Mahuta Nanaia: Budget Debate 
Mahuta Nanaia: Budget Debate 
[Volume:655;Page:4313] 
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Hauraki-Waikato) 
 I listened very carefully to that contribution from the MP for New Plymouth Jonathan Young. He said that this Budget was pragmatic prudent and smart but I wonder how he explains that to the constituents of his electorate of New Plymouth and to people who are involved with adult and community education at Spotswood College and Waitara High School. Adult and community education is not just about making mugs. It is about parenting programmes and basic accountancy and it could be about basic business skills. I think Mr Young needs to be able to say quite clearly to those involved in adult education in the New Plymouth constituency that they will be absolutely unaffected by the cuts to adult education. We know from the feedback we are hearing from all over the country that those people are absolutely concerned about the cuts in this area. I do not think the member understands that and I am concerned about that. People listening to his contribution particularly in Waitara will be very concerned about what he said on the issue of adult and community education. He will be held to account on that matter alone. 
There have been many contributions from members opposite saying that the National Government’s first Budget will take the sharp edges off the recession but no plan has been given to the country to explain just how that will look in its totality. What is the plan for protecting jobs and creating new jobs? Will a cycleway actually deliver to the people in Waitara? Mr Young could not even say that. Sure everyone knows that $51 million has been committed to a national cycleway but how will that deliver jobs and benefits back to regions like New Plymouth? Even Mr Young could not explain that and he needs to. 
If the Government is saying that this Budget will take the sharp edges off the recession people will want to know what the plan is. If funding is being redirected to other areas people will want to know how many jobs will be created and how that will then be translated back to their own regions. That is the type of question that National constituency MPs will be required to answer when they go back into their communities. We know that in the area of adult and community education alone the benefits of cutting that particular fund will be tested. The credibility of the Government will be tested on this issue and it will come back to bite it. 
On the issue of tax cuts I am absolutely pleased that the Government decided not to go through with the 2010-11 tax cuts that the National Party promised in the 2008 election. The thing is that the National Party knew when it was campaigning in the election that the tax cuts it was promising were unsustainable and could not be delivered. What did the National Party do? It went out and sold a lie to the public. If we heard anything in the Mt Albert by-election it was that people felt duped. National Party members were going out looking constituents in the face and saying that the Budget would take the sharp edges off the recession. How could Mr Young stand alongside Tariana Turia and defend the first tranche of tax cuts which delivered nothing to 70 percent of Maori voters in the Te Tai Hauauru electorate. How could he do that when they delivered nothing to Maori who earn $40000 and under? He cannot do that. 
There are a number of areas where the National Government in its first Budget will be held to account by people who matter in our communities. The Government says it is listening but it is clearly evident that it has heard those voices and forgotten about them because it is acting in a way that totally rejects some of the real concerns they have. 
Unemployment is increasing. We heard a contribution from Rahui Katene who put a fine point on just what the unemployment figures might look like in Maori communities. She said that Maori unemployment was predicted to rise to about 17 percent which would double the number of unemployed Maori from the time that we were in Government. That will have a critical effect in many small communities. Members can take the example of the 50 mining jobs that were lost in Huntly. That was not just about 50 miners; it was about 50 families. That has happened under the National Government’s regime. At a time when Government members were saying their plan would take the sharp edges off the recession 50 families were being affected. It is very difficult to get jobs in Huntly and it will be very difficult for those miners who are aged 55 and over. What is more damaging to them is that they have no guarantee that their entitlement to superannuation of 66 percent of the average wage will still be there when they reach the age of 65. They are concerned not only because they are 55 and it will be difficult to get another job in the current economic climate but also because they have no absolute guarantee that by the time they reach 65 they will get superannuation. This will come back to haunt the Government. 
The fact that National refuses to pre-fund superannuation has deferred payments for a decade and will expect a future generation to pay double in taxation to be able to fund superannuation is a concern especially to Maori communities because it is a double blow. We will have to rely on future generations of workers Maori and Pacific Islanders in particular who are currently at the tail end of underachievers in the education system to pay more tax to fund the baby boomers to get their superannuation. The difficulty with that picture is that the National Government has not demonstrated clearly the level of investment that it is prepared to put into lifting Maori and Pacific educational achievement right now. There is no plan no picture and no comprehensive level of investment. No plan has been explained to us in the House. We understand the necessity of that investment and the need to lift the opportunities for the current generation of workers to be able to respond to some of the pressures of the future and to deal with the issue of superannuation. 
Those members are not listening to the real needs out there at a community level. I hear from mums and dads who are really committed to education and who want to do what they can to help their kids get through school and to read with their kids in the home. They say: “Hey look we just don’t know why $32 million is going to private schools when our kids are in public schools. Most Maori kids we know are in public schools—kura kaupapa or whare kura. Why is that Government dishing out $32 million to private schools when our kids do not get the support they need in public schools to help them get through the educational system?”. Those questions need to be answered and they have not been answered well by National. 
More important Jonathan Young like every other National member—especially my colleague from Hamilton David Bennett—knows that in a time of recession people from the community and voluntary sector need more support not less. Why is National gutting the funding to that sector? The Pathways to Partnership funding was dedicated funding over 4 years that was committed to that sector and to supporting essential services in our community. That funding was put forward with the knowledge that we were moving into a recession and that vulnerable families would need support. Why is the Government gutting the funding to that sector? 
I alongside local MPs took the Minister for Social Development and Employment into the Waikato region so that she could hear about some of the work that is being done in Hamilton and in the Waikato region to ensure that there is a strong and comprehensive network of collaborative services in our region to respond to the very important needs there. It really concerns me that the Minister could not give any confirmation or commitment that there would be dedicated funding to the sector. The only thing that members of the community and voluntary sector are worried about is survival. When the National Government talks about taking the sharp edges off the recession yet the community and voluntary sector is just worrying about survival something is not happening; a message is not being heard. Again I say that the Government needs to be concerned about this. 
The Government is cutting funding to enterprising communities that create employment opportunities. Why would it do that? It has cut the tertiary allowance which allowed more Maori mums in particular to go back into training. Why did it do that? It has cut youth skills funding. That funding stream provided an opportunity for kids who have already been disenfranchised from the education system to re-participate in training and education. Why did it do that? The National Government has cut funding in all those areas but I think the areas where it will be held most accountable are those of superannuation of adult education and training and of what it is doing to be accountable to the young people of New Zealand who have to be able to be in a position to make a strong contribution to this nation especially Maori and Pacific young people. If those members think for one minute that superannuation has a future then they have to demonstrate that at the other end Maori and Pacific young people who will comprise the majority of the workforce in the next 20 years will be lifted above their current educational achievement rates as things are sadly lacking in this area. There has been no demonstration of that commitment whatsoever. 
I think that when Jonathan Young goes back to New Plymouth and David Bennett goes back to Hamilton the community and voluntary sector will hold them to account quite strongly. They will get the clear message that National’s first Budget was a flop.