Tolley Anne: Urgent Debates — Whānau Ora—Auditor-General’s ReportText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeTolley Anne: Urgent Debates — Whānau Ora—Auditor-General’s Report[Sitting date: 06 May 2015. Volume:705;Page:3250. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister for Social Development):I wish the Opposition speakers who have stood in this House today and have criticised and taken the opportunity to take pot-shots at Whānau Ora had taken the same opportunity to express their concerns about the low educational results for Māori and Pasifika the low participation in early childhood education by Māori and Pasifika the low life expectancy for Māori and Pasifika the high benefit dependency by Māori and Pasifika the high imprisonment rates for Māori and Pasifika the high rates of smoking amongst Māori and Pasifika the high rates of diabetes and heart disease amongst Māori and Pasifika and the high rates of children living in hardship amongst Māori and Pasifika.The reality is that we inherited a system that under the previous Labour Government continued to throw buckets of money at all of those issues without any idea of where that money was going and of what effect that money was having. In all of the questions that Opposition members have been asking today all that they have been interested in is how much money is being spent on this programme and how many people are attending those courses. That is not what changes people’s lives. In fairness I would have to say that over the years successive Governments both National and Labour have struggled with how they address the extremely difficult and complex issues that face too many of our Māori and Pasifika families.Over the years the statistics are very clear: we have changed nothing. I applaud the Māori Party which was bold enough to come along and say: “We propose a different way of addressing these issues.” It may not be perfect. I think the Auditor-General’s report is actually a really positive report because in it she acknowledges that this is a new and innovative way of addressing these complex issues. And yes there have been problems and she has—David Shearer: Read the first page.Hon ANNE TOLLEY: Yes I will read the first page. She says: “I have no doubt that some commentators will make light of the successes described in this report and make much of the criticisms.” Those three guys sitting there—middle-aged white Pākehā men who have been in this House for too long—have no idea of the courage it took the Māori Party to put up this programme and make it work. They have no idea. Phil Goff was part of two Governments that did nothing for Māori and that did nothing to advance the options and opportunities for those families. They sit there now and they carp but the Māori Party had the courage to say: “We can do this. We need your help. We need your advice. We need some funding in our communities and we can work to make a difference with our families.”The Auditor-General’s report makes it clear that those families can do it. With the right support we can make significant changes. We do need to take learnings from the Auditor-General’s report and we will do that. But we will not resile from trying different ways of reaching out and supporting those vulnerable children in particular and their families. I challenge Opposition members to look past their myopic middle-class attitudes and reach out to those families too. We could do with their support out and about in their electorates and those families could too.The debate having concluded the motion lapsed.