Flavell Te Ururoa: Budget Statement —Text is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFlavell Te Ururoa: Budget Statement —[Sitting date: 21 May 2015. Volume:705;Page:3531. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon TE URUROA FLAVELL (Co-Leader—Māori Party):Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. Kia ora tātau katoa. Ka mihi rā ki a tātau e hui nei i tēnei rā Māori mai Pākehā mai. Ka nui te mihi.[Thank you Mr Speaker. Salutations to us all. My acknowledgments indeed to us assembled here today Māori and non-Māori. I appreciate it greatly.]Firstly can I start off by congratulating the Minister of Finance on working extremely well with the Māori Party leadership. It is sad that some will moan because they have got nothing. They have delivered nothing to the people of this country and throughout this last year the Māori Party has been able to work constructively with the National Government. I am usually a humble man as most people know. I am very humble—I am very humble but not today. I am ready to rumble today because the Māori Party has helped deliver some goodies to the people of this country. Marama Fox is like that—very humble—but just for today we are going to speak up. We are going to speak up.Since the Māori Party was created 11 years ago whānau have been at the forefront of our thinking. We have been dedicated to improving the lives of whānau and to breaking the intergenerational neglect and poor policies of previous Governments which have failed abysmally to improve the lives of our most vulnerable families. The Māori Party created history when it became the first political party in this country to call for a Ministerial Committee on Poverty. It brought into sharp focus the dire and complex issues raised by the most vulnerable families in our country of which a fair disproportionate number are Māori. I can say too that the Māori Party is extremely proud of the work that the Government has undertaken as a result of the recommendations from the Ministerial Committee on Poverty set up by the Māori Party—and I pay tribute to the former leader of the Māori Party Tariana Turia.Today the Government announced $790 million which will reduce hardship among tamariki in greatest need—$790 million. Why? Because the Māori Party rumbled up—that is why. Today I say to Aotearoa: “It’s OK. Don’t thank us too much. The Māori Party rocked up and we delivered beside this Government.” I want to put it all in a bit of context. Benefit rates for families with children will rise $25 a week after tax which is the first time since 1972 that core benefit rates have been increased by more than inflation. That is what we have done—pulled it over. We pulled it over the line. These measures will support around half a million children—half a million children. So it is a bit rich for some to rock up here and say: “Do more for children.” Hello—you do more for children and then you still get it wrong. There is something wrong there—something seriously wrong.Most of this country will be surprised I think that a National administration would offer increases to core benefit rates. I think the Prime Minister alluded to that. Here is the truth though: National and Labour have held the Treasury benches for roughly an equal amount of time—over about 43 years—and neither of them have made any moves to increase benefit rates. So who made the difference? The Māori Party made the difference that is who—the Māori Party. The Māori Party made the difference. It has been through the work of my former co-leaders Dr Pita Sharples and Tariana Turia and my co-pilot here Marama Fox—the only MP who continues to be on the Ministerial Committee on Poverty and who has talked about nothing nothing except alleviating hardship and poverty. That equals $790 million and that is how it came about.Today the Māori Party has made history. It has taken 43 years—nearly half a century—for core benefits to rise. Who did it? The Māori Party did it with some help from National. In addition to this hard-fought gain the Māori Party has also secured about $100 million worth of funding for whānau whare and whenua. What is that? That is families that is housing that is land. New operational funding—$49.8 million over the next 4 years—will support Whānau Ora navigators to work with whānau aiga and families. Do I hear “Amen”?Marama Fox: Amen.Hon TE URUROA FLAVELL: Thank you sister.Navigators play a hugely important role in linking up whānau with their vital services and information. The new funding will allow the continuation of current levels of navigators in Kaitoko Whānau and for Ōranga Whānau workers to be maintained. [Interruption] Thank you thank you. This is a 29 percent increase in the current funding for Whānau Ora and although this revolutionary approach of working with whānau to help them find the solutions for themselves has been attacked by some Opposition MPs the Māori Party and this Government have seen the outstanding results of Whānau Ora. Mr Peters you need to talk to your older sister. She knows what Whānau Ora is all about.The Budget has also provided $2.1 million of new funding for research on rangatahi Māori suicide prevention. I have to say that too often I have seen the devastating effects of Māori suicide on whānau. The Māori rate is about 22.5 times higher than the non-Māori. This fund will contribute towards taking a Whānau Ora approach to reducing youth suicide. It will prevent youth suicide and will hopefully provide support for prevention workers who are working directly with rangatahi Māori in crisis situations.Moving to housing: housing is such a crucial and critical factor in breaking the cycles of poverty dependency and poor health outcomes for whānau Māori. A new whānau housing response fund will focus on addressing housing deprivation. A Māori housing network will be established to provide practical assistance to whānau and to progress the housing aspirations of Māori. Budget 2015 provides an additional—hold on—$8.8 million per annum for Māori housing. What do I hear?Marama Fox: Amen.Hon TE URUROA FLAVELL: Thank you sister. This is in addition to existing funding for Māori housing of around $7.5 million per annum bringing the total amount to $16.2 million per annum in 2018-19. A new Māori network will provide an analytical role in implementing and evaluating He Whare Āhuru He Ōranga Tāngata—the Māori housing strategy—which sets out the Government’s commitment to improving housing outcomes for Māori and to growing the Māori housing sector.I move to whenua—from whare to whenua; it makes sense. There is a new fund of $12.8 million over 4 years to help Māori landowners improve the utilisation of their land. It is also in this year’s budget. What do I hear?Marama Fox: Amen.Hon TE URUROA FLAVELL: Thank you sister. The fund complements the current reform of Te Ture Whenua Māori Act. The issues that the fund will investigate are genuine and I am talking about rates valuation and aggregation of small land blocks and landlocked land. It has got to be good.Hon Gerry Brownlee: Tell us more.Hon TE URUROA FLAVELL: I will. Hold on there is more. There is $3.2 million per annum in a fund that will support targeted initiatives in areas with significant underutilised land such as in Northland East Coast Bay of Plenty Manawatū and Whanganui. Help is on its way. Help is on its way. It will address longstanding issues that have generally inhibited Māori whānau hapū and iwi from releasing and realising the benefits of their land.As a partner in this Government we have been criticised for getting only the crumbs. That is a blatant lie—a blatant lie. The Māori Party has had a real and profound impact on this Government in the tangible gains we have made for whānau. Over the last 7 years as a support party we have led initiatives to tackle poverty. They include Warm Up New Zealand rheumatic fever prevention free GP doctors visits and the expansion of paid parental leave. I could go on but I am a humble man; I will hold it back. The Opposition will argue that the merits and benefits increased today are pretty minimal. They get nothing. They have delivered nothing to this country. Why? Because they are in Opposition and here we are at the table getting gains for our people. Today the Māori Party can and will take every bit of credit that comes its way. Why? Because we have done it. The Māori Party has done it.I close by saying that the Budget is a win for whānau who work hard to bring up their tamariki with the necessities of life. It is a win for all of those who fight day in day out to make the lives of our people better. It is time for this country to realise the huge and valuable contribution of the mighty Māori Party in this House. That is what we do: we look after the families and we look after the lives of our people—not just Māori but all of this country. This Budget gets us on the move. We say: “Let’s get it on. Let’s move it and move it now.”