Hereora Dave: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Hereora Dave: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:623;Page:18280] 
DAVE HEREORA (Labour) 
: 
 In taking the opportunity to contribute to this debate I would like to place on the record some of the achievements that we have managed to work towards over the past 5 years. Before that I say upfront that I acknowledge and support every word presented in the Prime Minister’s address yesterday. In a nutshell the address was about improving living standards and life opportunities for all New Zealanders. That was one of the policies that I decided on when thinking about entering Parliament. It is on that basis that our nation has every reason to be confident about its future and proud of its achievements. Improving those standards is a flagship policy of the Government. The opportunity to do that does not just fall into the lap of the Government. We have been positioning ourselves to ensure that we are able to deliver. Over the past 5 years we have obviously promoted prudent fiscal management and applied a “steady as you go” role so that New Zealanders were able to align with that. I recall that quite often in the 1990s New Zealanders were waking up to disaster after disaster. I think that over the past 5 years while the Government has promoted some stability there has also been an opportunity to unite our nation. 
The same things cannot be said about the National Party. I think that it continues to go from disaster to disaster. There has been the Orewa I situation after which Georgina te Heuheu was gone. Obviously after Orewa II Katherine Rich has gone as well. No doubt there will be an Orewa III but I figure that Orewa III will come following the election result. It could be that Dr Brash will be gone; I am sure that some National Party members would welcome that. After question time this afternoon I was in the forecourt enjoying the fresh air— 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: Oh yes! 
DAVE HEREORA 
: I was enjoying the fresh air and a National Party member whizzed past turned and said “What a wonderful day for the Government.” I could see in his eyes that he was disillusioned. He was heading down the hill. I am not sure where he was going but I assume he was looking for a rock at the bottom of the hill. I do not think the National member would be able to get under the rock because some of his mates would already be there. He looked very disillusioned. It is disappointing to see a party such as the National Party has been in the past drop as low as it has. 
I did say that I wanted to place on record some of our achievements. I acknowledge the industrial reforms that we have introduced. We have got rid of the freeloading stuff. We have brought a bit of balance back into bargaining. That has made the process a bit fairer for workers as they have an opportunity to sit at the table and know that they are listened to. We have increased the minimum wage five times in the last 5 years. I understand that in March it is going up even further—from $9 to $9.50 an hour. The next achievement relates to parental leave. Obviously we are a Government that acknowledges the opportunities to have families working. The Holidays Act is another reform we have introduced. It is a family-friendly policy which gives more opportunities for families to be together and to enjoy each others’ company. Fair holidays for all have returned to workers the right to be fairly compensated for the sacrifice they make in rest recreation and family time when working on a public holiday. I think that is absolutely wonderful. 
The other area that I want to place on record is Maori development. We have moved away from the grievance mode and are into Maori development. The Prime Minister was in her address yesterday talking about the Hui Taumata. This century will see Maori emerge even more strongly as very significant stakeholders asset holders and contributors to economic development. The Maori commercial asset base is already estimated at $9 billion with Maori owning 37 percent of the fishing quota and 10 percent of the land in the forest estate as well as contributing 7 percent of agricultural output. I think that is marvellous. Our aim is to complete the historical settlements in the next 10 to 15 years. Achieving that will need a closing-off date for the lodging of claims to be set. The Hui Taumata is focused on developing people assets and enterprise. The hui sees Maori picking up the challenge of development and planning how to accelerate it. Ensuring that Maori can stand tall and make a big contribution to New Zealand’s development and well-being is crucial to our future. 
 The other achievement that I want to place on the record is that Maori unemployment is less than 9 percent the lowest it has been since that data started to be collected. I know people do not want to hear that but it is the truth. Over 40000 more Maori are now in work than were working at the same time in 1999. As a significant part of New Zealand’s economy the Maori economy contributes $700 million or approximately 7.4 percent of New Zealand’s total agricultural output and 37 percent of New Zealand’s domestic fishing quota and Maori manage round 10 percent of New Zealand’s forest holdings. I think that is quite significant. Since September 2000 the Maori Business Facilitation Service has assisted over 4000 clients. Of those it has supported 762 businesses that were starting up 72 business expansions and 59 business turn-rounds and has assisted with 1551 business plans. 
The Maori Fisheries Act of 2004 transferred control of roughly $750 million in assets to iwi as a full and final settlement of Maori claims. That issue had been sitting around for about 15 years—I think for the majority of that time National had control of it—and we have finally settled it. Maori interests in commercial and marine farming space have been addressed by providing iwi where possible with 20 percent of the marine farming space allocated since 1992 and 20 percent of any future new space. That was secured with the enactment of the aquaculture reform legislation late last year. 
More treaty claims have been progressed than ever before. Seven major treaty claims have been settled since this Government came into office and we are hoping to try to complete that process in a positive manner as we go on. Twelve more claims have been actively progressed during the past 12 months. They include the claims of Ngati Tuwharetoa Ngati Apa Ngati Manawa Ngati Whare Te Arawa Wellington Maori Ngati Kahu ki Whangaroa Moriori and Te Roroa. As we move closer towards those settlements the development within Maoridom will be enhanced. 
Maori enrolments in tertiary education as at May 2004 revealed that the number of Maori enrolled in tertiary training almost doubled from 1999 to 2003 rising from 32825 in 1999 to 62574 in 2003. I do believe it is important to place those figures on the record because it does show our accountability as the Government show that we are making positive changes and show the Government is providing for families under the flagship policy. 
What are we focusing on in the next 3 years? The Government is getting more things right but we know that raising labour productivity is critical to staying on track. It is a wonderful opportunity to be able to stand here as a member of the Government caucus and say that we are getting things right. Not everyone can do that. The investments that the Government and industry are making in skills innovation science research and technology will boost productivity. Plans are under way to set up a reference group to identify concrete steps to boost productivity improvements in the workplace and it makes sense to bring back our best and brightest people if we can do so. We are going to focus on creating the most inviting environment for them and we are working with employers on how best to do that. The Budget this year will support more innovation in business. We want to get more women into work and the policies we have in place will support that intent. We are revisiting parental leave child and out-of-school care flexible working hours and the work-life balance in order to boost workforce participation while protecting the interests of children. We are looking at options in the mix of policies for increasing home-based childcare as part of the overall solution to getting enough places. Finally we want to help New Zealanders to save in order to increase their assets and security and reduce our national reliance on the savings of others.