Mahuta Nanaia; Rurawhe AdrianBUDGET DEBATEDebate resumed from 13 June on the Appropriation (2019/20 Estimates) Bill. Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Minister for Māori Development): I'm pleased to be able to make a contribution in the debate on the Wellbeing Budget 2019. But more importantly I am proud of a Prime Minister who is courageous in her leadership to say that we will look beyond GDP as an economic success measure for this country and we will broaden our focus to the wellbeing outcomes for people in their communities across the regions in New Zealand that will deliver real transformative change. That takes courage. We support her leadership and it will be the first wellbeing Budget in the world that any country can say is about more than economics; it's about people. We are taking a number of issues very seriously. As the Minister of Finance has indicated we are using evidence to underpin the top issues upon which we're focusing in this Wellbeing Budget like taking mental health seriously; like ensuring that we're breaking the cycle of child poverty and domestic violence with a key focus on child wellbeing by investing in crucial national infrastructure like our hospitals—remember when the walls were seeping at Middlemore Hospital under the previous administration with I don't know what—like investing in our schools now and into the future and like managing our books responsibly and growing the economy to where there are more jobs for more people and they are not limited in their vision and opportunity for themselves. We're reducing the long-term economic challenges like building a sustainable economy and preparing for jobs in the future where all New Zealanders have a real chance to get a step up the ladder of opportunity. This approach is underpinned by good evidence it's underpinned by an intergenerational focus and it is underpinned by an investment strategy that sits across portfolios and says that no longer will we be making investments in isolation of the impact that it can have on people and it works across other Government agencies in a joined-up way with communities and with providers. I think that's a change we should all have confidence in. When we think about mental health for example each and every one of us in this House is only one degree away from knowing someone with a mental health illness knowing someone with drug and alcohol addiction issues or actually knowing someone who has dealt either directly or indirectly with the issues around suicide. I'm not proud to say that New Zealand has the highest rates of suicide. It is heartbreaking when you hear stories from within your own whānau about the impact of that. But if we broaden the focus of how this Government is dealing with the issues of mental health we can say that this is an opportunity to really turn the dial up on how we respond within our communities to all sorts of mental health issues. Whether you're in towns or in the rural sector many of our people need access to front-line services—people who have the expertise trying to deal with issues at a very preventative local level rather than escalating to a level where you need the crisis assessment and treatment team to go out into a community. We will be investing in the front-line services in the mental health space. We will be ensuring that there are going to be drug and alcohol addiction services and kaupapa Māori services. Indeed our Minister of Health was in Gisborne just the other week announcing the support for that community to have access to improved drug and alcohol services and it is also an opportunity to deliver kaupapa Māori mental health services. It will make a difference and importantly when I think about the challenges and opportunities that we have to respond to young people in this space again this investment will signal that we need appropriate services for young people to address issues around support especially in the youth suicide space but more importantly just access to online services to front-line services to nurses in schools and the like. I am pleased about this particular announcement because I know in my small little community there is a need. When I think about improving child wellbeing I want to acknowledge Parliamentary Under-Secretary Jan Logie because we were with her when she made the announcement in this space and there were all sorts of community providers coming out and saying Finally a Government who is serious about addressing the issues underpinning some of the greatest vulnerabilities that exist across many of our communities in New Zealand." Under her leadership with the support of many Ministers across many portfolios front-line services in this area will have access to the resources and the supports that they need to respond to crisis but more importantly to the long-term wellbeing outcomes in the areas of sexual violence and family violence. It will make a difference in the lives of the most vulnerable—those children growing up in households having witnessed violence—but more importantly long-term outcomes for them. There is an opportunity for us to think about the way in which a wellbeing Budget can impact just at a very local level people within our communities. Now I'm preceding the contribution of the member for Hamilton East. Do you know what he said was the deficit of this Budget? "Not enough focus on roads in the Waikato."—not enough focus on roads in the Waikato. Well I can test actually everything he said about more focus on roads by saying that I'd rather focus on people but here's what it means in your community where the rubber hits the road. Take the winter energy payment. I grew up in Huntly where fog is a pretty regular occurrence in the winter. There are cold cold homes in some places but more importantly the winter energy payment has meant that over a 22-week period during those winter months people are eligible to get up to $450 if they're single in a winter energy payment. If they're couples or people living with dependent children they're able to get up to $700 extra for that 22-week winter period. Now I don't know about you but many people have said to me "This makes a difference. I'm on a fixed income. It makes a real difference in terms of my overall health and wellbeing over that period of time."But if there's anything that I have got feedback on within my electorate it's actually from our parents about the school donation. For decile 1 to 7 schools instead of charging school donations for each child who agrees to sign into this initiative they'll get $150 per student. We've got teachers in our team and they know at the coalface in many low-decile schools how difficult it is to raise school donations from a very low socioeconomic community. But here's the thing: schools see this as a real opportunity to do some extra things with this new funding that will come into those particular schools and I know it will make a difference. It takes a lot of pressure off parents. I've heard a lot of positive things about that initiative. I want to thank the Minister of Education but more importantly I want to thank him for being able to reach what we hope will be a fruitful agreement with their primary teachers and our secondary teachers. Now let me come very quickly back to some of the targeted initiatives in the Budget for Māori. Essentially the focus on developing regional economies through whānau development and whenua—engaging people with their land—will be a positive thing for many whānau throughout our country. The investment in Whānau Ora and the social outcomes for our whānau under the leadership of the Hon Peeni Henare will I think continue to improve the responsiveness for many of our whānau in our communities to lead a more productive lifestyle in a way that they can design and in a way that has long-term beneficial outcomes. I applaud his leadership. When I think about the cadetships led by the Hon Willie Jackson this is an incentive to employers to pick up cadets and enable them to learn while they earn. It's not an apprenticeship but it's to incentivise the cadets to be able to get into work and then learn some skills relevant to that workplace and then be able to be grown by the employer. In the regions this is an initiative a critical investment that has taken people up in Gisborne transferring them from a life in forestry to actually going into manufacturing and I've seen first-hand what those benefits are—credit to him. I acknowledge Minister Davis in terms of the work that he's investing himself in in terms of trying to change the lives of those who are caught in our prison system. I want to really commend the investment in Māori Pathways so that there is a longer opportunity for lifetime positive outcomes—the reduction of recidivism—through that investment to support those who are in prison. There are many many other things. Lastly big ups around the investment for kōhanga reo. That particular investment in and of itself has meant that a legacy institution contributing to language outcomes for our tamariki but more importantly lifetime learning outcomes for our whānau has been received warmly. I want to ensure that we continue to work hard on a wellbeing Budget that works for everybody through broad investments making an intergenerational impact through targeted investments and lifting up and pushing forward the opportunities—in this case for Māori—because it's going to make a big difference. I support it. I support our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her courage and conviction—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Adrian Rurawhe): Order! The member's time has expired."