Turia Tariana: Social Security (Long-term Residential Care)  Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Turia Tariana: Social Security (Long-term Residential Care)  Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:631;Page:3092] 
TARIANA TURIA (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Speaker; tena tatou te Whare. Te Ao Maori is absolutely rich with allusion and imagery that illustrate the value of our elderly. One pepeha that I am particularly fond of is: ka haere te matatahi; ka noho te matapuputu—youth rushes in where age deliberates. 
And so it is in a spirit of deliberation that I come to this bill. The Maori Party has taken time to deliberate on such an important matter as the capacity to care for our elders. Our elders provide us with our foundation our wisdom and our learning as whanau as communities and as a nation. We must cherish the contribution of those who have been tested through the trials of time and do our utmost to care for them. The care of all our whanau members must surely be at the heart of every decision made in this House as it is in every household of the nation. 
The Maori Party comes to this bill today seeking reassurance that the decisions we will be making on it will enhance the social and cultural wealth of our nation. That must be the test that is applied to every policy initiative before us. The bill deals with the issue of older people requiring indefinite long-term residential care in a rest home or a hospital. Although that is only a small proportion of our elderly population the initiatives will stand to benefit the 2 percent of tangata whenua over 65 years of age who are in rest homes and the 3 percent of tangata whenua over 65 years who are in long-term hospital care. In essence it means that if our pakeke are assessed as requiring indefinite long-term residential care in a rest home or hospital they will pay no more than the maximum contribution for care whether or not they are subsidised. 
Earlier today my colleague Dr Pita Sharples introduced to the House the notion of a genuine progress index. The economic health of the nation is reflected as much in the quality and distribution of economic growth as it is in the value we place on such activity as caring for the elderly the unwell and the disabled. The time and resources that we give to the care of whanau and to strengthening whanau members should be included in a genuine progress index for the positive outcomes they achieve. 
We are of course aware of the political promises and pledge card commitments that provide the politicians with the motive to introduce legislation such as this. The Maori Party is satisfied however that regardless of the political driver the ability of the bill to demonstrate manaakitanga to our elders is worthy of our support. The interpretation of manaakitanga is that of behaviour that acknowledges the mana of others as having equal or greater importance than one’s own. Manaakitanga is demonstrated through the respect of aroha hospitality generosity and mutual respect. The demonstration of manaakitanga elevates the status of all building unity through humility and the act of giving. In simple terms what this means is that the rewards of caring for another such as an older person requiring indefinite long-term residential care is that the act of giving will also reflect well on the person who gives. The qualities of caring kindness and generosity as a means of showing love are valued in high regard. 
Ngapuhi Chief Executive Sonny Tau told of the reflections of a German missionary who was purported to have said some 200 years ago: “These natives are a peculiar people. They don’t measure their wealth by what they own but by what they give away. We must teach them to be mean.” The Maori Party is here today to say that the concept of caring for our elderly is indeed represented by what we give away—the time and resource that we willingly share in protecting our pakeke. 
We cannot afford to be mean as a Government either as we consider the rising demographic with an increasing proportion of people living longer and subsequently likely to require care including residential care. The decisions that are set in policy to address the income and asset testing regime for older people are important ones that we support. The Maori Party is pleased that means testing is to be based on income only and not on a combination of income and the value of a person’s assets. The separation is welcomed by the Maori Party as the current legislation means that many Maori who might be cared for in rest homes could lose what little land assets they might have left. In our view this could lead to dispossession and the likely ownership of Maori land by non-Maori individuals and institutions including the Crown—and the Crown already owns enough Maori land. 
I hope that the select committee will also ensure that the issue of access to elder care takes sufficient account of the issues around work and care for those services provided by elder care nurses. Research carried out by the Wellington and Christchurch city councils a couple of years back found that about one in 10 workers are caregivers to elderly people mostly family members. If we are to be genuine in our commitment to providing a sustainable service for older people the salaries of the more than 25000 staff in rest homes and hospitals across the country would reflect that. 
One of the finalists in the 2005 Roger Awards for the worst multinational corporation operating in New Zealand was Guardian Healthcare an organisation that runs a network of rest homes around the country. Guardian Healthcare which is predicted to achieve a profit of $26 million this year last year offered its staff a pathetic 2 percent pay rise. In dollars and cents what this equated to was virtually the adult minimum wage of $10.25 an hour. How can we guarantee quality of care and sustainable health and well-being for our elderly population if the stories are true and that rest home management is scrimping on the medicine in order to make a profit? We must look again to the real profit as measured in the social health of the nation—the prosperity and progress of our families. 
I am sure that this House is very aware that yesterday was the International Day of Families. It seemed to me absolutely appropriate that on a day that the United Nations has designated as recognising the importance of supporting families a celebration was taking place in Te Arawa of an extremely rare event which was the 100th birthday of kuia Witarina Te Miriarangi Parewahaika Harris. By anybody’s accounting framework this kuia must be assessed as an absolute treasure of the nation. She starred as Princess Miro in the 1928 silent movie  
Under the Southern Cross 
 which was later released as  
The Devil’s Pit 
. She was also a soloist with her renditions of immortal waiata featured on the album  
Ko Ngati Poneke Hoki Matou  
Ngati Poneke Young Maori Club which was recorded in the 1930s. Not content with her artistic and cultural accomplishments her academic and intellectual spirit also impressed frequent visitor Sir Apirana Ngata who recruited her to work in his parliamentary office. 
This endearing kuia has continued to thrive right throughout her life even featuring in a 2004 documentary  
Homegrown 
 which described the remarkable friendship between Witarina Harris and film historian Jonathan Dennis. In 2006 she still retains her chiefly role as the kaumatua for Archives New Zealand.  
However it has not all been neon lights and film-star glory; in  
The Silent Migration 
 in 2001 Witarina recalled her experience of moving to Wellington in 1929. She said: “Sometimes I’d leave work and go to the continuous pictures at the Roxy in Manners Street and I’d cry. I used to go in there and cry and cry you know? I was so lonely. And I’d think to myself ‘Please just to see a Maori face that’s all I want to see’ ”. These silent tears speak volumes of the key critical factor in maintaining the health and well-being of this 100-year-old wonder. A couple of days ago this kuia had a few words of wisdom to share with the nation which give a context to those tears: “Kia mau te aroha i a koutou.”—“I have survived to this age because I have always known the most important thing is love within your wider whanau.” 
The Maori Party will support the Social Security (Long-term Residential Care) Amendment Bill.