Turia Tariana: General Debate 
Turia Tariana: General Debate 
[Volume:653;Page:2309] 
Hon TARIANA TURIA (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Tena koutou katoa. It gives me great pleasure to follow Hekia Parata and the great speech that she has just presented to the House. I do not want to talk about tax cuts and those things important though they are. I am far more interested in investing in our young people and I will talk about young people. 
The former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan once said: “No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime. Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts off from its youth severs its lifeline.” We can help our young people evolve into future leaders exemplary citizens and devoted parents—the shapers and thinkers of tomorrow. We must as a moral obligation to the future generations invest well in youth potential and create the positive opportunities that will encourage them to demonstrate leadership as a matter of course. 
I recently shared in the celebrations of a youth centre in Wellington called Evolve. It is a one-stop health shop employing doctors and nurses—great people doing a great job. The youth support worker for that organisation Josh Briggs had just been honoured with a World of Difference award and the difference that he and Evolve have made to the lives of the young people they work with was absolutely evidenced. They had created an innovative activity space with everything from kick-boxing yoga movie-making dance creative writing and employment skills with art and music therapists and even a Narcotics Anonymous. 
It seems to me that the youth health services—the one-stop shops like Evolve—are exactly the types of programme we need to invest in to nurture the future potential of our young. Another programme I have been really excited by is Nga Kanohi Marae o Wairarapa which the previous Minister of Maori Affairs Parekura Horomia will be well aware of. This project is supported by 11 marae in Wairarapa and I am telling the House that to get that level of support from all of the marae in the rohe is pretty significant by itself. Their whole focus is on developing opportunities for the people of Wairarapa by developing marae as centres of potential. 
They started off with a couple of goals in mind. One goal was to teach their rangatahi the trade skills they wanted to learn and the other goal was to upgrade and maintain their marae facilities. The programme therefore allows youth to be taught trade skills while undertaking maintenance and development work on the marae. The programme targets primarily youth of 16 years. It is fee-free and based around the whare tapawha concept of holistic wellness. As well as building construction and allied trade skills there are cultural and life skills such as te reo waiata haka whakapapa tikanga kawa Te Tiriti o Waitangi computer training numeracy and literacy to mention but a few. 
I want to draw attention to these two initiatives because I think they demonstrate the type of investment that will lead our young people onwards to be fully rounded global citizens. I contrast that with a decision that was made just before Christmas to cut an alcohol and drug rehabilitation centre in the Waikato. I received an email from a researcher shortly after that decision and I want to share it with the House: “I have seen met and talked with youth that go through the services of Rongo Atea. Our youth have the right to have access to support that will understand their world view and empower them to move forward. There are three things that I wish for my children and all of our children: Health Happiness and a world to live in that accepts them as the precious taonga that they are.” 
Rongo Atea provided specialised mental health services for youth children and their families within the context of comprehensive community-based mental health services. The community that Rongo Atea served was absolutely aghast when the decision was made that Rongo Atea alongside six other community-based child youth and adolescent services—which included Parentline—within Hamilton City would be cut; that the community that was in effect supporting their young people was being turned away. 
I return to the thought that a community that cuts off its youth severs its lifeline. We spend so much time in this House talking about how to get tough and how to exert control and discipline over our young. Why not do something new? We must be positive. We must actually give opportunities and we must invest in the potential of youth. It is a challenge that I am willing to live up to.