Harawira Hone: Mental Health Commission Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Harawira Hone: Mental Health Commission Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 24 July 2007. Volume:640;Page:10670. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Maori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
Hoi ano hei timatangia i taku korero me mihi matou o Te Pati Maori ki te matua a Denis Simpson mo tona maia whakaaro nui tohutohu hoki ki te Komihana Oranga Hinengaro. He kaumatua o te Komihana he rangatira ano hoki o Ngati Awa o Ngai Taiwhakaaea. 
He pukumahi a Denis mai i te timatanga o te Komihana i te tau 1996. Ko tana he huaki kuaha ki te ao Maori ki te ao Pakeha na tona tautoko whakapono hoki. Ka noho tonu tana wairua ki roto i te kaha o te Komihana Oranga Hinengaro me te kaupapa mahi nana i waihanga.  
Kotahi te kupu whakahirahira mo tenei Pire ma tenei kupu kotahi e mohiotia ai ka taka pehea te poti o Te Pati Maori i nga kauhau ka whai ake. He kupu e kore e kitea e tenei Kawanatanga he kupu me ona ahuatanga katoa hei hirau i tenei Kawanatanga. He kupu ko tana tohu ko te kapo o te Kawanatanga ki te kite i te whakaaro hou me te tirohanga rere ke 
.  
Na i runga i nga whakapaho atu i oku nei kupu i nga ra tata nei i whakaaro au kia huri ki te pukapuka kupu a Oxford i mua noa atu o taku whakaputa kupu i tenei wa.  
Ko tetahi o nga whakamarama i tenei kupu e penei ana “he ngarara paruru no te ao tawhito he roa te kaki he tinana poto. E ai ki nga korero ko tana he whakatupato kei te haere mai te kumi ihuroa”. Tera pea he kupu ake hei korerotanga i a tatau e wananga ana i tenei pire. Kia titiro tonu i nga wa katoa kia whakatupato kia ata tirohia. Ko taua kupu motuhake ko “tirotiro”.  
Ko te tino kaupapa o tenei Pire he aukati he whakakapi i nga mahi tirotiro a te Komihana 
.  
Ko te mahi a te Komihana Oranga Hinengaro i tenei wa he tirotiro i te pai i te kuare ranei o nga mahi kua tukua e Te Manatu Hauora mo nga turoro wairangi. Ko te ahua o te kaupapa whakapumau he kaupapa whakahirahira mo te mana tuku iho mo te tangata he pou tokomanawa mo te mana motuhake o te Komihana a  he pou reo korero hoki mo nga turoro me wa ratau whanau. He aha hoki ta tenei kawanatanga e mataku ana ki te tirohanga a wetahi ki ana mahi a na tera ka waimehatia e ratau te mana o Te Puni Kokiri ki te tirotiro na kua huri ratau ki te whakawaimeha i nga mahi tirotiro a te Komihana Oranga Hinengaro. He aha ratau i tino mataku ai ki nga kumi ihuroa e haere mai ana ki te uhi i te rangai kawanatanga. 
Na te wahanga 5 o te Ture a Te Puni Kokiri o te tau 1991 i tino whakamarama na tenei ture i whakatakoto ma Te Puni Kokiri e toro ki wetahi atu Tari te ahua kia tuku wa ratau kaupapa ki te Maori kia mohiotia nga painga ka riro i aua ratonga mahi. Na i te 16 o nga ra o Maehe i tera tau kare i taea e te tumuaki o Te Puni Kokiri te whakamarama atu he aha ai i kitea he moumou taima noa iho nga mahi tirotiro i wetahi atu tari a he aha i kahore wa ratau mahi i whakaritea i raro i te ture. A anei tenei pire hou. He tohutohu na te Minita o te Manatu Hauora kia kaupare atu tona titiro ki nga mahi kua whakaritea kia mahia i raro i te Ture Oranga Hinengaro.  
E orite ana Te Pati Maori ki nga ropu he hohonu wo ratau whakaaro ara matau kua titiro ki te Komihana Oranga Hinengaro kia whakaatu mai mena kua tutuki e te kaupapa 
o Te Tahuhu nga mahi i whakaritea kia tutuki i a ratau. Na te Komihana i whakaatu mai te poharatanga o te wahanga mo nga tamariki me nga rangatahi hakoa e mohiotia ana te taumaha o nga hiahia. Ko ta te whakatakotoranga kaupapa 26 o-rau te putea kia tuku ki aua ratonga engari 11 o-rau anake i tukuna atu. Ko te 15 o-rau te tarepa e kore e tae atu ki nga tamariki me nga rangatahi aue! 
E te Kaihautu e mohio ana tatau katoa ehara tenei Kawanatanga i te whakatutuki i nga hiahia a nga tamariki. Koi nei te Kawanatanga i panui i tera wiki te ripoata o tona ake Tari ara Te Manatu Whakahiato Ora kua whanui kua rahi ake te rawakoretanga i waenganui tamariki “he nui ake tenei tu ahuatanga mo te tini”. Kei a tatau tetahi Kawanatanga kahore i te aro ki nga taumahatanga kei runga i wa tatau tamariki. Kei a tatau he Kawanatanga e kore e aro ana ki te titiro ki te ahua o nga ratonga ki te Maori hakoa ko ia a ra te whakatau a te ture; a he Kawanatanga e mea ana ehara ma matau hei tirotiro i nga mahi a nga Poari Hauora a-Rohe Te Manatu Hauora hoki e pa ana ki te oranga hinengaro 
.  
E te Kaihautu ehara i te mea ko Te Pati Maori anake te ropu e awangawanga ana kei hea ra te kumi ihuroa. Ko te nuinga o nga kaitapae kaupapa ki te Komiti Hauora o te Paremata e mea ana kia tinihia te Pire kia mau e te Komihana tona mana motuhake hei tirotiro i nga mahi a-kawanatanga nei. A ko ta te Kaunihera Mana Tangata kia whanui ake te mana tirotiro kia kaua e whakawhaiti. Ko ta te Komihana awangawanga kahore i orite nga rere ketanga ki nga whakatau tika i puta mai i te tutohutanga o nga Patapatai a Mason o te tau 1996. Tera pea ka mau mahara tenei Whare ki ta Tiati Mason i taunaki ma nga momo ropu whakariterite pera i te Komihana Oranga Hinengaro hei parau i te ara kia pai ake nga mahi a kia rewa ake he tino take hoki nga mahi e pa ana ki te oranga hinengaro i Aotearoa. 
Tini ana nga ropu i karanga kia kaha te whakatinana i te turanga o te Komihana Oranga Hinengaro mo ona kaupapa tirotiro i nga Ropu Hauora a-Rohe me Te Manatu Hauora. 
He waimarie kua kitea he ara kia puta i tenei poharu. Ko nga wahanga o te ture ka kati i te mana o te Komihana kia kore e taea e ia nga mahi i whakaritea mana. Ka tu te tau otinga mena ka takawiri nga aho te ngawari hoki engari ko te mate ke ko te wahanga ka pa ki tenei Pire. 
Kei te whakaaro nui matau o Te Pati Maori ki te tirohanga motuhake o te Komihana Oranga Hinengaro na ratau i whakamohio kei te raru nga ratonga a kahore i pai te kite a nga rangatahi i aua ratonga. Ko wa matau rangatahi te reanga kei a ratau te moemoea mo nga ra kei te tu mai. I te ao Maori e marama ana matau ka tae atu ki te tau 2050 50 o-rau nga Maori kei raro tonu i te 27 tau. No reira atawhaitia taua reanga kia pai ai to tatau iwi. 
Ko tetahi atu take mo matau he iti tonu nga kaimahi Maori Pasifika ranei e matau ana ki nga mahi oranga hinengaro mo nga rangatahi 
. 
Na nga pehanga o nga kaupapa kua puta nga turoro i nga wahi nohonga tangata ara nga wahi hauora a-kainga.  
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.] 
[ 
Indeed as a way of starting my address we of the Maori Party acknowledge the death of the fatherly figure Denis Simpson and his compassion wisdom and gentle advice to the Mental Health Commission as its elder and respected leader of both Ngati Awa and Ngai Taiwhakaaea. 
Denis worked tirelessly from the first days of the commission in 1996 opening doorways to both Maori and Pakeha worlds through his staunch support as well as his belief. His presence will remain through the energy of the Mental Health Commission and the work programme he created. 
There is one word that is pivotal to this bill one word that will determine the way in which the Maori Party votes in subsequent debates a word that this Government fails to find—all guises of it trip up this Government. It is a word symbolising the Government’s blindness to fresh perspectives and other viewpoints. Given recent publicity around my use of particular words I thought I had better just check the Oxford Dictionary before uttering it.  
One of the definitions for this word was “a large tropical Old World lizard with a long neck and a short body formerly believed to warn of the approach of crocodiles”. That is a word perhaps for us to mull over as we debate this bill; to look over at all times to be cautious over and to check over carefully. Indeed that special word is “monitor”. 
The significant feature of this bill is the change it proposes to constrain and curtail the monitoring roles of the commission. The Mental Health Commission currently monitors the adequacy of the Ministry of Health in its delivery of the national mental health strategy. This emphasis on accountability is central to the upholding of human rights; it is central to the independence of the commission; it is central to the advocacy of the mentally ill and their families. Why is this Government so afraid of the power of a monitoring role that it has weakened the capacity of Te Puni Kokiri the Ministry of Maori Development to do exactly that and it has now moved on to the Mental Health Commission to dilute and weaken its monitoring rol as well? What is it that leaves those across the State sector in such fear of being warned of the approach of crocodiles? 
Section 5 of the Ministry of Maori Development Act 1991 makes it absolutely explicit that Te Puni Kokiri has a statutory function to monitor and liaise with each department that provides services to or for Ma 
ori for the purpose of ensuring the adequacy of those services. Yet on 16 March last year the head of the Ministry of Maori Development in response to the claim that auditing and monitoring of other agencies was a waste of time was unable to explain why they were ignoring their legal responsibilities. And here is this new bill with its direction from the health Minister for the key agency in the mental health sector to avert its gaze away from its statutory role in the Mental Health Act. 
The Maori Party like other collectives has depended on the birds-eye view of the Mental Health Commission to advise us how Te Tahuhu the mental health strategy has set out targets to achieve. We have learnt from the commission that Child and Youth Services remain significantly underfunded in relation to known needs. According to the blueprint 26 percent of mental health funding should be allocated to those services for children and young people yet only 11 percent is getting to them. A shortfall of 15 percent—how disconcerting! 
We all know about the Government’s poor performance in responding to children’s needs. This is the same Government that just last week issued its own report from the Ministry of Social Development that records that  
both poverty rates and poverty depth are “substantially higher for children than for the population as a whole”. So we have a Government that is prepared to disregard the needs of children; we have a Government prepared to ignore the statutory function of monitoring the quality of services provided to or for Maori; and a Government that is prepared to absolve itself of any responsibility of monitoring the performance of key agencies including district health boards and the Ministry of Health regarding mental health. 
The Maori Party is not the only group concerned about where the crocodile is. 
The majority of submitters to the Health Committee recommended amendments to the bill in order that the commission should retain its independent monitoring role. The New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties recommended that the monitoring powers should be broadened not limited. The Human Rights Commission was concerned that the changes were incompatible with the accountability that emerged from the recommendation of the Mason inquiry of 1996. This House may recall that Judge Mason recommended that the creation of an organisation such as the Mental Health Commission would act as a catalyst to improve performance in regard to and lift the priority given to mental health in New Zealand.  
So it went on many groups reiterating the need for the commission’s role to be strengthened in monitoring and reporting on the performance of both the district health boards and the Ministry of Health. 
Fortunately there is a way through this quagmire. Clauses of the bill serve to constrain the capacity of the commission to maintain its watchdog role in areas set aside for it. So the solution lies in tweaking the clauses—which sounds so simple but the problem is the sector that this bill applies to. 
We of the Maori Party have given much thought to the unique perspective offered by the Mental Health Commission in alerting us to the crisis state of our acute services and the largely negative experiences of adolescents in such services. Our young people are the generation with aspirations for the future. In Maoridom we are particularly aware that by 2050 50 percent of Maori will be 27 years old or under. So we should foster that generation as a salvation for our people. 
Another matter for us is the particular shortage of Maori or Pasifika skilled mental health workers for adolescents. 
Because policies are so restrictive patients are leaving residential and home institutions designed especially to meet their needs 
.]  
Debate interrupted.