Sio Hon Aupito WilliamHon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO (Minister for Pacific Peoples): I just want make a few remarks—firstly that this debate is about the 2016-2017 appropriations so by necessity we've got to look back to that year and what the previous Government did whilst they had the reins of power.The second point I want to make is that whoever it was that decided we should theme these debates around particular themes I want to acknowledge and thank them because having the theme of Māori and Pasifika and other populations and cultures is actually a really great opportunity for this committee to start debating issues that pertain to particular sectors of our society who by and large have not received the full benefits of the economy that the previous Government used to talk about.I draw attention to the previous speaker the Hon Chris Finlayson and the remarks blaming my colleague the Hon Meka Whaitiri about the dumping of Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill and his desire that that bill should have continued. The fact of the matter is that the fact that the Māori Party is no longer in this House is strong evidence—is strong evidence—that Māori by and large as represented by Meka did not believe that that bill was going to benefit Māori in the long run particularly when it pertains to land. That was about land reform and not necessarily for this discussion about how Māori as a group in Aotearoa New Zealand would benefit.I want to say that in my travels around the Pacific region but from time to time elsewhere those overseas opportunities bring to home the fact that in no other country is there Māori other than Aotearoa New Zealand. That is something that this country needs to really be proud of and we need to continue whatever work this Government is now embarking on. It is work that this House needs to back and get behind because for the last nine years of the previous Government we've found—and all I've got to do is pick up this paper and look at Māori life expectancy: low. Unemployment: low. Prison population: low. Homeownership: low.When I heard one of the Opposition members talk about how this Government was using Māori as a scapegoat I just find that offensive because the previous Government had nine long years in power and nothing has improved or very little has improved when it comes to the social and economic well-being of Māori generally.Following that close behind is the Pacific population. I know that the Pacific population—according to the Social Services and Community Committee's report that's tabled for discussion it acknowledges that the Ministry for Pacific Peoples is the single ministry that is charged with providing direction and leadership to the rest of the Government departments. But we found that in the last year the continuation of low housing ownership continued under that Government to the point where homeownership for Pacific peoples is at about 16 percent. Now once upon a time in the 1970s it was close to 40 percent. But in the last decade very little was improved and I can quote a number of figures in terms of unemployment figures in terms of life expectancy and in terms of income levels. That's the legacy of that particular Government: that for Māori and Pacific very little was improved. I would challenge that previous Government to hold up the evidence of their last nine years in particular the last year to show that there has been some improvement. If members of this committee were to get down on the streets and talk to the people in South Auckland talk to the people in Porirua talk to people in Christchurch you would find by and large the feeling amongst the Māori population and the Pacific population is that the previous Government neglected them. The previous Government was so bloody focused on—CHAIRPERSON (Poto Williams): Order!Hon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO: They were so focused on tax cuts that they didn't recognise the value of Māori and Pasifika peoples.