Waititi RawiriRAWIRI WAITITI (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori): Thank you. Well we've heard a lot about changes to do with COVID and the economy but in actual fact nobody is actually talking about the most racist legislation in this House which is the electoral law. The electoral law for a long time has locked Māori out from participating in this country's democracy for over eight years at a time. So if I take for an example the last time you could change on the electoral roll was 2018. Between 2018 and the 2020 election 16000 people got in contact with the Electoral Commission to change rolls. They cannot change rolls until 2024 so they've missed the 2020 election they will miss the 2023 election and the next election that they will be able to vote on is 2026.This has been suppression since 1867 when the four Māori electorates were set up to limit the representation we had in this place. Māori were 47 percent of the total population at that particular time. If it was a democracy then it would be a different story but at this particular time I want to highlight to this House that under Te Tiriti o Waitangi we should have 50 percent representation in this House. Under equity we should have 25 percent in this House. Under equality if we are 16 to 18 percent of the population we should have that percentage in this House. We don't get either one of those—we don't get either one of those.So what I'm saying today is that I have submitted my member's bill today. That member's bill specifically talks about allowing Māori to change between the Māori and the general electoral rolls at any time; to change the periodic requirement to redraw electoral boundaries from after each census to a set date two years after each general election; to set a legislation requirement that if someone stipulates they are Māori when enrolling but doesn't choose an electoral roll they are placed on the Māori electoral roll; and change the name of the general electorate district to the non-Māori electorate district. This is the problem: you've got a Māori roll and then a general roll and then you hold the general elections.This is why this whole electoral law—well I'm glad Mr Faafoi's walked back in here so he can hear this—needs to be changed but it needs to be guided by Māori to allow us a greater participation in our democracy because we do not get it. It is the only law that locks indigenous peoples out for an eight-year period. Where are you going Mr Faafoi? You're supporting. He gave me a chest pump. I look forward to when he makes those changes within that particular ministry.The bill would amend the Electoral Act 1993 to enable Māori voters to switch between the Māori and the non-Māori electoral rolls at any time. This is the problem. It is not allowing us to do that at any time. We still have prejudice when we have our tamariki trying to sign up to an electoral roll that has already been predetermined. It is already ticked on there I am Māori and choose to go on the general roll." We have evidence of that because we have people send us those things on a daily basis. As they enrol onto a roll it's already got a pre-ticked circle on their enrolments. This is the disgrace that our people face every time they go into this electoral process.So we get this every three years. The problem is it also determines our participation at local government elections. We all need to take responsibility for this. It's high time that this country and the parties in this House start to take responsibility for the changes of that bill and support it. By not supporting this bill it will continuously and consciously choose to actively participate against a Tiriti-centric Aotearoa. We need to recognise the mana of Te Tiriti o Waitangi that our ancestors both mine both tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti agreed to. Our ancestors signed this together. If we look at it as a waka hourua—a waka hourua a double-hulled waka. On one side you have Kāwanatanga; on the other side you have mana motuhake. One side is tangata Tiriti; one side is tangata whenua. The thing that joins that waka hourua that double-hulled waka is Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We must grow this together. This is not about a difference between us—SPEAKER: Order! The member's time has expired."