Mahuta Nanaia: Address in Reply 
Mahuta Nanaia: Address in Reply 
[Volume:652;Page:1186] 
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Hauraki-Waikato) 
: 
 That is a bid for a ministerial portfolio if ever I heard one. Not once did that member who represents Taranaki-King Country even talk about his own electorate. He is a constituent MP and not once did he mention the people or the communities in his electorate so we know there are high-horizon hopes for that member. In fact that member talked about some very virtuous things we are all considering at a number of levels. But I would have thought that as an electorate MP Mr Ardern would speak about how those big ideals of this Government would actually benefit the people in his community: those farmers those kids and those mums and dads—he knows who I am talking about—in Stratford Opunake and New Plymouth. That is what they want to hear when they are listening to the vision of this Government—how it affects them when the rubber hits the road. The member knows that more than I do; I am sure he does. I have been out in those communities in some of them alongside the member. 
In Raglan for example he knows as well as I do that people want to know quite keenly the member’s views on the environment and to tell him how this Government is not delivering on those particular needs. I was absolutely astounded when I heard that member speak and not once mention how those many ambitious aims of the Government would actually meet the needs of constituents in his Raglan community. At the meeting we both attended at the top of the people’s list were environmental issues. And at the top of their list in the event that Mr Ardern would represent them was the issue of whether he would even be concerned about their concerns in the Raglan community. Do you know what? When the member was at that meeting—and I was there with him—he could not actually give a straight answer to that question. But then we should not be surprised because from the time this Government took office it has totally ignored the environment. 
Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. 
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA 
: I am pleased to speak in this Address in Reply debate Mr Assistant Speaker Barker. I acknowledge your appointment to the position of Assistant Speaker and I certainly look forward to your balanced judgment in adjudicating and moderating the debates in this House. I join with other members in welcoming new MPs to this House especially our group of new Labour MPs whose talent passion and vision will continue to grow our team leading into the next election. 
I am honoured to represent once again the people and communities of Hauraki-Waikato. Their trust has not been misplaced and their determination to ensure that they get the very best opportunities from all that life has to offer will continue to provide me with great motivation. Unlike the Maori Party candidate who contested my electorate I did not promise the world and deliver nothing I did not say anything to get everything and I certainly made it clear that when I called a spade a spade that is all it was. I remember keenly the promises made during the campaign by Maori Party members to attract Maori voters: no GST on food no tax for those earning under $23000 a year a $500 one-off payment for kaumatua and those on the benefit the repeal of the Foreshore and Seabed Act the raising of the minimum wage to $15 an hour and the entrenchment of the Maori seats. 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: They started that well didn’t they? 
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA 
: They certainly did but not one of those promises has been made good in this Maori Party - ACT - National Government’s first 100 days in office. If those promises were such a priority for the Maori Party then why have they not been implemented? It is simple: the policy agenda being advanced is a National-ACT agenda by another name. Where I come from we call a spade a spade—and at least we know what we are dealing with. Even though the Maori Party took the trust of Maori voters and delivered it to National—no strings attached—expectations are very high about what this new arrangement can deliver over and above those achievements already established by the previous Labour Government. 
Labour has a proud track record of having increased the minimum wage over the 9-year period we were in office. Labour argued against the “90-day Fire at Will Bill” being put before the House because we knew that the most vulnerable people in the workforce would be affected. Through the Hon Michael Cullen Labour introduced tax cuts for low and modest income earners that made a real difference. The Treaty settlement process gained huge traction under the Rt Hon Helen Clark and Michael Cullen. The policies of lower doctors’ and prescription fees and support for working families continue to show great gains in electorates like mine. 
But we cannot ignore the fact that the road ahead will be difficult. This Government in its first 100 days has shown what its priorities are. What has it done? It has passed legislation: to make tax cuts that hurt those on incomes under $25000 a year; to penalise parents by charging them rather than working with them to keep their kids at school longer; to introduce the “90-day Fire at Will Bill” which will see mixed results for young and vulnerable workers; and to get rid of funding for warm homes a project that has contributed to community enterprises by employing local people to retrofit homes. National in its first 100 days in office has got rid of every single one of those things. 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: That mattered. 
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA 
: It mattered all right; it mattered to many communities and families around the country. Government members should be ashamed of themselves. 
More important none of the promises that the Maori Party went into the election with have been delivered through its agreement with the National-led Government. People need to know that they want to know that and they are very concerned about it. The Government’s economic stimulus package needs to be delivered to those people who keep us accountable and who keep us grounded back at home and in our communities. The messages from Hauraki-Waikato are that we should protect local jobs for local people support low-income families and give our kids a good start in early childhood education by keeping the 20 free hours for 3 and 4-year-olds. 
I heard many presentations in this House before making my contribution today and I too want to comment on the huge gains made as Labour has continued to advance the Treaty settlement programme. It was good to see tribes from Te Tau Ihu come here to Parliament to sign their agreement. More important our continuing along that path will ensure that Maori will be able to build their own economic development opportunities and build the wealth of their tribes not just economically but socially as well. 
I have heard Government contributions from the other side of the House that have said Labour did nothing to improve housing in our communities. Well let me say that that is rubbish. The current Minister of Housing the Hon Phil Heatley should just go to the homes in Thomas Street in Hamilton Hauraki-Waikato and look at the better housing provision that has been given to kaumatua. 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: He wouldn’t know where Hamilton was. 
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA 
: No and he would not actually know about the amount of investment we have put into those communities and into the people who matter most—our kaumatua. We have provided warm homes through the retrofitting programme which actually created a lot of local employment. Let me tell the House that when we were in Government we modernised a great many State homes and we built many more State homes. But that member the Minister of Housing had the audacity to say that Labour did nothing—shame on him. There are families in those homes right now who know about the contribution and investment the Labour-led Government has made. We have built new homes modernised existing homes and retrofitted homes so that they can be warmer and the tenants’ kids healthier. The one project I am really pleased about is that we got rid of substandard homes in Fairfield in the Hamilton East electorate. We got rid of them because we did not think that that was how many of our families should be living. But that member over there the Minister of Housing had the audacity to say that Labour did nothing—shame on him. 
In this Address in Reply debate I have one message for the Government insofar as it applies to Hauraki-Waikato: the Labour-led Government has supported a lot of good initiatives. We want that to continue. I urge this Government not to wind back the clock or let those families and communities—who have made a good contribution by doing things for themselves—suffer. National members talk about raising the minimum wage by a meagre 9c; let us look at their track record over a long period of time. They have a lot to do and a lot to stand by. 
More important the other message I have is really for Maori Party members. If they want to make good on their many pre-election promises—certainly those made to the voters in my electorate—then they should stump up right here in this House and tell us which of their policies have been adopted. The Maori Party certainly was not consulted when it came to setting the minimum wage. Maori Party members can say they support raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour but did they affect the decisions made around the Cabinet table? I say no because we would have seen an effect on the thinking of the Minister of Labour the Hon Kate Wilkinson. The minimum wage would have been looked at much more seriously than it has been. National members laud the great partnership they have with the Maori Party but let us be very clear that expectations in the Maori electorates are very high. Why? The Maori Party’s pre-election promises clearly contradict those actions that have been delivered by National.