Tirikatene Rino: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeTirikatene Rino: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 06 June 2013. Volume:690;Page:10857. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]10.RINO TIRIKATENE (Labour—Te Tai Tonga) to theMinister of Māori Affairs: Does he stand by his statement with respect to Māori whanau “our priority is the wellbeing of the most vulnerable members of society and we will do everything we can to fight for that”; if so how has he improved the wellbeing of the most vulnerable members of society?Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES (Minister of Māori Affairs): I thank the member for that question. As Minister I have improved the well-being of our vulnerable Māori whānau by establishing the Kaitoko Whānau programme which has 51 community workers working among the vulnerable families and the Ōranga Whānau programme which has 21 community workers looking after new young mothers of vulnerable whānau. I have established community gardens—1124 of them—through Māra Kai forpeople who have no food. I have established cadetship programmes for Māori unemployed with a 98 percent success rate and retention rate. I have established a professional group trade training and various kinds of them. I have established a literacy programme for deciles 1 2 and 3 schools throughout the whole country recognising that education is a vital part of vulnerability. Also we have led the Government to establish a Ministerial Committee on Poverty and through our working with that committee $100 million has gone towards insulating low-income households and this is on top of the 8000 Māori whānau who have already had their homes insulated. Through this committee we had breakfasts in schools for deciles 1 2 3 and 4 and more to come in other schools—Mr SPEAKER: Order!Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES: I have not finished.Mr SPEAKER: I appreciate that the Minister has got a lot of programmes under way but that is a sufficiently long answer. [Interruption] But there will be an opportunity I am sure in the supplementary questions.Rino Tirikatene: Does he agree that he has failed to improve the well-being of Māori in the Te Tai Rāwhiti - Tūranga region—[Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! Would the member please start his question again.Rino Tirikatene: Does he agree that he has failed to improve the well-being of Māori in the Te Tai Rāwhiti - Tūranga region and across Ngāti Kahungunu given that since 2008 housing costs for Māori have increased by 5 percent while incomes have fallen by 14 percent; if not why not?Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES: I have most certainly worked in the Tai Rāwhiti area with the programmes that you have just heard giving some credibility food on the table and programmes that lead towards employment.Grant Robertson: Not affordable housing though.Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES: I do not build houses; I insulate them.Rino Tirikatene: Does he agree that he has failed to improve the well-being of Māori in the Te Tai Rāwhiti - Tūranga region and across Ngāti Kahungunu given that Māori unemployment in the region has averaged around 15 percent over the past 3 years?Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES: During the years leading up to the recession you had 9 years to do something to prepare Māori for this recession.Chris Hipkins: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker.Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES: I have not finished.Mr SPEAKER: Order! I have a point of order.Chris Hipkins: It is a very brief point of order. It is in two parts the first of which is that I do not think that you had 9 years to do very much when you were in Opposition. The second is that it is generally accepted that Ministers should not begin their answers to questions with an attack on the questioner.Mr SPEAKER: The first point is absolutely relevant. The Minister should refrain from bringing the Speaker into the debate. But I would ask members to have a look at the review of the Standing Orders of 2011 when it was noted that it occasionally happens. It is unhelpful for any member to raise the point of order. It is a matter for the Speaker’s discretion. Would the Minister please continue with his answer.Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES: Thank you. I have worked tirelessly in the Tai Rāwhiti district in trade training and establishing schemes—[Interruption] For example getting people without—he talked about jobs. Why do you not listen to your own question? I am creating opportunities for people without skills to do trade training and get a job.Rino Tirikatene: Does he agree that his initiatives to reduce smoking among Māori have failed given that smoking rates for non-Māori have decreased from 2007 to 2012 yet smoking rates for Māori remain unchanged; if not why not?Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES: Do you give up things when they are—Mr SPEAKER: Order! Do not—Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES: Sorry.Mr SPEAKER: I do not give up.Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES: The cessation of smoking programme is a long-term thing and it is going to take ages to get people to actually give up smoking completely. In 3 years’ time a packet of 20 smokes will cost $20 and already people are saying it is too dear and they are dropping off. So we have just got to persevere with this if we want a healthy New Zealand.Rino Tirikatene: Does he agree with the assertion in the Regional Economic Activity Report issued by his colleague Steven Joyce that the reason unemployment is higher in these regions is that too many Māori live there?Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES: I have no responsibility for that report.Chris Hipkins: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The Minister of Māori Affairs does have ministerial responsibility for his own views on things so he can say he has not seen the report he could answer that question in a number of other ways but simply saying that he does not have responsibility is not a correct answer.Mr SPEAKER: And I accept the point the member has raised. The member is part of a Government and clearly the Government has a responsibility. I will ask the member Rino Tirikatene to put the question again.Rino Tirikatene: Does he agree with the assertion in the Regional Economic Activity Report issued by his colleague Steven Joyce that the reason unemployment is higher in these regions is that too many Māori live there?Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES: No. Unemployment is high where people are not trained and do not have the qualifications or the skills. Māori are represented in those underachieving areas and so we are usually put off first when there is a recession that we have not prepared for and we are the last back on when there is work.Rino Tirikatene: How can he claim he is making gains for Māori by being at the table when in every major statistic that matters—income jobs housing and well-being—Māori have gone backwards under his watch?Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES: The member is selectively picking out things to say that Māori are not improving. Māori are totally succeeding. I have here this document which I am prepared to give you Rino. It will cost you a donation to a family in need—would you do that? It shows that the Māori Party under my and Tariana’s leadership has got $1 billion—$1 billion—through the Budgets to Māori people and that is a party of three. What have you done?