Turia Tariana: Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
Turia Tariana: Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
[Volume:663;Page:11082] 
Hon TARIANA TURIA (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 In Maoridom we say “Te po uriuri me te ao marama” which basically means “In the darkest of dark and the lightest of light”. The general concept is like the Chinese version of the yin and the yang—the need to balance and achieve a sense of equilibrium as we take a steady foot forward. It is with this sense of balance that I stand to speak to the Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill. 
The previous speaker David Parker talked about the high unemployment rate amongst Maori and Pasifika and the need for more training. Some in the room will remember that in the 1980s when we had really high unemployment our people knew what it was like to be on the “training-go-round” through access training steps programmes you name it. Did any of those young people get trained in real job skills? No they did not. Why did they not? The union movement would not allow the kind of skills training that needed to take place for those young people—training that would have given them really employable skills in the workforce—because it was afraid that by training these young people in those skills they would take jobs away from those who were working. It is one thing to get into the whole notion of Maori unemployment and talk about skills training and development but our young people want training that will get them into the workforce. They want training and education that will give them the opportunity to improve their life chances and their educational opportunities so that they will not end up always being the last on and the first off in the job market. 
I think it is really important that we had 9 years of plenty yet Maori youth unemployment rates and Pasifika youth unemployment rates were still incredibly high during those years. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: What a load of rubbish. 
Hon TARIANA TURIA 
: It is not a load of rubbish. I think it is probably a really good opportunity for those who are shouting at me in the House to go back and look at those figures. Maori youth under 24 years of age had a high unemployment rate in a time of plenty. It is manifestly evident that something is wrong with the state of the nation when we can sit back and think that really a high unemployment rate amongst young Maori people is OK. It is not OK. If we do not have those young people contributing to the economy in the way that they should be in productive work we will be in serious trouble with this ageing population so that needs to happen as quickly as possible. 
I will move off that take. Something is wrong when New Zealanders are crowding the property market and feeding their own wealth yet no new jobs are resulting from it. Something is wrong when our economy is trapped in excessive debt and cycles of long-term borrowing and business and investment confidence is declining with it. We do not want to pass on this history of unmitigated spending and debt to our young. 
We will be supporting this bill in its entirety as is the expectation of our coalition agreement with National and in doing so we will seek to promote two particular priorities throughout the passage of the debate. The first is that we want to be sure that new tax rates for companies and savings the depreciation in capital contributions the personal tax cuts and the other tax changes proposed in this bill give confidence to people to invest in businesses which can then grow and strengthen the economy and give confidence to employers to employ more people. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: You sold out your electorate. 
Hon TARIANA TURIA 
: Mr Deputy Speaker I object to the person across the House making the comment that the Maori Party has sold out. I object in the strongest terms possible. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: Is the member bringing a point of order? 
Hon TARIANA TURIA 
: Absolutely. I want an apology. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: The member has taken offence under Standing Order 116; it is a personal reflection on the member. I ask the member to withdraw that comment and apologise. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: I withdraw. I raise a point of order Mr Deputy Speaker. I think other speakers have ruled on these sorts— 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: I have ruled. The member took offence and we take her word for that. She was offended by the comment. I have ruled and that is the end of the matter. 
Hon TARIANA TURIA 
: The second priority is the vital need to guarantee that poverty will be addressed and that household income standards of living and economic performance will indeed be lifted. It is vitally important to us that we do what we can to build our economic recovery and to provide more opportunities for New Zealanders to back themselves. We need incentives in place to strengthen the economy and make a brighter future. But this is not just about the Government tipping the scales to create the balance that we need. This is also about us—about our people and our nation preparing for our future. 
If my colleague Rahui Katene were here she would talk to the House about Whai Rawa. Whai Rawa is designed to provide a base level of savings for all registered Ngai Tahu to support a culture of savings and asset building to encourage and assist Ngai Tahu w’anui to improve their financial situation and knowledge. Whai Rawa is about empowerment and giving Ngai Tahu the ability to create a better tomorrow for themselves and for their children. It is about rebuilding the savings culture that we once believed in. Maori are phenomenally thrifty people who can make a meal spread to feed a crowd. They know how to make the best of what they have in front of them. But also we are a people who focus on the future for the generations to come. In this sense although our people did not like the proposal to increase GST they are also not happy with the concept of leaving our grandchildren burdened by the heavy price of debt. 
The Maori Party entered into coalition with National with the explicit focus that we seek significant outcomes in Whanau Ora through eliminating poverty advocating for social justice and advancing Maori social cultural economic and community development in the best interests of this nation. These are ideals that we hold true to as much today as we did when we signed up to that agreement. Unlike the two major parties of this Parliament we are not afraid to say the word “poverty”. Indeed in our policy manifesto we made the explicit commitment to set a deadline to eliminate child poverty by 2020 and to designate an official poverty line. We will not resile from the challenge of preventing poverty. 
In today’s Budget an additional $1 million is being invested in Maara Kai recognising that community gardens are a key means of encouraging us to live more collectively and to live alongside one another restoring our families to being the gardeners the hunters and the gatherers that they once were. In today’s Budget we also have seen honoured one of our policy goals to raise core benefit levels. 
Over the past few months as the policy thinking around this Budget has evolved all of our MPs have hit the road taking the challenge of the tax question to our constituency. I have to say that no one in our electorates was pleased about the proposed rise but there was a general acceptance of the rationale for why we needed to support the tax changes. Primarily this issue is a condition of our coalition agreement and to that extent our constituency told us clearly that they want us to continue to have the influence that we do. But other members can understand the precarious financial position that we are in: the situation that on average New Zealanders are spending more than they earn—some 22c more than every dollar we make. 
I come back to the notion of “Te po uriuri me te ao marama”. We believe in balancing up the scales and making things spread. It is in this light that we support this bill.