Court SimonSIMON COURT (ACT): Thank you Madam Chair and thank you to the member in the chair Rino Tirikatene for offering that perspective in a new spirit of cooperation. That sounds wonderful and it's laudable but it doesn't explain why the purpose of the bill would give voting rights to members of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu voting rights which every other member of Environment Canterbury has to seek a mandate for from voters.So the voters of Canterbury who include many people as you've pointed out sir many Māori people who are on the Māori electoral roll or on the general roll—Māori people are on the general roll believe it or not—who are able to vote for their Environment Canterbury representative. Some of them might vote for representatives who are passionate about cycling and walking taking out car parks painting the roads blue and generally trying to fulfil what they think are their climate obligations to the planet—not to the economy and society; just to the planet. They might choose to elect people who represent farming groups or other interest groups and of course they may choose to elect people who whakapapa back to Ngāi Tahu. Of course that's what democracy is. It gives the voters—the people who pay rates or in our case the people who pay taxes—the opportunity to vote for people to represent them in decision making over the way public funds are used to buy stuff that gives social benefits. So we elect people to make decisions about things that have social benefits using public funds—money collected from ratepayers in the case of Environment Canterbury—and that's why we insist they have a democratic mandate: no taxation without representation. But what the member is proposing and what none of the other Labour MPs have been able to stand up and explain either—even Mr Willie Jackson who had some comments I couldn't quite hear but I think he was supporting. He said ACT had the answer." He was pointing at it and—Hon Willie Jackson: "No" I was saying. SIMON COURT: —he was saying "ACT has the answers when it comes to democracy."—that's what I heard. But I haven't heard anyone stand up on the Government side and say that it's important that we give voting rights to people who are not elected to have decision making over the way public funds are used and spent on things that council procures for social goods.So if the member sincerely believes that Environment Canterbury can't make decisions and recognise in the spirit of cooperation in the spirit of all the things we've learnt since the Treaty of Waitangi was signed between two willing groups of people with their feet in the soil on the sandy beaches of New Zealand who agreed willingly in exchange of sovereignty for protection—Dr Duncan Webb: Point of order Madam Chairperson. This debate is on Part 1 of the bill which is preliminary provisions. This—CHAIRPERSON (Hon Jacqui Dean): Thank you for that. Thank you—a good point of order to raise. However I am listening very closely and following along with the bill. I am allowing a latitude as I want to in the committee stage given this is a strongly debated issue. I thank the member for his point of order but I am using my judgment in this.SIMON COURT: Thank you Madam Chair. So back to the purpose of the bill which the member has described but he has not fully explained why or in the spirit of cooperation that he described between Environment Canterbury and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu what other forum are available to engage in this cooperation. Potentially there are face-to-face meetings. Potentially there is a request for Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu to give advice to Environment Canterbury on matters that are important to Environment Canterbury and to the community and they feel that Ngāi Tahu can make a contribution. In fact in a previous role before I hung up my hard hat and came to Parliament I used to give presentations to the mana whenua representatives of Auckland—of Tāmaki Makaurau—on matters that were important to them around why we needed to fix old landfills that were built in coastal areas and that were contaminating the sea and on why we needed to fix waste-water systems. So there are opportunities for cooperation.CHAIRPERSON (Hon Jacqui Dean): The member will come back more closely to representation and elections.SIMON COURT: So as the member Rino Tirikatene pointed out the intent is to improve cooperation. I would say that there are many opportunities for cooperation that do not require Ngāi Tahu to put non-elected members with voting rights on Environment Canterbury and I would challenge the member to go around the country and explain to communities why this would be good for them if—[Bell rung]CHAIRPERSON (Hon Jacqui Dean): The—Rino Tirikatene: Madam Chair. CHAIRPERSON (Hon Jacqui Dean): Oh Rino Tirikatene—you're just in time."