Turia Tariana: Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and  Compensation Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Turia Tariana: Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and  Compensation Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:637;Page:7527] 
TARIANA TURIA (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Deputy Speaker. Tena tatou katoa. There are three critical components to this bill that the Maori Party seeks to bring to the House. The challenge when considering any merger such as is proposed in this bill in merging the employers’ account and the self-employed work account into a single account is that there is a risk that specific issues may be submerged in the joining. The specific issues that we seek to highlight are: the context of Maori as employers and as self-employed the relationship of tangata whenua to the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) and the adequacy of this bill to ensure a responsiveness to Maori alongside the pursuit of whanau well-being. 
The proposed changes in merging the employers’ account and the self-employed work account into a single work account will impact on Maori employers in terms of the way they will support an ongoing commitment to a fair and sustainable accident compensation scheme. The household labour force survey in June 2006 identified that there are 4500 Maori employers and that number is growing fast. The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research has described the rapidly increasing participation of Maori as employers to the extent that economists now talk meaningfully about a Maori economy. Indeed in 2003 the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research quantified an annual tax contribution of $2.4 billion from the Maori economy. 
A recent 2006 study of Maori employers by Eljon Fitzgerald and Eva McLaren gives us much room for optimism about the way in which Maori employers will respond to this change. Employers were asked about their strategies to retain and care for staff. Good relationships working conditions and management strategies were seen as important means of retaining employees. Innovation was favoured—for example one employer takes his shearing gang to Australia every year during the off season. An interesting observation from the study was that 13 percent of the employers felt that an easing of compliance issues would be helpful in facilitating employment growth. As one employer noted accident compensation charges have increased 800 percent per staff member which takes a big toll on business. 
The burden of compliance issues also impacts on the self-employed. Over the past two decades Aotearoa has witnessed an unprecedented rise in the numbers of self-employed Maori—in fact there has been a massive 156 percent increase between 1981 and 2001. Perhaps one reason to account for the growth in the number of the Maori self-employed comes from a simple financial risk assessment. The median earnings for self-employed—$30350—are now higher than salary and wage earners which is $29280. Maori males make up the majority of Maori self-employed. In 2005 there were 9750 men self-employed compared with 5800 women. The number of Maori women who have grown their businesses to a point of being able to employ others has barely moved in 15 years and makes up only 1.3 percent of Maori women in employment. 
I was really interested when I was listening to Mr Bennett talking about the notion of self-employed people taking short cuts and taking more risks. I thought about my own husband who was self-employed as a bricklayer and plasterer and I do not ever recall him taking short cuts and taking risks because his business was dependent on the quality of job. So I could not quite get the gist of that. 
Given the relative youthfulness of the sector and the recent growth there is concern that the impacts of this proposed legislation will mean that levies will almost certainly increase. Instead of levies being calculated on the earnings indicated in the tax return they will be allocated according to risk. This will mean in effect that levies will be calculated according to the risk of injury in that sector and by wages. For those high-risk industries that so many of our people are employed in such as fishing farming and forestry levy increases are likely to be very significant. For new businesses and new self-employed the costs will be even more dramatic as ACC will require the next year’s levy in advance. 
In many ways then for both employers and self-employed it is a case of balancing the see-saw. On the one hand the advantages of a single work account cannot make both policy and practical sense. It will provide greater levy stability and ensure a clearer focus across particular industries and enterprises for both injury prevention and health protection. On the other hand we recognise that the consequences of merging accounts might mean that small businesses and the self-employed are faced with choices that may in effect set them up for future accidents. We would be concerned if any resulting levy increases might cause employers to compromise health and safety standards by cutting back on the appropriate equipment or putting strain on the work environment by employing fewer staff. 
The second key issue is related to whether Maori will perceive any benefits from the single work account given the limitations that have been previously reported on Maori uptake of accident compensation. Research points out that although Maori workers have a higher injury rate they are less likely to make an accident compensation claim and more likely to be declined cover. ACC General Manager for Maori development Chad Paraone outlined that in 2005 the rate claim per 1000 for European was 361 compared with 289 Maori. The corporation identified several reasons for the lower claim rate: a lack of awareness from Maori about accident compensation entitlements communication issues and difficulty in navigating the system and concern about the loss of a job and a working income. Many believe that the 80 percent of previous income that accident compensation covers will be inadequate to cover household expenses. In the light of these findings the corporation has allocated $2 million for a Maori access strategy to look at marketing capacity building provider development community partnerships and advocacy and knowledge management. We would actually be quite happy if Maori were treated equally and with respect by ACC. 
Finally having looked at the implications of this bill for employers the self-employed and recipients of accident compensation we turn as we always must to the well-being of whanau. By merging the accounts we support the drive to simplify compliance costs and to provide a clearer focus on injury prevention and health protection purposes. But we cannot be complacent that a shift in compliance structures will necessarily fix up the other longstanding issues occurring in the field of injury prevention rehabilitation and compensation. The Maori Party has been aware of the pivotal research undertaken by Dr Peter Jansen on Maori consumer use and experience of health and disability and ACC services that reveals that Maori are currently not receiving entitlements to care rehabilitation and compensation at a level comparable with the proportion of Maori in the population. That is despite the fact that Maori have a greater need for but less access to treatment. 
We have been reassured by the Minister who has also been concerned about the statistics relating to workplaces for Maori in New Zealand. She has described Maori as overrepresented in high-risk industries and under-represented in claims and entitlements from ACC. We also point out that sports activities are the main cause of injury for Maori resulting in 30 percent of injuries. Once injured Maori are less likely than non-Maori to receive treatment from a physiotherapist for their injury. It may be timely to consider how sporting bodies take into account the needs of treatment and rehabilitation for sporting injuries. 
The Minister has given her commitment in this House that Maori like all other New Zealanders will receive the compensation and rehabilitation to which they are entitled. We welcome this commitment and hope that it is translated into action for this bill—and any other related to injury prevention. The issues raised by our constituents about accident compensation or by employers and the self-employed about the single work account levies point to an urgent need for education about safe working-practices and measures to adopt safety standards. Also evident is the need for the corporation—which it has recognised—to change the way in which it operates so that it can be responsive to Maori whanau. 
The Maori Party will support this bill going forward.