Turia Tariana: Budget Statement — Budget Debate 
Turia Tariana: Budget Statement — Budget Debate 
[Volume:663;Page:11060] 
Hon TARIANA TURIA (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 If ever a political speech was made to get the votes away from National I would have to say that was one of them. 
The Maori Party joins with the Government today to congratulate the Minister of Finance on his leadership in trying to chart a pathway forward in this 2010 Budget statement. A challenge that we in the Maori Party face every day in this House is to lay the w’ariki for the long term and to create the foundation for the generations to come. We have every reason to believe with this Budget and the emphasis accorded to Whanau Ora that this Government is prepared to invest in that foundation. 
Whanau Ora is evidence of a Government prepared to back w’anau families and prepared to let the people determine their own solutions. This Budget has given a clear direction to providers and agencies alike that we want to see outcomes that derive from families having real ownership of their solutions. The transformation that we seek through this approach is that in building w’anau capability and nurturing resilience we are restoring to families that sense of collective responsibility to take care of their own. From the Government’s perspective $134 million is an investment in outcomes achieved for w’anau for providers and we believe for the nation as a whole. But most of all this is an investment in how they do it—how we make the difference by placing trust in people. The Minister of Finance has laid out the challenge for Aotearoa which is emerging from the sharper edges of a global recession. We have an opportunity as a Parliament either to sink further into a cycle of ever-spiralling debt or to take some initiatives to back ourselves. 
The changes that the Budget brings with it—and I am thinking particularly of the tax impact—will not be universally popular despite the acknowledgment from Mr English that at all taxable income levels tax cuts will more than offset the GST rise. We know that the biggest challenge will be encouraging our constituency to look more broadly at the whole picture of the Budget rather than focusing on one measure in isolation. I am reminded of the wisdom of our rangatira from Whanganui Dr Whakaari Rangitakuku Metekingi who told us “Ko te pae tawhiti whaia kia tata ko te pae tata whakamaua kia tina”. It means “Seek out the distant horizons; cherish those that you attain”. The grim reality is that we are in a situation in which we have been spending more than we earn. If the horizons we seek are a stronger economic outlook—a future in which our tamariki and our mokopuna will achieve the jobs the incomes and the living standards that they aspire to—then we must be prepared to take bold action now. 
Lifting long-term economic performance will require a careful balancing of measures of restraint and of support. But it is not as if w’anau Maori are not used to the concept of making the most of meagre resources. The mastery of Maori in managing massive crowds through tangi w’anau reunions or events such as the koroneihana poukai iwi festivals and the Ratana Church celebrations is legendary. Our Maori incorporations have acquired a distinctive reputation for being conservative by nature and at a w’anau level making do with what we have is part of our history. 
But we do not resile from a major issue that neither National nor Labour have ever responded to well which is the challenge to close the gaps. We have constantly argued for a more equitable society where social and economic justice count for something. In our coalition agreement we made the call to eliminate poverty and we will not resile from that challenge either. So we have advocated ferociously for this Budget to protect the most vulnerable and for an immediate lift in benefits superannuation student allowances and Working for Families to offset the GST increase. 
Some aspects of this Budget will help to focus on growth to help our families to get ahead. There is allocation of new funding to grow Maori productivity and export growth and support Maori innovation. The $4.5 million allocated for skills and training for Maori in the primary sector and Maori innovation and the $4.5 million to support initiatives to strengthen and promote Maori tourism are key achievements for the Minister of Maori Affairs and will help to build the recovery that we need. There is $20 million over 4 years for the Maori Innovations Fund in Vote Health which will support Maori service providers with funding and resources that they need to build and implement innovative Whanau Ora services. 
The Housing Innovation Fund has been lifted with another boost of $20 million to extend the fund for another year thereby growing the supply of affordable housing for w’anau. The emphasis on the building blocks for families is also evident with an additional $16 million for grants and loans to support social and affordable housing. The additional $24 million to grow the Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart home insulation programme is immensely important to our families. The Maori Party is very proud that we were able to increase the number of low-income households that will benefit from this scheme by at least 8500 families. That is about making a lifetime difference to every aspect of w’anau well-being including health education and employment participation. 
In the disability sector the lifetime difference has been supported through the $1.5 million invested in promoting accessible housing for disabled people through the Lifetime Design Standard. It will also be supported through the $3 million that has been allocated to improving attitudes towards disabled persons and the $2.34 million invested in promoting protecting and monitoring the rights of disabled persons. A key priority for me and this Government is to ensure that the voice of disabled persons is heard and this Budget does that. Although there is $93 million more for disability support I particularly draw attention to the very substantial injection of an additional $20 million over the next 2 years for home modifications and equipment. This funding will have a considerable impact on the waiting lists and will mean that people can access equipment and home modifications much sooner than they can now. Although this is fantastic there is so much more that we need to do and it will remain a key priority for me to continue this work. 
We welcome the injection of $90 million into community-led participation in early childhood education. We believe that this will have particular relevance for Maori and Pasifika families. The increase of $48 million for the Youth Guarantee scheme will help our rangatahi to go forward on a more secure footing. I know that Dr Sharples is particularly pleased about the $12.6 million that will enable kura to benefit from specific and specialised Maori medium assessment tools which will tell us whether any difference has been made. I am particularly pleased with an initiative within the community and voluntary sector to support w’anau to access the information highway through $7.9 million to increase the Computers in Homes and the Computer Clubhouse initiatives. 
Finally Budget 2010 is about putting the support where it is most needed and so I also acknowledge the initiative pioneered by Dr Sharples with close to $20 million set aside for Whare Oranga Ake—rehabilitation centres that have been founded on kaupapa Maori which are available to everybody to help pre-release prisoners with their re-entry into their communities. The Minister of Finance has talked about the goals of economic transformation. For the Maori Party we see this Budget as about a transformation of another kind: the transformation of attitudes. It is about an attitude that backs ourselves an attitude that supports potential an attitude that is about being self-sustaining and in charge of our own destiny and a Government attitude that trusts family and community to know best what their needs are. We are in this for the long haul. It is in that context that we the Maori Party support Budget 2010 for investing in the future for the next generation nga taonga tukunga iho.