Flavell Te Ururoa: Debate on Prime Minister’s StatementText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFlavell Te Ururoa: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement[Sitting date: 09 February 2016. Volume:711;Page:8760. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon TE URUROA FLAVELL (Co-Leader—Māori Party): Tēnā koe Mr Speaker kia ora tātau katoa e Te Whare. Hei wāwāhi i taku kōrero i te tīmatanga mai o tō tātau Pāremata ka whai wāhi ki te hunga mate e kōrerohia ana i runga i ō tātau marae. Arā ko te āhuatanga ki a Hera Johns o roto o Ngāti Tūwharetoa i kawe nei i ngā take mātauranga te āhuatanga ki a Andy Sarich o Te Tai Tokerau pērā anō te āhua i te māmā o Rāhui i tēnei rā tonu nei i tukuna atu ai ki Te Kōpū-ō-Papatūānuku ā ki Te Pirihi o Te Hāhi Katorika a Hēmi Harward kei Taranaki i tēnei wā otirā tērā pea i nehua i tēnei rā. Arā noa atu rātau! Ka tangi atu te ngākau mō rātou kua ngaro atu i te tirohanga kanohi. Koutou i Te Pō e moe e moe e moe! Tātau te hunga ora ki a koe Mr Speaker ngā mihi o te Tau Hou otirā tātau e noho nei ngā mema Pāremata ngā kaiārahi o ngā rōpū tēnā koutou tēnā koutou hapi New Year ki a tātau katoa.[Greetings to you Mr Speaker and to us all in the House. As an opening to my address at the start of our Parliament I take the opportunity to acknowledge those who passed away and were accorded tributes on our marae: in other words the situation relating to Hera Johns from within Ngāti Tūwharetoa who was involved in matters concerning education; the circumstance related to Andy Sarich of Northland; the situation with Rāhui’s mother who may have been buried today in the bowels of mother Earth; and similarly the Catholic Church minister Hēmi Harward who is presently at Taranaki but at the same time may have been buried today too. There was a host of them. The heart is in grief for them who are lost from view. To you in the void sleep rest slumber! To us the living to you Mr Speaker but at the same time to us seated here members of Parliament and party leaders New Year greetings acknowledgments and salutations to you collectively and a happy New Year to us all.]The last speaker talked about something like: “Help is on its way.” The Māori Party says: “Do not wait! Help is here. Right now! Help is here right now. The Māori Party is in the House.”Just yesterday many of us enjoyed some time to commemorate and think about Waitangi Day and the change to the legislation allowing for public holidays—awesome. In fact those workers at the AFFCO meatworks in Rangiuru managed to get over the line to have a holiday despite having to challenge legally that issue so I want to give a big ups to them for taking that take on. Waitangi is a day when you see the good the not-so-good the confused the theatrical. Everybody gets a chance to express their views; I suppose get an understanding of our country’s founding document our history and the challenges that face us. The conversations about Te Tiriti o Waitangi means to us an ongoing dialogue. Dr Hirini Kaa described our journey as Māori for the restoration of Treaty rights as a “patient movement for justice”.So the Treaty aside from the fact that it has passed us these past couple of days does provide us with a foundation and a touchstone that we hope shapes our unique cultural identity. Can I suggest to members that to give respect to both Te Tii and to the marae at Waitangi we should—you should—consider coming at 6 o’clock on 4 February. What is significant about that? Well actually that is the time when we go in and pay our respects to those who have gone on who are passed away. We have done that for the last couple of years. You know—no police no problems—it is calm at 6 o’clock. It is a beautiful thing that happens. We go to the marae and pay our respects to those who have passed on. There are no hassles it is a time to reflect on the Treaty as it should be. I ask that in that situation in giving respect you receive respect. So members might like to consider that.On the lips of many people is the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement or TPP—call it what you like—as mentioned by the Prime Minister. As the only independent Māori voice in this Parliament in the Māori Party we have definitely focused our attention on the impact of the agreement on Treaty rights. It is no secret that our party was born out of the whole notion of the protection of Treaty rights and obligations and that will always be the tāhuhu of our whare: the ridge pole of our whare. We want to make it absolutely clear today that the Māori Party recognises the benefits that may come from these sorts of agreements—the economic benefits that flow particularly for those large Māori exporters in the primary sector. Our people have a whakapapa in trade overseas. That does not scare us. We have listened to the debate carefully—the pros and cons—we have sought independent advice on the impact on Treaty rights and obligations and on mātauranga Māori which is intellectual property rights for Māori and under those circumstances if it is that there is any possibility that the Treaty rights and obligations are threatened then we will not support those in any way shape or form.The two mighty members of the Māori Party—my sister Marama Fox sitting right here—we have got a huge work programme on focusing on whānau whenua whare and whakapapa. Whānau families; whenua land; whare housing; and whakapapa cultural revitalisation. As a party we will continue to work to keep up the pressure on measures that eliminate poverty and as of 1 February beneficiaries with dependants will get $25 more in the pocket—a Māori Party initiative supported by National. That is right. I heard last year that this New Zealand First lot tried to claim that—whatever. The Māori Party put that on the table with regard to our committee the committee on addressing poverty in this country moved by Tariana Turia. We claim it; it is ours. New Zealand enjoy. This includes the work that Marama has also been doing with regard to advocacy around education around health around economic development and so on. That will continue.We will continue to work in good faith with the Government over the resource legislation—the amendment bill. Mr Paraone says we need to consult with Māori; Mr Peters says we should not have any Māori involved. Mr Paraone sort it out. What is going on? If you need a hand to get you fullas’ position sorted see the Māori Party.Pita Paraone: Just do your job.Hon TE URUROA FLAVELL: We are. We are. We are helping our people out and that is the difference. There is no use being on the sidelines; you have got to be there to help out our people. We have been criticised in some quarters for our relationship with the Government but all along as the Prime Minister spoke about we have acted in good faith with a view to being constructive something that other parties could well learn from the Māori Party. I take my roles and responsibilities as Minister for Māori Development Minister for Whānau Ora and Associate Minister for Economic Development very seriously. We want to contribute to the bigger picture not just chuck bombs and not just chuck little stones over here to try to make the bike wobble—kāo. We want to contribute positively and we will continue to do that to have impact for whānau hapū iwi and the wider nation.It would be no surprise that our pou tokomanawa our central pole is whānau. Whānau are vital for nurturing our children. Our whānau are critical agents of change. In last year’s Budget an additional $49.8 million was made available to build on the successes of Whānau Ora navigators and maintain the volume over coming years to provide support and advocacy for whānau. Since its establishment about 6 or 7 years ago Whānau Ora has undergone considerable evolution. We now have three commissioning agencies that act as brokers to match the needs and aspirations of whānau. We also have a partnership group made up of Ministers and iwi chairs and representatives to develop an outcomes framework. We have a clearer vision ahead and a dedicated workforce that provides direct support for whānau capability building. So I will continue to work with my ministerial colleagues to expand and develop Whānau Ora.In the Reo space and the whakapapa space sustaining and strengthening Te Reo Māori in this country—and indeed in my portfolio—is vital to reviving and strengthening our cultural identity. I expect to complete the passage of the Māori Language (Te Reo Māori) Bill into Parliament this year—fairly shortly I hope—with the establishment of Te Mātāwai an independent sector entity to oversee the Māori language sector. That is going to be pretty helpful. The bill will place iwi hapū and whānau at the helm of Māori language revitalisation. Can I thank the members of the Māori Affairs Committee for their support in that.The second string to my bow is of course with regard to Māori regional development. Strong Māori and regional economic development are essential elements in realising whānau success. So I see whānau hapū and iwi at the forefront of our regional economic development renaissance. And last week in the north we were a part of the Tai Tokerau Northland Economic Action Plan in particular Northland College was a great day a wonderful launch of that particular activity. The current Māori economic asset base is now $42 billion and ready to grow if we give it the right recipe and the right watering to let it bloom. We want to make sure that that happens.Te Ture Whenua is coming around the corner. I am looking forward to having an introduction early this year—3 years on more than a hundred hui an exposure draft and 20 hui currently in action as we speak. We are back on the road and ensuring that it is well consulted. Everybody knows what is going on in that particular space. There were plenty of written submissions. We have moved on them we have listened to the people and we intend to carry out and move on those recommendations from our people.The last pouof course is strong communities. As I wrap up my speech strengthening Māori communities is usually necessary to support their capacity as a strong resource base for whānau hapū and iwi Māori development. I have got a couple of things in that particular area that I am looking forward to contributing to the Government programme. There is so much happening.I want to close by simply saying that as we commemorate that Treaty partnership it is timely to remind my ministerial colleagues that I am but one cog in the machinery of the State. As part of the broader response of fulfilling our Treaty obligations I will be encouraging my ministerial colleagues to embrace Māori development and Māori approaches as a core object of their portfolios. I am looking forward to the great amount of work that we are going to carry out this year and to the outcomes that may come to Māori communities. Transformative gains require alignment of policy and services with Māori needs and aspirations. We are definitely heading in that direction. It is going to be a great year and I am looking forward to the work.