Bridges Simon: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Bridges Simon: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:656;Page:5837] 
SIMON BRIDGES (National—Tauranga) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Chair. Tena koutou e te Whare. It is a marvellous time to be a Maori in New Zealand. It is indeed a wonderful time given our fantastic Minister of Maori Affairs who is doing some wonderful things and our fantastic Associate Minister Georgina te Heuheu. What a good job our Minister is doing! He is highly regarded in this country by Maori and Pakeha alike. Between him and the leader of the National Party John Key a close strong and mature relationship has emerged that I am sure will long continue. I also pay tribute to the Minister for securing an additional $120 million over 4 years in Budget 2009. 
Hon Member 
: How much? 
SIMON BRIDGES 
: One hundred and twenty million dollars. That of course is in tough times—times when budgets have had to be carefully examined. The Minister has done a very good job to secure additional money. 
Of course it is not just about the dollars and cents. A lot is going on that the Maori Party working together with National has been able to achieve going forward. There has been a review of the Foreshore and Seabed Act which I am sure will right some of the wrongs created by the previous Labour administration—wrongs that Parekura Horomia could not stop. I know that the women Maori MPs tried to stop the wrongs and stood up strong on them but even they could not stop them. A Maori flag being able to be flown on the Auckland Harbour Bridge is important to a lot of people. We have a Prime Minister who goes to both the lower and upper grounds of Waitangi during the Waitangi Day celebrations and a National-led Government that is continuing the good work—in fact speeding up the process—in relation to the Treaty of Waitangi. So there have been some very proud achievements by this National-led Government and by Pita Sharples and Georgina te Heuheu. 
Let us just look at where some of that $120 million in tough economic times will be spent over the next 4 years. For Maori education initiatives—educating our youth—there is a $19.9 million boost. Kohanga which are doing well and thriving in places like Tauranga are about to do even better with this money. There is an additional $12 million to keep key aspects of the rural housing programmes going. I very much enjoyed and got a lot from going to a marae out Te Puke way with my colleague Te Ururoa Flavell seeing some of the things going on there and hearing what we as a Government are planning to do with the papakainga lending programme for Maori housing. 
There is an additional $4.5 million for te reo over the next 3 years in a whanau development programme to help Maori families access te reo. Iwi radio stations will receive additional money. How good is that? And the Treaty negotiation process which also receives substantial assistance from Minister Chris Finlayson will receive an additional $22.2 million to reduce the time taken in Treaty settlements. What does that mean? Well it is more than just pie in the sky; it recognises the wrongs of the past but also importantly it creates and unlocks economic potential. Iwi around this country including in Tauranga Moana with the money they will hopefully receive will see tourism initiatives— 
Hon Shane Jones 
: They don’t even know who you are boy. 
SIMON BRIDGES 
: I tell Shane Jones that my voters do and that is all that matters. I say to members that in Labour we have a party that is very keen to be holier-than-thou on these issues. Clayton Cosgrove has been quite happy to talk against Maori prison initiatives and Trevor Mallard likes to blog on these issues. What a disgrace!