Ngarewa-Packer DebbieDEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER (Co-Leader—Te Paati Māori): Kia ora. Tēnā koe e te Pīka. Tēnā tātou e te Whare. I rise to take a call on behalf of Te Paati Māori and my tūngane Rawiri Waititi during this the third reading of the Electoral (Māori Electoral Option) Legislation Bill.This is momentous for us as Māori which is why it was the first thing that Rawiri did when he got in and something that Labour has been working on for some years. From day one we promised to address racism. We're not precious about who led this bill because anything that not only identifies racism but addresses it is a win for us all as Māori. So we commend our Minister Allan for using her role progressing and finalising this mahi tahi. For far too long tangata whenua have been locked out of participating freely and equitably in our political system. We know all too well which has been said before me the reality of Māori voter suppression. This goes right back to 1867 when the four Māori electorates were set up to limit the representation we had in this place. At the time we would have held a majority of the seats which is why tangata whenua have pushed for decades for change and I agree with my esteemed colleague Willow-Jean Prime that Māori seats are taonga as are our people's rights. Thousands of Māori have requested change to electoral rolls over the years. Until now they've been locked out from changing for up to eight years at times. This has no doubt led to thousands of Māori disengaging from the electoral process altogether. Since 2011 the commission has proposed legislative changes. The 2017 report on the general election recommended that voters of Māori descent be able to change roll types at any time as this would better meet the needs of Māori voters. So this bill was an opportunity to undo that which negatively targeted tangata whenua. I want to be clear to our whānau though that it is typical of big parties' politics that there were opportunities this bill missed doing. And we should always be concerned as tangata whenua when we hear Labour worked with National to arrive at this third and final reading. It's important we understand what trade-offs were done at our cost. Had Labour worked with Te Paati Māori instead of National and focused on who we're serving rather than who owns the bill this would have included two critical aspects of Rawiri's member's bill. One: the more on a Māori roll the more seats or candidates we get into Parliament. Rawiri's bill proposed to get an increase for proportional seats without waiting. Labour's bill makes us wait up to eight years at some stage so census and administrators can be prepared. Rawiri's bill acted on the will of people; Labour's has primarily acted on the will of administrators. Labour has us as secondary concerns. Rawiri's bill proposed Māori could change rolls—DEPUTY SPEAKER: Ms Ngarewa-Packer could we speak about this bill not another bill please.DEBBIE NGAREWA-PACKER: Yeah no—I am thank you. Labour's bill—they're very much the same—puts limitations on us as demanded by National that we can only change at specific times. This is why we must always have an unapologetic voice like ourselves in Parliament. Our people te iwi Māori expect that their representatives in this House work together. So while we're disappointed that Labour demonstrated the opposite in voting down Rawiri's bill which would have advanced us further while weakening their own bill we support that change was important even if only in part. So let's get this racism and voter suppression off the law books once and for all. But let's be very clear whānau mā: our rights should never have been traded off. We are tangata whenua. Our electoral participation is a basic right for Māori to exercise in Aotearoa granted in article 3 of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We should be treated equally. We should never have limitations put on us. So we will keep pushing to keep advancing the cause of constitutional transformation and the restoration of our mana motuhake. But let's be very clear: this is one small step on the path to restoring the rights and power of tangata whenua in Aotearoa. Nō reira tēnā tātou katoa—finished!