Ririnui Mita: Budget Debate 
Ririnui Mita: Budget Debate 
[Volume:639;Page:9576] 
Hon MITA RIRINUI (Minister of State) 
: 
 That member just spent the last 10 minutes quoting other people. In other words she does not have an original idea of her own. But I have to admit that her speech was very happy and animated—very animated. There is a reason for the high level of animation. You see those members have spent I do not know how much of taxpayers’ money standing in this House condemning Michael Cullen’s 2007-08 Budget. They are very happy about it because they think and that particular member thinks that New Zealanders have short memories. Well they have not. 
New Zealanders remember the National Government of the 1990s and they will never forget. Members of that party should not stand up in this House and talk about low wages. Have they forgotten the Employment Contracts Act where they deliberately took away the right of negotiation for New Zealand workers or how they drove down wages to the level where families were actually struggling on a day-to-day basis with no relief whatsoever? 
Bob Clarkson should appreciate what I am saying because Tauranga during the 1990s had the busiest food bank in the entire country. It was supposed to be the most affluent city in the country but it had the busiest food bank. So I wonder what National members have to say about that—that is their legacy to future generations. 
They talk about low wages. Well the Employment Contracts Act made sure that wages were low during the 1990s but this Government has attempted to lift the household income of the average family to a suitable level. But it will take time. Members of that party cannot stand up in this House and condemn this Government for its positive efforts. 
I want to acknowledge this Budget. It has been described in my area of Tauranga or the Bay of Plenty overall actually—and Bob should know this—as being futuristic and supportive of the development of our families throughout the country. I heard some very scathing comments about Bob Clarkson earlier on but I cannot say that I support those comments. He is pretty well known in Tauranga but he is becoming less and less known as time goes on. 
Bob Clarkson 
: Oh rubbish! 
Hon MITA RIRINUI 
: He knows that. He will have to lift his act if he is to survive the next election. But I hear from within National Party ranks that that will not happen anyway. He is on his way out. 
David Bennett 
: How is your seat going? 
Hon MITA RIRINUI 
: Oh David Bennett made a noise—was he not over here? I have also listened to what the Maori Party has had to say in these debates over the 2007-08 Budget. I am very disappointed in the contribution by the member from Te Tai Tokerau Hone Harawira. He actually stood in this House and quoted me incorrectly in terms of the commitment of this Government to Maori health. I told him that he had misquoted me; in fact I did not make any such comment on Radio Waatea. As he left the House he said that he was going to check and that he would come straight back and apologise to the House if he was wrong. He is wrong but he still has not come back and I am still waiting. So if he is listening right now I tell him that I am waiting. He had better get down here. He has 35 minutes. 
The previous Labour speaker Dave Hereora touched on a range of issues in the Budget for Maori particularly the Treaty settlements process and also Maori education and Maori broadcasting. Is it not interesting that a party that deliberately established a Maori television network in the 1990s to fail is now condemning the great efforts by this Government in terms of its commitment to Maori Television? Maori Television has been recognised in this year’s Budget and its channel is being valued by almost all New Zealanders—Maori and non-Maori together. So that is one of the positive initiatives that this Labour-led Government has introduced over the last three terms. 
I think I heard Eric Roy say that he cannot see the plan in terms of Labour’s direction. Well he has to go back to the first term of this Labour Government and its attempts to turn round the economy and lift the living standards of all New Zealand families particularly Maori in the areas of employment housing education health and business. As an Associate Minister of Health I want to touch on the commitment of this Government to Health in general. Budget 2007 commits an extra $3 billion over the next 4 years but I will give the House some examples of Budget 2007 initiatives that are high in Maori priorities. 
I have heard speakers in this House over the last couple of days saying that there is nothing specific in the Budget for Maori. I reiterate what Shane Jones said in this House—that just because it does not have a moko on it it does not mean that it is not healthy or good for Maori. If we look at the Maori health network and the way it has developed over the last 10 years anyway we will find that Maori do not target Maori-specific funding to encourage their initiatives and deliver services to their communities. They actually target the mainstream Budget and there is a reason for that. It is a much more contestable fund and the benefits in terms of programme delivery are much more robust to meet the needs of their communities. Budget 2007 as I said earlier on commits an extra $3 billion over the next 4 years and will contribute to Maori health priorities in terms of increasing the focus on obesity through Healthy Eating – Healthy Action and regular checks. 
Hone Harawira took it on himself to say that obesity in the far north was a very serious problem but I am pleased to tell that member that over the last 6 years that I can recall in my visits to the far north and particularly in visits to Maori health provider networks this particular area of Maori health is a priority for them. I encourage him to visit them himself sometimes because he might appreciate some of the initiatives that are actually going on within his own electorate. 
As well Maori feature very highly in terms of cancer statistics and the Budget commits an extra $26 million to that particular area. I notice that when we launched the cancer strategy here at Parliament some 12 months ago National members did not feel it necessary to attend and to celebrate a great initiative. That is a pity but I encourage them in future to take notice. They will never know what Maori health priorities are if they do not pay attention to what is actually going on and pay close attention to this Government’s commitments to those initiatives. 
I want to move around the country a bit more and move away from the far north because Healthy Eating – Healthy Action is a commitment that this Government took on earlier in this term in areas like Rotorua and Tauranga. I have visited some very strong initiatives in the Whanganui District Health Board area where Maori health providers are running education programmes within schools. The Fruit in Schools programme is also being promoted in the same area—so much so that the attitude of whanau and tamariki in schools is changing now to an attitude of people taking greater control over their health and understanding that healthy eating and appropriate activity lead to better health status. As I said earlier on we could talk for some time about the benefits of this Budget in terms of commitment to Maori. 
Earlier on Georgina te Heuheu mentioned the progress that had been made in the area of Treaty settlements. I think she did us a service when she said that progress was slow because although the National Government of the 1990s of which she was a member settled only two claims they were quite large claims. Credit has to be given for that but 9 years have passed and people tend to forget and to look forward. I wonder whether members opposite—if they are so concerned about progress in the Treaty claims settlement area—will be supporting all the settlement legislation that comes to the House. I can see that Chris Finlayson is quite keen to do that. I know he has a bit of a track record as far as the NgaiTahu settlement is concerned so we look forward to his support in the future and also to that of his select committee colleagues—the Hon Tau Henare and the Hon Georgina te Heuheu. 
There is a commitment by this Government to attempt to complete all Treaty settlements by 2020 and there has been an incredible commitment to support the Waitangi Tribunal to ensure we are able to achieve that. This is a very difficult policy area as all members of the House will appreciate. Although from time to time negotiations can be slow or even stall to some degree there are good reasons for that and this Government does not want to pressure any group into entering a Treaty settlement it is not happy with. The majority of members opposite have no idea what a Treaty settlement looks like or know too much about the process in terms of getting claims settled but as I said I look forward to their support in the future. Kia ora tatou.