Mahuta Nanaia: Budget Debate 
Mahuta Nanaia: Budget Debate 
[Volume:663;Page:11312] 
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Hauraki-Waikato) 
: 
 If Chris Tremain truly believed what he said then why are Maori constituents in his electorate not going up to him in droves patting him on the back and saying that this is a great Budget? I will tell members why they are not doing that. It is because 73 percent of people in the member’s electorate earn under $40000 and they will not benefit from any of the tax cuts he has talked about. National’s Budget will hurt Maori it will hurt low-income whanau it will hurt families with children and it will hurt young people. 
This is indeed a Budget of broken promises. It is not a Budget that delivers to the vast majority of people in Hauraki-Waikato where 73 percent of people earn under $40000. It is much the same in many of the Maori electorates. There are high rates of non-participation of young children in early childhood education. Youth unemployment has increased; 16000 young people are unemployed and that is tragic. Maori unemployment in general has increased. In 2008 when Labour was in Government that number stood at 11700. Now in 2010 22800 Maori are unemployed. It is double the amount. So something is not happening with this Government to ensure that unemployment does not keep increasing yet Government members say that this is a good Budget. 
The Government is struggling to deliver to the communities that I represent on the issues that really matter on the bread and butter issues that help whanau sustain themselves. A good job access to affordable health care affordable housing and a good education are reasonable expectations in a caring and responsible society. The Budget has failed many in my electorate on all those fronts. Those people want to make a good go of it; instead when looking for a job they are confronted with an employment market that can hire and fire in a 90-day period without warning without reason and without care. Tikaokao McClutchey on the East Coast was released from her job within the 90-day period without warning and without notice. She was gone just like that within the 90-day period. People want certainty and protection in the labour market and slowly but surely this Government is chipping chipping chipping away at the rights of those people who are hungry to work and want a job. 
This Budget proposes tax cuts that will see greater gains for those on incomes above $70000. Sadly many of those people are not Maori. In fact a good majority of them are not Maori. So how can members opposite propose that this is a good Budget when so many Maori are affected negatively by its consequences? How many in Hauraki-Waikato will benefit from this round of tax cuts? It will be very very few. Instead as I have said approximately 73 percent of earners in Hauraki-Waikato will see little or no benefit at all from the tax cuts that will take effect. They will be net losers. In fact let us look at the figures. In Hauraki-Waikato the median income is $22000. After the tax cut is calculated minus the accident compensation costs and inflation one ends up with a net loss of $11.65. Members opposite say that this is a great Budget. I say that it is not. They should look at the figures which speak for themselves. To top that off an increase in GST will hurt those same people and whanau who will pay extra for the basics: for their kai their power their petrol school costs for their kids bus or train fares rental payments and mortgage payments. The Government has done a good job of creating an illusion. It is giving with one hand and taking with the other and that is the swindle. Whanau in Hauraki-Waikato did not vote for giving tax cuts to high-income earners without taking into account the consequent effects in health education housing and employment. They did not vote for increases to GST that will hurt them in the pocket but they got them. 
The Maori Party has a lot of explaining to do. In fact the Maori Party members cannot stomach the debate and that is why they cannot be here to listen. Hone Harawira needs to know that it is no good speaking out if one’s actions do not follow one’s words. At the end of the day the Maori Party voted for these tax cuts for the GST increases and for this Budget. It did not have the mandate to do that but it did. I bet that every Maori who voted for the party did not vote for the tax cut package or the GST increases that have been delivered. They will hurt in the pocket and the Maori Party knows it. The party has a lot of explaining to do. Why is that? Hone Harawira tells us that its poor list of achievements shows too many gains to give everything away now. It might happen on 1 October! The Maori Party says that its achievement on the foreshore and seabed issue—the repeal of that Act—is one such reason. What is it to be replaced with? It will be in public ownership. The Maori Party says that its achievements on getting the Government to support the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is a gain but it means nothing—especially to Tuhoe. I say: “Go and ask them.” The Whanau Ora initiative was proposed as a saviour to all the ills within many Maori communities. Well it was supported in part—and funded only in part—by the Government. That was far short of the expectation raised by the Maori Party out there in many Maori communities. A measly $134 million over 4 years for Whanau Ora for only 20 providers will fall well short of the expectation that has been created in a number of communities. The GST increase as I have said before was not voted for by any of the Maori Party’s constituents. In fact the Maori Party wanted a GST decrease yet that will not be delivered because its mates in the National Government will not listen to anything the Maori Party has to say. Yet the party is still prepared to prop up the National Government and its Budget which does not deliver at all to Maori constituents. 
In my electorate the constituents who voted for the Maori Party have been sadly let down and had the wool pulled over their eyes. No one is talking about the Budget with the same fervent glow as members on the other side of the House; Maori know that they will be hit in the pocket and slapped in the face. What about leadership on the real issues that affect Maori? Making sure that our kids get a good start in life is absolutely necessary. The Government has chosen to cut funding for teachers in early childhood education centres. That will seriously affect the ongoing quality of teaching in those centres which are charged with making a difference to the lives of our children. I heard a member from the Maori Party promote the gains in Youth Guarantee but I say there is too little funding for the large number of young people who are currently unemployed and who want to go into the workforce. That is not enough of a gain. Those people want a real job and a real wage. They do not want to be part of a training-go-round scenario. There is nothing in the Budget on Modern Apprenticeships training or increasing investment in that area where young people increasingly want to take up the option to earn while they learn. What about supporting single parents? There is nothing in the Budget to ensure that those with children who are unsupported by a partner have access to the training incentive allowance to enable them to take up study beyond level 4. There is nothing whatsoever for them. 
The Budget is a sad indictment on the direction in which this Government is going. Constituents in Hauraki-Waikato want a fair go. They want to work but do not like being kicked in the guts. They want a good education to get ahead but increasing fees may prevent that. They want a good quality of life but the cost of living through increased GST will hurt them. They want to build a strong whanau strong marae and strong communities but not at the expense of creating winners and losers through contracting rounds. This Budget has broken promises and it does not care for the many at all; instead it cares for the few. It is not the kind of Budget that I would stand up in front of my electorate and promote. I am sure that many members on the other side of the House would not go into many Maori communities and promote the Budget in the same way that they do in this House. They know it just does not hit the mark at all. 
Finally I say to the Maori Party that it has a lot of explaining to do. I wait for 2011 to roll on because the shallow and hollow gains that the Maori Party thinks it has achieved will all be undone by a Budget like this. The Budget continues to undermine vulnerable and needy families and low-income families. More important it undermines the majority of Maori who want to get ahead want a job want to make a go of it and look to the future. They know that the Maori Party has let them down badly.