Henare Tau: General Debate 
Henare Tau: General Debate 
[Volume:646;Page:15283] 
Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
: 
 Kia ora Mr Assistant Speaker. I too pay my respects to Tumu Putaura. He was the first person I met on coming to Parliament in 1993. He looked after the infamous tight five in our time of need. My aroha and mihi go to Tumu and his whanau. 
Let this go on the record: the Government Darren Hughes and the like are very keen to talk about what they have not done. They give us all this rubbish about what they have not done. They never want to talk about some of the statistics that face us after 8 years of a Labour Government. They behave like first-termers—full of gumption and philosophy about what they are going to do—but they should put their eyes at the back of their heads and look backwards at what they have done over the last 8 years—or not done as the case may be. 
Government members have bold goals for the future but we have lost opportunities. They have squandered every opportunity this nation has had. They have had the best of economic times for the last 8 years. We are now heading into a time when things will get harder and harder for the working man and woman yet all we hear about is what happened 10 years ago. 
Chris Auchinvole 
: Last century. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: Last century. Here are some of the statistics. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: Deny you wouldn’t do it again. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: That silly young man should be quiet. [ 
Interruption 
] 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I am sorry to interrupt the member. Chaos may be the parent of creation but it will not be in this place—we will have some order. This is a place for full and vigorous debate. Contributions will be made while respecting the traditions of the House as enshrined in the Standing Orders. I am standing because I crave your respect for those Standing Orders and your understanding. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: In 2000 in relation to the average weekly income for all people aged 15 and over Maori earned 82 percent of what European people earned. But in 2007 that figure had dropped by a massive 10 percent to 72 percent of what European people earned. 
Let us look at homeownership rates. In 2001 30 percent of Maori owned or partly owned their own home. That figure is now down. The figure for State housing usage is also interesting. In 2001 3.2 percent of Maori lived in a State house. In 2007 the figure had risen to 3.4 percent. 
What that tells us is that when this Labour Government came into power in 1999 Labour members were all gumption and all gung-ho about closing the gaps. There was no such luck. In fact the heat got too much and the Labour Government decided to give its Minister of Maori Affairs the Hon Dover Samuels the flick. Then it canned closing the gaps because the heat got too heavy. It could not handle the heat it sacked one of its own people and it even portrayed to the media that he would be back in that same position once all the swirling had finished. Well 9 years later we are still waiting for the kaumatua from the north to be reinstated to his position as Minister of Maori Affairs. 
Labour has done nothing. What has Labour done in the last 8 years? Oh that is right it introduced the foreshore and seabed legislation. Boy was that a winner! In its own way it created another political party—the Maori Party. I say kia ora to my whanaunga and relations in the Maori Party. Labour has squandered its opportunities. It had the best of economic times but it did not use those times to protect us from what was coming. We all knew that the subprime was going to happen. Most people who have mortgages knew that it was going to happen.