Katene Rahui: Debate on Budget Policy Statement 
Katene Rahui: Debate on Budget Policy Statement 
[Volume:653;Page:2073] 
RAHUI KATENE (Maori Party—Te Tai Tonga) 
: 
 I spent yesterday in Christchurch at a national conference on homelessness learning about the challenges facing our night shelters and soup kitchens the demand on emergency accommodation and the situation for families experiencing financial crisis. It was in many ways a most appropriate context in which to consider the 2009 Budget Policy Statement. As a member of the Finance and Expenditure Committee I have been part of a discussion that has focused on the projected decline in the fiscal position. The committee has contrasted the fiscal stimulus with that of other OECD countries debated the inflation indexing of benefits and pondered the challenge of maintaining stability and liquidity in the banking system but it was not until I sat listening to the call for a statutory safety net for all homeless people that the true impacts of the projected deteriorating fiscal position really hit home—excuse the pun. All the talk about export prices declining asset values and rising unemployment will have its inevitable effect on the numbers of New Zealanders who lack access to affordable housing. It will be seen in the faces of those who have to make income-related decisions about whether they can attend to the health needs of their children. It will be experienced by those whose quality of life is affected every day by the meagre scraps that constitute their income. It will be felt most deeply by those whose education fortunes will become defined by cash flow rather than talent or skill. 
In the submissions received by the Finance and Expenditure Committee a particularly strong call was made by the Public Health Association of New Zealand to highlight the close interrelationship between good health and New Zealand’s economic performance. The Public Health Association urged the Government to minimise the negative impact of the economic downturn on Maori pointing out that tangata whenua tend to suffer more than the rest of the population in recession years. It is not of course as if Maori started off in an equitable position before the downfall of the New Zealand economy. We all know that although the average unemployment rate is sitting at 4.1 percent it is twice that for Maori—they have an unemployment rate of 8 percent. Te Puni Kokiri suggests that a likely scenario is that Maori unemployment will rise to 12 to 15 percent by the middle of next year. Initial signs of an economic slow-down in construction tourism and primary industries are of particular concern for Maori who are strongly represented in each of these sectors so it is with great anticipation that we look to the Government’s jobs and growth plan with a view to finding out how tangata whenua will be protected against the sharpest edges of recession. 
But of course the jobs queue will not solve all of the issues that we expect to arise as the recession deepens. We are particularly conscious of the position of non-working families with children many of which will include Maori parents. The Human Rights Review Tribunal found clear discrimination in the Working for Families package with significant adverse effect on the living standards of around 200000 children. Two hundred thousand children must not—cannot—be ignored nor can our collective neglect of them be justified as a saving. It remains an absolute anachronism that the very poorest families miss out on at least $60 a week tax-free for their children while that same $60 is available to working families even to those earning over $100000 a year with several children. Sixty dollars may not seem like much to some of us but in real terms it equates to six packets of nappies 15 loaves of bread or 15 litres of milk and that could make all the difference between survival and distress. 
At this point I want to add another issue into the Budget policy agenda for although we may all hold our breath and hope that the focus on longer-term productivity and on getting the economy ready for recovery will make life better for the great mass of New Zealanders it might be timely to explore the wisdom of the notion that exponential growth is simply part of the status quo. All of the international evidence points to the fact that the global financial system is on the cusp of ultimate failure. A business-as-usual Budget that focuses on GDP growth stimulants will only ever come up short when it comes to confronting the risks of emergency pressures. I mean how many times do we attempt to budget for something only to find out that it all turns to custard down the track due to unforeseen circumstances? I know from painful personal experience that my own budgets never seem to add up no matter how robust are the theories I have about them. We are not talking about day-to-day finances that we earmark for systems maintenance; I am talking about exponential GDP growth as opposed to risk management strategies for the future as we know it. 
The enormity of this issue must not be trivialised. Given that the entire global financial system is predicated on growth it can appear overwhelming. But this is the time when the value of the genuine progress index comes into its own for it takes into account not just the bottom line on consumption but a broader view including the implications of climate change and its consequences the effects of the ongoing demand on our natural resources such as water and air the impact on our ecosystems and the overall challenge of how to create sustainable progress on a finite planet. Simply printing more money will serve only to exacerbate the problem that starts and ends with the thinking that the race is on to consume resources until they are all used up. Talking and projecting GDP growth stimulants is like taking medication to aid and abet our collective addiction. So although the Minister of Finance took the time in the select committee to describe three different risks—those of banking stability export prices and the combination of housing prices and rising unemployment—we in the Maori Party are also very concerned about the bigger picture including the complex consequences that fall out of our high oil dependency. 
There are many issues that we must take seriously if we are to plan responsibly for our future. The predictions are that poor health and poverty look set to increase as the gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen and population increases put strain on health resources. We know that life expectancy will increase and the increasingly aged population will have significant implications for the cost and balance of health and social services. We are advised that those with solely Maori ethnicity are more likely to have poorer health income and education outcomes. Skill shortages will increase in some sectors. Low future growth in unskilled jobs will mean an increase in the number of the working poor and Maori and Pasifika workers will be overrepresented in these areas. We know that a shortage of fresh water and the quality of water will become increasingly significant in the quest for economic growth. None of these issues are isolated incidents; they are all worthy of future exploration. None of us can continue with the insanity of business as usual when basic common sense tells us that we must look to all solutions to ensure the system is sustainable and that the future we forecast is one we can all look forward to. Kia ora.