Flavell Te UruroaHon TE URUROA FLAVELL (Minister for Māori Development): Kia ora tātau katoa i tēnei ahiahi ka mihi rā ki a tātau katoa i tēnei rā. Ko te wāhi tuatahi he tautoko ake i te kōrero a te hōnore mema o Te Tai Tokerau me tana mihi ki Te Minita mō ngā Take Tiriti. E tika ana tāna; ko ia tērā i āki nei i ngā kerēme kia eke ki te taumata e tika ana kai te tautoko i tana kōrero mō te āhuatanga o te pire mō Te Awa Tipua. He mea hou tērā te whaiwhai haere nā te āhuatanga o te pire mō Ngāi Tūhoe ko Te Urewera tērā. Nō reira e mihi ana ki te āhuatanga o te kupu kōrero i puta i tērā o ngā mema ki Te Minita. E rima pea ngā pou i whakairia e au ki mua i te aroaro o Te Motu i raro i tōku parirau ā-Minita nei. Ko ērā pou tuatahi ko te whānau; tuarua ko ngā take whare; tuatoru ko te whakapapa; tuawhā ko te whenua; tuarima ko te whakawhanaketanga. Nā me whai wāhi au ki te kōrero mō ētahi o ēnei take i tēnei wā tonu nei tuatahi ko Whānau Ora.He pai tonu ki a au te kōrero a Kelvin Davis me tana whakaae mai ki te āhuatanga o Whānau Ora. Ko Whānau Ora i tipu ake ai i roto i ngā hiahia o Te Ao Māori me te kī ka taea e tātau Te Ao Māori te whakatikatika i ngā uauatanga ka pā mai ki a tātau ā haere ake nei haere ake nei. Nō reira ko te painga ake o Whānau Ora te tikanga ia ka puta ngā painga o roto i te hauora o roto i ngā take mātauranga ā whai mahi ērā āhuatanga katoa. Nō reira e rata ana ki a au ki te kōrero! He painga anō rā kua puta i a Whānau Ora ka mutu kua kite au. Kua kite ēnei karu i te painga i roto i ngā hapori katoa o Te Motu Taumarunui mai Kaitāia mai Kawerau mai i te mea kua riro mā ngā mea e mōhio nei ki ērā hapori ki te toro atu i te ringa āwhina ki tēnā ki tēnā ki tēnā. E ai ki ngā commissioning agencies tae rā anō ki te mutunga o te tau kua hipa ake rahi ake i te 10500 whānau me kī kua whiwhi i ngā painga nā runga i te āhuatanga o Whānau Ora. Nō reira tērā tērā!Ka rua ko ētahi kua pātai i te pātai ā he painga anō rā o Whānau Ora mō te whānau Pākehā? Ko tāku ko te kī atu ē āe! E tika ana! He nui ngā painga o Whānau Ora ki ngā whānau Pākehā ēhara i Te Māori rānei. E ai ki ngā tatauranga 16 paihēneti ō roto o Tāmaki-makau-rau ēhara i Te Māori nō reira ka whai wāhi ngā non-Māori ki te whiwhi i ngā painga o Whānau Ora Nō reira inā kē ngā painga o Whānau Ora kaua mō Te Māori i tōna kotahi ēngari mō Te Motu.Me huri atu rā i tēnei wā me kī kua whakarahi ake i te pūtea mō Whānau Ora ka mutu mā te $90 miriona i ngā rua Pūtea kua hipa ake nei. Ka mutu $5 miriona i te tau kua hipa ake i tukuna atu ai ki ngā ringa āwhina arā ki ngā navigators i Te Motu. Ko te painga ake pēnā i tāku i kī nei koirā te hunga ō roto i ngā hapori e mōhio nei ki tēnā ki tēnā ki tēnā ka mutu e taea ana e tēnā e tēnā e tēnā ā kia āwhinatia mai ai e ngā navigators.Me huri rā ki ngā kaupapa whare i nāianei. Ka mutu i ngā rā tata kua hipa ake i pāohotia atu ko tētahi pūtea anō rā i tēnei tau tonu nei mō ngā take whare. E tika ana tā Kelvin Davis ā ko ngā take whare he kaupapa nui whakaharahara tērā. Mēnā e mahana ana te whare e mā ana te whare ērā kaupapa katoa mā reira ka taea te tautoko i ngā whānau e rongo nei i ngā uauatanga. Nō reira ko te kaupapa nui ki a au o tēnei kaupapa o ngā whare ko ngā tamariki ko ngā tamariki i te mea ka raruraru ngā tamariki ka pā ki te māuiui ē kua raruraru katoa te whānau. Nō reira mai i te wā i whakarewahia ko te Māori Housing Network i te tau 2015 kua āwhinatia mai ai ko ngā whānau 140 Māori nei i roto i ngā hapori katoa o Te Motu nō reira kai te tino harikoa te ngākau ka mutu i roto i ngā hapori pakupaku pēnei i a Ngāruawāhia ā kua whai wāhi anō hoki ahau otirā ko taku tari a Te Puni Kōkiri ki te āwhina i tērā momo hunga. Kua kite au i te pōhara nei i te pirau nei o ētahi o ngā whānau e noho nei i te takiwā i roto i Te Tai Tokerau i roto i ngā takiwā katoa o Te Motu. Nō reira i ngana nei Te Puni Kōkiri ki te tohatoha i ētahi moni ki te āwhina i a rātau; I te tau kua hipa ake $10 miriona i tohatohaina kaua ko te $15 ēngari he pūtea tonu tukuna ki uta ki tai ki te āwhina i te hunga e rongo nei i te uauatanga.[Thank you to us all this afternoon and acknowledgments on this day. The first thing for me is to endorse the contribution of the honourable member of Te Tai Tokerau and his tribute to the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations. He is right; it was that Minister who urged the claims along to reach the appropriate level. I endorse his statement in regard to the situation of the bill for Te Awa Tipua. Following up is a new thing in regard to the situation about the bill for Ngāi Tūhoe which is the Urewera one. Therefore I commend the nature of the statement uttered by that one of the members to the Minister. Under this ministerial wing of mine there were five pillars perhaps that I hung up before the nation. Those pillars were firstly about family secondly about housing matters thirdly about genealogy fourthly about land and fifthly about development. I have an opportunity right now to comment on some of these matters and firstly Whānau Ora.Kelvin Davis' contribution and his approval of the situation relating to Whānau Ora were really good to me. It emerged from within Māoridom's aspirations which stated that we of Māoridom can rectify difficulties relating to us that crop up repeatedly. So traditionally the good things about Whānau Ora are the benefits that grow from within health and educational matters job opportunities and from all of those situations. So I warm to the talk! There is indeed a gain that has come out of Whānau Ora furthermore I have seen it. These eyes of mine have seen the benefit in all the communities of the nation from Taumarunui Kaitāia and Kawerau because the responsibility to extend a helping hand to that one that one and that one has gone to those ones who really know the situation in those communities. According to commissioning agencies right up to the end of the year just past more than 10500 families shall we say have received benefits based on the Whānau Ora situation. And so that is that one!Secondly some have asked the question does Whānau Ora have any benefits for the Pākehā family? I say emphatically yes! It is true! Whānau Ora has many benefits for Pākehā families or those who are not Māori either. According to the statistics 16 percent within Auckland are not Māori so non-Māori have an opportunity to receive Whānau Ora benefits. Therefore there are many many Whānau Ora benefits that are not just for Māori alone but for the nation.Let us turn at this point in time shall we say to funding for Whānau Ora that has been increased and furthermore by $90 million during the two Budgets just past. What is more a further $5 million was granted in the year just past to helping hands in other words to nationwide navigators. The real gain as I alluded to earlier are the ones within communities who really know who that one that one and that one are within those communities who should get assistance from navigators.Let us turn now to housing matters. Furthermore in days just past a further fund for Whānau Ora was announced only this year for housing matters. Kelvin Davis is correct in that those housing matters are critical and important ones. If the house and all those matters are warm and clean then the support for families experiencing these difficulties will be possible. Therefore children are the most important matter for me in regard to housing issues because if they have issues if they become sick and then hey the entire family is in trouble. So from the time the Māori Housing Network was launched in 2015 140 Māori families here were assisted in all communities of the nation so the heart is elated and as well as that in the smaller communities like Ngāruawāhia I have also had the opportunity in conjunction with my department Te Puni Kōkiri to assist that type. I have witnessed this impoverishment and defeat experienced by some of the families in the region in the North and in all regions of the nation. Therefore Te Puni Kōkiri has attempted to distribute some money to help them—$10 million was distributed in the past year not $15 million but a fund all the same was released to the interior and to the coast to assist those experiencing difficulties.]I am telling the Committee that the Māori Housing Network was able to support through our repairs projects about 379 whānau in areas of high deprivation which is basically on the back of comments made by the honourable member for Te Tai Tokerau. We have been able to build 63 new affordable houses mostly affordable rentals for whānau but owned by Māori collectives. We have been able to support whānau with infrastructure—that is roading connectivity to water and to sewerage—about 176 new homes in that regard—and 36 capability building projects including papakāinga feasibility projects and 62 initiatives to increase whānau knowledge about housing. All of that is important because what we have found is ka noho tonu ētahi o ngā whānau Māori i te kore mōhio ki te āhuatanga o ngā uauatanga ka pā ki a rātau [some Māori families remain oblivious to the nature of the difficulties that affect them].They are finding that there are difficulties in dealing with banks and dealing with all the things that go with housing projects and so on and the development of that.In answer to the member's question in respect of electoral participation I can tell him that the money will be going out. There will be two parts to the equation. One will be a little bit of support to the Electoral Commission to get in and amongst Māori communities. Secondly there will very much be a focus on rangatahi from about the ages of 18 to 34 from memory and there will also be a part in certain communities for those who have contacts in the Māori communities to be a part of that project and therefore roll it out in a way that is appropriate for them. So it should not be coming over the top with what sometimes some of us might say is adult-speak and giving it to rangatahi. It just will not work. We have got to have those who are able to make the connections in the communities to get our people to participate in the election process. I understand his concern but I can say that there is information available I hope on the Te Puni Kōkiri website in respect of the rolling-out of that particular project. If not now it will be in the very near future. It is about increasing the Māori participation in the electoral process.I have been really pleased with how Te Puni Kōkiri has reacted to some of the challenges that it has faced. Having secured the money the direction from me as Minister has been to ensure that the money that we have secured—hard fought for—in discussions with the Minister of Finance must be rolled out into communities. That is to say it will not necessarily be out the door straight away but it is certainly committed within the financial year in which it has been secured. That way we can always look to firstly ensuring that the money that we secure is well spent and then secondly that we can look towards building on the progress that has been made over time. That has been borne out by way of the progress made with Whānau Ora—and there is more money in that space heading that way—but also in terms of the housing projects.Of course in the language development kua tino harikoa i te mea kua eke Te Mātāwai ki tōna taumata [I am very delighted because Te Mātāwai has reached its summit].We have been really pleased with the development as slow as it has been for my liking. Nevertheless it is appropriate under the circumstances as a new organisation just to bed in and get itself right and now we are looking towards the join-up of having Te Maihi Karauna Te Maihi Māori na kia noho tahi ki te tēpu kotahi ki reira kōrero ai i ngā take [the Crown and Māori strategy to sit there together at the table to discuss the causes].In terms of whenua of course we should not be discussing ture whenua in this debate because we have not in some senses completed that debate fully but that will be for another time. But in a whakawhanaketanga area it is true that He Kai Kei Āku Ringa does have a direct input into Māori communities. I am really pleased with the fact that very shortly we will be relaunching He Kai Kei Āku Ringa probably in front of one rugby game that is happening in the near future whereby we will re-present He Kai Kei Āku Ringa as the Māori economic strategy. That is all in front of us.Hon Trevor Mallard: I've got my tickets.Hon TE URUROA FLAVELL: Ha ha! Good on you. I am happy for you. I have not got any yet but anyway be that as it may that will be some real progress in Māori economic development.