Davis KelvinDEBATE ON PRIME MINISTER'S STATEMENTDebate resumed from 7 March.Hon KELVIN DAVIS (Deputy Leader—Labour): Thank you Mr Speaker. In the Prime Minister's statement the first thing that he mentioned was an acknowledgment of the adverse weather events that the country has experienced over the last couple of weeks and I'd like to add my thoughts for those people who are affected by those adverse weather events in particular those whānau who are bereaved at the moment. The Prime Minister said that the Government has responded and that we will continue to respond to those weather events. Part of that response is to develop bespoke regional responses for example in the Tai Tokerau or Tai Tokerau Northland Whangārei electorates—in other words those electorates north of the Auckland super-city. Myself the Hon Willow-Jean Prime and Dr Emily Henderson—the MPs for Northland and Whangārei respectively—have traversed the length and the breadth of those electorates talking to the communities and determining what the priorities are that they would like to see from the weather event.Those priorities start off with community hauora in the first instance; transport networks; communications networks; electricity networks; water supply; managed retreats; flood mitigation; business support; security post an event; support for councils and also community safety hubs. We also have a focus on communities—what we're describing as communities at the end of the road". In other words if we can make sure that communities such as Poutoa Mitimiti Te Hāpua Rāwhiti and other small communities—literally at the end of roads—that their networks for communications transport electricity water and so on and so forth are cared for if they can emerge from the next weather event without houses being flooded then we know that our response in Tai Tokerau has been effective. I'd like to acknowledge the communities who stepped up to support during the events themselves. In particular I'd like to acknowledge our Māori communities. Now I don't know the exact figures but even though Māori make up 17 or so percent of our general population I would say that many of the responses—at least half of the responses—would have been from Māori communities and in some areas of the country close to 100 percent of the responses would have been from Māori communities. We have experience over the last couple of hundred years of being able to feed house and bathe people at the drop of a hat. In fact there was a Māori response in Dargaville that was set up within an hour where people were having food distributed food prepared they had a place to shower and their needs were being looked after. That's why I'm pretty annoyed that there was a response from one broadcaster that wasn't happy that there was a specific Māori pūtea set up. Now this is a person who's probably never set foot on a marae—certainly not stayed on a marae—probably not lifted a tea towel not peeled one potato never had to set the table for 100 people three times a day over the course of three or four days probably prepared close to 1000 meals and he begrudges there being a response to reimburse Māori and Māori communities for what they have dipped into out of their own pockets. That just I guess highlights that there is a gap between the Māori communities in New Zealand and some other communities within Aotearoa. As the Prime Minister said in his statement there's no principle more fundamental in our nation's history than working in collaboration with Māori and I say that we actually should take advantage of the skills that Māori have in terms of the manaakitanga and our straight-up practicality and ability and expertise in a crisis. It's something that should be interwoven into any response in situations such as the weather events and financial support like that expected by non-Māori groups in the same situation shouldn't be questioned or criticised or portrayed as special treatment for Māori. This is another example of what is good for Māori is good for all New Zealanders and the Māori response to the weather events was good for all. Just like the ongoing pursuit of equity as an article 3 Treaty of Waitangi promise is also good for all New Zealanders because equity in Aotearoa will mean that there are fewer Māori in hospital which means that there is more medical capacity to cater for other New Zealanders. If there are more Māori in employment—if there are more equitable outcomes for Māori in employment—that means that we will also have better social services. The more Māori in healthy homes will mean less stress on the whole system; the fewer Māori in prison it's just going to be better for all; and that more Māori get to have a say in matters that relate to our needs then the sooner the problems will be resolved. An example of how we are working as a Government with Māori is in our work with the National Iwi Chairs Forum. Now as an Opposition member of Parliament I'd attend these National Iwi Chairs Forum's quarterly meetings and I would notice that there would be random Ministers arrive to talk to the iwi chairs forum talking about random topics in their portfolios and fielding random questions about other Ministers' portfolios. So what we did instead is that when we became the Government we said every quarter we should be working towards shared priorities—shared priorities that we can report back on our progress towards. That way Māori have greater access to Ministers greater access to chief executives greater access to officials greater access to resources and we are starting to make progress on issues that relate to Māori. One hundred and eighty-three years after the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi my job as the Minister for Māori Crown Relations is to ensure that those outcomes of equity for all New Zealanders—that promise towards equity—is realised. We've made great strides towards the promise of equity with for example the Māori Health Authority Te Aka Whai Ora; three quarters of a billion dollars towards investing in Māori education Māori-medium kura kaupapa Māori; the Apprenticeship Boost that has seen 9000 Māori get apprenticeships and successive billion-dollar Budgets. We've also had another successful Waitangi Day where there has been a notable lack of conflict and I know that a number of people around the country—and particularly in media—are lamenting the lack of conflict because they say it's too boring. I say that what we're doing is creating a national day for all New Zealanders that we can all celebrate and be proud of.We've also celebrated our inaugural Matariki Day a uniquely Kiwi public holiday. All of this in the face of race baiting from certain parts of the Opposition where they see working and cooperation with Māori as portrayed as a negative. My dream by 2040 is for all New Zealanders able to cross the bridge that is their Treaty of Waitangi in both directions flicking in and out of both languages comfortable in each cultural setting and being at ease with each other and our various languages and cultures here in New Zealand. If that is to happen then this irrational fear that if Māori are doing well means other New Zealanders won't do so well will seem like some sort of historic artefact. So I'd just like to endorse again the points that the Prime Minister raised in his statement. It sets out a vision for Aotearoa over the coming year. We've got hard-working Ministers that are working hard to deliver the outcomes for all New Zealanders. Of course my particular passion is making sure that those outcomes for Māori are realised. We are yet to achieve the equity that article 3 of the Treaty did promise us and as I've said on a number of occasions and particularly in this House that Kāwanatanga—that is us as the Government—are working alongside the Māori Treaty partners and their aspirations for rangatiratanga. When we are working together that's when we'll see the magic happening. Instead what we have seen over the last 183 years is Kāwanatanga rangatiratanga bashing heads and I don't think that gets us anywhere. When the Treaty was signed the Kāwanatanga—the Government side of it—needed resources to enable them to do the things that they wanted to do and of course the resources were in the hands of Māoridom and so what we've seen from 6 February 1840 is the Government trying to acquire the resources of Māori. And they did it in not so subtle ways and that has left us in the situation that we do have where Māori don't enjoy equitable outcomes with all other new Zealanders. So I'd just like to endorse the Prime Minister's statement. Kia ora."