Flavell Te Ururoa: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations and State Enterprises — In Committee 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations and State Enterprises — In Committee 
[Volume:673;Page:19348] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Chairperson. Kia ora tatou katoa i tenei po. One of the best pieces of news in this review was that as a result of $125 million for jobs and the growth plan over 11000 State houses were upgraded and 87 new State houses were to be built. We welcome the news and we hope that local labour will be utilised. I give big ups to the Minister. 
However when we come to this review we consider that the situation is a little bit more dire. In Auckland for example demand is there for an additional 10000 houses. Also as the review points out the changing demographics require different housing needs. 
Over 26 percent of Maori live in one-parent households and some 11 percent live in multi-family households. It is a different reality from the past when the norm was a two-parent household with two or three children in it. A very high proportion of Maori children—35 percent—live in single-parent households. This brings with it evident differences in household income. Maori living in homes reliant on single incomes have the lowest income—$28000 a year for one-parent households with children. 
When we are talking about the Housing New Zealand Corporation inevitably we are talking about Maori as an explicit part of its responsibility to provide housing for people with low incomes or specific housing needs. There has been some progress which we commend—along with the Minister again—including 25000 State houses being upgraded 5000 participants in the Welcome Home First Steps programme for first-time homebuyers and a particularly significant advance in more than 2000 families directly benefiting from the Healthy Housing programme led by the Ministry of Health in areas of high health risk. 
We cannot underestimate how important the relationship is between health and housing. In 2006 46.3 percent of Pasifika children 27.8 percent of Maori children and 22.3 percent of Asian children lived in crowded conditions. Rates of acute rheumatic fever have been shown to be significantly and positively associated with household crowding in Aotearoa. That is an important statistic that I think we should take note of. 
Coming back to the issue of low-income Maori households this is a significant population for the Housing New Zealand Corporation. It is impossible to ascertain from the reports how many of the 20000 people housed in the Tenancy Services are Maori. From the constituents who have come into my offices or our offices as a party we have little confidence that the corporation is adequately meeting the needs of whanau Maori and that worries us. But there is room for optimism and that is through the work of the iwi and Maori organisations that have indicated an interest in being involved in the management of State housing. The corporation’s annual report describes four projects approved under the Maori Demonstration Partnerships which will result in 44 new properties in Northland Tauranga and Whakatane. Of course as the MP for Waiariki I am very happy about that and I welcome it. 
But there are other developments I want to refer to that bear reference to this review. This is in the context of partnership arrangements to construct social housing that have been negotiated with groups such as Te Runanga o te Arawa the Ahipara Maori Committee the Panguru Development Trust Te Uri o Hau Settlement Trust the Ngati Hine Forestry Trust Mangatawa Papamoa Block Inc. which is in my area Ngati Awa Group Holdings which is in my area as well Te Runanga o Kirikiriroa and the Ngati Whatua o Orakei Maori Trust Board. 
There are probably over 300 properties of this kind where land is leased from iwi. Other iwi have also expressed an interest in the management of State housing within their rohe. Within my electorate of Waiariki Te Runanga o Ngati Awa has indicated a desire to purchase all of the corporation’s stock in and around Whakatane so that is great. 
I acknowledge our iwi who have stepped up and stepped into this gap picking up the responsibility to care for their own and to care properly for our whanau. We hope the Housing New Zealand Corporation continues to trust in their leadership and vision in the development of housing in those rohe. Kia ora tatou.