Harawira Hone: Adjournment 
Harawira Hone: Adjournment 
[Volume:676;Page:21850] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Leader—Mana) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Speaker. Huri rauna tena tatou katoa. E te Whare hoi ano hai korero tuatahi me mihi atu ki a ratou te hunga kua w’eturangitia hoi ano ratou ki a ratou tatou ano ki a tatou e nohonoho nei. Me mihi atu ki a koe e te tuahine Georgina e mutu ana koe i o mahi i roto i a tatou i tenei o nga Whare. Hoki mahara atu ki te wa tuatahi i uru mai au ki roto i tenei Paremata ko koe tetahi wa matou tino hoa hakoa kei tetahi pati atu kei reira koe. No reira nga mihi atu ki a koe e hoki ano ki to kainga ki tera o nga mauiui i roto i to whare. No reira mihi atu ki a koe. 
Ki a Mita ano hoki e mutu ana i ona mahi i roto i a matou e hoki tika ana ki tona kainga e hapai i nga mahi i reira; huri rauna ki a tatou ano ra e oku whanaunga e oku iti me te rahi koe ano hoki Hekia tatou katoa e nga Maori tena koutou huri rauna kia ora tatou katoa. 
Me te mihi anoki ki te Ropu Kakariki he hapai nei i ahau mai i taku tu motuhake hei reo motuhake mo Te Tai Tokerau tae noa ki taku mahi hei rangatira mo te Ropu o Mana me mihi atu ki a koutou mo ena tino tautoko tena koutou kia ora tatou. 
[ 
Thank you Mr Speaker. Greetings to us all throughout. To you the House the first thing is to pay a tribute to those who have passed away by stating: let them the dead remain there amongst themselves and we seated about here remain here amongst ourselves. I pay a tribute to you Georgina sister colleague as you end your work here amongst us in this one of the Houses of Parliament. I recall the first time I entered this Parliament you became a real mate to us. Even though you were of another party you were always there for us. So my tributes to you as you return home once more and to the sick ones in your household. I salute you.  
Acknowledgments to you as well Mita finishing up his work amongst us here and heading directly to his home area to help out in the work there; to us as well my kinfolk throughout my meek and my mighty—to you as well Hekia—to all of us Maori ones salutations to you collectively throughout and to us all. 
I acknowledge the Green Party as well for helping me along when I became an independent member for Te Tai Tokerau and also in my role as leader of Mana. I really appreciate you and that genuine support of yours. Thank you collectively and all of us. 
] 
As we bring this final sitting of Parliament to a close I want to leave us all with some pointers as to just who Mana really is and what sort of world it is that we seek for members’ mokopuna and for mine. 
For Mana the defining issue for this election must be the elimination of poverty and the reclaiming of our ability to manage our own world. When the 1 percent at the top end of this country has more wealth than the 60 percent at the bottom end then it is time for change and not simply tweaking around the edges but real change. 
When 1 percent of our country can hold the rest of the country to ransom by virtue of their economic power and wealth then it is time the 90 percent-ers stood up and fought back. When 150 people can make $7 billion while 250000 of our kids are living in poverty then we need to say “Stop”—not just for a cup of tea break not for a pause but to turn round this bus before people start dying of starvation and our kids start rioting. 
When the Government flogs off our assets just to pay for our crippling overseas debt of $300 million a week while cutting benefits to its own citizens who are in desperate need then I think it is time to acknowledge that the Government has got its priorities all wrong. 
To nobody’s great surprise Mana will not be chasing votes from the wealthy or the corporates for under the guidance of this National - Maori Party - ACT Government those sectors have done obscenely well and do not need the help of anybody else. Neither will we be chasing the votes from the rednecks that the bumbling stumbling ACT Party seeks because we seek a world where the Treaty of Waitangi enables all children of Aotearoa to grow and to flourish in a positive and inspiring world. 
Mana is here because the Maori Party betrayed the people who put it into power and because Labour long ago abandoned its role as defender of the working class and champion of the poor. On behalf of Mana I say that it is time to refocus our priorities to take control of our economy to put Papatuanuku before profits to put the rights of New Zealanders ahead of the revenue streams of big business to change our tax regime so that rich people pay their proper share and to redistribute the wealth of the nation so that everybody enjoys the benefits of living in the best country in the world. 
Mana will be Maori-led and Maori-focused. It recognises Te Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi as the constitutional basis of our country and we will fight for genuine constitutional change to make that a reality rather than have the limp constitutional review agreed to by the Maori Party. 
Mana says that what is good for Maori will also be good for Aotearoa. Because of that Mana will also stand for an Aotearoa where everyone—Maori Pasifika Pakeha Asian or anyone else—has the chance for a decent life. Mana will trial a lot of its policies in Maori communities because we want to make sure that they can make them work. Then we will transfer the same opportunities to Pasifika and other communities to help them lift themselves to where they truly belong—together—in taking our country forward. 
Mana says: “Feed the kids” is our first priority as a nation and 250000 children living below the poverty line is an indictment on our whole society. We call on voters to reject all those parties that will not make that simple issue a No. 1 priority. Mana would provide free meals in all decile 1 to 4 schools now and for all schools next year. 
Mana wants a special grant of $1000 for everyone earning less than $30000 to be paid out at Christmas whether or not they are in work or on a benefit. And why not? We give tax breaks to the rich why not a meal break for the poor? Mana wants a minimum wage of $15 an hour by April next year not in 2014 or in any other year. We have the money to pay for it. Those who deserve it should have it now—no excuses. 
Mana wants free education for all all the way up to tertiary level. Making our kids pay for their future means that the first thing they do when the ink dries on their diploma is check out the cheapest flights to Australia. Free education is important to our nation because investing in our kids is an investment in our own future. 
Mana would abolish GST altogether not tweak it for fresh fruit and veges like Labour would nor vote to increase it like the Maori Party but abolish a tax on the poor that was introduced by Labour and increased by National. 
Mana opposes National’s plan to increase unemployment and Labour’s refusal to fight for employment for all. Mana calls for a programme of full employment based on figures from the Council of Trade Unions which tells us that if the Government took back the tax cuts it gave to the 1 percent last year we could take everybody off the unemployment register today and give them a job tomorrow at 40 hours a week and $15 an hour. Poor people do not want to wait around for the kind of long-term sustainable employment that does not exist; they want jobs now. 
The free-marketers have been in charge for the last 30 years and all we got was an increase in long-term unemployment an ever-growing underclass the loss of much of the nation’s assets and a skyrocketing national debt. No thanks. They have had their turn and all they have done is rob us blind. It is time for a national jobs programme; jobs for everyone who can work: in our schools in our hospitals and on our marae creating work where everybody can add value to their communities. 
Mana recognises that we have a massive shortage of housing for people in need. We know that families are living in cars sheds and garages right across this country. We condemn National’s recent decision to kick families out of State houses because if they are on the minimum wage they are making too much money. We condemn Labour’s silence on the issue. Mana wants 20000 new State houses built over the next 2 years to address this critical shortage and to help people get jobs right across the country in the housing sector. 
Mana says let us be big enough to pay for what we promised: abolish GST and introduce the “Hone Heke tax” on all financial transactions. A levy of just 1 percent on current financial transactions would nearly double our current tax revenue giving extra funding for health education and social welfare; money for research and development and economic growth; and substantially more for Treaty settlements beyond the miserable 3 percent that both National and Labour have given us to date. 
Mana wants a world where our kids are healthy where going to school is something to look forward to where there are jobs to aspire to and where families are strong. Mana wants a world where workers have a real say in the economy that they are key players in where communities control their own development and where iwi can respond effectively to the needs of their people. 
We want a world where all New Zealanders can speak Maori as well as they speak English where our Pacific cousins are treated like the family they genuinely are and not the slave labour that we bring in to do the jobs nobody else will do where our country is the jewel in the Pacific that we like to brag about and where everyone feels that Aotearoa is a country to be genuinely proud of. We have the money to pay for it we have the people to make it happen and we have the best country in the world bar none. All we need is the courage to say: “Stop. Turn round. Go back and get the kids and start rebuilding our world from there.” 
In closing let me extend my best wishes to many people: to the All Blacks of course for all the scrutiny they have had to face and the expectation that they bear for all New Zealanders. Everyone in this House wishes them well in their quest. While I am on it I extend my best wishes to Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu for challenging the racism that we all know is at the heart of the mean-spirited attitude of the International Rugby Board; and to Maori people throughout Aotearoa may the next 6 weeks in the run-up to the election be a journey of hope and a drive for a new world. Kia ora tatou katoa.