Sharples Pita: Debate on Budget Policy Statement 
Sharples Pita: Debate on Budget Policy Statement 
[Volume:637;Page:7767] 
Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Today is a day of reckoning for iwi Maori. It makes fascinating timing to be debating the Budget Policy Statement for 2007 on a day swirling with court action injunction and repossession and with tribal calls for rangatiratanga hot in our ears. This morning at 9 a.m. the Hauraki Maori Trust Board sought an urgent hearing in the High Court in Wellington for an interim injunction preventing the sale of the 1100-hectare Whenuakite Station near Whitianga and we understand that the hearing has been called for this Friday and that Minister Mallard has intervened. An hour later the Minister of Maori Affairs witnessed by our co-leader Tariana Turia signed a deed of settlement with Whanganui iwi to formalise transfer of the Whanganui courthouse to the iwi; an auspicious day to do so as it marks the day some 12 years ago in 1995 when Whanganui Maori repossessed the site of Pakaitore which is Moutoa Gardens out of frustration at the lack of progress with their land claim. It was a call for action that spanned some 79 days before it was evident that resolution for their claim could be taken up with the Crown. 
Against such a context to read that the Government’s Budget intentions for 2007 and future years are underpinned by the values of fairness opportunity and security is indeed ironic. How fair is it for tangata whenua to be dispossessed of their sovereignty and to be stripped of their identity and their resource base? What opportunity does the Treaty partner have to express the ongoing concerns about the process of negotiating Treaty settlements the terms of settlements the amount set aside for settlements and the agency charged with managing settlements? What security can Maori ever enjoy when they know that the Government keeps to a fixed formula that puts aside a mere $1 billion for Treaty settlements despite the fact that the 2005 Budget listed a $7 billion surplus? 
The Budget Policy Statement in referring to the current economic situation refers to the concerns of Federated Farmers who noted that farmers’ confidence has fallen to a 10-year low. The Maori Party is also aware of the concerns that farmers have raised about the actions of Government and State-owned enterprises including the country’s biggest farmer Landcorp. In an article last October in  
New Zealand Farmers Weekly 
 
the opinion of farmers was clearly put. In referring to Tuwharetoa’s experience with a 1500 hectare Taurewa block south of Turangi Landcorp chief executive Chris Kelly referred to progress as moving at a glacial pace staggeringly slow even under the threat of global warming. To summarise the view of farmers: “Landcorp [is] not winning many plaudits among rural landowners or Maori in the region during the past 12 months”. It is because of this longstanding ongoing frustration that this morning the Maori Party declared our support in listening to the intentions of iwi and doing what we can to advance their call for justice in this fraught area. We well understand the building resentment and concerns from iwi who are determined to follow due process to take their concerns through appropriate hoops yet are frequently being blocked. 
One would think in the climate of crisis of confidence that attention would be given to making a difference through strategic investment. Yet the policy statement confirms there will be little room for new Government expenditure in this year’s Budget. The recurring theme of Budget statements for Maori has been “no go no show no go no dough”. The 2006 Budget was the one where the Minister of Maori Affairs failed to even ask for any allocation for Maori. I remember the day he told the select committee that on the advice of his chief executive he had failed to submit any bid for new spending—no go. But it was worse than performance anxiety. One of the biggest groups to actually lose out from last year’s Budget was Maori tertiary students who lost $2.1 million from Maori student scholarship funding with the announcement that the manaaki tauira funding was cut. That is 9000 Maori students who since 1991 have been supported each year with financial assistance for student support. 
The Budget before that was a “no show” Budget when the word “Maori” did not even appear once. So when we read on page 5 of the report of the Finance and Expenditure Committee that there will be no dough in 2007 and that things were extremely tight it is not as if we have not been there before. The reality is that the 2007 Budget must heed the advice as the select committee reported it of the Public Health Association that a whole-of-Government approach is required to improve the social well-being of New Zealanders. Over the last 18 months we have tried to bring the voices of the Treaty partners to the House. We have highlighted the abject poverty and the growing disparities between the haves and have-nots which is part of the context in which too many Maori live. Early last year the United States Department of State report on human rights practised in New Zealand submitted to the United States Congress a report card on New Zealand that highlighted “a continuing pattern of disproportionate numbers of Maori on unemployment and welfare rolls in prison among school dropouts in infant mortality statistics and among single-parent households.” 
It does not please me to outline these negative disparities. Mid-year in 2006 the  
New Zealand Living Standards 2004: The Report 
 described Maori and Pacific peoples beneficiaries and low-income families with children as showing significant increases in the proportion of people in severe hardship. We have had other reports that describe Maori patients as being at a higher risk of preventable adverse events in hospital than patients of non-Maori or non-Pacific origin and as being more likely to receive suboptimal care. It is not much better in the education sector with the unacceptable high rate of Maori student expulsions and suspensions and a dramatic increase in Maori truancy rates and statistics for Maori school leavers who exit school without even a level 1 qualification in the National Certificate of Educational Achievement. 
On top of that the Budget Policy Statement confirms the significant problem of children being underfed which has emerged due to what the report describes as “inadequate family incomes and the proportion of the incomes being spent on housing”. The Minister of Finance told the committee that if we concentrate on one measure to the exclusion of others we may well end up with policies that are not maximising overall welfare. The Maori Party absolutely agrees with this advice and accordingly will be looking for targeted outcomes that do indeed address the widespread disparities in social opportunities and goals. In actual fact we would recommend that in the light of the dismal performance to date it could well be useful for an “Outcomes for Maori” section to be specifically included in the Budget so as to be straight up about the commitment to raise living standards. We want to see explicit proof of funding targeted towards Maori immersion education for example which provides the experience of success that our whanau deserve. Either we are serious about closing these gaps and we target them or we are not serious. 
Finally I note the comments referred to in the committee’s report about sustainability and carbon neutrality. The Maori Party is of course alarmed to read: “The Minister told us that resources would have to be found elsewhere to implement the Government’s commitments in this area but that they would not include a large component of spending in the next year.” Resources found elsewhere—is this code for sausage sizzles and cake stalls outside the Beehive or perhaps we could all have a whip-round and do something about climate change? 
Once again either we are serious about developing a strategic approach to ensure the well-being and the future health of the environment or we are not. The Maori Party believes in the efficient use of water the conservation of energy and the need for active environmental management and we know that investment now is necessary to ensure long-term gain. We should not stand by and witness more empty words policy platitudes and “no go no dough” Budgets. Let us take today—which is Pakaitore Day in Whanganui—as a signal to make a real commitment to achieving change. Thank you.