Katene Rahui: Third Readings — 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Katene Rahui: Third Readings — 
[Sitting date: 18 August 2010. Volume:665;Page:13255. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
RAHUI KATENE (Maori Party—Te Tai Tonga) 
: 
 The legislation sets into statute the commitments made by the Government prior to the election to ensure a fairer welfare system with an unrelenting focus on work. The bringing together of the welfare system with the world of work is key to the legislation. The aim is to create a shift away from State dependency and into full or part-time employment. Although the aspirational goal of reducing State dependency is a logical one—and one that we fully support—the economic downturn has resulted in a greater need for social security and significantly more so for Maori. We come to this reading shattered by the loss of two leading figures in our world: Te Meringa Hohaia and Te Kapunga Matemoana Dewes. Both of these men lived their lives committed to the pathway toward self-determination. They were leaders who helped shape the transformation of their iwi and directly led to the cultural revival and renaissance of te reo Maori of Treaty settlements of the unique cultural heritage of Hinerupe Marae of Parihaka Pa and of our wider history and assets. They were staunch to the kaupapa they were unafraid of conflict and they were prepared to act with decisiveness and with courage to set a pathway forward. They were driven by the aspiration of being self-determining self-managing of walking the talk. 





 But the process of positioning themselves in their own pathway was always done with the best interests of the people in mind. Self-determination does not mean sacrificing the well-being of the people and that is where we must agree to disagree with the policy enshrined in this legislation for although we are intent on achieving our own aspirational goal of reducing State dependency our foundation is always in the whanau. 
I remind the House of the key message that we campaigned on in the motu in the lead-up to the last election: “He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata he tangata he tangata.” What is the greatest thing in the world? It is people it is people it is people. So we look at National’s policy direction and we see that the legislation is intended to promote an unrelenting focus on work. According to the  
Collins Dictionary 
 “unrelenting” is defined as “refusing to relent or take pity relentless merciless”. That is the hub of our concern. In the changes to the legislation from the select committee we note that if a person does not recomply with his or her work-test obligations within the first 4 weeks then a further 50 percent reduction will be applied on top of the first 50 percent reduction—the punishment that keeps on punishing. 
A lot has been made about limiting sanctions for beneficiaries with young children to a 50 percent reduction. But the point remains: “Who cares for the children?”. Why hurt the children because of their parents’ failure to attend a work test? What did the children do to cause the State to punish them? 
This legislation amends the Children Young Persons and Their Families Act among others. That Act enshrines the paramountcy of the child; this legislation takes away that protection for children this legislation punishes our children. Our mokopuna are precious; we must do everything we can to nurture them and to keep them safe warm and well fed. We are the first to admit that the system is unsustainable and not working so change is needed. We believe that a bold and visionary approach is required—a bold and visionary approach such as Whanau Ora is needed not one of blame and punishment. We agree that people who can work should work. But children must not be punished because their parents are beneficiaries. We must maintain a safety net for them. In 2006 there were over 50000 Maori children living in single-parent households reliant on benefit income. This figure is likely to have increased. That in itself is 50000 reasons not to support this legislation 
Some positive changes were made during the process that we found favour with. We acknowledge the Minister particularly for introducing the new exemption so that people on any benefit who are leaving situations of domestic violence will not be work tested. This is an important exemption to give them time to adjust to their changing circumstances. We also support the focus in recognising the importance of full-time study as a way to improve job prospects. The exemption for work-test obligations at level 4 or above and the new $500 loan for course-related costs are positive changes. 
But I come back to the origins of this legislation. This package was originally branded as the Future Focus package. Due to the fact that Maori are disproportionately represented in the beneficiary sector coupled with a downturn in the types of jobs our people are expected to be employed in we believe that this legislation will be detrimental to Maori at this unique point in time. It is all well and good having an unrelenting focus on work if the jobs are there but we have a real question around that. We know the intergenerational effect that the reforms of the 1980s and 1990s had on young Maori when their parents were forced from work and then found themselves in considerable poverty. We know the helpless despair of unemployment. In addition there is cause for concern regarding the availability of part-time work and the 90-day probation period especially where solo parents are concerned. We cannot look at these bills and policies in isolation from each other; we need to look at the whole range of bills that are coming up and the whole range of policies that affect people in those areas. 
Tertiary training as an alternative is only as good as the health of job creation which is showing only a marginal recovery. All of these factors do not give us the confidence that those of our most vulnerable whanau who most need our protection will not be adversely affected by this legislation. We acknowledge that both this Minister and our co-leader Minister Turia have worked really hard to do what they can to address the employment crisis that particular impacts on our people. The latest unemployment figures were nothing short of shocking: 159000 out of work 16.8 percent of Maori unemployed. The majority of people want to work and every day thousands of people spend most of their day looking for a job—for any job. For these people and their families it is little comfort to recognise that unemployment numbers in Maori communities have been consistently high since the 1980s and even in the time of plenty Maori unemployment figures have still been high particularly for those under 25 years of age. 
They want a chance and Community Max and Job Ops have given them that. Community Max essentially prepares our young people for work and gives them an opportunity to learn new skills develop a good work ethic and find a pathway out of unemployment. The programme has been immensely successful in the short time of its duration. In fact at last count some 3200 positions had been filled and of these approximately 1900 were taken up by young Maori. These are wonderful statistics and we acknowledge both Ministers for their vision and their commitment in placing these schemes on the Government’s agenda. But we cannot pretend that Community Max no matter how good it is is providing the long-term sustainable employment required. There will be casualties—those who end up back on the unemployment line—and we fear for their future as a consequence of this legislation. It is because of these people our most vulnerable and because of our children that we have split our vote—one for and four against.