Turia Tariana: Budget Debate 
Turia Tariana: Budget Debate 
[Volume:631;Page:3224] 
TARIANA TURIA (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 “A key task the Government has set for itself is closing the divisive and debilitating gaps that have opened up throughout New Zealand society … the most urgent and visible gaps exist between Maori and Pacific communities and others … The Government will not stand back … We are determined to close the gaps. Our very foundations as a country demand it.” In his first Budget speech for the new minority Government Dr Cullen made a pledge to the nation that the Government would close the gaps. Yet just over a month ago the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples reported on the significant disparities that continue to exist between Maori and non-Maori with regard to employment income health housing and education as well as in the criminal justice system. Just last week this Government’s  
Decades of Disparity III: Ethnic and Socioeconomic Inequalities in Mortality New Zealand 1981-1999 
 report was released. The historical and social processes that systematically disadvantage Maori such as colonisation discrimination and racism are still having a clear impact on ethnic disparities in mortality. 
The Maori Party turned to Budget 2006 with expectations that a reasonable Government would address such disparities. We hoped that a responsible Government would want to achieve genuine progress for Aotearoa. We assessed this Budget against our ideals of achieving sustainability well-being and a quality of life. What will this Budget do to ensure that Maori enjoy a quality of health and life that restores their ability not just to survive but to thrive? Will it do anything to address such issues as why the survival rate from cancer even adjusting for age and stage is lower among Maori than non-Maori? Will it do anything to address the fact that Maori are dying 7.6 years earlier than the population overall? 
For 15 years manaaki tauira awards have been allocated based on financial need academic merit and commitment to Maoritanga. Between 8000 and 9000 awards every year have been made to support low-income Maori students in their right to achieve. The awards have helped Maori to achieve their educational potential as have the Maori and Pacific higher education scholarships of $10000 each that have been awarded to give Maori and Pacific Islanders further access to tertiary education. These scholarships have been available since 1973 but with one slash of the pen manaaki tauira and the tertiary scholarships have been terminated—or as Dr Cullen said “reallocated.” The Maori Party commends the amazing efforts of Maori in tertiary education. We recognise the vital role of all three wananga which offer opportunities to students who have been failed before—students whose success these Government members are now trying to claim as theirs; students 35000 of them who through the actions of this same Government have been condemned to be beneficiaries and dependent on the State; and students who have had the rug of hope pulled from under their feet. It is hardly progress. 
While Labour members are clapping and patting themselves on the back has anyone noticed that the Minister of Maori Affairs did not even get a bean? How will he explain that to our people? Two days ago the Minister of Maori Affairs trumpeted the promotion of rawa matauranga and whakamana as leading the way in a Maori potential framework. How hollow those words sound today because I understand that his money has been “reallocated” as well. This morning at the national hui to introduce a genuine progress index my co-leader Dr Pita Sharples predicted that the only time Maori would be represented in the Budget today would be in relation to the cutting of programmes designed to advance the interests of Maori. His words have rung true. 
We wonder about the value of community vitality. The Maori Party is committed to recognising the importance of vigorous social support networks in maintaining a quality of life. It matters to us that people are not isolated marginalised or outcast yet this Government’s Budget puts all the emphasis on the control and punishment end of the spectrum. How does this Government say it will make families feel more secure? It will spend $500 million to provide 1250 new police; $33.9 million will be dedicated to road policing; and $9.5 million will be spent to control students who cause problems or are disruptive bullying or violent with schools getting more help to tackle disruptive behaviour. This is called progress. 
But what is being done in the streets the homes and the communities of those children before they get to school? We are pleased to learn that Victim Support and family violence prevention services are getting a look in. These are both vital services for restoring a state of well-being for our families. But let us get real. The sum of $500 million is going to the police and $20 million is going to victims and families suffering from the impact of violence. It hardly adds up. 
 This Budget is about power and control at all costs with only token efforts made to actually provide the tangible support that people need to take control of their own lives. The Maori Party believes that whanau are best able to determine their own solutions and we must support them to restore their rights and responsibilities to do so. It is not about more speed cameras more paddy wagons more fingerprinting and more lock-ups. The GDP grows but the gaps that this Government claimed to want to close will only widen. Real progress will come when people become aware of the need to use their lived experiences and belief in themselves rather than when their experiences are belittled and politicians define their reality. Only those affected can make the necessary changes. 
The investment the Government should be making is in helping people to do for themselves. It should be about acknowledging volunteers who are the unsung heroes of every neighbourhood. Thousands of New Zealanders every day are asking the Government to give them a chance so they can do things for themselves; they say that if they have a problem they should be their own solution. The Government loves volunteers—people who do things for nothing—but it does not care about them because they do not grow the GDP and no one takes the time to cost their significant voluntary time. 
Taking care of ourselves is also about taking care of our natural resources so how about today’s spin rate on ecological integrity? A whopping $4.5 million will be spent over the next 3 years through Vote Environment to clean up contaminated sites. That is little more than $1 million a year to fix up 30 years’ worth of neglect at Paritutu one of the largest historical polluted sites in New Zealand and to address the contamination and the waste disposal build-up occurring at Kawerau and Maketu which was so serious that it grabbed the attention of the special rapporteur and is now part of the international literature. One million dollars is all that the restoration of those places—restoration that is needed so our children can inherit the legacy our ancestors left us—is worth to the Government. The quality of our natural resources of air water and soil and the ecological footprint we leave behind is of little consequence to the Government. We are being sold short and so is the future of this country. 
Police pollution power and pests—those are all Ps but there is no investment to help P-ridden individuals and communities. This morning the former Labour Cabinet Minister John Tamihere said on  
Morning Report 
 that this Budget would be very good for the Maori Party because of its lack of attention to Maori matters. John Tamihere is right; it does lack attention to Maori matters. He would know because he is a powerful authority on these issues. He tried to close the gaps not only though his work with the Waipareira Trust but also in his time as a Labour Minister. We think we have premier quality of life because we live longer and we have more possessions but we have so many other things that are wrong for us. Today more families are living in poverty than were so in 1998. Our natural resources are depleting and we have climate change which has been affected grossly by human behaviour. We are developing into a nation of exclusion where the poor are not able to participate but actually contribute to the economy through loan sharks and through keeping numerous bureaucrats and agency officials in jobs. 
The Maori Party looks forward to a future Budget that is about genuine progress for Aotearoa—where the gaps can be measured where the gaps no longer continue to exist and where we count not only what we have taken from the environment but also what we have left behind.