4. Question No. 4—Prime MinisterRAWIRI WAITITI (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 4—Prime Minister4. RAWIRI WAITITI (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori) to the Prime Minister: Kia orāna kotou katoatoa. Kia orana nga 'anga'anga raverave no te 'epetoma o te reo Māori Kūki 'Airani. Does she stand by her statement that the Government is committed to eliminating racism in all its forms in Aotearoa New Zealand"? Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Kia orana. Yes and I'm particularly proud of the work—as part of our recovery—we're doing to support Māori through for instance 13900 more Māori women in employment in the June quarter compared to last year; 2667 rangatahi are being supported through He Poutama Rangatahi; the investment we've made into Māori housing including a $380 million investment around housing development; the establishment of a new Māori Health Authority; and up to 13000 Māori children who are projected to be lifted out of poverty thanks to our investments in Budget 2021.Rawiri Waititi: Is she aware of the radical discrimination that Māori face every election when the Electoral Commission give us confusing and inaccurate information about our rights and when tens of thousands of Māori—24000 of us in 2020—are prevented from shifting to the Māori roll?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Yes. I'm aware of calls that have been made since 2017—actually long before that—around the Māori Electoral Option and the fact that there's only one opportunity for those who have the option of either being on the general or Māori roll to choose between the two and that they don't align with the election period when it's front of mind for most voters. So that's the reason we've said to the Ministry of Justice "Please go out and consult on the possibility of changing up the Māori Electoral Option." They've started that in June; that will run through to August. We've asked them to consult both generally but also to do some targeted consultation to get feedback particularly from Māori obviously on changes to the Māori Electoral Option.Rawiri Waititi: Is she aware that due to the Māori Electoral Option occurring every five to six years across two election cycles that thousands of Māori are locked out of an ability to exercise their right to move to the Māori roll?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Yes and that's why we're undertaking this piece of work. But I wouldn't say that that's the only thing that has disenfranchised people. One of the concerns we had for instance when we came into Government was that people's vote can sometimes not count due to administrative reasons. If you for instance aren't on the electoral roll and you go in and try and enrol and vote at the same time that was disallowed previously. We've changed that. We've tried to simplify the process. We've reduced down the number of people who will have their vote disqualified as a result. Now we're moving on to the Māori Electoral Option.Rawiri Waititi: Does she accept that this policy sets up barriers for Māori who are trying to participate in our electoral system and our democracy?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Yes I do. I remember when I first ran for Parliament in the seat that covered in particular Ngāruawāhia and Huntly. Frequently knocking on doors where I could see and hear from voters that not only was it confusing but they felt like they'd lost an option that they'd only come to think about at the time of the election and that's perfectly natural. I do want to find a better way and that is why we are consulting on this issue right now.Rawiri Waititi: Does she believe that Māori should be able to shift between electoral rolls at any time rather than only every six years and if not why not?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Yeah and this is exactly why we're undertaking this consultation right now. Also what we want to hear about is whether or not it poses any—at the same time we don't want to disenfranchise people. We need to also make sure that we have a system that is robust that people trust. So we need to also on the flip side hear from the Electoral Commission around any issues that might arise from the ability to move more fluidly."