Turia Tariana: Adjournment — Sittings of the HouseText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeTuria Tariana: Adjournment — Sittings of the House[Sitting date: 11 December 2013. Volume:695;Page:15504. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon TARIANA TURIA (Co-Leader—Māori Party):Tēnātātou e teW’are. In Christmases past my grandmother would always insist that we set aside a place at the table to remember those who had passed on during the year. So as we stand in this our last debate of the year I take time to remember those who have touched our lives beyond compare whose legacies linger on in our hearts as we strive to live up to their ideals. Ka tangitonu tengākau ki tehungakuamene atu ki tepō. Ko tetoka nuikuangaro atu e moe eoki. E tangitonuanatakungākaumōu e Parekura. Kotāuatērā epara te huarahii rotoitēnei Wharei rotoi tewhakaaro kotahiarā heoranganōngāitātoungāwhānaungāhapūngāhāpori. Ki atātou tehunga oratēnātātou[The heart continues to mourn for those who have departed to the night. The great rock has vanished sleep rest. My heart grieves for you still Parekura. It was you and I who cleared the way in this House with one thought in mind it was for the well-being of us for families subtribes and communities. Greetings to us the living.]The adjournment debate is traditionally a time for the political tally to be totted up for assessment against policy targets number of releases issued bills passed questionsasked and everything that other political parties claim is wrong. So how does the Māori Party review progress in 2013? For Te Ururoa Flavell our newly anointed co-leader the highlight would be competing in Iron Māori racing to the end with his baby daughter as support his wife and other daughter firmly at his side. For “Papa Pita” this is the year his first mokopunatuarua came into the world and life will never be the same again. The Turiaw’ānau counts this Christmas as one in which we are truly blessed. We are thankful for the strength and resilience of our children and our mokopuna our brush with ill health causing our entirew’ānau to re-evaluate all that is important in our lives. We know that it is all aboutw’ānau.And so I turn to you Mr Speaker to your deputies and indeed to every member of Parliament in this House and I acknowledge the hefty sacrifice that this job places on all your families. For some politicians progress is measured against the headlines of today. For the Māori Party we calculate success by the impact on the next generation. We are thrilled with the stories ofw’ānau transformation that are coming through in whichw’ānau are strengthening relationships gaining skills and confidence and feeling inspired to look towards the future where before they could not see beyond the challenges that they faced. Over the last quarter for instance more than 5500w’ānau were engaged withWhānau Ora representing approximately 28000w’ānau members. Included in this number are 2763w’ānau who engaged with navigators helpingw’ānau to build their capacity to meet their needs.In the disability sector we are seeing a similar spirit of revolution occur through the Enabling Good Lives approach in which disabled persons work with their families and support agencies to determine what services they need to help them to achieve their goals. I have been so proud of the difference that has been made by Enabling Good Lives and through the Think Differently project in which our attitudes and behaviours around disability are the focus. The recent controversy around building accessibility has reminded the Government of the basic rule that disabled persons live by: nothing about us without us. My key priority in this area next year will be embedding the Enabling Good Lives approach across every sector of Government.As a political party we have been resolute in our goal of eliminating social hazards from the lives of ourw’ānau. My colleague Te Ururoa Flavell has been determined to support ourw’ānau to be free of the damage caused by problem gambling. Although his member’s bill was broadly condemned there are few other politicians in this House who have tried every avenue to achieve zero tolerance towards gambling harm and I mihi to him for his efforts. We cannot let this year go by without drawing attention to the harmful precedent created by the deal that the Government drew up with Skycity against the very best interests of families.We also know that the most significant issue that is affecting all of our social and health issues amongst our families has to be about the abuse of alcohol. I have been heartened by the clear progress we have achieved in tobacco reform. The 2013 census results show the number of smokers has dropped by nearly a quarter since the 2006 census. The smoke-free sector must be congratulated on its absolute commitment to educating our communities about the negative effects tobacco has on our health. It is also evident that the impact of Government legislation including increases in excise tax is massive in helping us to achieve the goal to be smoke-free by 2025. Of course we cannot be complacent and I look forward to the cooperation of the House to progress the plain packaging legislation next year as well. I hope to see changes in the sale of duty-free tobacco and the incidence of smoking in cars with children in them. As a party we remain bitterly disappointed at the limp record achieved in alcohol reform. I want to take this opportunity to support those local heroes around our communities whohave taken it upon themselves to tread where the Government has failed in speaking up to protect their communities from the impact of liberal liquor licensing.By far the most significant barrier for our families to advance has been in the insidious effects of poverty the lack of progress in establishing a living income and for too many families the ongoing struggle to gain meaningful employment. The Māori Party channelled our collective efforts into addressing poverty through the Budget process. We are proud of the amazing changes that have been seen through $100 million of investment in home insulation the increased targeting of funding to address rheumatic fever and the $43 million accorded to Māori and Pasifika trade training. We would however acknowledge that those are but a step in the right direction and there is so much more action required on all fronts.We are particularly alarmed as the Child Poverty Monitor revealed early this week that the rate of child poverty severity where households are both income-poor and experiencing material hardship is twice as high for Māori and Pasifika children aged 0 to 17 years than for the whole New Zealand population. We are alarmed by research such as that by Dr Fiona Ell which says that there are bigger differences in mathematics performance between rich and poor children in New Zealand than in many other countries. So it is harder to do well if you are poor in New Zealand than in other places. Why is that? No politician can ignore those ongoing injustices the inequitable outcomes experienced by some populations which make a mockery of our past ideal of a fair and democratic society.There is much to be done. We look forward to progress on the Māori Language Strategy. We welcome the permeation of a new mind-set described in the Māori economic development strategy He Kai KeiAkuRinga—a mind-set that encourages departments to see progress as Māori led and Government supported. We have many other ideas in progress: a greater focus on the prevention of family violence progress in seeing iwi and Māori housing providers benefit from stock transfer a new direction for Māori wardens and greater opportunities for Pasifika communities in health and social development.Our appetite forw’ānau transformation across all sectors is able to be achieved because of the amazing commitment of dedicated staff in our ministerial offices and the leaders’ units and the departmental advisers. All fully deserve a summer vacation after a very challenging year. The staff of the Office of the Clerk the Parliamentary Library and Hansard and our Māori interpreters have also been a key source of support and we thank them all. I want to especially mention our cleaners who go beyond the call of duty for very minimal return our security staff messengers telephonists gardeners and others in branches of the Parliamentary Service who have suffered staffing cuts and yet never compromise on the highest quality of service to us all. There are many wonderful people across the precincts who make our lives easier but I want to particularly single out Mary Harris for her expert wisdom the Table Office for its support in the House the staff ofCopperfield’s and Bellamy’s the IT team the buildings and finance staff the VIP drivers the Cabinet Office team and all the friends and colleagues we have made along the way.I want to acknowledge the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister who continue to demonstrate their willingness to establish an effective political relationship from which we can do our outmost to make a difference forw’ānau right across the land. Our lives have been completely dedicated towards supporting ourw’ānau to be the best that they can be and through you Mr Speaker we acknowledge every single member of this Parliament who in their own way are also committed to a similar journey. I wish you all a restful summer. Thank you for your cooperation and your challenges. We look forward to 2014 the year in which the Māori Party will celebrateour 10th year with the excitement of a vibrant new line-up to contest the general election but more important to act in the best interests of generations to come.