12. Māori Development—Homelessness State Housing Sales and Homeownership RatesMEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti) to the Minister for Māori DevelopmentMāori Development—Homelessness State Housing Sales and Homeownership Rates12. MEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti) to the Minister for Māori Development: Does he stand by his statement about Te Puea Marae's manaakitanga and work with the homeless that there's a hell of a lot of work that the State should be doing over and above just waiting for a crisis to happen and then go to it"; if so what more does he think the Government should have done in advance?Hon TE URUROA FLAVELL (Minister for Māori Development): Tēnā koe Mr Speaker ko Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori ka whakautua katoatia ngā pātai i roto i Te Reo Māori. Ā ki te pātai āe nō te mea kāre ahau kāre tātau i te hiahia kia kite i ō tātau whānau e taka ana ki Te Korokoro-o-Te Parata![Acknowledgments to you Mr Speaker. This is Māori Language Week and all the responses will be given in Māori. And so to the question: yes because I do not—we do not—want to see our families dropping down Te Parata's throat!]Meka Whaitiri: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. That question was around a statement the Minister made and what more he thought he could have done in advance. I do not believe the Minister answered the question.Mr SPEAKER: My difficulty is that at the time the Minister spoke and spoke in Te Reo my interpretation was not coming through loudly enough so I did not hear the answer. Can I ask the Minister to address the question again? I will listen and then rule whether the question has been addressed.Hon TE URUROA FLAVELL: Kia ora Mr Speaker āe nō te mea kāre ahau kāre pea tātau i te hiahia kia kite i ō tātau whānau e taka ana ki Te Korokoro-o-Te Parata e taka rānei ki te taumahatanga o te pōhara.[Thank you Mr Speaker; yes because I do not—and perhaps we do not—want to see our families dropping down Te Parata's throat or falling into the difficulties of poverty.]Meka Whaitiri: Did he as Minister for Māori Development make that statement before or after he voted for the sale of State houses?Hon TE URUROA FLAVELL: Ko tāku ko te aronui ki ngā tūmanako o Te Ao Māori. I tēnei wā kai te rongo rātau i ngā taumahatanga pēnei i te hunga e noho nā i Māngere kei te aroha atu ki a rātau.[I take cognisance of the aspirations of Māoridom. Right now they are experiencing difficulties like those ones living there in Māngere and I empathise with them.]Iain Lees-Galloway: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I listened very carefully to the question and to the answer and that answer in no way addressed the question that the member asked. She asked whether he made the statement before or after he voted in a particular way and the answer did not address that question. It was a straight question.Mr SPEAKER: I am not sure when that particular vote was. That is my difficulty in ruling whether it can be answered.Marama Fox: Ā he pātai tāku ki Te Minita kai te aha a ia ki te tautoko i a ngāi Māori me ō rātau awhero whare?[I have a question to the Minister: what is he doing to support Māoridom and their hopes for a house?]Hon TE URUROA FLAVELL: Ko tāku mahi me te mahi a taku tari tētahi wāhanga pakupaku nei iti noa iho nei o te whakautu o tēnei kāwanatanga ki tēnei take ēngari i roto i te tahua pūtea $17.6 miriona te pūtea hou ka whakapaua ki ō tātau whānau kia noho ai rātau i roto i tētahi whare ora. E whā ngā aronga nui o te kaupapa nei—ko te tika o te whare he utu tika mō te whare te whakapakari i ngā pūkenga hanga whare me te whakatū i ētahi kaupapa mō te hunga kore kāinga.[My role and that of my department is but a small and really tiny part in the response of this Government to this matter but in the Budget $17.6 million of new money will be spent on our families to enable them to live in a healthy home. This initiative has four main objectives: houses are apt and affordable; to strengthen house construction skills; and to establish policies for the homeless.]Meka Whaitiri: Does he as Minister for Māori Development think it is a good idea to sell State houses while whānau live in cars and garages?Hon TE URUROA FLAVELL: Ko te kaupapa nui te manaaki tonu i ngā whānau katoa kia noho i roto i tētahi whare mahana he āhua ngāwari te utu ka taea e ngā tamariki te noho ki roto i tētahi whare āhuru nei me te hauora o te ngākau o te tinana o ngā tamariki.[The main theme is to continue taking care of all families so that they live in a warm house the cost is somewhat affordable and the children can live comfortably and are physically and emotionally well.]Marama Fox: Tēnā koe e Te Mana Whakawā he aha anō ngā hua kua tutuki nei i a Whare Ora?[Thank you Mr Speaker; what outcomes again have been achieved by Whare Ora?]Hon TE URUROA FLAVELL: Ā ko te kaupapa kei raro i ahau kei raro i a Te Puni Kōkiri ko Whare Ora. I roto i te wā poto anei ngā hua o te kaupapa kua puta nei 76 ngā kaupapa whare mō te whānau kua tautokohia 223 ngā kāinga whānau kua whakatikahia 113 ngā kāinga hou me te hanganga o aua kāinga kua tautokohia. He nui ngā kaupapa ēngari arā anō ngā mahi nui kai mua tonu i te aroaro.[The initiative under my watch under Te Puni Kōkiri is Whare Ora. In only a short span of time these outcomes have emerged from this initiative: 76 housings schemes for families have been endorsed 223 family homes have been repaired and 113 new homes and the construction of those homes have been endorsed. There are many initiatives but there is also important work ahead.]Meka Whaitiri: Does he as Minister for Māori Development agree with Nick Smith that plummeting Māori homeownership is because Māori are not educated enough? Hon TE URUROA FLAVELL: Ā i ētahi wā he tika tonu ngā kōrero o tērā Minita! I ētahi wā ē kāre au i te tino whakaae atu. Ēngari i tōna mutunga kai te mahi māua mō te painga o ngā whānau e noho nei i te kore kāinga i te kore whare rānei.[And so there are times when what that Minister is alluding to is correct! Yes there are times when I really do not agree either. But eventually we work in tandem for the benefit of homeless families or the lack of houses.]Meka Whaitiri: Does he as Minister for Māori Development feel proud about propping up a Government that blames whānau for homelessness blames whānau for living in cars and blames whānau for low homeownership rates? Does that make him proud?Hon TE URUROA FLAVELL: Koinei te mate o te tangata kore mōhio ki te āhuatanga o te noho o tēnei Whare Pāremata. Ko te āhuatanga o te kirimana i waenganui i a māua Te Pāti Māori me te Nāhinara i ētahi wā—[This is the problem when one does not know how this House sits. In terms of the confidence and supply with me the Māori Party and National sometimes—]Iain Lees-Galloway: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The Minister cannot open his answer with a direct attack on the member asking the question. [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! The member—[Interruption] Order! Iain Lees-Galloway resume your seat. When I consider the tone of the question I do not consider that there is anything out of order in the way the Minister started the question.Point of Order—Chambers Lobbies and Galleries Simultaneous Interpretation HeadsetsCHRIS HIPKINS (Senior Whip—Labour): I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. It is actually just a point of order of logistics. This being Māori Language Week I am sure members who are able to will be using Te Reo Māori. I notice that around the House a number of headsets that assist those of us who are not fluent Te Reo Māori speakers are missing and therefore we have not been able to follow the debate. I wonder whether that can be addressed before the next time we have question time so that we can all follow along if we are not fluent Te Reo Māori speakers.Mr SPEAKER: I will guarantee to the member that I will have that addressed before question time tomorrow. I apologise that it has been inadequate because of that."