Flavell Te Ururoa: Budget DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFlavell Te Ururoa: Budget Debate[Sitting date: 05 June 2013. Volume:690;Page:10742. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]TE URUROA FLAVELL (Māori Party—Waiariki): Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. Ka nui te mihi ki a tātou. Talofa lava. There is a saying in Maoridom that goes something like this: Tama tū tama ora; tama moe tama mate. Loosely translated it says something like: “Those who are productive will survive and those who sit back will die or perish.” It is a message that has been widely reflected I think in Budget 2013. It reflects the thinking that our whānau will reap the rewards of security in jobs and increasing the income that comes into the homes and that is important. It is the concept behind Whānau Ora; that together we can achieve the transformation we need to stand on our own two feet and craft our future. But it also could apply that those of us who turn up to Parliament each day and focus on making gains for our people can expect to see results.This Budget is a pragmatic Budget driven by the needs of the people. It is a Budget that allocates resources that matter; resources to enable our whānau to stand tall and to stand strong. I want to focus on three themes that represent the gains that we of the Māori Party have fought so hard for in this year’s funding—namely opportunity support and sustenance.The Māori Party has a track record of seizing opportunities taking big decisions quickly and grabbing the moment to make the difference. We have been elected into this place to make everything count to open the doors and to ensure that the voice of tangata whenua is interwoven throughout every vote every departmental balance sheet and every ministerial portfolio. So this Budget builds on that powerful precedent established by Whānau Ora to do what is right for all of our whānau.A basic moral test for any Parliament is how our most vulnerable members are faring. The Māori Party has always taken steps to protect those of our whānau who are facing challenges te pani me te rawa kore and this Budget is an opportunity a good opportunity to put resources where they matter most: in our homes in our kōhanga in our kura in our marae in our daily lives.One of the highlights for us is in the dedicated investment in Māori and Pasifika trades training. It is not just about the $43 million—and that is absolutely sizable. It is also about the focus of working in partnerships with iwi with hapū with Māori and Pasifika communities the community groups and with the employers and the tertiary education organisations. Everyone will be in the same room talking to one another making sure that Māori and Pasifika learners have the support of vocational training apprenticeships qualifications and even perhaps the cost of the tools themselves. We have another saying that goes something like this: Mā tōu rourou mā tōku rourou ka ora te iwi.[With your food basket and my food basket the people will live.]Working together we can make it happen. That collective and collaborative approach which Whānau Ora has delivered on and He Kai Kei Aku Ringa the Māori economic development strategy is built upon comes together in the form of Marae CBD. This I believe is a fantastic initiative one that the Māori Party campaigned on in the 2011 elections and I have to say it is revolutionary in its making.What we see occurring with Marae CBD is the opportunity to restore our marae to thriving hubs of social cultural and economic activity to their whānau. It is a great day indeed when $1.2 million is set aside to invest in the entrepreneurship that is marae-led and marae-based. We have worked hard to make sure that we provide all of our children with the best possible chance of success and it starts from participation in early childhood education.This Budget delivers $172 million in new investment in early childhood education with the funding targeted to support our most vulnerable communities and it is focusedon making a big impact amongst Māori and Pasifika communities. That is an opportunity not just in setting a pathway of educational success for our mokopuna but also to improve upon quality and leadership to make sure that all of our babies are equipped for a brilliant future.Of course an opportunity can be realised only if we have the courage and the strength to actually last the distance and that is why a second policy plank for our Budget pledges this year has been on support. We knew that to achieve our aspirations to lift whānau incomes it is not just about jobs and training and further education it is about the dollars and the cents coming into the household.There are two particular packages that we are proud of having pioneered and that is the emphasis on microfinance and the support for financial literacy. This Budget brings with it a commitment to pilot a partnership with NGOs and financial institutions. In my electorate of Waiariki the AWHI Credit Union has been working for years to help its own families help themselves. It is about mutual self-help.Today we welcome the move to support the provision of low or no interest loans for low-income borrowers. Too many of our families have been caught in a stranglehold of loan sharks who strip them of their dignity and rob them of their finances. I am sure you in your electorate Mr Assistant Speaker Robertson recognise some of that. This Budget hopefully supports them. Of course our biggest hope was that we could act on lifting the minimum wage but unfortunately the Government failed on that account—unfortunately yet again.Perhaps the highlight for us in this year’s Budget has been in the practical support we have pushed for in the area of housing. I want to congratulate our co-leader Tariana Turia on the massive $100 million of home insulation and particularly its focus on low-income households and those with children or high health needs. We are also excited about the commitment to trial a warrant of fitness for Housing New Zealand properties and to then see that trial leading on to other social housing providers. I believe it is a genius idea promoted by the expert advisory group on poverty and it is about supporting our families to thrive in a warm dry home.This Budget also attempts to address overcrowding or more to the point to support so many of our whānau who know the value of living collectively and choose to live together. Project 324&5 putting another 2000 extra bedrooms on to existing homes is a novel approach I think of responding to the needs of whānau. Of course one of the obvious reasons we have focused on healthy homes is to deal with some of the appalling health indicators that have beset Māori and Pasifika communities and whānau for far too long. It beggars belief that despite 9 years of plenty the Labour Government did nothing to address the rates of rheumatic fever.This Budget almost doubles what we originally achieved with the $24 million signed up to in the relationship accord with National. Tariana Turia has gained another $21 million for rheumatic fever prevention and all credit to her for that fight to keep our children alive. Another boost and another important health announcement—which took place today I believe—was the $35 million boost of new funding to prevent diabetes and heart disease.When we are talking about survival that brings me to the third major platform of the Māori Party influence on Budget 2013 and that is of course Te Reo Māori me ngā tikanga. From unlikely quarters one of the first tweets this afternoon was from Morgan Godfrey celebrating the fact that papakāinga housing and Te Reo Māori had been increased.For the benefit of Mr Harawira who has clearly has not read the Budget let me count a couple of things that he should have noted: $12 million to support and retain teachers in Māori language immersion education $8 million for a new Māori languageresearch fund $5.9 million for priority learners to gain National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) level 2—that is Māori—an increase of the Mā Te Reo funding of $2.5 million 30 new scholarships to attract Māori and Pasifika candidates into the teacher education area and funding for new kura with $134 million for capital funding announced by the Associate Minister of Education Nikki Kaye. It is one of the most dedicated announcements of funding for Māori medium education that we have ever seen in many years and all credit to my colleague Dr Sharples.In closing it is not all good news. Of course we have asked for a lot more and we still stand resolute in our opposition to the sale of State assets which has bankrolled this Budget. We have some real issues around the welfare reform work stream and we are deeply concerned at the lack of emphasis on wise environmental stewardship kaitiakitanga. That aside this Budget is still about whānau and we hope that it does produce the benefits that we set out in negotiating with the National Party. Ka nui te mihi. Kia ora tātou.