Henare Tau: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Henare Tau: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:648;Page:16897] 
12.  
Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
 to the  
Minister of Maori Affairs 
: Did Te Puni Kokiri approve a grant of $1.56 million to Te Runanga o Ngati Porou? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Minister of Maori Affairs) 
: 
 An investment of $1.56 million from 2007 to 2010 over that period of time was approved by Te Puni Kokiri to Te Runanga o Ngati Porou to support iwi aspirations in governance education and economic development. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: How much of the $1.56 million that he approved in the lead-up to a general election when he is facing a stiff challenge from the Maori Party was to design and implement a hapu success strategy to enable Ngati Porou hapu to determine their own definition of success and achievement as opposed to the definition of success and achievement in Webster’s dictionary? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: It is great to be a Maori who has a seat to run in. I tell that member quite clearly that—surprise surprise—on the back of today’s great celebration by Maori a lot of Maori iwi have been doing that for the last 8 to 9 years; we have been doing the co-production with other iwi. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I know the Standing Orders say that Ministers can pretty much say anything in addressing a question. I am not asking you to ask the Minister to answer the question but I find it really difficult to figure out how the answer that he gave has any relevance to what I asked. It did not address anything in my question whatsoever. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: I understand the member’s point. The member constantly raises this. I understand the Standing Orders as he quite rightly said require the Minister only to address the question. The Minister did address the question. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: How much of the— 
R Doug Woolerton 
: It’s a dumb question; that’s the problem. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: I see the old man is starting up again. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Please be seated. Interjections invite other interjections and when a member is asking a question they are likely to lead to disorder. The member is quite right and I should have pointed that out because I know at times not only that member but others are frustrated about the answers. But often the answers do reflect the questions and if members listen to the questions carefully as I must then they will see that the answers have an understanding there. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: How much of the $1.56 million that he gave to his own iwi in the lead-up to a general election when he is facing a strong challenge from Derek Fox was to “conduct surveys into the development of a participatory co-production planning and evaluation framework”; and can he tell us what the surveys into the development of a participatory co-production planning and evaluation framework actually asked people? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: There was a jumble in those questions but can I say this: a hapu-based curriculum framework has been developed to support Ngati Porou to identify in education. This has been promoted across early childhood education schools and the tertiary sector. A business incubator has been developed career plans and pathways for rangatahi are being developed and opportunities to improve information and communications technology skills amongst one of the iwi that I belong to Ngati Porou have been established. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Is it correct that the Auditor-General could not find evidence that outputs were met and how does this give the public confidence that he did not just spend over $1.5 million of taxpayers’ money in a vain attempt to help him cling to his seat in Parliament? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: I understand that the contract has been extended and certainly all those deliverables that were missed have been met. I tell that member also that in relation to co-production from late 2006 to 2007 we have done contracts with Te Runanga o Ngati Whatua which I think that member may be a member of Te Runanga o Taranaki Whanui Development Ngati Awa Te Tai Tokerau Iwi Chief Executives Consortium which that member is a member of and Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu a tribe of which I am also a member. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Can the Minister confirm that in relation to his giving his own iwi over $1.5 million just before an election to help fight off the Maori Party his own ministry Te Puni Kokiri identified in writing a risk that people might not understand the intent of the grant; and why did Te Puni Kokiri feel the need to commit such a warning to the Minister in writing? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: I would be pleased to get that writing from the member and I will discuss it with Te Puni Kokiri. I say to that member “shame on him” for leaning on genealogical ties because when I was a senior public servant I used to make grants to my other relations the Rutherfords and the Buntings in South Canterbury. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Please be seated. It is very difficult to hear. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. It was not me who suggested I was from some other iwi. I know where I am from. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: That is all right. That is not a point of order. 
Hon Jim Anderton 
: Can the Minister confirm that in 1999 when this Government came to office the GDP growth for the East Coast of the North Island was minus 12 percent and now with Maori engaged and economically successful due to the policies of this Government the East Coast of the North Island is amongst the fastest-growing regions in the country? 
Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith 
: You just made that up then Jim didn’t you? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: No it is not made up. That is the truth. The production that has come off Maori assets has gone up by 62 percent. When we came into Government the unemployment rate in Tai Rawhiti was tracking at 28 percent—28 percent I say to Tau! Now it is tracking at just over 5 percent. Wake up! 
Hon Tau Henare 
: I seek leave to table the jumble that the Minister talked about in the monitoring report. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House. 
Hon Annette King 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I do not know whether you could hear it but we have had nothing but a barrage of comment and abuse from Gerry Brownlee right through the Minister trying to answer that question. I found it offensive. Also he was trying to break up the Minister’s answer. I believe that he as shadow Leader of the House for the National Party ought to take a lot more care in his behaviour. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: The barrage to try to prevent the Minister from being heard was apparent again and that happens from time to time in this House. I ask members please to respect other members. Everyone has a right to be heard. Freedom of speech is in fact observed in this House and denying people the right to be heard is denying them their freedom of speech. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. Certainly members in this House have a right to speak freely but other members in this House have a right to know what those members are saying. Frankly very few of us could find anything intelligible in anything that Minister just said. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: If the Minister could have been heard in silence then maybe what he was saying would be better understood.