Okeroa Mahara: Budget Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Okeroa Mahara: Budget Debate 
[Sitting date: 16 June 2004. Volume:618;Page:13683. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
MAHARA OKEROA (Labour—Te Tai Tonga) 
: 
 A tena koe Madam Speaker i a koe e whakahaeretia i nga ahuatanga o te Whare nei. 
[ 
Greetings to you Madam Speaker for the manner in which you are carrying out the functions of this House 
.] 
I will attempt to answer some of those questions. However I will answer them in the context of my speech. We all know that this is a very significant time for Maori. It is time for the Matariki Puanga me nga whetu katoa kei runga i a Ranginui e tu nei. 
[ 
the Pleiades for Rigel and for all the stars in the Mighty Sky Father above that stand before us 
.] 
It is a time when Maori embrace and celebrate all that is tikanga Maori and Maoritanga. Matariki essentially is a time for new beginnings a time to make fresh starts and a time to reflect on what the past year has brought us and what the future holds. They are the signs of the Matariki. They are the signs—and Ngati Wai and Ngati Hine know that—that our old people celebrated. Maori can embrace the new year with the knowledge that the Labour Party is helping whanau to grow to strengthen and to succeed through the initiatives that Budget 2004 has brought about. 
Budget 2004 will give Maori the support they need to succeed as Maori. That was a key question asked by the honourable member opposite: “What does it do?”. It benefits Maori financially. Initiatives will help to preserve Maoritanga for the future. Budget initiatives will give Maori the opportunity to improve whanau well-being kia ora ai nga uri e haere tonu mai. [ 
so that coming generations will survive 
] 
Supporting Maori families giving Maori children a good start and enabling Maori to succeed as Maori is what Budget 2004 offers to our people—Tai Tokerau ki Te Upoko-o-te-Ika whaka whiti ano Te Moana Rau Kawakawa ki Te Wai Pounamu. 
[ 
from North Auckland to Wellington and across the Rau Kawakawa sea to the South Island 
.] 
 My colleagues have pointed out what support Budget 2004 will give to Maori. What is important to me is the overall impact this Budget will have on everyday Maori families. We need to take a step back and look at the positive effects this Budget will have at the grass roots level. 
I will introduce us hypothetically to a “typical” Maori family that is found in many regions all over Aotearoa. I shall call them the Ropati family. In a four-bedroom State house live Mere and Hone the parents of three children: Tama who is 18; Erena who is 10; and Hata who is two. They also have their koro and kuia with them. Their names are Koro and Kuia Ropati. They have retired and are now living with their children and their mokopuna. Budget 2004 will have a positive impact on the lifestyles of everyone in that whanau. 
What does this Budget do? Let us look at the parents. Hone and Mere have a weekly combined income of about $650 a week—not much to raise three children on. But because of our Working for Families initiative introduced in Budget 2004 they will reap the benefit of an extra $125 by 2007. This is a big deal to Hone and Mere. To put it in perspective it is like a week’s worth of groceries school books for their children or paying the registration on their waka. 
Pita Paraone 
: You can’t believe that! 
MAHARA OKEROA 
: We believe it. We do not only believe it we are committed to it. Hone is a keen entrepreneur. He is full of ideas and he wants to leave his cleaning job to start a Maori tourism business. Hone went along to a hui that was hosted by John Tamihere and Dover Samuels and picked up the real essence of why he should be there. He had no previous business experience and no idea how he would get his business off the ground. Budget 2004 is providing more funding to the Maori Business Facilitation Service and this service will give Hone the support and advice that he needs to get his business up. Kia ora mai te Ropu Reipa. This is just a simple example of how Budget 2004 will help Maori succeed as Maori. 
Tama is 18 years old and is the oldest son of Hone and Mere. Tama is deciding whether to go to university next year. Because of the changes brought about by the 2004 Budget Tama is now entitled to a student allowance which will mean he will not have to borrow so much money making life after university so much brighter. Tama now has more educational opportunities and further educational funding through industry training schemes and Modern Apprenticeships. What does it do? It gives Tama choices. 
The youngest children of Mere and Hone—Erena and Hata—have something in common with their kuia and koro and that is that they will all benefit from the new Maori primary health organisation that is opening in their rohe—in their home town. Erena and Hata are both under the age of 18. They will receive free health care through their local primary health organisation and pay the minimal amount of $3 for their prescriptions. It is good for Maori health and easy on the wallet. From 1 July Koro and Kuia Ropati will also receive cheaper health care and $3 prescriptions giving them no excuses not to go to the takuta. 
Now we get into this other matter. Maori along with other people suffer from hip problems and need more operations because they have been outstanding on the rugby field playing for the Maori All Blacks and the All Blacks. Koro Ropati was a famous rugby player but the years have not been kind to old Koro Ropati and his local Maori district health board provider has informed him that he will have to undergo a hip replacement if he wants his mobility. Budget 2004 is very good news for Koro. We need to look after our old people. They have a right to be with us in a family. That honourable member opposite Pita Paraone will note that political bias aside this side of the House has supported Ngati Hine in their quest for iwi status during the fisheries select committee. Why did we do that? We did that on principle. 
Pita Paraone 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I am not quite sure whether it is normal practice to suggest that the help that one member gives to the tribe of a member from the opposite side of the House should be a consideration for debate given— 
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: I remind members that there will be silence during points of order. 
Pita Paraone 
: Thank you Madam Speaker. This is an issue that is of concern to me. The comment suggests that if I continue to have a contrary view the support that that member and his Government may give to my tribe may be withdrawn. 
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: There is no point of order there. That is a point of debate and I clearly heard it that way. 
MAHARA OKEROA 
: What I wanted to point out to the rest of the House is that we are trying to help Maori succeed as Maori ahakoa te rohe. [ 
regardless of area 
] That is what we are about. We are not about trying—we make sure that Maori succeed as Maori and that is a very key point that I put to the House. 
So Budget 2004 has nothing but a positive effect on Maori—better education cheaper health-care business start-up support and more money in pockets. All these benefits improve whanau well-being which is an important tikanga of Maori whanau. 
So what is wrong with this Budget? I cannot see what is wrong with this Budget with regard to the wave of criticism that is mounted upon it. I think that the Hon Michael Cullen and the front bench need to be acknowledged fully for the work they have done in moving Aotearoa forward not only for Maori but for everyone who lives in Aotearoa.