Hon Chris—Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: Oh sorry—Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: She's raising a point of order.SPEAKER: Oh were you raising a point of order?Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: Yes.SPEAKER: Oh sorry. Point of order.Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: My question was addressing the use of urgency not the campaigning spiel. It was to address: Was the promise in the 100-day to utilise the use of urgency?" That's the question that was asked.SPEAKER: Well OK the Prime Minister doesn't have direct responsibility for the use of urgency. The Government may move it but the House decides. So the Prime Minister may want to make a comment but the question is not quite in line with the primary.Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: As I've said before it's entirely—well it's been incredibly well signalled by our Government that we want to dismantle the Māori Health Authority. Why? Because we believe in actually delivering better health outcomes for Māori. We're going to do it in a different way.Rt Hon Chris Hipkins: Point of order Mr Speaker. I just wanted to check with you whether the rules around talking on cellphones in the debating chamber have changed or whether in fact the tobacco lobby should wait until after question time to contact the Deputy Prime Minister with their feedback.SPEAKER: Now I just think—Rt Hon Winston Peters: Speaking to the point of order. Mr Speaker. That's a disgraceful insinuation especially when somebody's going to be out of this House within a few weeks. But the real point is: no I was pursuing a lawyer that acted illegally and I'm going to make sure I win against him. That's what the phone call was about.SPEAKER: No you can't use cellphones now."