Cunliffe David: Immigration Advisers Licensing Bill — In Committee 
Cunliffe David: Immigration Advisers Licensing Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:638;Page:8600] 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Minister of Immigration) 
: 
 I thank the member who has just resumed his seat Te Ururoa Flavell for that intervention and say that the Government is sympathetic to the need for migrants to be informed and advised on Treaty issues. 
The Government has taken the proposed amendments by the Maori Party very seriously and we have consulted extensively with the kaitiaki of tikanga in the Labour Maori caucus. Unfortunately we do not have provision in the Budget for the expenditure that the proposed Maori Immigration Education Council would require. But more important the functions for which such a council would be set up have already been provided for in immigration provisions and I wish to give some examples. The following materials are provided to new migrants when they arrived in New Zealand. Listeners will not be able to see these examples but colleagues can. 
New migrants get an extensive pack of reading material that briefs them about the Treaty of Waitangi and its importance to contemporary New Zealand society. They are given a booklet called  
Te Tiriti o Waitangi: The Treaty of Waitangi and Migrants 
 when they arrive. In the Department of Labour’s  
Linkz 
 magazine there are often articles expounding the importance of the Treaty to New Zealand culture. In addition when new migrants arrive they are given this pack of Treaty background booklets in their  
Getting Started 
 pack:  
All About the Treaty 
  
The Timeline of the Treaty 
  
The Story of the Treaty Part I 
  
The Story of the Treaty Part II 
 and  
The Journey of the Treaty 
. So I am pretty comfortable that a comprehensive set of information materials is made available to new migrants directly when they arrive. 
The amendments from the Maori Party propose that the advisers are also well informed of tikanga Maori. Indeed the bill already caters for this also. Clauses 32 33 and 34 set out the functions of the registrar and the authority in setting competency training and conduct standards. Clause 32 in particular sets out the responsibilities of the registrar including: “(c) to develop and maintain competency standards … (d) to facilitate the education and professional development of immigration advisers:” and to carry out functions consequential on functions referred to earlier in the clause. I wish to provide some reassurance to the Committee and in particular to our colleagues in the Maori Party that as Minister I expect that the registrar will consult Maori on developing those standards. 
Clause 34 covers the code of conduct—the ethical standards and behaviours required of advisers. The code of conduct will bind immigration advisers to being informed on Treaty and tikanga issues. Again I expect the registrar to consult Maori on developing this code of conduct. As Minister of Immigration I will have the responsibility for signing out the competency standards of the code of conduct and I will be seeking to ensure that Treaty and tikanga matters are explicitly covered in that code. 
I thank the Maori Party for bringing this matter to the attention of the Committee because it gives us an opportunity to underline what was the Government’s intention in the first place. I think members can see that quite honestly a serious effort is already being made in Treaty education. I agree with the sentiments expressed by our colleagues from across the Chamber and expressed very strongly by the Labour Maori caucus that education about the Treaty is non-negotiable that it is our founding document and that in many ways it is the glue that binds together the important first people of this land with all of those who have come after—Pakeha from Britain and Europe and our newer settlers from the Pacific and other countries. That is the spirit with which we enter into this legislation. It is the spirit with which we seek to build a great nation.