Brown SimeonLOCAL GOVERNMENT (ELECTORAL LEGISLATION AND MĀORI WARDS AND MĀORI CONSTITUENCIES) AMENDMENT BILLThird ReadingHon SIMEON BROWN (Minister of Local Government): I move That the Local Government (Electoral Legislation and Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill be now read a third time. Today is a great day for local democracy local democracy that listens to its communities and enables them to decide how they are represented at a local level. By passing this bill our Government is restoring the right of local communities to determine whether to introduce Māori wards.This bill does three things. Firstly it restores the rights of communities to determine whether to introduce Māori wards by reinstating binding polls from Māori wards and constituencies a policy that was put in place by the Helen Clark Government. The Helen Clark Government put that policy in place and we're reinstating it and now this Labour Party wants to go against it. It requires councils that have established Māori wards and Māori constituencies since 2021 to ensure these wards are supported by the public in those local communities and it changes statutory time frames to ensure the safe delivery of the 2025 local elections.Divisive changes were introduced by the previous Government which denied—denied—local communities the ability to determine whether to establish local Māori wards in their communities. They took away the voices of local communities across the country and undermined the principles of democracy.As the councillor for Northland's Ngā Tai o Tokerau Māori ward said yesterday afternoon to the Herald The previous Labour Government did not take New Zealanders with them when they removed the need for Māori ward polling in 2021." Like they did with three waters Labour introduced divisive changes that took away local communities' voices in determining how their local communities should be governed.But unlike members on the other side of the House our Government is committed to restoring local democracy. As part of National's coalition agreement with New Zealand First and the ACT Party we are restoring the right for local referendums on the establishment and ongoing use of Māori wards. I thank my coalition parties and colleagues for supporting this bill. Any decision to establish or disestablish a Māori ward is one that remains with local communities. And unlike Labour's 2021 changes our Government is ensuring that local communities have a say in their governance arrangements.I put it to you Mr Speaker what we've heard from the other side is they talk about localism. Well the ultimate form of localism is letting local voters have their say. When it comes to localism they want to leave it with the mayor and the council. We believe that actually voters should be able to have their say and actually make decisions in terms of what goes down in their local communities. Well localism only goes so far under a Labour Government: it goes to the council it goes to the local councillors; we believe it goes to the people: the people of New Zealand the people of the local communities. We are putting the voting power back in the hands of the people of New Zealand. So this bill does just that.And for those councils which have gone and put in place Māori ward since 2021 this bill requires them by 6 September to either rescind or disestablish that ward or go to the people in their community and let the people in their community have their say. And if the people in that community say yes the ward stays. If they say no the ward does not stay. That is democracy. And I know there's people on the other side who think democracy has changed; well on this side democracy has not changed.Hon Willie Jackson: It has changed—it has. Hon SIMEON BROWN: Democracy has not changed. Hon Willie Jackson repeats—he hasn't learned a single thing from what happened on 14 October. He still thinks democracy has changed. He thinks that we should be taking the power away from local people. Well the people of New Zealand rejected your form of democracy Willie Jackson. They rejected it on 14 October and they voted in the coalition Government to restore local democracy in New Zealand. And that is what this bill is doing. If the public and the people in that electorate and in that community say the ward stays the ward stays; if they say it won't then it will leave.I've heard members on the other side also talk about the speed at which this bill was put through. They put this bill through when they were in Government with only two days for public submissions. Shame on them. Shame on them. And let me put it to you Mr Speaker we are putting this bill through quickly to restore democracy. They rammed it through to get rid of democracy because that's what that side of the House does. They don't believe in democracy and we do.This bill also makes some important changes in terms of the time frame for local elections by extending the time frame for postal services to ensure that the next local elections in 2025 can have enough time for the post to be able to deliver. This also signals the need I think for wider reform in terms of electoral reform for local elections.As the committee of the whole House has also noted there are some minor amendments made to the bill. The changes require affected councils to make an active decision on whether to disestablish their Māori ward or hold a poll at the 2025 elections by 6 September this year. If the council is required to hold a poll like other operational decisions for local elections the electoral officer for a council is responsible for holding a poll during the 2025 local elections. The purpose of those amendments is to assure the affected parties of their roles and responsibilities once the bill comes into place.I want to thank the select committee for their work particularly the Justice Committee for their work on the bill. I want to thank the submitters who had their say [Interruption]. But I want to make it very clear—SPEAKER: Well so do I. I want to make it very clear that we will hear the balance of the speech in silence.Hon SIMEON BROWN: I want to make it very clear: this bill is all about local communities giving people a say on how they're represented and ensuring ample opportunity to have their voices heard. That should not be a point that is being debated in this House this afternoon but it's a point which the Labour Party the Green Party and the Māori Party have walked far far far away from in their most recent policies and their most recent statements.This bill is about turning the page on the previous Labour Government's divisive changes that denied local communities the ability to determine whether to establish Māori wards. I'm proud to stand before this House to deliver on our Government's commitment to restore local democracy for local communities. I commend this bill to the House."