Peters Winston: Urgent Debates — Whānau Ora—Auditor-General’s ReportText is incorporated into the Bound VolumePeters Winston: Urgent Debates — Whānau Ora—Auditor-General’s Report[Sitting date: 06 May 2015. Volume:705;Page:3240. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First):Whānau Ora was established from a report that did not contain one scrap of empirical fact or evidence. It was based solely on anecdotal evidence rumour and bias. The second thing is that there is nothing as antiseptic as the statement: “We told you so.” but New Zealand First did from the time we first saw that report. What this says when you look at the answers from the Government and in particular the Prime Minister today is just how smug and arrogant this Government has become. It is not prepared to even listen to something as authoritative as the first investigation of this operation for 4 years by the Auditor-General. This is what we find: spending on Whānau Ora is completely politically motivated. Four years after its inception the programme is still a byword for the squandering of public money.The sad thing is that there are some great Māori deliverers and providers out there that had their programmes taken off them and who were sidelined or had to come under the umbrella of Whānau Ora. What we have got to say today is that we have got no concern in respect of them—they are doing a fine job. But what we have got to ask today is who is culpable in this waste and why it is so damaging to the future of Māori and the taxpayer as well.At a time of fiscal restraint widespread cost-cutting and hardship for many families this so-called programme is deeply offensive to many Māori New Zealanders. It is offensive to the many Māori who are struggling to pay their bills find work and raise their children. It is offensive to all taxpayers who are seeing money that could be spent on worthwhile purposes being squandered to indulge the Māori Party and its cronies. It is offensive to the many families in New Zealand facing serious stress who could make good use of the extra financial support—$140 million is an incredible amount of money. Why it could for example easily fund people in this country with very rare diseases or syndromes many of whom are Māori over a period of probably 7 or 8 years.The latest report by the Auditor-General confirms that there is absolutely no evidence that good value for money has come out of the $140 million so far spent on Whānau Ora. To say that the objectives of Whānau Ora are vague amorphous woolly and unmeasurable is an understatement. If there are no clear goals aims and objectives any spending can be justified. In the history of public expenditure in New Zealand it will be hard to find any other programme that has so little in the way of justification or evidence to warrant its continued existence. I know of many brilliant Māori programmes around this country and they did not need some dreamtime esoteric view of how the world works from the Māori Party.With the greatest respect we have spent more time out there. We know what poverty smells tastes and feels like in places like Kawakawa and Kaikohe on the East Coast and none of this is designed to help them. What it is designed to help is the bureaucracy and I will prove how it does that. Whānau Ora could never withstand any real scrutiny. First investigation—down it goes. For that reason it has been allowed to obey the usual standards of open and accountable public administration. As we have repeatedly said Whānau Ora is a programme that has never made even the smallest gesture to good financial practice and accountability. It is an embarrassment to Māoridom. In fact Whānau Ora has always been nothing more than a grubby and cynical deal between National and the Māori Party.All the usual rules for scrutiny and oversight have been abandoned. Those people up there like Chris Bishop and others talk about accountability: “It’s a tight time. We haven’t got much in the way of public money to spend.” Consistencies accountabilities sunlight—when it came to this they turned a blind eye. New Zealanders are right to be outraged with this waste and squandering of public money. For example how many people who benefited from the $40 million in administration costs alone that went to Whānau Ora were allied with or supported the Māori Party? Even in the contracts awarded and the three commissions “appointed” to deliver this kaupapa how many people were allied to the Māori Party?Then the questions were asked today of the Prime Minister: “Prime Minister how come a third of all payments made to whānau and provider collectives went to just two of Te Puni Kōkiri’s 10 regions?”—and guess which two? The ones with Ministers from the Māori Party. I want to ask Marama Fox about how this works when for example the greatest population of Māori come from the far north that magnificent place deprived of sound economic and social management. How much money went to them? How come the two Māori Party Ministers got all the money in terms of percentages? Just two of the 10 got one-third of all payments. That Marama Fox is inexcusable. Next time you are in Kaitāia or Kaikohe or in the far north or in the other regions or in the deep south—down there at Ngāi Tahu—explain how this happens in 2015.Pita Paraone: What about her people on the East Coast?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Oh what about her people on the East Coast.Pita Paraone: They missed out.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: They missed out completely. My colleague Pita Paraone who is very familiar with the East Coast of course knows how they feel down there. What are we hearing from the local member as to this improper expenditure? Not a mutter not a murmur not a syllable not a sound. How can you possibly face your people when you go back there where you are meant to be their loyal and faithful servant knowing that down here you have turned a blind eye?Here is the next one: a quarter of all individuals accessing Whānau Ora funding through the Whānau Integration Innovation and Engagement Fund in the 2010 2011 and 2012 years were in just one of Te Puni Kōkiri’s regions. It has got 10 regions and a quarter of the funding went to one region. Guess which one? Why the region of the former Minister for Whānau Ora herself. And what did the Prime Minister do? This arrogant and smug man said today that he did nothing—nothing.We in New Zealand First know the propriety that is required to be an accountable party. That is why we are the most frugal party in Parliament by miles. We know what it stands for to be accountable but what do we have here? How does for example the Prime Minister anybody in the National Government Marama Fox or for that matter the member for Whangarei possibly describe this to the Māori people up there—that $20000 went from Whānau Ora to the Mongrel Mob in Dunedin? Did it spend it on Māori causes and purposes? No. Did it spend it on sick Māori or Māori who needed education? No. It spent it on what? Cannabis. How do I know that? Because I raised the matter in Parliament and the Minister denied it and got caught out 3 days later. That is how I know that. One of the things we do in the New Zealand First Party is we do our homework—we do our homework. We are not fast on the lip and slow on the hip. No we do our homework. We raised that one then and that was what you might say was a dead one as well.Then we asked: “How come you gave $80000 to the Whānau Ora Palmerston North Māori Women’s Refuge where it has not got one client?”. No no the Māori women down there who wanted refuge went off to the European women’s refuge. How do you possibly justify that?Then of course there was the doozy of them all—to use the name of one of the guys on the backbench of the National Government—$60000 went to Ōtaki’s Rāhui Rugby and Sports Club for a 1-day hooley so that it could have whānau connectedness. Now I know that at Mōtatau and up there in Ōtīria and in fact all around the north and on the East Coast—Pita Paraone: And Whananaki.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: —and indeed in Whananaki I could gain some serious connectedness with $60000. And you know I have had the temerity of some of the commentariat who say to me: “But Mr Peters they did some good didn’t they?”. Well let me tell you this: with $140 million I could do some serious good—yes I could—but would it be fair? Would it go to all of Māoridom and at the end of the day would it have this one aspect which has always been the aspect of unique Māori service: personal sacrifice? That is something that is not big over there in the Māori Party is it? Or with the National Party—oh no it is all about egregious self-advancement.We in New Zealand First know that with all these programmes there has to be some sacrifice. There has to be some pain some commitment and some suffering. That is why we were proud to say from the word go that this programme should be stopped and the Auditor-General has now said that everything that New Zealand First has said was correct.