Flavell Te Ururoa: Electricity (Disconnection and Low Fixed Charges) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Electricity (Disconnection and Low Fixed Charges) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:640;Page:10805] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
Kia ora tatou. Kia ora tatou i tenei Wiki o te Reo Maori. Tera tetahi korero: “Ma te mea matamuri ka wehe atu i Aotearoa e tinei te raiti?”. I enei wa tera pea ka kite tatau kua wetohia ke te raiti! 
Kei te marama matau o te Pati Maori mo nga take i tae mai ai tenei pire ki runga i te Pepa Rarangi Korero o te Whare ara na te ahuatanga pouri nei i pa ki a Folole Muliaga. Ko tona matenga na te wetonga o te hiko i tona whare mo te aha? Mo tana nama $168.40. Ki ta matou mohio koi nei te ahuatanga mo nga tangata e hia ke nei i Aotearoa. Na te ripoata a te Manatu Whakahiato Ora o te tau 2006 i ki mai hau tekau o nga Pakeha me te hauwha o te Maori kaore i utu i tetahi o a ratau nama hiko korohu wai ranei i te tau 2004. Hei ta te purongo he taumaha ake tenei ahuatanga mo nga whanau Pasifika. 
I te wiki kua taha ake nei kua rongo te Pati Maori i nga karanga pakanga nei e ki ana mo nga kaute ke te ahuatanga mahi torangapu. Kati ka pehea enei whika? E 26.7 o-rau o nga whanau Maori katoa kaore i utu wawe i a ratau nama hiko wai korohu i te tau 2004. A e 12.7 o-rau o nga whanau i Aotearoa ara tata pea ki te 266700 mano kaore i utu i o ratau nama mo te wa kotahi i te tau i mua. Ka taea pea e nga takuta whatiwhati korero te hanga momo whakautu mo te ahuatanga o enei kaute. Kei te tangata tonu ranei te tikanga ki te utu i ana nama i te wa e tika ana a me ata titiro nga kaituku hiko i o ratau raupapa mahi a me ata titiro ranei te iwi ki te ahua o wa ratau whakapau moni. Kare he paku raru ki enei karero a he tika hoki etahi engari kua tau te he ki wahi ke ko te Karauna tena e noho pai ana. 
Engari anei matau o te Pati Maori te reo Maori motuhake kei te Paremata e akiaki nei i te Kawanatanga mo ona kawenga ki nga nohoanga tangata ki te hapori ki tenei whenua hoki. I aro ake matau ki nga korero a te rangatira o Mighty River Power a Doug Heffernan me tana ki mai i te 25 o Pipiri ara “Ko nga take rawakore he raru ka pa ki te nohoanga tangata a kei a tatau katoa te whakautu. He akiaki tonu tera ki tena ki tena kaua ko nga kamupene hiko anake engari ko nga tari awhina tangata me te Kawanatanga hoki.” 
Na ko te pire nei he timatanga kia uru mai te Kawanatanga. Maku tonu e ki i te tuatahi ka tautoko te Pati Maori i tenei pire na te mea he take tenei ka pa mai ki te katoa mo nga mahi weweto kaihoko hiko. Ki ta te Hahi Salvation Army na te kaha o te mana o nga koporeihana kaore nga kaimahi i te tino ngakau nui i te hapori i runga i te ngakau atawhai. Ko ta Child Poverty Action Group ko te putake o te raru ko tera e ki ana “Kaore e taea e nga kaupapa o te makete te whakarite huarahi hei manaaki i nga whanau.” He kaha ake te kupu o nga Uniana me ta ratou korero i ki nei: “Kua kitea ano ko te kaupapa nui o nga koporeihana a-Kawanatanga ara ko te moni i mua noa atu i te tangata i Aotearoa nei.”  
Na te kaha takariri koi nei ta ratou panui i te 31 o Haratua ki a Mercury Energy: “He momo kaiwhakaweti tera hunga ko ta ratau kai ko te hunga rawakore te hunga pohara o Tamaki ki te Tonga. He orite ratau ki era tangata tuku moni ratau he pirau te ngakau a kei roto i o tatau rohe e noho ana. Ka whakawhirinaki ratau ki te hunga mokemoke ki te hunga noho manene.” 
Ko te pire e wanangahia nei e tatou i tenei rangi he whakaaro kotahi anake ehara ko te titiro whanui ki te hiahia kia rere ke tonu nga mea whai hua. Ko nga whakatikatikatanga e whakaarohia nei mo te mahi tope hiko mo te kore utu nama ara nga momo huarahi hei utu i nga nama i nga wa ka ka ano te hiko a ma te hunga raruraru ka tautoko katoa matau i aua kaupapa. Engari kaore tenei pire e muru i nga taumahatanga whai hua o tenei wa. Ko tona tikanga ara ko te mahi a te Kawanatanga he tiaki i nga whanau kia taea ai e ratou nga whanau te utu i nga nama penei i o ratau ake nama hiko.  
Kei te mohio tonu matau kua whakaritea ke e te Komihana Hiko i te tau 2005 he kaupapa hei awhina i era ara te hunga pohara. Kua titiro matau ki aua kaupapa a he mea whakamiharo era hiahia hei awhina i era e noho raruraru nei na te kore mohio. me pehea e taea ai te utu i o ratau nama hiko. Engari ko te tino raruraru i whakatakotohia e te Perehitini o Grey Power ara e Graham Stairmand nana te Kawanatanga i wero kia ngakaunui mai ki era kua piki atu te utu mo te hiko i te 60 o-rau i nga tau e wha ki muri. 
Ka whakaatu a Child Poverty Action Group i te raru ki “nga whanau he noho rawakore te noho” i runga i te patai: “Meina ka aukatihia te hiko ka pehea nga tamariki i o ratau mahi ako i te kura kia whangaihia i nga kai mahana ki te mahi i wo ratau rorohiko ki te horoi hoki i a ratau ano kia kore ai e mate i nga mate tahumaero me pehea hoki?”. Ka hoki mai ano ki aua take ano kua piki te utu o te hiko o te wai o nga waka i runga ake i te ekenga o te wariu a i runga ake hoki i nga utu mahi; kare e orite te ngahoro o nga painga ki nga whanau katoa i raro i nga painga o te kaupapa Mahi mo Nga Whanau ka riro i etahi ka noho pohara tonu etahi; he whanau tonu kare i te whiwhi i nga painga o te kaupapa Mahi mo nga Whanau na te kore mohio kei reira tonu taua awhina.  
He whakaaro arorau era i roto i te pire e ki ana. me rere ke nga utu mo ia rohe mo ia rohe. Kua rongo nei matau he tino whanui tonu te rere ketanga o te take mai i tetahi rohe o Aotearoa ki tetahi a ko nga take iti nei he moemoea noa iho mo ratau e noho nei i nga wahi kaha matao kaha maku ranei na reira e whakaae ana matau ki nga rere ketanga kei te whakaarohia mo tena rohe mo tena rohe. He whakaaro pai era. 
Tera pea ko te kaha o te riri otira o te aroha nga mea nui kua ngau nei i te ngakau o te motu. Ko ta matau ara noa atu nga tino patai hei tuku mo te ahua o te mana o era ara ko nga kaiwhakarato nei mo te hiko ki te kore mahi i ana mahi na te kore utu nama ahakoa he mea waiwai tonu. Ko te ture e akiaki nei i nga kaiwhakarato katoa kia noho tika te mahi ki tau te mahi kia ora te mahi i a ratou e kimi nei i nga nama he ture tau ake kia waihangatia e tenei Paremata.  
Kei te koa ki te kite e maumahara ana nga torangapu tawhito ki nga tino kaupapa ara kia haere te tangata i mua o te ture a ka hangai taua kaupapa mo te painga mo tatau katoa o Aotearoa. Ko ta matau wawata ano ka titiro ano ratou ki o ratou ake poti a me te kimi i te tika me te pono o te ngakau kia taea ai e ratou te ki tuturu nei ko te ara ki nga mahi tika he tino kaupapa nui mo tenei Paremata. No reira huri noa tena koutou kia ora tatou katoa.  
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.] 
[ 
Greetings to us all in this Maori Language Week. There used to be a saying Would the last person to leave New Zealand switch off the light?”. In these times we might instead find that the light was disconnected!  
The Maori Party comes to the Electricity (Disconnection and Low Fixed Charges) Amendment Bill acutely aware of the dire circumstances that prompted this bill on to the Order Paper—the circumstances given focus through the tragic situation of Folole Muliaga and the fatal disconnection of power to her house because of an outstanding bill for $168.40 circumstances that we now know to be a common fact of life for far too many New Zealanders. The Ministry of Social Development’s Economic Standard of Living report released in 2006 found that one-tenth of European families and one-quarter of Maori families fell behind on at least one bill for power gas or water in 2004. The situation was and continues to be worse for Pacific families. 
The  
Maori 
 Party has been harangued over the last week with the battle cry “Politics is all about the numbers.” Well what about these figures: 26.7 percent of all Maori families fell behind with their utility bills in 2004 and 12.7 percent of New Zealand families—that is about 266700 in real terms—could not keep up with power gas or water payments at least once in the previous year. The spin doctors could probably respond to these numbers in a variety of ways—New Zealanders need to take responsibility for paying their bills on time; the electricity industry might be invited to review its processes; or New Zealanders need to look at their spending patterns. There is nothing very wrong with any of these versions of the truth—except of course that they let the Crown off the hook. 
But we of the Maori Party—a proud and independent Maori advocate in Parliament—are always happy to remind the Government of the responsibilities it has to consumers to the community and to the country. We were interested in a statement that Mighty River Power boss Doug Heffernan made on 25 June when he said: “Financial hardship is a social problem and it requires a co 
ordinated 
 community response. It requires us all to play our part and that includes not just the power industry but social agencies and Government as well.” 
This bill then is the Government starting to play its part. From the outset I say that the Maori Party will support this bill on the basis of shared concerns from across the nation about the disconnection practices of electricity retailers. The Salvation Army has suggested that the corporate environment is so influential that staff are discouraged from making decisions on humanitarian grounds. The Child Poverty Action Group  
emphasised 
 that the problem was that “The purely market-based approach is failing to provide secure access to essential services for too many families.” The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions put it in even stronger terms claiming that "yet again" a "so-called State-owned enterprise put profit before people in New Zealand". It issued an angry call to picket Mercury Energy on 31 May with the following statement: “They are corporate bully boys who prey on the weak old and vulnerable of south Auckland and are no better than the corrupt moneylenders who plague our communities. They rely on the fact that people feel alone and isolated.” 
The bill we are considering today is but one part of a greater picture that reflects the need for economic changes to occur. The arrangements that are being mooted about disconnection following non-payment of accounts about alternative payment options about reconnection and about identifying vulnerable consumers are honourable proposals and proposals we will support. But this bill does not take away the responsibility of addressing current economic realities. It is surely the duty of a responsible Government to ensure all whanau are able to meet basic costs such as electricity in the first place.  
We know that there have been guidelines in place prepared by the Electricity Commission in 2005 to assist low-income domestic consumers. We have looked through those guidelines and their intention to assist consumers whose income makes it genuinely difficult for them to pay their electricity bill is admirable. But the central problem lies in the facts outlined by Grey Power National President Graham Stairmand who challenged the Government to have some sympathy for consumers who have experienced a 60 percent increase in the cost of electricity over the last 4 years. 
The Child Poverty Action Group also highlighted the “parlous existence of many low-income families” asking the simple question: “How can children do their homework get fed a hot nutritious meal use the computer or wash themselves adequately to prevent infections when the power is cut off; how indeed?”. Yet again it comes back to the perennial problems that electricity water and transport price rises are well above the rate of inflation and certainly well above most wage increases; 
 that W 
orking for Families privileges certain families while families on benefits are experiencing little change if any in the income support available to cover rising costs; 
 and that e 
ven those families eligible for Working for Families may be missing out because of a lack of knowledge of the assistance that could be available to them. 
The other set of changes in this bill around the Low Fixed Charge tariff options seem to be logical with the emphasis on being region-specific. We are told that there is wide disparity in the Low Fixed Charge tariff coverage in New Zealand; that the low-use threshold is unrealistic for many living in colder wetter places; so the changes to recognise the different climates of New Zealand's different regions in the setting of tariffs seem sensible. 
The moral and ethical outrage that has captured the compassion of the nation has focused perhaps too heavily on blame and shame. We believe there are very serious questions to be asked about how any utility provider has the power to withhold services on the basis of debts incurred—services that we would classify as essential. Legislation that reminds all utility providers of the need for consistent safe processes in recovering overdue amounts is thus a very positive thing for this Parliament to bring in. 
It is pleasing to see that the two older parties in particular are remembering the essential values of access to law and justice and to the application of the law for the benefit of all New Zealanders. We hope too that they may look further at their own voting record and search their souls for the truth as to whether they can say with all honesty that they believe that access to justice is an essential principle of this Parliament.  
So to all of us thoughout greetings to you and thank you 
.] 
"