Turia Tariana: Budget Statement — Budget Debate 
Turia Tariana: Budget Statement — Budget Debate 
[Volume:654;Page:3950] 
Hon TARIANA TURIA (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Speaker. Tena tatou katoa. This is a significant day for the Maori Party as we consider the opportunities for tangata w’enua that emerge from this Budget. None of us were under any illusion that the economic and fiscal outlook would sustain a generous spending programme to meet every need. All of the forecasts warn us that we are heading into a deeper and more prolonged slow-down with unemployment likely to peak in the middle of next year. 
The reality of recession is felt particularly by Maori w’anau. Frankly I mihi to their resilience their ability to be collective and the way in which they support each other. In its most basic form although the Maori employment participation rate increased in the last year the rise in employment was similar to the overall employment growth and we are talking about growth of between 0.5 percent and 0.7 percent. But for unemployment the contrast is stark. We are currently sitting on unemployment rates for Maori of 9.2 percent which is over twice the annual rate for all persons of 4.5 percent. We are particularly alert to the needs of our young Maori people aged between 18 and 24 years—a group that has suffered disproportionately and consistently not just in this year 2009 but in the 10 years leading up to it. These are grim times and we must prepare for the certainty that the pressure on households will intensify. We are talking about families who have already had to adjust to a 70 percent increase in electricity costs over the last 10 years and even more staggering a 91 percent increase in petrol costs. 
This then was the setting into which the Maori Party sought to negotiate to support our people to support themselves. Our motivation was clear. We wanted to soften the hard edges of recession for Maori to protect those who would be most vulnerable to the weakness of the global market. But we wanted also to position our strategy around the wider economic development to prepare the ground for w’anau to be positioned to be part of the acceleration once the economy recovers. When our kaikaranga prepare themselves to pow’iri they will stand strong summoning all their wits about them for the solemn responsibility of their role. Me hangai to titiro ki te mahi. Kei w’ati!: Keep your focus firmly fixed on the job in case you may break or become diverted from the task. This is how we have approached 2009. We were determined to hold the line: to stay strongly attuned to the hopes and aspirations of our people to do for themselves. So we are proud that we have succeeded in safeguarding some important policies and programmes while at the same time achieving gains that will help to lay a strong foundation for the times to come. 
This Budget is a careful Budget. For the Maori Party protecting the vulnerable was an important priority in our negotiations. In the area of social services we sought to ensure that the people would benefit from accessing their full and correct entitlements while at the same time recognising our collective responsibility to keep the economy moving to keep people in jobs and to create opportunities to generate hope. We welcome the allocation of up to $40 million for community responses to the recession. In our journeys across Aotearoa we come across amazing stories about everyday entrepreneurs who are designing solutions for their own local issues. The Community Response Fund is an opportunity to support the people to devise their own answers to the needs that will inevitably flow as a result of the economic downturn. The investment in infrastructure is another open door for our people. The $7.5 billion is a create-work scheme on a massive scale. It is a scheme that will result in the construction of major projects and in the longer term will contribute to the lifting of economic growth. 
Our approach to Budget 2009 was also developed around holding the line on w’anau ora. There is nothing of more importance than thinking of the families who inspire us to build this nation in a way that takes their well-being into account. We celebrate the Healthy Homes approach that has been achieved. We are delighted that the Warm Homes standard has been demonstrated with $323 million allocated to insulate and heat homes built before 2000. We will ensure that our people benefit from that. We are proud of the commitments made in allocating $12 million over the next 2 years for the Rural Housing programme as well as the investment opportunities signalled in the Housing Innovation Fund. These are two areas where Labour failed our people miserably. This morning I met with a small but devoted group of women who have pioneered the Ngai Tai housing project alongside of the Torere and Districts Families Credit Union. Their approach was purely and simply that by working together and sharing the load they were able to build their homes one w’anau at a time. Twenty-one homes later they are now able not only to claim a shelter for their community but to share the success stories of 18 of their families enjoying full-time employment and the pathway to further education. That is a real celebration. 
This is exactly what we mean by self-determination: creating the destiny that we aspire towards. Within this Budget we are also really pleased that almost $70 million has enabled our ko’anga reo and playcentres to benefit from the expansion of the 20 hours’ free early childhood education initiative. Our policy priority has always been to boost participation in early childhood education for Maori who have traditionally had low participation rates so this is a big gain for us. Then we have the $20 million to extend the kotahitanga programme in schools to ensure that teachers are equipped with the skills and strategies to ensure Maori reach their full potential. Holding the line is also about creating the best economic framework to plan for Maori prosperity across cultural and tribal assets. We are really pleased with the additional $4.5 million that will enable w’anau Maori every opportunity to access te reo Maori in their own homes. We are glad that there is putea put aside to support iwi radio in meeting its operational costs. 
This Budget brings with it some $22 million devoted to speeding up the process and reducing the time it takes to settle Treaty claims. We know that streamlining the process is a clear mechanism to achieve the enduring reconciliation between iwi hapu and the Crown that our tupuna believed was possible when they signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We acknowledge the close working relationship we have enjoyed with the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations and we are especially positive about the opportunities for involving independent facilitators and the support for promoting chief-to-chief negotiations—both policies that we brought into the relationship with the National Government. That relationship has been one that has been the road least travelled but a road nevertheless on which we have been able to walk together in a way that has respected the concept of a mana-enhancing relationship. We have always maintained that every issue is a Maori issue. We know that if the Budget does not work for Maori then it is not a good Budget for New Zealand; and conversely initiatives that may appear to promote tangata w’enua interests are also about promoting the unique and distinctive identity of Aotearoa. 
So in this 2009 Budget we can see the influence of the Maori Party right across the Government including gains achieved in our ministerial positions. The Maori affairs appropriation has managed to survive largely intact despite the rigours of close scrutiny for savings. In my portfolios I am pleased that more than $11 million has been set aside to support those unsung heroes in our community—the informal carers—the people who support an ill disabled or frail aged family member. I am proud too of the support that will enable stronger engagement amongst local communities. This is what it is all about—he tangata he tangata he tangata.