The Green Party strongly supports democratic representation through elected councillors and effective representation. The National Party gets hung up on equal representation, not effective representation. So we need options like the one this bill is creating to ensure that we've got that fair and effective representation of Māori constituents, and we ensure that the views of mana whenua are considered and a vital part of decision making. It will lead to better decisions. It will recognise that Ngāi Tahu once owned all of the land in Canterbury, and that will strengthen and not undermine democracy. 