Korako NukMāori Other Populations and Cultural SectorNUK KORAKO (Chairperson of the Māori Affairs Committee): Tēnā koe e Te Kaiwhakahaere. I rise to speak on this appropriations debate for the Māori other populations and cultural sector. I rise to speak also as the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee. A big part of our work on the Māori Affairs Committee in the last year has been Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill. This bill will unlock the incredible economic potential of the land and assets that Māori already own. It is also a bill that will continue to protect—and give more protection actually—for Māori ownership.The Government has also been pushing ahead—The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Trevor Mallard): Order! I am just going to warn the member now that that is one bit of legislation you cannot talk about because it is a matter that is sitting on the Order Paper for further discussion. So just to remind the member the review is about the year to 30 June and the current operations of the agencies not the committee.NUK KORAKO: Kia ora Mr Chairman. So just moving then to a bill that was passed earlier which really did reflect some very very unique legislation. This is the Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Bill—the bill giving effect to the Whanganui River settlement. This one is truly groundbreaking. When you look at this particular legislation it actually bestowed on the river the legal status of a person allowing this to put in place all the structures and safeguards that will protect and manage the river with oversight from the iwi.Also when looking at all of this the other part that we looked at a lot through various legislation was what does actually benefit families particularly in terms of the opportunities to get ahead. One of the big things was around education. For too long Māori have been achieving at a lower rate than non-Māori. With the former Minister of Education Hekia Parata not only did we get overall better achievement for New Zealand students but this skyrocketed and the gap between Māori achievement and the national average is quickly closing. The same is true for our Pasifika cousins.One other thing that was really relevant particularly for the Māori Affairs Committee was the health of Māori particularly around the Better Public Services targets as well. As we saw a lot of this has actually been reflected in better health services for Māori. Last week the Prime Minister announced the targets for the Public Service including the target to reduce the number of hospitalisations of children aged 12 years and under with preventable conditions. This has also meant that Māori have measured how a lot of these sorts of cases are actually treated.I think one other thing that is really important within this sector is that this Government—and it has been reflected on a number of things that have come through the Māori Affairs Committee—has actually very much really considered how we measure and treat the most vulnerable members in our society. This Government can actually stand proud on its record of actual results from the most vulnerable in our society. In looking at that the election itself—to do this was actually very tangible in the way that we improved lives for every New Zealander.So when we look at these sorts of different things that we have seen particularly in the Māori Affairs Committee—Treaty settlements. It has been a record actually of deeds of settlement that have been signed and deeds of settlement that have been passed. One of the things around the Treaty settlements is that this is also a part where it actually does very much create a positive environment for regional development. When we look at a lot of the regional development that is tied to Treaty settlements it is very much about how iwi can actually develop a lot of their commercial development and social development. And in turn that leads to better education and also better health. Commercial education is another thing particularly around scholarships that are offered by the iwi and savings schemes and all these sort of services that are supplementary to what the Government provides.So with this report on appropriations the Māori Affairs Committee being a collegial committee—