Flavell Te Ururoa: Urgent Debates — Whānau Ora—Auditor-General’s ReportText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFlavell Te Ururoa: Urgent Debates — Whānau Ora—Auditor-General’s Report[Sitting date: 06 May 2015. Volume:705;Page:3234. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon TE URUROA FLAVELL (Minister for Māori Development):Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. Kia ora tātau katoa i tēnei rā. Kia whai wāhi au ki te tuku i tētahi paku kōrero ki te kuia ki te pou o te kōhanga reo kua mate nei inā tata nei. Ko Henrietta tērā. Kai te tangihia e te motu nā runga i te āhuatanga o tana ngākaunui ki tēnei kaupapa o te Whānau Ora ka mutu ki ngā tamariki ki ngā mokopuna o roto i te kōhanga reo. E kui te pou o te kōhanga reo e moe e moe e moe! Ka hoki mai ki a tātau e hui nei i tēnei rā e te Whare Pāremata tēnā koutou tēnā koutou kia ora tātau katoa.[Thank you Mr Speaker. Acknowledgments to us all today. I have an opportunity to make a brief statement to the elder matriarch and pillar of the kōhanga reo movement who passed just moments ago. That was Henrietta. She is to be mourned by the nation because of her huge commitment to this policy of Whānau Ora and furthermore to the children and grandchildren within the kōhanga reo movement. To the matriarch and pillar of the movement rest sleep and slumber! I come back to us assembled here on this day to the House I acknowledge salute and greet you collectively; my appreciation to us all.]Firstly can I say that I appreciate the comments made by the Hon Nanaia Mahuta and indeed endorse the comments in respect of the opportunity that this debate has given for us to place some issues on the table and in fact on the record. It is my role I think to address a number of the concerns and I wish to do that. I want to do it in a very considered way to ensure that all the facts are on the table. I can say that this opportunity has arisen because of the Auditor-General’s report. I would say this: the Auditor-General’s report and indeed the Productivity Commission’s report told us that there is huge huge potential for Whānau Ora and that we should definitely not throw it out with the bathwater. I would also accept that there are some bits that we have to tidy up. We need to put it in the context that this kaupapa—this report—was over a 4-year period when in fact we have moved on. We have moved on to the second phase so I want to put it in that context.One of the questions that is always raised is: what is Whānau Ora? Well Whānau Ora is an approach to help families and whānau in need. Just like the people who are represented by the Rt Hon Winston Peters and by the Hon Hekia Parata it is looking after those people who are in need. It restores whānau as masters of their own destinies. Whānau Ora is not about the Government fixing whānau; it is about whānau looking after themselves. It is about whānau empowering themselves as a whole to identify what matters to them rather than focusing on the individuals in isolation.There is a statement that says it takes a pā to raise our children and I agree with that. This is what the basis of Whānau Ora is. Whānau Ora requires providers to work together in the interests of whānau and not just the individual which is a departure from strategies used by previous Governments over many years which have not solved the issues one iota. So the Government along with the Māori Party chose to be bold to be innovative and to come up with a new pathway that might address those issues.Why was Whānau Ora established? It was established because too many whanau and families have complex needs and the Government simply wanted to do something about it and to make a positive difference—as did we in the Māori Party the originators of this kaupapa. Actually I had better say that we are not the originators of this kaupapa; it is people like John Rangihau through the report called Puao-te-ata-tū who actually put this kaupapa on the table. I want to acknowledge those who are a part of that scheme. Whānau Ora means that providers work together with each other to respond to the whānau needs and use their service contracts to address those needs.What are the outcomes that Whānau Ora is designed to support? Well as the approach is led by whānau you would understand that outcomes are tailored for its members. No two families are the same and therefore from time to time the outcomes that are measured are clearly going to be different. Whānau Ora is designed to support whānau in need. Whānau Ora is intended to restore whānau as masters of their own destinies.Whānau Ora is about making people move towards a positive lifestyle—“whānau” meaning families; “ora” meaning well-being. Whānau should work towards a stronger economic base. So it is not just about the doom and gloom but it is actually about seeking horizons and looking at future prospects and the potential within whānau. This in turn leads to whānau being active participants in Aotearoa New Zealand. These outcomes were where the original task force report set the scene for how phases one and two of Whānau Ora would be rolled out.One criticism in the report was that people did not have a good understanding of Whānau Ora. Well Whānau Ora for the record was radical it was a new idea it was inventive and it showed that we wanted to look down a new pathway to look at the potential of families. Back in 1988 Puao-te-ata-tū challenged in fact our country to change our approach to supporting families in need instead of concentrating on the individuals. For decades Governments have counted outputs rather than outcomes and Whānau Ora is all about being brave enough to measure real change in people’s lives over a far longer period.Whānau Ora has been criticised for being confusing and riddled with inconsistencies. I think that has been overstated. For far too long we have focused as I say on the individual and what has gone wrong for them. I am unapologetic about the brave departure from the status quo. I believe in Whānau Ora I believe in the results and I believe in it because I have seen the results. I have spoken to people who have sat alongside navigators. In fact in only one week on the road I went out and had Whānau Ora families sit in front of me and all of those families with their children shed tears about the impact that not Whānau Ora per se but the individual providers—the navigators—had had in assisting their families. I am talking about mothers. I am talking about gang mothers who have changed their lives. I absolutely believe in this kaupapa. It is right for this country and it is right for our people.Who is Whānau Ora for? Well it is not for the down and out only. As I said it is for everyone. But I will be clear—it is by way of a Māori lens for dealing with these solutions. Does that mean it is hard for anybody else to see it? No it is not. Why? Because at this point in time the statistics I have say that about 35 percent of families receiving support from Whānau Ora are from ethnic groups other than Māori and Pasifika. That tells us it works. It can work for others but it is definitely through a different cultural lens which may be why the Auditor-General suspects that it was hard to understand. But I take the point. There is no use hiding from it; let us put it out there.How does it work? Well Whānau Ora is influenced by what families and whānau wish to do—not by somebody telling them but by what they want to do. It puts the mana and the power back in their hands. Sometimes a navigator helps the family to work it out and guides them as to what might assist them in getting and achieving their goals. When a whānau visits a social service the intent is that the provider worker or the navigator is able to link up the family with what is required and I have seen the benefits of that.The question was asked around what a whānau plan is. Well a whānau plan is the tool for whānau to say what matters to them. They choose it. A lot of whānau want the same things. Of course they do—better lives for children employment homeownership education health outcomes and skill development. Those are generic things that most families want. Some are fortunate to have them.Developing a whānau plan means that the whole family works together. We are not just talking about mum dad the eldest child or the four in the house; we are talking about whānau in the widest sense because whānau could be the rugby league club secretary it could be the parent teacher association it could be a teacher it could be the coach or it could be all of those. They decide and they define it.Developing a whānau plan means that everybody works together and that if you have to find work everybody pitches in. If you have to give up smoking everybody assists in that because if one person in the house is smoking it affects everybody. That is what it is all about. A plan usually involves a number of actions. Some actions do not require Government support and that is even better. It is far more fiscally neutral and delivers the results because the family have bought into it.What are the key elements of Whānau Ora? Well we have talked about navigators. Navigators in my humble opinion are the key to Whānau Ora. Why? Because they are from those communities they know those communities they know the people and they make the connections. I have seen it for myself. They are the ones who work at the coalface. They support the family to identify their needs and achieve their goals. They are often the link. They join up the family the whānau with the services. Or perhaps it is information that they might need—identifying early childhood education options for mum; that could be it. So they are an important ingredient in Whānau Ora.The other part is commissioning agencies and these are only a new beast that has come on the scene. I will not talk about them too much because they are not very relevant in terms of the report. Suffice to say that they are the second phase of the roll-out of Whānau Ora. “Beast” is not the best term for that particular element of Whānau Ora but I use it in the wider sense if you do not mind.Provider collectives—this is the great innovation about Whānau Ora. It actually brought people together to work for the purposes of the family. It is not just one in one box another over there and another over there. They actually joined hands in the best interests of the families. So Whānau Ora provider collectives are an important key of this kaupapa. They are accountable for the delivery of services for health education and the social sectors as well. Whānau Ora supported those collectives to come together and have a collective impact not solely focused on their own provider interests.Some have asked about the results of Whānau Ora. Well here it is. We do have the statistics that the Hon Nanaia Mahuta talked about—9408 whānau representing 49625 individuals received whānau-centred services. Of those 5499 whānau representing 23855 individuals worked with navigators. Provider collectives have orientated themselves towards whānau-centred perspectives to focus not just on the individual.So what has changed? I have told you that Whānau Ora has had a huge impact on a huge number of people throughout this country. We must allow it to roll into phase two.The other questions that were raised are around why it is that Te Puni Kōkiri will be leading Whānau Ora and there were I suppose criticisms made by some members about the involvement of Te Puni Kōkiri. Whānau Ora is based on kaupapa Māori with core elements applicable to whānau. That is why Whānau Ora is under the auspices of Te Puni Kōkiri.Were there delays in spending that meant funds originally set aside for whānau and providers did not reach them? Money did not pass hands unless contracts and expectations were in place. This is prudent management. The expression of interest process for provider collectives was significant with 300 wanting to be a part of Whānau Ora. That process and assessment took longer than anticipated. Yes there were transfers of resources between financial years. However I can say this: 99 percent of the funding intended for whānau and providers reached their hands. The criticism has been that it did not reach their hands. I am saying to you on the advice that I have that 99 percent of that money did reach the hands of those who needed it. The Government made decisions in July 2013 to move to phase two of Whānau Ora and all uncommitted funds were redirected to the Whānau Ora commissioning agencies—that is why.Another criticism was about why Te Puni Kōkiri spent nearly one-third of the funds on administration. I have said publicly in the media that Whānau Ora is a new kaupapa. It was starting up. There were a lot of costs associated with designing Whānau Ora and the parts of this approach. Going forward I expect to ensure that all the administration costs are in line with the task at hand. The Office of the Auditor-General counted in its account the design development implementation of phases one and two evaluation and action research and costs for governance groups and regional leadership groups. Te Puni Kōkiri’s specific administration costs equate to about 20 percent and it is my understanding that that is pretty reasonable under normal circumstances within Government departments.Will I be investigating the administration and management of Whānau Ora? The costs in the report referred to are for the last 4 years. They have been accounted for. Te Puni Kōkiri has received a clean audit report from Audit New Zealand. In each of the last 4 years or so it has received a clean report and all of the money has been accounted for. Going forward I have asked the chief executive to ensure her management decisions and the costs for Whānau Ora are prudent and not over the top.Whānau Ora has my absolute commitment. Why? Because I have seen the results. I know what it can do for families children mums dads uncles and those in need. There are so many people in our country who have that need and the State has failed to deliver that in the past. Whānau Ora was always going to be a new approach. It was innovative. It was always going to have some bumps along the way but there can be no doubting the evidence that I have had presented to me—and indeed that was presented to the Hon Tariana Turia—that Whānau Ora is right for this country. It does produce results. In fact many of the people who receive the benefits of Whānau Ora with some of its mistakes are the people whom many of the people in this House represent.In that regard I would hope that I am clear that this Government is committed to Whānau Ora as am I to ensure that the issues that have been raised will be dealt with in the best possible way. Whānau Ora kia kaha. And to all of the providers and workers in Whānau Ora I say job well done kia kaha.