Sharples Pita: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Sharples Pita: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Sitting date: 30 January 2013. Volume:687;Page:7619. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Tena koe. Tena tatou. I stand in the House today refreshed after an Auckland summer. I have had the pleasure of spending quality time with my whanau—kids mokopuna—at waka ama touch rugby kapahaka mau rakau kauhoe moana and time at the marae with kuia and koroua  This time spent with whanau reminded me of the great hopes and expectations that people have placed on us and the duty we have as representatives in Parliament to carve a pathway so that our people may pursue their own dreams whatever those dreams may be. This is rangatiratanga this is self-determination and that is what we the Maori Party have come here to do—to hold at bay the many policies that stifle the development of whanau iwi and hapu and to push forward and progress the things that restore to tangata whenua our right to participate our right to succeed and our right to express our unique status as tangata whenua. 
The Maori Party is a party built on kaupapa manaakitanga rangatiratanga kaitiakitanga and more. We come with a wide view of the world and a holistic view of what well-being is and with a view to addressing the systemic issues that have contributed to the poor outcomes for Maori and for many New Zealanders. It is our kaupapa our history and our experiences that should remind all of us that well-being is not defined in economic terms alone. Yep jobs are absolutely critical for restoring a sense of rangatiratanga to our whanau and I am proud that the Maori Party has worked with this Government to provide more training and employment opportunities to establish cadetships and trade training programmes and to enhance education and skills training outcomes. I look forward to continuing to work on this front to ensure that every New Zealander has equal opportunity to participate in the workforce.  
The Maori Party is also proud of the work done in the wider economic space. Last year we launched He Kai Kei Aku Ringa—The Crown-Maori Economic Growth Partnership strategy to 2040. He Kai Kei Aku Ringa is the vision—literally to provide the food you need with your own hands. It is all about rangatiratanga and supporting self-determination for our whanau and for our hapu. What I am most pleased with in this plan is that although the outcome is economic the action plan is all based on creating transformational change. It focuses on education it focuses on building relationships and it focuses on a whanau-centric approach. That approach absolutely excites me because what that strategy tells me is that economic outcomes will be driven by social cultural and structural transformation. That is what we the Maori Party are all about. We are about transformation.  
When I was growing up in Takapau it was important to us as a whanau to have kai on the table to know that each of our whanau members were safe healthy and happy and to know that we lived in the greatest metropolis in the whole world. It is these simple things—ensuring our whanau are fed healthy and happy—that should channel our focus in this House.  
Economic development has a part to play in this picture but we need to get the balance right. We need to concentrate on the things that matter to us as people. We need to preserve the way of life that New Zealanders treasure. We have bountiful lands beautiful rivers a unique cultural edge and the resources to provide people with the richness of life that they deserve. But in order to take advantage of these things we need to protect our environment our health and the well-being of our people. We need to protect our cultural identity and the things that make us and make New Zealand a special place to live. The Maori Party is pleased to promote this vision here in Aotearoa.  
We are pleased to have established a constitutional review that will look partly at the role of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in our modern society. Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the founding document of this country. It is the reason that there is a Parliament sitting here today. It is the cornerstone of the relationship between Maori and the Crown and it sits at the heart of our policy. Yesterday we heard passionate dialogue about the role of the Treaty in Aotearoa. This is a conversation that should not be reserved for politicians. It is a conversation that must include all New Zealanders—all whanau young and old—and I think you would find that our younger generations of New Zealanders will have very different views to some of us sitting here in this House. That gives me such hope for the future of our communities.  
Another thing that we know is that culture counts. We are working hard to ensure that culture is respected and reflected in the way we do things across the spectrum of the Government. I am proud that the Maori Party has introduced Whanau Ora into our political landscape. It is truly an innovative policy that recognises and promotes the primacy of the whanau or family in navigating through a wide range of interconnected issues. It is an approach that puts in practice all the kaupapa that we stand for and that many other New Zealanders believe in as well.  
I am proud also of the work that we have done in education to build bridges between cultures through the Tataiako programme and to celebrate the wonderful potential of our kids to succeed and the role of the whanau in supporting educational outcomes. If we are to truly address the issue of poverty in this country then education is a key area of focus for us. Literacy and numeracy are critical to educational success so I am pleased that we have secured funding for a Reading Together programme for all deciles 1 2 and 3 schools. This is a whanau-centred literacy programme which is receiving absolutely glowing feedback. It not only supports children but also provides skills for parents and whanau members to support them participating in their children’s education.  
Kainga Whenua loans is another area where we have made an impact. We are proud to have supported this initiative which will provide a means for tangata whenua to build on multiple-owned lands. Land supply is a major issue in the housing space and it is also a major issue facing Maori. For years we have talked about unlocking the potential of Maori land and it is time that we looked at how to push forward on this issue—this is the year and Minister Finlayson alluded to that just a while ago. Of course this year we must also ensure that we are all working hard to address the issue of whanau poverty. In our relationship accord with the National Party we have established a ministerial committee to look especially at how we address this issue in our country. We are extremely excited about the findings of the expert advisory group of the Children’s Commissioner and we will be lending our support to the 78 solutions that it identified.  
 The work that Tariana has been leading in the prevention of rheumatic fever has been absolutely vital to ensuring that our kids have a decent quality of life. Make no mistake—this illness has no place in our country. It is an illness that results from poor living conditions and is associated with poverty. The fight to eradicate it must go hand in hand with the work to move our kids and our whanau out of poverty permanently. 
If there is one thing that we know that our kaupapa and our history tell us it is that everything is connected. We must fight our battle for social justice on all fronts simultaneously if we are to see real transformation for our communities and for our tamariki and mokopuna. 
In all of our mahi this year the key thing that binds us together is the expression of our kaupapa and tikanga; of manaakitanga whanaungatanga rangatiratanga and of course whanau ora. These are our measures—our measures of well-being and success. We believe that these measures would also fit well within a new model of measuring well-being such as a general progress index and that is something that I am keen to promote this year—the general progress index. Tena koutou katoa.