Katene Rahui: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Katene Rahui: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:665;Page:12655] 
1. 
RAHUI KATENE (Maori Party—Te Tai Tonga) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: How will his commitment to addressing “the challenges of our shared future as New Zealanders” in respect of Te Tiriti o Waitangi address the challenge left by the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples of “the extreme disadvantage in the social and economic conditions of the Maori people”? 
Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister) 
: 
 The Government is doing a lot to address the issues that the member refers to. We have accelerated the Treaty settlement process towards a goal of settling all claims by 2014. Since November 2008 we have reached 39 significant negotiation milestones including seven deeds of settlement. That compares with the previous Labour Government’s average of just 1.6 deeds of settlement per year. I believe this is an area where New Zealand is a leader and I note that the special rapporteur himself acknowledged the significant benefits coming from the settlements that have already been achieved. The Government has also launched Whanau Ora Cabinet has agreed to repeal the Foreshore and Seabed Act and we have expressed our support for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. I could go on but I would like to note how much I value the National Party’s confidence and supply partnership with the Maori Party and I look forward to working with it to achieve even more in the future. 
Rahui Katene 
: How will the Government address the observation of the special rapporteur on indigenous rights that “the Treaty’s principles appear to be vulnerable to political discretion resulting in their perpetual insecurity and instability.”? 
Hon JOHN KEY 
: The member will be aware that the Government has agreed as part of the confidence and supply agreement with the Maori Party to undertake a constitutional review. That constitutional review will be a process where we engage with all New Zealanders and notwithstanding the view that it will be a long conversation we look forward to embarking upon that conversation. 
Rahui Katene 
: What is the intention of the Government in terms of addressing what the special rapporteur described as the “continued and persistent high levels of incarceration of Maori individuals.”? 
Hon JOHN KEY 
: The Government is working hard on that issue. We launched some time ago now a review around the drivers of crime. The Associate Minister of Corrections works alongside the Minister of Corrections with a special focus on how we can ensure that fewer Maori go to prison. One of the key ways that we can do that in our view is to work on issues like national standards. We know that if young New Zealanders cannot read and write properly they cannot have a future in the modern economy. That could lead to them being incarcerated. 
Hon Parekura Horomia 
: Kei tana korero e pai ana te haere o te mahi umanga engari na te pire iwa tekau nga ra e pana tangata kei te mahi taumaha me te pouri; e tere atu te ngarongaro o te mahi mo tatou a ngai Maori; kei te piki te nama kei te itiiti te utu. He aha tana whakautu ki tenei?  
How can he claim to be addressing the economic conditions of Maori when the extension of the 90-day fire-at-will bill will make it harder for Maori to find and hold on to a job and when increasing prices are outstripping wage growth making a bad economic situation even worse; what is his response to this? 
Hon JOHN KEY 
: The member is misguided. In fact the bill will help Maori to find a job because it is a policy aimed at opportunity a policy aimed at giving people a chance and a policy aimed at helping in particular young Maori who are locked out of the labour market which is why unemployment rates for young Maori are so high. It is a policy that that member should be embracing and if he was thinking straight he would be doing that.