Henare Tau: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Henare Tau: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Volume:646;Page:15267] 
11.  
Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
 to the  
Minister of Maori Affairs 
: Does the Maori Trustee and Maori Development Amendment Bill include provisions for appropriating $35 million from the Maori Trustee? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Minister of Maori Affairs) 
: 
 Clause 15 of the Maori Trustee and Maori Development Amendment Bill provides for the transfer of $35 million from the general purposes fund as a contribution to the Maori Business Aotearoa New Zealand fund. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Why then did Te Puni Kokiri have to grant the Maori Trustee $360000 from its Maori potential fund last financial year? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: The Maori Trustee is an organisation in its own right that can contribute to the future development of Maori. That is why there is a contract with the Maori Trustee as there is with nearly 400 other organisations. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. My question asked why Te Puni Kokiri had to grant the Maori Trustee $360000 from its Maori potential fund but that answer not only had nothing to do with the question but did not even address the question. I would like it that the same rules that apply to me—[ 
Interruption 
] 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Please be seated. I understand the member’s point. I actually think the Minister addressed the question. It might not have been clear but he did address it. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I would really like it if the same rules that apply to myself when I interject on a point of order apply to the Rt Hon Winston Peters as well. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: I agree. The same rules are that you get a warning; another interjection and you are out. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Does the Minister agree with the following reason for the granting of $360000 to the Maori Trustee by Te Puni Kokiri: “to assist the Maori Trustee to develop the critical mass of people and resources information and relationships that will lead to long-term economic sustainability and globally competitive agribusiness leveraging off Maori land.”; if so what does it mean? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: It means quite simply that Maori are at the front edge of competing on the global stage in relation to exports. Maori are the biggest single exporters of meat. They are the biggest single-cluster owner in Fonterra. They are heading towards being the biggest single owner of fish in the South Pacific. Therefore we need some convergence. The Maori Trustee is an appropriate place to ensure that that force is brought together. 
Dave Hereora 
: What will be the benefits of setting up the Maori Business Aotearoa New Zealand fund? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: The Maori Business Aotearoa New Zealand fund will present a significant opportunity to accelerate Maori development by pooling existing resources that are available for this purpose. The Maori Trustee as chairperson of Maori Business Aotearoa New Zealand will oversee this development fund and will have the benefit of the skills of a board to govern this larger fund. As an independent statutory corporation the Maori Business Aotearoa New Zealand board will be able to work directly and independently with Maori to progress their economic future. 
Dr Pita Sharples 
: Tena tatou katoa. Is the Minister aware that the total surplus funds paid back by Te Puni Kokiri to the consolidated fund between 1999 and 2007 were $6.336 million and would it not have been better to have invested these surplus funds in the setting up of Maori Business Aotearoa New Zealand instead of appropriating the $35 million from the Maori Trustee beneficiaries? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: I am not too certain on the detail of that exact figure and I would certainly need to look into it. But Te Puni Kokiri along with the Maori Trustee is ensuring that that development is progressing well. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Why did the Minister approve the $360000 grant to the Maori Trustee when it is obvious that the Maori Trustee does not need an extra $360000—it already has at least $35 million in the general purposes fund which the Government wants to purloin? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: Unless things have changed since that member was the Minister of Maori Affairs when he did nothing it is a contract between the ministry and the Maori Trustee not the Minister and it is sanctioned by the senior team—the executive team. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. My question was about the grant that Te Puni Kokiri made—[ 
Interruption 
] That is the second time. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Well you could ask the Minister to leave the Chamber if you wish. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Do I still get to ask the question? 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Well that is the question really is it not? The member wants a specific answer to his question. As members know one cannot require that. All Ministers have to do is address the question. We all see reality differently obviously. Therefore sometimes it is not surprising that there is not an understanding between the question and the answer. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I think I will ask you to have the Minister removed because of that and then I will ask you to have somebody else in his stead answer the question. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Well you can. Would the Minister please leave the Chamber. 
Hon Parekura Horomia withdrew from the Chamber. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Is the real problem with this issue in respect of Maori development a lack of funds which is historically best assessed or judged by the fact that when yours truly was the Minister of Maori Affairs the funding was $239 million and under the Richardson regime and the National Government all by itself it became $32 million and as a consequence the department has struggled ever since? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: On behalf of the Minister of Maori Affairs yes indeed funding was drastically cut for the ministry during the 1990s and it was restored under this Labour-led Government. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Was it not a fact that a former Minister of Maori Affairs the Hon Koro Wetere went through the Maori Affairs budget with a huge knife and cut it from the $200 million - odd that the Rt Hon Winston Peters talks about to at least half of that in terms of the establishment of the Iwi Transition Authority? 
Madam SPEAKER 
: That is straying a little from the initial question. 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: This is like one of those bad Monty Python 
sequences— 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. With respect to Mr Henare he should do a bit of work and know a bit of the history. The Iwi Transition Authority was set up in 1988 which is a full 3 years before the budget that I am talking about. 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: As I was saying this is becoming a bit like Monty Python. One can go back even further. The Hon Koro Wetere saw a massive expansion in the budget that he controlled from 1984 onwards. He then launched a change to the whole structure and funding was split between the department and the Iwi Transition Authority. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: What advice has the Minister received about the 1991 Charters Sykes and Nikora review of the Maori Trustee and about the need to pay compensation to the Maori Trustee if certain moneys are taken from the trustee’s general purposes fund? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: I do not have the information in front of me to be able to answer that question so if the member cares to put it down in writing I am sure he will get a more complete answer. What I can tell the member is that the proposal is to create a substantial fund for investment in Maori development purposes. None of that money is coming from the funds that are specifically earmarked for the beneficiaries.