Jackson WillieHon WILLIE JACKSON (Minister of Employment): Tuatahi e tika ana ki te tautoko ngā mihi ki tō tātou rangatira kātahi anō kua hinga nō reira e te pāpā John moe mai moe mai moe mai rā. Ā ka nui tēnā. Ki a koutou o te Whare tēnei te mihi ki a koutou tēnā koutou.[Firstly it is appropriate that I echo the acknowledgments to our chief who has recently passed away therefore esteemed sir John rest in peace. I now conclude paying my respects. To those of you in the House greetings one and all.]It's with great pleasure that I rise to speak about this Budget. I want to congratulate our Minister of Finance for delivering a measured but successful Budget that has set up a foundation for this Government going forward.I want to congratulate him too for delivering for Māori because Māori have got more funding from this Budget more than any other Budget in the history of Budgets in this Parliament. Fantastic—despite the nonsense and rubbish that's come from the Opposition and their mates who we successfully got rid of in the last election.As the Minister of Employment I'm particularly pleased that I've got a bit more pūtea for our people. I've been administering this Poutama Rangatahi scheme for our neets" people our young ones who are a bit lost in the Shane Jones area of the North his nephews and on the East Coast Ngāti Porou our nephews who are wandering around—some of them too many of them sitting on the couches as Minister Jones would say. But we've got a bit of a pūtea in place where we can get in with the community and organise them and get them on a road back to life. I've got that funding now successfully built into the cities. It's an urban fund of $14 million and I thank the Minister of Finance for that and of course the Minister for Māori Development Nanaia Mahuta because the funding came in under that portfolio.At the last election I was the campaign manager for our Māori caucus and we ran a campaign based on bread-and-butter issues. We didn't run a campaign like the Opposition did with their mates based on the foreshore and seabed and the water and tino rangatiratanga and every other kaupapa. We ran a campaign based on need—based on need. When you have your people sleeping in cars and when you have your people freezing in their homes and when you have your people hungry—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order! Not me.Hon WILLIE JACKSON: My apologies Madam Assistant Speaker.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Thank you.Hon WILLIE JACKSON: My Apologies. I need to get that right. I've only been here four years. But thank you Madam Assistant Speaker.When a Government sees this happening and that was a legacy of the last Government and their mates from that other party you have to invest where the need is. You can't worry about—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order!Hon WILLIE JACKSON: Sorry. I did that again Madam Assistant Speaker. We can't worry about who owns the water not at this stage. We've got to worry about the basics the bread-and-butter issues. We can't worry about Te Puni Kōkiri going down a few dollars as my good colleague Kiri Allan said. You've got to worry about the basics. We ran a bread-and-butter campaign and that's what our people wanted that's what our people got and that's what they're getting in this Budget.So we don't accept any nonsensical criticism from the Leader of the Opposition who wouldn't have a clue about Māori things who said that we let Māori down. Māori are celebrating Shane Jones says that—more Māori are benefiting in the regions than anywhere else. They're benefiting off our rangatahi schemes. We can't go down this nonsensical track that the Opposition talk about when homelessness reached an all-time high—an all-time high. That's a fact. Māori homeownership rates are at the lowest level they've ever been—that's a record. Frankly the previous Government should be ashamed of the state of affairs that they left things in.Thanks to this Budget now we have $1.2 billion—$1.2 billion—going directly into Māori people's pockets. When did that last happen? There is $250 million going in terms of the accommodation supplement which will have a huge impact in terms of Māori and the winter energy payment is another great benefit to our whānau. That's what matters. That's what matters. So when we talk about targeted and universal funding and we hear nonsense from the other side "Oh the Māori Party got $120 million and you only got $57 million." while they were selling off State rentals while they had the dirty rotten filthy Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill while our people at kōhanga reo were not getting equity while they were going to expand on oil and gas—it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It's all peanuts. What matters is the big stuff. The Opposition does not understand things Māori and the Māori Party doesn't understand things Māori. Understand where your people are at before you say "We got $120 million and you only got $57 million so that makes us more successful than you!"ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order!Hon WILLIE JACKSON: Sorry I'm talking about what they're saying.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): I know that. However can I just encourage you to not use the word "you" because that brings me into the debate. Thank you.Hon WILLIE JACKSON: Yes. I do understand that Madam Assistant Speaker. But I'm just trying to—and my apologies again. But I'm trying to replicate this nonsensical analysis that we're getting in the media from idiots who would have us believe that they are so successful because they got their measly $120 million while the whole world was falling down—the Māori world was falling down. Our kids are killing themselves in record numbers homelessness is at a record high our young Māori are in the regions wandering around doing nothing—but they got a $120 million. It's just nonsense.Māori development is more than just targeted funding which is important—don't get me wrong. Don't get me wrong. We support our Māori groups our Māori organisations. For goodness' sake I was a CEO of one for many years and I chaired many Māori organisations. But the reality is most Māori sadly are not part of our Māori organisations. Most Māori don't speak Māori. Most Māori kids go to mainstream schools. This is the reality for Te Ao Māori.So for this Budget the Māori caucus has invested in the greater good—invested in the greater good. We've said "We are with our party we're with Grant Robertson. We're with our Pākehā and Pacific and Indian and Asian—and who else have we got in our party? Pasifika. We're with all our groups. We're in it. We're for the greater good." We could have got greedy and got $121 million in terms of targeted funding but no. We said "We're here for the greater good." So stop the rubbish from the other side. I am getting sick of this simplistic analysis about who did well and who didn't do well. We did well. We are putting real money into the pockets of whānau: $14.5 million into Te Reo Māori $250 million into households accommodation allowances winter allowances—what part of that does the Opposition not understand? What part of that don't you understand? This is a Government that cares about Māori; that doesn't patronise Māori the way the previous Government did with the Māori party. We believe in Māori. Most of the Opposition wouldn't know a Māori if you fell over one. There were only two in the last Government for goodness' sake!So I say well done. Well done for the positives that we're doing: $1.2 billion going into the pockets of Māori. Again they wouldn't know; they don't know any Māori. The only Māori they know are the ones who they're looking at across here in Government. And I'm saying to Grant Robertson "Thank you Grant. Thank you for what you've done." We know that our providers will take this because they're making a contribution in terms of this country. We're here for the greater good. The Māori caucus is here for the greater good unlike the Opposition over there who wouldn't know a Māori if they fell over one—no they wouldn't. We know going forward that the foundation has been put in place for a better New Zealand for everyone.I say to our people out there believe in this Māori caucus—our 13 people who are making a great contribution with the greater caucus in Labour. It's a special partnership. It's not a patronising relationship like the last Government had with the Māori Party. It's a real relationship a partnership that'll go forward—one that our Prime Minister supports one that the Minister of Finance supports—and we're looking good for the next Budget come 2019. Nō reira kia ora koutou.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): I understand this is a split call?Andrew Bayly: Yes that's right Madam Assistant Speaker.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Andrew Bayly you have five minutes."