Estimates Debate — Vote Māori Affairs

Kia ora, Mr Chair. I want to congratulate first and foremost our Minister of Māori Affairs, the Hon Pita Sharples, who has done a sterling job not only for the Māori Party but also for steering some resources into the Māori community, and also Whānau Ora. The naysayers about Whānau Ora will go on and on about a few fullas down somewhere getting a bit of extra money, but here is the thing: working on the whole family, not just a little problem here and there that becomes a bigger problem if left alone, is the way of the future. And what better way to use public money—public money, taxpayer’s money—than by fixing up the whole family, identifying the problems, and parking the five cars up the driveway so the family does not have to go 10 miles to the south for the social welfare, 10 miles north for some other assistance, and 10 miles east for some other assistance. That is what Whānau Ora is. That is why we, the National Government, have supported and put money into Whānau Ora.

Māori health—we talk about Māori health—

💬 Andrew Williams: Don’t forget the Mongrel Mob.

See, there you go. That is all they can do. All they can do is tear down. I remember what the Rt Hon Helen Clark said about some other party: they were haters and wreckers. Well, I will tell you who the haters and wreckers are. They are those people over there. They even denied a Minister leave to make a personal statement. How rude. How appalling. How unconstitutional. But I digress.

We have got a problem out there called rheumatic fever, and this Government has made sure that, one, it has seen the problem, and, two, it gets in and tries to fix it. So that is why money has gone in to making sure that that disease of poverty is no longer around. All the health organisations around the country in the poorer areas—in South Auckland and in the north—have welcomed this Government’s commitment to making sure that young people have what we had, and that is the opportunity. They do not want a handout. They want the opportunity to grow.

Also, there is Māori economic growth. There was one time when nobody knew what it was. How is the Māori economy fitting in to the national economy?

💬 Mike Sabin: Does in Northland.

Well, I tell you what. Only a couple of weeks ago I attended an economic forum put on by none other than the new member for Northland, Mike Sabin. There was a huge turnout of people not only in the social services area but in the business area and the employment area, who want to get on with the job of training and employing young Māori from the north. They see that the longer Māori are unemployed in the north, the longer the economy does not work. The economy should work for everybody. So I applaud the Government’s view and I applaud the Government’s initiatives, but I also applaud the personal initiative of MPs such as Mike Sabin.

💬 Hon Nathan Guy: What did Shane Jones say?

Look, nobody is really interested in what Shane says any more, which is a pity—which is a pity—because before he leaves he still has a contribution to make to this wonderful Parliament.

There is one thing that I will say that this side of the Chamber has done better than anybody else, and that the Government’s commitment to Treaty settlements.

💬 Louise Upston: Absolutely.

Absolutely. Do not look sideways at me, Mr Grant Robertson, because some other people might think that you are thinking something else. [Bell rung] Mr Chair—

Unfortunately, the time for this debate has expired.

I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. That member, Tau Henare, has stated that the Rt Hon—

The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy): Order!

I am seeking leave, Mr Chairperson.

The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy): That is not how you start to seek leave, by criticising another member.

I am trying to seek leave to correct a comment that was made.

No, you cannot do that. You cannot correct. That is a debating point; that is not a point of order. The time—

I seek leave to request that the member who has made an incorrect statement about Winston Peters—

Order! Sit down, please. I have ruled on that. That is a debating point. You cannot enter into a debate or the alteration of a debate by the mechanism of a point of order. You simply cannot do that. The debate has now expired. I will put the question, which is that Vote Māori Affairs stand part.

Vote agreed to.