12. Question No. 12—Māori DevelopmentTĀKUTA FERRIS (Te Pāti Māori —Te Tai Tonga) to the Minister for Māori DevelopmentQuestion No. 12—Māori DevelopmentTĀKUTA FERRIS (Te Pāti Māori —Te Tai Tonga): Tēnā koe e te Pīka. Tēnā rā tātou. Taku pātai ki te reo Māori i te mea e kainamu mai ana Te Wiki o te Reo Māori ā ka mutu ko taku pātai ki te Minita Take Whakawhanake Kaupapa Māori ki a Tama Pōtaka. Anei te pātai: E whakaae ana ia kāore anō te tahua pūtea ā-tau a Whakaata Māori kia piki ake mai i te tau 2008?[Thank you Mr Speaker. Greetings to us all. My question will be in te reo Māori because Māori Language Week is drawing closer and furthermore my question is to the Minister of Māori Development Tama Pōtaka. Here is the question: does he accept that Māori Television has not had an increase in annual baseline funding since 2008?]Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Deputy Prime Minister): Point of order. The questioner is required to ask the question—either in English or Māori—that's on the Order Paper. He has not. For the umpteenth time I'm asking you to get him to address this House properly.SPEAKER: Yeah there is a small problem there that even I could pick up: there were more words—there was a reference in there to Tama Potaka which is not appropriate. And so I]d ask the member to stick to as close a translation as is possible for the words that are on the Order Paper and to do that on future occasions as well; otherwise the questions will be terminated.12. TĀKUTA FERRIS (Te Pāti Māori —Te Tai Tonga) to the Minister for Māori Development: Pai kē ki a au te kōrero Māori. Anei te pātai: E whakaae ana ia kāre anō te tahua pūtea ā-tau kia piki ake mai i te tau 2008?[I prefer to speak Māori. Here's the question: does he accept that there has not been an increase in annual baseline funding since 2008?]Hon SHANE JONES (Acting Minister for Māori Development): Hei whakautu i tēnei pātai pai kē me hoki te kaipatapatai ki te kura kia mōhio ai ki te tatau. Te whakapae kei roto i tēnei pātai kāhore e tika ana. Kua oti noa atu te pūtea mai i te tau 2008 te whakaranea mā te tekau mā rima paiheneti.[In response to the question it would be better if the questioner went back to school so that he knows how to count. The claim within the question is incorrect. The funding has long since been increased from 2008 by twelve percent.]Hon Willie Jackson: Who is correct: the Minister for Māori Development who blamed the previous Government's record investment into Māori media on the current job cuts at Whakaata Māori or chief executive Shane Taurima who said today that shifting government policies" were the cause of the funding changes?Hon SHANE JONES: Far be it for me to disagree with that individual who shares an illustrious name. The reality is from the time of 2008 there has been an increase in the total funding for Whakaata Māori. There has been additional funding allocated for a very short period of time. It fell off a cliff because the former Minister did not make it a permanent feature of the budget of this institution. Tākuta Ferris: Does he accept that his refusal to support Whakaata Māori to a degree that enables Whakaata Māori to continue to be a beacon of indigenous language revitalisation both nationally and internationally has directly resulted in the loss of the only TV channel that broadcasts exclusively in te reo Māori?Hon SHANE JONES: Ehara mā te kaihorohoro o te kaipātai tēnei take ka mārama. Me mātau tātou te Whare e whā kē ngā poupou e hāpai ana i te reo Māori. Tōmua ko Te Taura Whiri; te mea tuarua ko Pouaka Māori; tua atu i tēnā ko Te Māngai Pāho; tua atu i tēnā ko Te Mātāwai. Ki te whakarauikatia te tatau o tēnā pūtea kei te takiwā o te kotahi rau miriona tāra whā tekau mā rua. Kei pōhēhē te kaipātai mā runga i tana mātau papaku noa iho nei kei te hē wēnei whika. [This issue will not be elucidated by the greed of this questioner. We this House should be aware there are four pillars supporting the Māori language. First and foremost is the Māori Language Commission; the second is Māori Television; the next is Te Māngai Pāho; and the next is Te Mātāwai. If the sum of all of that funding were to be brought together it would be in the area of $142 million. Let the questioner not mistakenly believe that these figures are wrong due to the shallowness of his understanding.] Hon Willie Jackson: Mr Speaker.SPEAKER: [Listens to translation] Well you wouldn't want me to start making rulings not knowing what's going on. So thank you for waiting; I appreciate your patience—a rare thing in your case.Hon Willie Jackson: Kia ora no problem—thank you no problem Mr Speaker. Happy to accommodate. Does the Minister stand by his statement: "I must be a strong advocate and contributor to Māori success" when under his watch he has cut funding to Māori development supported the repeal of Māori wards and the Māori Health Authority and with today's announcement from CEO Shane Taurima supported the funding cuts to Whakaata Māori?Hon SHANE JONES: Times are a changing. The entirety of the media is facing substantial pressures. Whakaata Māori was in receipt of short-term funding. Not unlike other elements of the media it is having to cut its cloth. But I repeat there is $142 million of which was not cut made available for the four pillars that uphold the strategy of the reo: Taura Whiri Te Māngai Paho Whakaata Māori and Te Mātāwai. They probably can be made to collaborate and work closer together and we look forward to hearing from the Minister how that might be achieved.Tākuta Ferris: Given Whakaata Māori exists to uphold the Crown's duty to protect te reo Māori under the Māori Language Act 1987 and article 2 of Te Tiriti o Waitangi does he accept that his decision to cut funding by 25 percent is a breach of the Māori Language Act 1987 and Te Tiriti o Waitangi?Hon SHANE JONES: Me hoki anō ahau ki taku kupu tuatahi ki te Whare: kāhore e tika ana i tauporotia te tatau o te pūtea mō te Pouaka Whakaata Māori. Mai i te tau 2008 kua whakapikihia mā te tekau mā rua paihēneti. Nā pēnā e turi ana ngā taringa o te kaipatapatai ki tēnei whakautu āku me hoki anō ki te kura.[I should return to my first statement to the House: it is not true that the total of funding for Māori Television has been reduced. Since 2008 it has increased by twelve percent. Now if the ears of the questioner are deaf to this answer of mine he should go back to school.]Tākuta Ferris: What does he believe will be the intergenerational impact of belittling te reo Māori reducing its prominence visibility and audibility as a result of his Government's and his own actions?Hon SHANE JONES: The figures that the member refers to do not lie at the heart of the salvation of the Māori language. The Māori language will endure when the adherents of the language commit every day to perpetuate it. And when the language is weaponised by junior MPs we all suffer as a consequence. Tākuta Ferris: He pātai anō tāku. [I have another question.] Nau mai ki te marae junior. [Welcome to the marae junior.] What is his vision—SPEAKER: Hang on—hang on a minute. That's not part of the deal right? You're asking a question; you ask a supplementary.Tākuta Ferris: He kōrero nō tērā taha. [It was a statement from that side.]SPEAKER: Well don't respond to them—don't respond to that.Tākuta Ferris: Tēnā koe e te Pīka. What is his vision for the future of te reo Māori in broadcasting without a strong Whakaata Māori and when will he stand up for his own tamariki and tell his coalition partners enough is enough?Hon SHANE JONES: Me hoki anō ahau ki te whakamārama ki tā tātou tamaiti me pēhea tēnei kaupapa e whakatutukitia paitia ai. Ehara mā te pūtea anake te reo Māori e rangatira ai. Mā te ū o te ngākau. Ehara mā te whakatamariki kōrero pēnei me tāku e rongo nei i tērā pito o te Whare. Kua whakapikitia te tatau o ngā moni kei te tekau mā rua paiheneti. Kāhore anō tō tātou reo kia whakapōharatia ahakoa kei te whakaitingia te tatau o ngā kaimahi. He pēnā katoa te ao pāpāho.[I should go back and explain to our child how this topic can be successfully achieved. It will not be due to funding alone that the Māori language will be honoured. It will be by the dedication of the heart. It will not be by child-like statements like I am hearing from that end of the House. The total of the money has been increased on the order of twelve percent. Our language has not been impoverished despite the reduction in the number of staff. The entire broadcasting sector is the same.]Rt Hon Winston Peters: Is the Minister concerned that someone could look at the 2008 figures and the current figures and yet say in this House that there's no increase at all when that dramatically is not the case and there's millions and millions of dollars out on the negative and he's wrong?Hon SHANE JONES: That question related to the absence of understanding of financial matters reflects the Prime Minister's statement—utterly true. Too many young Māori can't count."