Sharples Pita: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
Sharples Pita: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:646;Page:15020] 
Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Chairperson. At the start of this month a  
Marae 
 DigiPoll of over 1000 Maori voters revealed that if the opportunity arose over 40 percent of those surveyed would transform into “Mozzies”—Maori living in Australia—yet not one headline not one letter to the editor not one talkback show raged in response. It was not breaking news; it merely confirmed the study released last year that revealed that at least 100000 Maori are living across the Ditch. My point is that it should have been breaking news. Last year’s study funded by Te Puni Kokiri stated that Maori believed they were pushed out of home because of prejudice and social dysfunction and they were pulled to Australia by higher wages and better employment options. Now having been faced with the glaring push and pull factors one would think that Te Puni Kokiri would be doing all it could to retain Maori in this land. 
According to its annual report the purpose of the Maori Potential Fund is “to make outcomes-based investments that realise Maori potential by enabling improved life quality for Maori”. That would be beautiful if it actually meant something. The financial review told us that the ministry had dropped the use of memoranda of understanding to “lessen the perception that monitoring agreements are focussed on compliance”. We are told that for a similar reason Te Puni Kokiri will not publicise or publish the work it carries out with other Government agencies as this may limit its effectiveness. Yet again this appears to be another case of this Government undermining the role of the Public Service by being unprepared to stand by the professional free frank advice offered by the ministry staff. Yet again this Minister is undermining the capacity of the staff in his ministry to advise the Government by making them politically compliant. The picture is hardly better when we look at individual sectors and votes of Government. In response to the concerns of the Maori Affairs Committee about a key priority for Maori housing and homeownership Te Puni Kokiri told us that it was not in a position to comment and to allay our fears. No comment is supposedly acceptable. 
Our focus turned to international and indigenous rights. One of the most significant developments in the last 20 years and more was the remarkable event that occurred last September when some 143 countries signed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Despite widespread international criticism of the contradictory and reprehensible position of the New Zealand Government we were one of the four countries to vote against it. So we asked the Ministry of Maori Development how it could justify such a hostile position. The ministry officials told the select committee that their official advice was to tell the Minister to abstain even though “the principles of the declaration were right”. That is what they said. The Maori Party believes that the advice given to Te Puni Kokiri in advising the Minister to abstain was woefully inadequate and the fact that the Ministry of Maori Development undertook neither any leadership nor consultation with Maori was disturbing. 
What does the ministry do? Well the financial review confirmed that it has dished up some 410 investments in Maori potential—grants for rugby and stuff—that the select committee questioned as having been made on an ad hoc basis. We learnt also that nearly half of the overseas travel allowance for Te Puni Kokiri in the 2006-07 year was spent on one staff member the general manager of the Maori Trust Office. It is the same office we are reminded that is seeking to dip into the pockets of Maori Trust shareholders to the tune of $35 million. 
Finally the financial review made the interesting observation that Te Puni Kokiri had decided to defer its formal feedback survey of stakeholders during 2006-07. If the views of the participants of the  
Marae  
DigiPoll survey that asked who would go to Australia were anything to go by then it was probably the best decision they made. It would appear that the only thing this Government is doing in realising Maori potential is in its wretched belief that the only news is no news and that it is better to be silent and abstain than to publish and remove all doubt. Thank you Mr Chairman.