Bennett DavidHon DAVID BENNETT (National): Thank you Madam Chair. There are two issues I want to raise with the title of this bill. The first is a very legal context and that is the word and" that is being used. Members may be laughing but the reality is that if you look through the bill it actually talks of "or" and then finally in the title we use the word "and". In legal terminology that makes a huge amount of difference. So I think there may actually be an issue there that the drafters have got wrong because if you look through the clauses it very clearly says "or". So if you go to clause 5 the section 9 amendment (7)(a) it says "Māori wards or Māori constituencies" and you can see that all the way through the bill and yet we're caught with the word "and".So I think there is a structural issue there. It really relates to the definition of "Māori wards" and "Māori constituencies" because I don't know the difference.Hon Willie Jackson: Oh we knew that.Hon DAVID BENNETT: Willie Jackson may say that I might not know but I respect everybody in this House because I know they will do exactly what they can for any constituent that walks through their door in their office. The Labour members are nodding. They will act in the best interests of everybody that walks in their office. Nobody worries about the race of the MP or the councillor. Nobody worries about the race of the constituent.Tāmati Coffey: You don't know that.Hon DAVID BENNETT: You're saying you don't know that; I trust everybody in this House to do that. And I know that that is the integrity of members of Parliament and councillors will do that. I wish that Tāmati Coffey would actually listen to his leader because in the first words she meant on election night was that "I will govern for all." Joe Biden used the same words: "I will govern for all." What does that mean? That means that every member of any Parliament or any position of authority treats everybody the same; they work in the interests of whatever people come into their office and work in that way. So when we're talking about having Māori wards and Māori constituencies in the title I find that a hard definition to take because it assumes that some people don't work as Tāmati Coffey says for the best interests of everybody. The Prime Minister has said that she will work in the best interests of everybody. I know that I work in the best interests of them and I reckon Tāmati would as well—I reckon he's not going to hold it against somebody that walks in his office that might have voted National for 40 years; I reckon he will actually work in their best interests. I'm sure that's the kind of person he is. I'm sure that's why he's in this Parliament because why else would you come to this Parliament and why wouldn't you support your leader who basically says that everybody is equal we will treat everybody the same? So why do we need to have a definition of "Māori wards" and "Māori constituents"? Because what is the difference between a Māori constituency and a general constituency? It's the same people. It's the same results. It's the same issues. The good people of Hamilton want the same things whether they're Māori European Indian or Pasifika we all want the same things. We all want some fundamental things in life and those things don't change. If somebody thinks because of the colour of someone's skin that those things change that's not true. We all want to be treated with dignity and respect. We all want to be given a chance in life. We all want an education. We all want a good health system. We all want the same things. And that's what Government delivers.So I'm very confused and I would like the Minister in the chair the Hon Nanaia Mahuta to stand up and say first of all why the word "and" is in there when it should be "or" if you're looking at the whole thing and to actually define "Māori constituencies". If they're defining "Māori constituencies" as different from any other constituency that goes against what their leader said in her very first words after winning the election and that is that she would act for all New Zealanders—rich or poor white or Māori Pasifika or Chinese rural or urban National or Labour Green or ACT voters—that the Prime Minister would act for all. So why do we now need to have a bill in the first urgency of the new year that specifically divides people and creates Māori constituencies and Māori wards when the leadership we've been given is that everybody should be treated the same?"