Katene Rahui: Budget Debate 
Katene Rahui: Budget Debate 
[Volume:655;Page:4291] 
RAHUI KATENE (Maori Party—Te Tai Tonga) 
 The context for Budget 2009 had been forewarned for months leading up to 28 May. The December Economic and Fiscal Update had made it clear that the operating position for the Government was likely to become dramatically weakened and this would lead to the Government having far less flexibility and to reduced spending from the public purse. Combined with the threat from Standard and Poor’s that New Zealand needed to achieve a stable position these forecasts created the circumstance by which no one was expecting 2009 to be the year of the great lolly scramble. 
True to form Budget 2009 delivered upon that expectation with priorities and policies that might generously be described as thrifty. For Maori the context of recession is double-edged. We are well aware that in uncertain times Maori have been vulnerable to the changing market. In the Great Depression some 41 percent of the unemployed were Maori. More recently the economic downturns of the 1970s and later in 1995 impacted even more on poorer Maori with the number of unemployed Maori being triple that for non-Maori. But we know too that out of periods of hardship Maori have demonstrated remarkable resilience and a flair for entrepreneurship that has meant they are in a better position to take advantage of the economic recovery when it eventually appears. 
This Budget then had to respond to the need to help people survive the recession and at the same time create opportunities to grow and prosper. It was not a choice of sink or swim. The choice was made to tread water while preparing the ground to develop. Such an approach finds favour with many of our people who have developed knowledge of economic management out of necessity. There is a theory about the connection between indigenous people and the so-called thrifty gene. The theory is that over many generations indigenous peoples farmed hunted fished and gathered food. In doing so they experienced periods of feast and famine. To adapt to this changing need the thrifty gene emerged thereby helping our people to survive long voyages across seas. 
Here in 2009 whether it is through the application of the thrifty gene or through the law of necessity Maori have earned the reputation of thriving in an enterprise and entrepreneur culture not because we want to but because we have to. As a result of Budget 2009 these skills will come into their own with $12 million of new funding to phase in Maori development projects in housing such as papakainga housing and the Maori demonstration projects. Our message to iwi Maori will be to get in there and take up the opportunities to partner with Housing New Zealand Corporation in order to create job opportunities by developing affordable housing initiatives. We expect that employment or contractual opportunities will be realised in contracts with iwi or Maori groups when it comes to building or renovating the houses and we will continue to talk with the Minister of Housing about taking that approach. Investment is going into increased infrastructure and again we would expect that iwi Maori will benefit from construction jobs in the short term and in the longer term from the evident gains in the lifting of economic growth. 
Of course the commitment of $15.9 million to settle outstanding Treaty settlements over aquaculture and the additional $22 million to speed up claims in the Treaty settlement area are both new injections of funding that we wholeheartedly support. 
But of course it is not all good news in Budget 2009 and we know that the toughest times are yet to come. This Budget is set against a background in which Te Puni Kokiri is predicting that Maori unemployment will rise to between 12 to 15 percent by the middle of next year. It is also set against the reality of a decline of some 700 jobs for Maori working in the construction sector a 13 percent decline for Maori working in primary industry and a 16.7 percent decline in accommodation cafe and restaurant jobs. This is the real bread-and-butter gauge by which we will measure how genuine this Government actually is about achieving significant outcomes in whanau ora for Maori. We need to retain employment and we need to create employment options for our people where there currently appear to be none. But we need to do more than that too. Maori hourly wage earnings are at $17.58 and they still lag way behind the economy-wide average of $21.41. 
We want to see tangible outcomes that address the systemic failure whereby more than half of Maori students leave school without completing a sixth-form qualification. We are particularly concerned about the disproportionately high number of young people who are left behind. It should be a national crisis that close to 5000 young Maori between the ages of 18 and 24 are currently on the job seeker’s register with Work and Income. 
We are outraged at the savage cuts that were made in the adult and community education area an area that has formed a key pathway for many of our people in re-entering an education system that has failed them in the past. On Budget day it was announced that some $54.45 million would be withdrawn. That was supposedly the funding for “hobby courses”. There is huge concern within the sector about this decision. Adult and community education programmes help to restore the confidence of students and can then help them to further their life and work options while at the same time rectifying any deficiencies in skills. 
Budget 2009 attempts to respond to this situation in a couple of ways. Firstly it boosts Maori affairs funding to support families that are vulnerable during the recession. Whanau social assistance services will receive $32 million and for that we congratulate the Minister of Maori Affairs Dr Pita Sharples. We congratulate him on his initiative in helping those who need it most. There are other opportunities in which our vulnerable families will be supported during these times of inevitable hardship. I congratulate another colleague the Hon Tariana Turia on her leadership in allocating new funding to help those many people who care for their whanau and friends who may be ill frail or disabled. The previous Government delivered a carer strategy but forgot or failed to put aside any money to actually make the difference. Mrs Turia has been able to invest in a resource to ensure that people who are looking after their relatives are not penalised but more properly supported to be able to provide the care their whanau requires. Of course the $40 million set aside in the Community Response Fund to support voluntary groups to provide services to those most vulnerable to the recession will also be a resource that we know our people will be able to rely on. 
Although these initiatives may help to cushion the shock the initiative that we probably hold out the greatest hope for is the potential that we know will emerge from the Maori economic task force established by Dr Sharples. The $10 million spent in this area may well see tangata whenua positioned in a strong and secure state to take advantage of any opportunities that will flow on as the global economy recovers. The future looks much brighter for the leadership that is being developed by the Maori economic task force in managing tribal assets; advancing economic growth and infrastructure initiatives; leading education trade training and information and communications technology; encouraging small to medium enterprises; nurturing investment and enterprise; and taking the primary sector to new heights. This task force is a classic example of one of our oft-quoted beliefs: “Nau te rourou naku te rourou ka ora ai te iwi.” By sharing our gifts with one another the people will thrive. 
We believe that the inspiration and example being shown by the way in which Maori will approach these times will indeed be a gift for Aotearoa. The impetus to take up every opportunity while caring for the collective well-being of the people is what we in the Maori Party have every confidence will also be of great benefit to the nation. Kia ora.