Flavell Te Ururoa: Budget DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFlavell Te Ururoa: Budget Debate[Sitting date: 21 May 2014. Volume:699;Page:18196. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]TE URUROA FLAVELL (Co-Leader—Māori Party):Tēnā koe Mr Assistant Speaker. Kia oratātou e te Whare. These are historic times to be speaking to the 2014 Budget as a strong and independent Māori voice in the Parliament of this land. In 2 days’ time we celebrate 10 years to the day since over 200 people gathered at Hoani Waititi Marae in Auckland. At that time representatives fromTe Tai TokerauNgātiWhātuaTāmaki-makau-rau Tainui Raukawa Waiariki Te Arawa in my areaMātaatua and Ngati PorouNgāti Kahungunu TeĀtiawaNgātiApa Whanganui Raukawa ki te Tonga and the New Zealand Māori Council journeyed across the country to attend a hui to discuss the need for an independent Māori political voice. It was that hui that mobilised over 200 Māori leaders to build on the momentum gained from thehīkoi opposing Labour’s Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004. This hui unanimously agreed that the people are ready to act collectively to bring to the fore Māori interests of value to all New Zealanders.So began the journey of the Māori Party a journey that has taken us through a 3-year term in Opposition and two subsequent terms in a relationship with the Government. Today I read a release from the Labour Party that talked about the Māori Party gains in this year’s Budget and it described them as being mere crumbs on the table—crumbs on the table. If the $100 million of new money for Māori development that we achieved in Budget 2014 was crumbs then the money received in times of surplus when Labour was in Government equates to a mere third of a crumb—a third of a crumb. I am thinking of the days of plenty in 2007 when theoretically Māori should have been at the very best we have ever seen. Times were good. In that memorable year Dr Michael Cullen announced a mere $35.6 million committed not just to Māori but also to Treaty-related initiatives—$35 million. I say it was memorable because of course 2007 was the year that Labour chose to vote against the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People citing opposition particularly to article 3—the right to self-determination. That happened on 13 September.One month later in the same year 2007 on 15 October more than 300 police carried out the dawn raids on a dozen houses all over Aotearoa in response to what they described as terrorist threats from the indigenous activists. So yes in the context of theTūhoe raids and the rejection of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People I guess that even a third of a crumb is memorable. Comparing the two then we see $35 million in 2007 for Māori and the Treaty as opposed to $100 million of new money this year for the Māori Party initiatives. That is how it stacks up. But listen there is a bit more: $35 million in 2007 compared with $300 million across a whole range of votes in 2014—of both new votes and reprioritised funding which have tangible benefits forwhānauhapū and iwi. That is just a little bit over 10 percent of a crumb—10 percent of a crumb.That year was if you like a perfect storm. There was a rare combination of circumstances that came together to convince iwi Māori that the time had come for a new direction. That direction came some 12 months later with the relationship formalised between the Māori Party and the Government to form a coalition of the willing to negotiate a more successful future for all to enjoy. Budget 2014 reveals that the Māori Party has pushed this Government hard on a number of matters including a commitment to establish the $30 million Māori Information and Communications Development Fund in 2014-15 the establishment of a $5 million Te Mana o Te Wai Fund and the establishment of a centre of research excellence for the funding ofmātauranga Māori research. We recognise the relevance and effectiveness ofWhānau Ora as a lead social and economic transformation approach for Māori Pasifika peoples and other New Zealanders through the ongoing funding committed toWhānau Ora the work of three new commissioning agencies and the establishment of a Treaty-based partnership group comprising senior Ministers and iwi leaders to provide joint direction oversight and promotion ofWhānau Ora.I will go on. We are following up on the recommendations of Te Paepae Motuhake—the name of that report wasTe ReoMauriora—through to the Māori Language Strategy and the proposed amendments to the Māori Language Act which the Hon Dr Pita Sharples hopes to introduce into this House prior to the House lifting for the 2014 election. I note the aim to secure funding to invest in three economic development initiatives that will address some of the outcomes sought in the Māori Economic Development Strategy and Action Plan: He Kai KeiĀkuRinga. There is funding secured for Māori radio and TeMāngaiPāho for iwi Māori economic development and $16 million for the Māori housing fund to support the repairs and rebuilds of rural houses and developing Māori social housing providers. There is $90 million to provide free general practitioner visits and free prescriptions for all of our tamariki up to age 13. And most important and most exciting of all the Moving the Māori Nation national fund is about investing in capacity-building and development and support for sporting and cultural excellence. That is just a start.Do we believe in the collective rights of indigenous people? Well hell yeah—hell yeah. What is even more exciting about the 2014 Budget is that it shows the maturing of the relationship between the Crown and iwi—a relationship that has been evident through iwi leaders now being able to be intimately associated with the policy development process right across key portfolios of the Government. We are particularly proud of the Budget’s $5 million fund in respect of the package to support children and families as the absolute foundation of our nation. That is what having influence is all about.If I can in the last few minutes that are available to me to talk about the Budget I would like to just angle a little bit of discussion across to one who is leaving the House today Mr Shane Jones. Te uri o roto o TeAupōuriNgāiTakotoTararāanō hoki taerānō kitana tahaWēra. Kotētahimeakāorei tino pai ki a au ko te wero o te Māorināi a auotirā tePāti Māoriingātaukuahipaake noho kawaneitērāāhuatanga ki a auēngarikoinei teāhuatanga otēneimea o tetōrangapū. Wero atu wero maitohe atutohe mai ka nui te mihi ki a ia. E mihi atuana ki a iai temea kaputa iai tekuaha o te WharePārematai terāneikoiatērā.Mēnā kei tewhakarongo a ia ka nui te mihi ki a ia.Koiatēneiihara mainārungai teāhuatanga o tekāhui o tehungai haere ki Te Kura oTīpene. Ko Mahara Okeroatērā ko Hone Harawiratērā koahau koētahi atuihara mainōtērā ongā kura. Ka mihi ki a iamō teāhuatanga otana werotanawhakatakotokōrero ki rotoitēnei ongā WharePāremata.Ēharai temeai ratatonu atu au kiānakōrero katoaēngariiputanārungai teāhuatanga kitānai kiteai kitānairongonei e koretaea tekaroitērāāhuatanga. Kotōnangākau temeaiwhakaputainai rotoitēnei WharePāremata. Hengākau Māoriēharai temeai rata mai Te Ao Māori ki a ia.Āe hewāihapa hewāihēēngari ā kotātau te tangatatērā. Koētahi ēarānoa atungāhēēngariitōnamutunga mai kotānakaweiānakōreroi rotoitēnei WharePāremataiētahiwā kaāhua kawatonu kitana taha ki teReipa.Ākuakitea maiai e iaitētahi huarahi heiwhāinga.Nō reira e koremutuwāku mihi ki a iai a ia eputaneiitēnei WharePāremataahakoataku kore rata atu kiētahi owanakōrero heāhua kawanei ki a auēngarikoiatērāiwhakaputainairungaitānai kiteaiitānaiwhakaponoai āotirā otōnangākau.Nō reirakātiake koēneiētahipaku kupu ki a koe e te hoa te hoa o Te Kura oTīpeneotirā te hoa o te WharePāremata.Itōnamutungaahakoa ko koetērāitērā taha ko au kitēnei taha. He Māorianō hokitāuai rotoitēnei WharePāremata. Meputamā tewāhingaro koe e manaaki e tiakiirungaitō huarahihōu. Haere mengā manaakitanga o tewāhingaro.Tēnā koutou kia oratātau katoa.[I acknowledge the member of TeAupōuriNgāiTakoto Dalmatian and Welsh descent. One thing I do not particularly like is that Māori person challenging me and the Māori Party in years past; it is a situation I do not like but that is the nature of politics. There are challenges and debates and so I salute the member. I pay a tribute to the member because he will be exiting through the doors of Parliament. If he is listening then I salute him. He was here alongside other former students of St Stephens School such as Mahara Okeroa Hone Harawira me and others. I congratulate him on the way in which he presented his arguments in the House of Parliament.I did not agree with everything he said but it was based on what he saw and heard and who could argue against that. His spirit was expressed in Parliament. He has a Māori spirit even thoughMāoridom has not always liked him. Yes he made mistakes and was in the wrong but we are all human. Others have made many mistakes but ultimately his comments put him offside with the Labour Party.He has discovered other pathways to pursue and so I offer my endless congratulations to him as he departs from Parliament. I did not agree with everything he said but it was based on his perspective and what he believed in his heart. Therefore these are short sentiments expressed to you my friend from St Stephens School and indeed my friend in Parliament.At the end of the day and although we are on opposite sides we remain Māori in this House of Parliament. Exit and the unseen place will care and protect you on your new path. Farewell with the blessings of the place unseen. Salutations to you collectively and thank you all.]