Sharples Pita: Budget Statement — Budget Debate 
Sharples Pita: Budget Statement — Budget Debate 
[Volume:672;Page:18878] 
Hon Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Speaker. Tena tatou e te Whare nei. The much anticipated “zero Budget” was always going to be difficult for the Maori Party. Our relationship and confidence and supply agreement with National binds us to support Budget measures that we may or may not like or agree with. 
This Government came to power as an economic crisis rocked the world but over the last 3 months the exceptional circumstances of the Canterbury earthquakes and the Pike River disaster have made the sharp edges even more precarious. An economic recession always has the most direct impact on those who are already worst off so many families who are on low incomes in casual or unskilled work or unemployed and who have dependants are hit first and hit hardest. On top of that any Budget cuts to restore the national economy will have the greatest effect on those who are the most dependent on Government support. 
Many are Maori and our philosophy of whanaungatanga requires us to support and advocate for them. But the Maori Party stands on our kaupapa Maori for all New Zealanders. Manaakitanga and kotahitanga demand that we give priority to te pani me te rawa kore—the alienated and the dispossessed. These are values handed down by our ancestors that continue to define us as tangata whenua and as Maori. We also look to our tikanga tuku iho for solutions to entrenched social and economic problems. The challenge for all of us can be expressed this way: whaia te rangatiratanga—seek control of one’s own destiny. That is what drove the Maori Party to enter Parliament and that is what the Maori Party is looking for in this Budget. 
We see rangatiratanga in the Maori education budget. Education for Maori is the way we maintain our language and cultural heritage and pass it on to future generations. But education is also the critical pathway out of the poverty trap. It enables individuals and families to seize the chance to learn new skills gain new experiences support their families and make greater contributions to their communities. New Zealand’s education system has a responsibility to deliver education that nurtures the identity language and culture of Maori learners. This Budget delivers $60 million over the next 3 years to build more kura kaupapa Maori. It provides $3 million of new money over 3 years to support development of a new Maori curriculum and resources. There is $9 million over 4 years to support iwi to develop school and community-based Maori language learning and at long last kura kaupapa Maori get the same support for school transport as other schools with the allocation of $8 million in this Budget. Yo! There is also $6.5 million so that all—all—decile 1 decile 2 and decile 3 primary schools can run family-based literacy programmes. We have piloted these programmes in South Auckland and west Auckland. They are successful and involve all the family. There is $17 million over 4 years so that another 20 schools can take up the Kotahitanga teacher-training programme. Kotahitanga helps staff to become more aware of how cultural differences influence their effectiveness as teachers. So even in tough times this Government is maintaining an investment in our future as a Treaty-based nation through this education budget. 
In the Maori Affairs vote we have given priority to three areas hei whai i te rangatiratanga: Whanau Ora te reo Maori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the constitution. The sum of $30 million over 4 years for Whanau Ora will maintain the momentum of this radical approach to Government service delivery. This has been pioneered and driven forward by my colleague Tariana Turia. Whanau-centred services will be expanded into new areas and are to be served by eight new provider collectives. Whanau Ora calls for an integrated approach requiring agencies to coordinate and collaborate and thus it promises efficiencies in service delivery. But the real promise of Whanau Ora is that it empowers whanau to take control of their destiny by taking responsibility for their situation. So instead of whanau being further disempowered by Government agencies telling them how to live their lives services are tailored to support the family to deal with the key issues as they see them. With whanau themselves getting into the driving seat support services will be more effective. As whanau achieve rangatiratanga the need for ongoing Government support diminishes. 
Also in the Maori Affairs budget we have found $2 million to maintain community language initiatives while we follow through on  
Te Reo Mauriora 
—a report that charted a clear direction for revitalising te reo Maori. Te Paepae Motuhake the independent panellists who wrote the report were quite clear that whanau themselves must take the primary responsibility for speaking Maori at home. The role of the Government is to support. With this Budget we continue to do that while we develop a new Maori language strategy. 
Another $2 million has been found to engage the nation in a discussion on New Zealand’s constitution. This is of great importance to Maori because one of the issues on the table will be the place of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in our constitution. 
Finally I must mention the settlement of a longstanding land issue near Taumarunui with an appropriation of $250000 to Karanga Te Kere trustees. This compensates them for not having been included in earlier settlements of injustices resulting from perpetual leases imposed on Maori lands. 
There were areas we needed to respond to which were in urgent need of attention. I am thinking of the $12 million my colleague Tariana Turia has secured for addressing the blight of rheumatic fever and the reallocation of $11 million in the family violence field to focus on those who most need frontline services for families in crisis. Meanwhile this Government is following through on the work of the Maori Economic Taskforce by establishing an independent panel to develop a Maori economic strategy. Iwi and Maori groups are actively involved in infrastructure development such as Nga Pu Waea in the Rural Broadband Initiative and in environmental protection—for example freshwater rights and management and the emissions trading scheme. Treaty settlements continue apace. Iwi are looking for opportunities to invest in public-private partnerships and in exporting new products to new markets. So much has happened over the past 3 years. 
The Maori Party has been able to secure many gains and to avoid some losses by sitting at the Government table and engaging with the issue through face to face debates. Kanohi ki te kanohi i te tepu we have been able to achieve these gains. There will be measures in this Budget that disappoint us and that our supporters will oppose but we must not lose sight of the significant gains we see here too. The Maori Party’s manifesto at the last election called for the Government to borrow prudently to protect vulnerable citizens from the worst impacts of the economic recession and we believe that the Government has done that. Things could have been a lot worse. Looking at this Budget we remain convinced that maintaining a working relationship within Government is in the long-term interests of our constituents. The Maori Party will support this Budget.