Horomia Parekura: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Horomia Parekura: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:615;Page:10902] 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Minister of Maori Affairs) 
:  
E mihi kau ana ki a tatou katoa mai i te motu i a koutou e rongo ake ano i ro Whare e mihi kau ana i a koutou.Nga kanohi Maori o tera tino ra i puta e mihi kau ana tena koutou. 
[ 
Greetings to all of us New Zealanders including those listening in to the House greetings indeed to you. To those of Maori descent who celebrated that great day just past greetings to you 
.] 
Greetings to members of the House and to all the other New Zealanders listening to this fine speech. I am pleased to be able to stand in this House and support the Prime Minister who is leading a Government that is passionate about the future of New Zealand. I congratulate the Prime Minister on the leadership she has shown in determining this Government’s key priorities for this year. 
The priorities for me as the Minister of Maori Affairs and for my Maori caucus colleagues are quite simple—to continue to strengthen communities to provide opportunities and to build partnerships in the true Kiwi fashion. In the current climate it would be easy to be deflected from our priorities for Maori but that will not happen. We are now getting the returns from our endeavours. We will continue to seek new and innovative solutions that work for our people. 
Making progress for Maori is never easy but we are determined to consolidate the work achieved so far and into the future. What is good for Maori surely is good for New Zealand. If we have not grown up as a nation by now then some people—especially those who are still stirring the sort of nonsense that is going on at the moment—should grow up. Maori as a people and Maori culture exist. There is a tangata whenua in this country and that is us. That is recognised by both Maori and other people. It would be a tragedy for New Zealand—not just Maori—if that unique part of our national life not found anywhere else in the world was undermined damaged or lost. 
This Government is about evening the odds and accelerating progress. Historically the situation of Maori has dramatically transformed. Let me remind people that in the 1950s 1960s and 1970s most Maori over the age of 16 were working. They paid a lot of tax—more tax than the other people who are now kicking up a ruckus about us being benefit-dependent and wasting tax. Maori were loyal to this country. They were loyal to the capital engineers of this country. They were loyal to the employers and they are still loyal to this nation and especially to themselves. They moved for jobs and were an integral part of the workforce. 
A major proportion of Maori live in urban areas but our people are increasingly looking to their roots through a range of mediums such as sports or ta moko. Even that joker who sings over in England has got one on his arm. Maori did that. 
John Key 
: Robbie Williams. 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: Yes that is his name. Rapata Wiremu. A great man! Look at how great Maori have been. They have travelled to the international stage. Millions of people have seen that ta moko on his arm. That is great marketing. The Opposition should get its act together. We are on the international platform. 
This Government is committed to meeting the needs of all New Zealanders while recognising their diversity. This puffery about racial policies is a lot of nonsense. This Government bases its policies on needs. If it is so correct that the needs of Maori are no different to those of other people then we are up the pole. If that leader over there is saying that women Pacific Island people or disabled people should not have needs then God forgive the leadership that might try to lead this country. Our policies are based on need and Maori have a lot of specific needs that need to be accelerated. 
The economy—dare I mention it—is stronger and more balanced than at any time in the last 30 years. New Zealand has one of the best performing economies in the OECD. We posted the fastest growth rate at 4.4 percent and that has created an environment of opportunity for everybody. My colleague the Minister John Tamihere is doing great things with small business around the country. They are rushing to him to be better informed. They want partnerships with this Government. Commerciality and enterprise are well ahead as Mr Tisch knows from being an accountant for a few years. 
In 2003 over 40000 more Maori had jobs than in 1999. The number of Maori receiving the unemployment benefit has dropped by 30 percent. We have knocked a third off the number of unemployed. That is positive. Businesses are thriving and providing employment opportunities and the increased income is adding to the richness of life for all New Zealanders. The Maori business facilitations service has successfully assisted 654 clients and there is a turn-around strategy. 
John Key 
: Unemployment is up today. 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: May I remind that member that unemployment is hovering around 10 percent. That is the best for a long long time. 
The passage of the Maori Fisheries Bill heralds a new era of Maori participation in the fishing industry. It will enable the beneficiaries of the 1992 fisheries settlement to receive the assets and use them for the economic and social benefit of all Maori—and dare I say Maori ownership is providing a lot of jobs for a lot of New Zealanders. The settlement is worth more than $700 million. It has taken more than 10 years for this dynamic Government to come along and to sort it out with the great fisheries commission that we have. 
Through our economic prowess New Zealand is certainly a nation on the move and Maori are playing a key navigational role in determining that direction. Yes we are overrepresented in the negative statistics—therefore highlighting the need for policies. As a society we must all be proactive in finding solutions. Our achievements are based around investing in our future. What is good for Maori is good for the nation. 
I am a 53-year-old fine-looking Maori. I am the last child of manual-labouring parents. Maori aged from 70 to 80 made up a lot of our leadership. They were neither close to academia nor involved in management nor did they have the capacity to ensure that they had entry into enterprise. This 53-year-old Maori can tell the House that we will make sure that the huge demographic of young people accelerating in academia and gaining qualifications are coming along. So watch out—join up with them. They certainly want to run the businesses and own them. 
Maori are a young dynamic population. Members opposite are ageing. We are on the move. Maori have shown that they are eager to take up the opportunities to increase their skill base and education. In 2002 almost one in six Maori over the age of 15 participated in tertiary education. Last year 27 Maori graduated with doctorates compared with four in 1984. These things do not happen by accident. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. There are 800 more young Maori in apprenticeships. Almost one-third of the schoolchildren taking part in the Gateway programme are Maori. Theactivities and education in that programme will certainly be proof of greater advancement. 
On 28 March Maori television will start. It is a great medium to ensure that our language is consolidated. In the 1970s—the same time that Nga Tamatoa was pushing for constitutional change—the Welsh Language Society began to campaign for a Welsh language radio and television service. But it did not happen until 1982 when the fourth channel for Wales was launched. Many people in Wales—which some members opposite can trace their heritage to—now believe that had it not been for that initiative the days of the Welsh language would have been numbered. 
Te reo Maori is important and there are a whole lot of other things that are going great in Maoridom—for example the arts.  
Whale Rider 
 is putting us on the national scene again. We have Temuera Morrison Cliff Curtis Lee Tamahori and Keisha Castle-Hughes. We all own them as New Zealanders but they are great Maori who have really achieved. 
Pita Paraone 
: Kura kaupapa Maori. 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: That is right and they all come from up Waitangi way—where we had a headache the other day. Maori have a place in this society and mad leadership is not a thing that should prevail. I am reminded of when I was a kid. I watched “Tom and Jerry”—the cat and the rat show. They were chasing round and round because they were after that bit of cheese in the middle. There are incredible similarities with that and the lineage of members opposite. They have the “Don and Gerry Show” but they are not too sure who the cat is or who the rat is. But we also know what they are because they fill themselves up with unnecessary power that does not help the people of this country. I say to them: “Watch our leadership watch what the Prime Minister did and watch these Ministers over here—especially the Maori faces.”