Estimates Debate — Māori Affairs Sector

Members, we come now to votes in the Māori affairs sector, B.5, Volume 8. The question is that Vote Māori Development and Vote Treaty Negotiations stand part of the schedules.

Tēnā koe, Mr Chair. Kia ora. Kia orana. I am pleased to lead off this part of the Estimates debate where we are covering Māori Affairs, and in particular two votes: Vote Māori Development and Vote Treaty Negotiations. I do want to acknowledge the Ministers that made themselves available to the Māori Affairs Committee—in particular, the Hon Nanaia Mahuta, the Minister for Māori Development, who is ably assisted by Minister Peeni Henare, who is responsible for the Whānau Ora appropriation. Also, I want to acknowledge Minister Little, the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, and we also extended our hearings to include Minister Davis, who gave us a very helpful briefing on the new Crown/Māori Relations portfolio.

One thing that is very clear, which the Ministers conveyed to our committee, is that this is about a coalition joined-up approach to ensure that we lift up Māori in all areas—in particular, socially and economically; and, likewise, the well-being of all New Zealanders. So what we have seen is that through the Māori Development vote the business of Government continues. We have legislation, and we have existing strategies in votes that are in place that have continued under the stewardship of Minister Mahuta. We have seen that in the Te Reo Māori area, whereby the votes for those appropriations are roughly on a par with the previous year—$98 million to Te Reo, including Māori Television broadcast. In the Whānau Ora space there has been a consistency of funding, with $80 million for Whānau Ora.

But, likewise, we have seen new priorities that have been identified by the Minister, and that has come through in the areas of papakāinga housing development, again continuing on the existence of the Māori Housing Network that has been established under the previous Government, but with a focus on papakāinga housing, assisting Māori land owners, and that work ties alongside the broader housing work, which we are doing under Minister Twyford with increases to social housing and likewise our KiwiBuild. So a lot of the initiatives that are a priority to the Minister are working alongside the broader objectives of this coalition Government.

If we look again, the Minister has also identified, through $37 million of those new priorities, work in the whenua Māori space whereby we will be seeing further amendments and support for Māori land owners to achieve their aspirations, and these are all tied in with the overall activities which are working across that sector—gosh, time goes quick. Ha!

I would like to also acknowledge Minister Little, who’s doing some outstanding work in the Treaty negotiations area. I would say that he is continuing along the momentum that was laid down by the Hon Chris Finlayson in that area, and I value the work that he is doing—in particular, dealing with some very complex issues, but making good progress with Ngāpuhi and also the work in the marine and coastal area space, which is another big area.

So there is sustained effort being applied to increase Māori well-being socially and economically across the vote sectors. It ties in with the wider and the broader work programme that we have as a Government. As the Ministers pointed out during our Estimates hearings, a lot of this work ties in with the regional economic development work of Minister Jones and Minister Whaitiri, likewise the rangatahi work that is going on and is also tied along with Minister Jackson and Minister Mahuta working closely together there. So there is support from the committee to the votes across both these areas, and I commend their work.

Kia orana e Te Kaiwhakahaere. He mihi atu ki a koe, huri noa i Te Whare nei, he mihi atu.

[Greetings, Mr Chair. I greet you and all those in the House.]

Can I, first of all, acknowledge the Minister for Māori Development in the chair, the Hon Nanaia Mahuta, and also the Hon Andrew Little, the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations. I’m going to concentrate more on the Māori development part, because my learned colleague, the former Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, I am sure will actually have an input into the Treaty negotiations part of it.

The previous speaker, my whanauka, but also our chair of the Māori Affairs Committee, Rino Tirikatene—I’m glad that you and I can actually agree to disagree, because of the fact that we on this side of the House, particularly where Māori development is concerned, to us, this particular Budget, these Estimate appropriations, are actually a travesty. When we look at the fact that when we were in Government, the narrative at that time was, “What is good for Māori is actually good for all New Zealand.” So when we look at the Labour-led coalition that we have here at present, what we have as a narrative is, “What’s good for New Zealand is actually good for Māori.” So the whole narrative has been turned around. So when I look at the appropriations for the Budget 2018 and the Estimates for Vote Māori Development, the main thing that strikes me most about that is there is a lack of a real and apparent plan. There is no real clear initiative, either, for our Māori voters. So that is why our Māori voters, when we’ve looked at this—

💬 Hon Willie Jackson: That’s why they voted for us.

No, because basically what they’ve actually done is—they actually feel betrayed. They really feel betrayed. Because what they were promised pre - 2017 election was that there was going to be transparency and there was actually going to be a lot more money put into Māori development, and what they got, when you look at this Budget, is zilch. Actually, it’s decreased, but I’ll come to that.

But the other part, too, is that when you all went to Rātana and when you went to Waitangi you said, “Hold us to account.”—that’s what your leader said. So look out when you go back there next year and even when you get there in November, because you will definitely be held up and told that this is the situation now.

So coming back to the Estimates, when the former Labour Government Minister John Tamihere publicly states in his column that no amount of spin by Labour’s 13-strong Māori caucus—five of whom are Ministers and in Cabinet—can hide the fact that Budget 2018 for Māori has been cut by this Labour Government. You’ve got to get worried when that actually happens. Māori are aware that this Government are treating them as though they’re really ignorant and that they actually can’t count, and I’ll tell you why. When you look at the Minister for Māori Development, I mean, she has actually stated in the House that the appropriations for the 2018 Budget have not decreased—they have not decreased. So this is why our people get upset. It is because the fact is, when you look at it now, in our Māori Affairs Committee report that these are all based on, the situation is that it has actually been cut by 4 percent. There’s a 4 percent decrease.

So when we look at the 2018-19 total—$316.421 million. And then when we look at the 2017-18 Estimates—$328.727 million, that’s a 4 percent cut. So that, there, is what this is about. And when we look at it, that’s only in the first year—the 4 percent—the second year, and third year, and fourth year is going to be another 6 percent. So let’s highlight this, too. The fact is that the budget for Māori development over the next four years has actually been cut by 10 percent.

That’s a shocking speech from a very good man, Nuk Koroko—one of the best people in the National Party, but, sadly, a very shocking and sad speech.

Look, I need to say this slowly. First of all, can I mihi to our Minister for Māori Development, doing a great job, and our chair, Rino Tirikatene. I need to say this slowly for the Opposition. I’ll do it really slowly for the Opposition: Māori people aren’t all part of Māori Development. Māori people: most don’t speak Māori. Most Māori people are not affiliated with Māori organisations. Minister Finlayson knows this. Most Māori people just—

💬 Hon Christopher Finlayson: I’m not a Minister.

Well, the former Minister. Thank God for that too. But, in terms of where Māori are, they’re not part of Māori organisations. We want them all speaking Te Reo. We want them all part of Whānau Ora. We want them to all watch Māori Television. We want them to all listen to Māori radio. But they don’t—but they don’t. So Nuk Koroko needs to get it through his head that we have to legislate for the majority of people. We don’t live our world around a measly Māori-targeted budget.

The Opposition has to understand that most Māori want good housing and they want jobs. This is what we campaigned on, not the measly Māori-targeted budget. It’s a measly amount. So don’t hang your hat on a Māori budget while the whole world is falling down, because that’s what the Māori Party did. They said, “We got $100 million.” Meanwhile, they sold of State house rentals. Meanwhile, they had the dirty, rotten, filthy Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill. Meanwhile they had kōhanga reo and never paid equity funding there. The whole world’s falling down and Nuk and his Māori Party friends hang their hat on a measly Māori budget.

Māori are everywhere. Māori are in Porirua and they’re in Wellington. They don’t know about that targeted budget, Nuk; they just know about their bills day to day. And so, therefore, you have to legislate for the majority of Māori. The majority of Māori, sadly, are not into taha Māori things. And so what did we do? We gave our people funding in the Families Package—a family package of $1.2 billion. The Budget targets 181,000 Māori children. What don’t you understand about that? What does the Opposition not understand? Does the Opposition not understand that Māori are New Zealanders?

💬 Nuk Korako: So get rid of Te Puni Kōkiri (TPK) then. Get rid of TPK. What do you need TPK for?

Māori are New Zealanders too, Nuk. Māori are New Zealanders too: 180,000 children are going to benefit from a universal package. Accommodation supplement: $265 million to Māori whānau—$265 million to—

💬 Nuk Korako: Not to Māori whānau. It’s not targeted.

Do those whānau not count, or do you just want to give funding in your measly targeted funding area? How stupid is the Opposition? That’s the question today.

💬 Simeon Brown: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson.

CHAIRPERSON (Adrian Rurawhe): Before you say, when I call a point of order, the members sit down immediately.

💬 Simeon Brown: The member opposite was bringing you into the debate.

CHAIRPERSON (Adrian Rurawhe): Now, I’m going to rule on this. From the rest of this session up to 6 p.m., while I’m in the chair, let’s reduce that right down on both sides of the Chamber please. While I’m on my feet, the Hon Willie Jackson needs to speak to this part of the debate about what is in the Estimates report.

💬 Nicola Willis: Have you read them?

Oh, I’ve absolutely read them. And I’m talking about all the funding that’s gone towards Māori in a universal sense. So what we’ve done is have a two-pronged attack here through universal funding, where we’ve got family supplements going to our people—that the Opposition don’t understand because they’re far too slow—and we’ve, of course, got special funding that’s going out in terms of Te Reo Māori. I know this is very hard for the Opposition to understand, but Māori people are New Zealanders too, and we deserve to be supported and funded and resourced in the different areas. There is huge funding going to Māori. There is more funding to Māori than ever in the history of the New Zealand Parliament. It’s amazing, really.

In terms of the young people, rangatahi: $14 million—$14 million. Read that book: $14 million going to young people in terms of finding work. And that’s under He Poutama Rangatahi. That’s a fund that the former Government refused to manage and refused to get out to the regions. We’re putting that money out amongst the regions now through He Poutama Rangatahi, and our rangatahi $14 million fund going out through Te Puni Kōkiri is going to hit our people in the city. We are so pleased with how things are going, Māori members. I know the Hon Chris Finlayson agrees with me. He knows that we’re targeting Māori in a universal sense and in a targeted sense, and well done, Māori caucus.

I’m very happy to take a call on this issue. I’d agree with the Hon member Willie Jackson if I could understand what he said half the time.

I want to begin by acknowledging Rino Tirikatene, the MP for Te Tai Tonga and excellent chair of the Māori Affairs Committee, as I said in the House the other week. I do feel sorry for him, because after the contribution from Mr Jackson, he must be sitting there saying, “How did he get to be a Minister and I’m not one?” But, look, that’s the nature of politics and one has to live with these things.

I don’t intend to speak at length about Treaty negotiations. I’m a very bipartisan sort of a chap, and I think it’s an area where there should be bipartisanship. I have to say, when I was the Minister, I had good support from the Labour Party and I think I’d like to continue that support for this Minister, and in that regard, congratulate him for biting the bullet and being prepared to sign the Pare Hauraki deed, and also for moving to a stage of initialling the Marutūāhu deed. And, of course, standing behind those collective deeds are a lot of individual deeds as well. So congratulations on that and all the very best when dealing with Ngāpuhi. It’s interesting for Mr Tirikatene to say there’s movement there, and I look forward to the evidence of that movement in due course. All I can say to you is best of British, old boy.

The second thing I want to talk about is the vote that involves Mr Kelvin Davis. Look, I’m totally supportive of the portfolio of Crown/Māori Relations. I got the ball rolling in that area when I was Attorney-General, and one of the things I’d be interested to hear from the Minister is: how is the register of Crown obligations going? I think that’s a very important first step. There’ll be a lot of—from time to time—issues that arise, dealing with the post-Treaty settlement relationship, but there’s a broader Crown-Māori relationship that does deserve very careful consideration by Government in the years ahead.

A key aspect of that issue is the registry of interests where some good work was done, but it hadn’t been completed when we left office. But I do think it’s very important for the Crown—not Government departments; for the Crown—to know that there are ongoing obligations. When I left office, I think there were about 7,000 ongoing obligations—quite a number of them the Crown had actually completed its responsibilities. So that’s the second major issue, and I’d be interested to hear from the Minister on that one.

Then we move on from praise and from nice-guy stuff into Māori development, because I endorse everything Mr Korako said. Mr Jackson tried to enlist me into his side of the argument—I think, to the extent I understood it—but, basically, it was totally wrong. But the issue in Māori development that really concerns me—and Mr Jackson, I think, referred to it as that “dirty, stinking, rotten Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill” or something like that. It was a sort of argument by epithet as opposed to argument by analysis. What we had with the work done on reform of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act was a once-in-a-generation opportunity to work out how Māori could develop their land.

I have said in this House before that there have been reports done showing the potential for Māori land, not only for economic development but for papakāinga housing and so on—tremendous opportunities. People kept saying to me, “We can’t develop this land because of the legal structures.”—even people like Shane Jones, who is very interested in seeing land developed for forestry, recognises the limitations on using land under Te Ture Whenua Maori Act for forestry development because of problems in getting consent.

So it’s a huge issue. Such a huge amount of work was done and it’s just been tossed to one side with the promises that there will be some work done on landlocked land, and there will be some work done on this and that, but the reality of the matter is nothing is going to happen, even though the Labour Party in Opposition put in their manifesto that reform of te ture whenua was a priority. And all that good work that was done to develop the Māori Land Service, which would serve to be a disputes resolver, to provide expert advice on registration of land, and also provide advice on how land could be developed—that’s all been washed away and that is a very serious error, and that is why this Minister has let the side down.

Tēnā koe e te heamana o tēnei wahanga. He hōnore tēnei mōku te tū ki te kōrero e pā ana ki tēnei kaupapa i te ahiahi nei. Ehara ahau i te mema o tēnei Kōmiti Māori engari e hiahia ana ahau ki te whakaputa ētahi o ngā whakaaro, ētahi o ngā kōrero e pā ana ki te Tahua Pūtea mō te Pōti Whanaketanga Māori.

Āe, kua kite i ngā kōrero, i ngā amuamu o tērā taha o Te Whare ki waho hoki o tēnei Whare, e pā ana ki tēnei Tahua Pūtea. E pātai mai ana kei hea te pūtea mō Ngāi Tātou te iwi Māori. Māku e kī atu i roto i te whare, te hauora, te mātauranga anō hoki. Ō mātou whānau, he whānau noho kore whare, e noho ana i runga i te rārangi tatari mō ngā whare kāwanatanga, e noho māuiui ana, kāhore anō kia whiwhi i te mātauranga, e noho kore mahi ana, e noho hoki i roto i ngā whare herehere. Ko tēnei Tahua Pūtea e tuku ana te moni ki wērā o ngā kaupapa hei painga mō tātou katoa, hei painga mō te iwi Māori anō hoki. Kaua e wareware ki tērā kōrero. Kei reira te moni. Kei roto hoki i te pōti whanaketanga Māori.

E hiahia ana ahau ki te kōrero e pā ana ki ētahi o ngā kaupapa e tautoko ana mātou e tohatoha ana i te pūtea, ā, e hiahia ana au ki te tuku mihi ki te Minita, arā ki a Nanaia ki te Minita a Willie anō hoki, nā te mea e rua ngā kaupapa nui kei roto i tēnei Tahua Pūtea.

Tuatahi, ko te whare—e tautoko ana i ngā papakāinga Māori, e tautoko hoki ngā kāinga ki roto i ngā hapori Māori pērā i tōku hau kāinga i Moerewa. E tautoko ana te whakatikatika i ngā whare kei tērā o ngā tāone. E tino harikoa ana te ngākau ia taima ka hoki au ki te kāinga, ka taraiwa atu au ki Moerewa, ka kite ahau i ngā whare e whakapaipai ake ana, e whakatikatika ake ana. Nā te mea ko wērā ngā whare he mākū, he makariri, he nui kē atu ngā tāngata e noho ana ki roto i ērā whare, ko tēnei e tautoko ana i wēra whānau ki te whakatikatika, ki te whakamahana, ā, wērā o ngā whare.

He kaupapa tino pai tērā. E hiahia ana ahau ki te tuku mihi ki a Te Iwi Kotahi Tātou Trust, ki a Ngāhau, a Debbie anō hoki mō tō rātou kaha hei whakatikatika, hei whakapai ake ngā kāinga i roto i Moerewa. Tino harikoa taku ngākau ki te rongo i ngā kōrero e mea ana ngā Minita ko tēnei ko te Moerewa model. Tēnā pea ka whakawhānui ake tēnei kaupapa ki roto i ētahi atu o ngā tāone i roto i a Aotearoa nei.

Nā, ko tētahi atu kaupapa kua kite ahau, kua tohatoha ētahi moni ki te tautoko i tēnei mahi, he mahi mō te rangatahi. Kia ako i ngā pūkenga, kia whai i te mātauranga, kia whiwhi i te mahi. Kua haere mai a Willie, te Minita mō te mahi, ki Kaikohe ki te whakarewa i tētahi kaupapa, arā He Poutama Rangatahi. E mōhio ana tātou katoa te nuinga o ngā taitamariki e noho kore mahi ana i roto i Te Tai Tokerau. Ko tēnei he ara anga mua mō rātou a wērā ngā whakatupuranga. E tino harikoa ana te ngākau ki te tū ki te taha o Willie—

[Greetings to the Chair of this session. It is an honour for me to speak about this topic this afternoon. I am not a member of the Māori Affairs Committee, but I would like to express some of the thoughts, some of the information pertaining to the Budget for Vote Māori Development.

Yes, I have seen the discussion, the complaints of the other side of the House, and outside this House, regarding this Budget, asking where the funding for us, the Māori people is. I would respond: in housing, in health, and also in education. Our families are families who are homeless, sitting on the waiting list for State housing, impacted by poor health, uneducated, unemployed, and also held in prison. This Budget delivers money to those initiatives for the good of all, for the good of Māori people, as well. Don’t forget that point. The money is there. It is also in Vote Māori Development.

I would like to speak about an initiative we are supporting which distributes funding, and I would like to congratulate the Minister for Māori Development, that is Nanaia, and also the Minister of Employment, Willie, because there are two significant initiatives within this Budget.

Firstly, housing—supporting Māori communal housing developments and supporting houses within Māori communities, such as my home-place Moerewa. We are supporting the repair of houses in that town. My heart is happy each time I return home, drive into Moerewa, and see the houses being improved and repaired. Because it is those houses that are damp, cold, and many people are living in such houses, this supports those families to repair and heat those houses. That is a great initiative. I would like to acknowledge Te Iwi Kotahi Tātou Trust, Ngāhau, and also Debbie for their steadfastness in repairing and improving homes in Moerewa. My heart is happy to hear what the Ministers said about the Moerewa model. Perhaps this initiative will be expanded to some other New Zealand towns.

Now, another initiative I have seen is the distribution of money to support this work—work for youth, to learn skills, to pursue education, and to gain employment. Willie, the Minister for this programme, has gone to Kaikohe to launch an initiative, He Poutama Rangatahi. We know that most youth are unemployed in Northland. This is a way forward for those generations. I am pleased to stand beside Willie—]

CHAIRPERSON (Adrian Rurawhe): Ōtirā kia whakahua te katoa o tōna ingoa, Te Hon Willie Jackson.

[Please express his full name, the Hon Willie Jackson.]

—oh, te honourable Te Minita Willie Jackson—i roto i Kaikohe i te whakatūtanga o tēnei o ngā kaupapa. Nō reira e kaha tautoko ana ahau i tēnei Tahua Pūtea nā te mea e kite ana ahau ngā painga o te mahi kua tīmata kē ki roto i Moerewa, i roto i Kaikohe anō hoki.

Arā noa atu te moni kua hoatu ki ngā wātene Māori, mō te whenua Māori, me te whakawhanake i ngā rohe, me Te Reo Māori anō hoki. Āpōpō tērā e whakanui ana tātou te noho motuhake tō tātou reo Māori. Nō reira e tau ana.

[—oh, the honourable Minister Willie Jackson—in Kaikohe at the start of this initiative. Therefore, I strongly support this Budget, because I see the benefits of the work which has already begun in Moerewa and Kaikohe.

Money has also been given to the Māori wardens, to Māori land, and to regional development, and also for the Māori language. Tomorrow we will commemorate the independence of our Māori language. So I conclude.]

Kia orana e Te Vaa Tuatua. I stand to take a contribution in this debate, and I want to bring out the area in the Māori development portfolio around—you can almost guess it—Whānau Ora because I have been disappointed on so many levels around the way that this portfolio is going. I’m disappointed in the lack of funding that came from this Budget. I feel the aroha for those that work in the Whānau Ora sector. I feel aroha for them because the Labour Party manifesto had in it a promise of $20 million for Whānau Ora over a four-year period, and that was washed away, and all of the hopes there and the anticipation that came from the Whānau Ora providers around that particular piece of pūtea was washed away and dashed, and their hopes were dashed. I felt that the $5 million to the agency Te Puni Kōkiri—I believe it’s been ill-allocated. I don’t know why they get to have an increase in funding and the Whānau Ora commissioning agencies and the providers get absolutely nothing.

Now, I know that when I questioned the Minister in the select committee, he talked about the Whānau Ora review and that a lot of the decisions around Whānau Ora funding would hinge on this review. But in my tours around speaking with Whānau Ora providers, looking at the amount of money that has gone into this review—just under a million dollars for review panel members to hear the stories that many of us have already heard around how Whānau Ora is a successful project and how it is helping so many whānau—I think that’s a waste of money, to be honest. I think that very little will come from this review, and I think that a lot of the people that are being interviewed—providers, and so forth—there are a number of them that have been missed out of the opportunity. Yes, there’s a submission process; I get that. But we are Māori and we like kanohi ki te kanohi [face to face], just like we’ve always done throughout our being as Māori, and yet there are a number of providers that have talked to me about their dissatisfaction that they have not had that opportunity for kanohi ki te kanohi with the Minister for Whānau Ora.

Also, there is disappointment from some of those providers that when the Minister for Whānau Ora was invited to present at some of their respective hui, he declined. And, really, at the end of the day, if you’re trying to sell something, you need to be able to connect with those—all of those people; not just the ones that show up to the conferences but all the others that cannot make the journey to conferences.

And so when there is an opportunity to be able to speak to the people, speak to the whānau, then it disappoints me that the Minister for Whānau Ora cannot make the time for these people. It really sends me the signal that this Government doesn’t really care about the little people—the people at the grass roots—and that really concerns me.

There is nervousness out there from one of the commissioning agencies to its providers, saying that, you know, this could be the end to the providerships as they know it through this particular process. I was quite alarmed when I was told this, and I thought, well, this is a very strong message, and I wanted to send that message to the members of the Labour-led Government to let them know that there are whānau, there are providers, and there are hapū and iwi out there that are not impressed with your performance or your support of whānau Māori, of Māori tamariki, rangatahi and of the work that they continue to do with those whānau that actually face the various challenges.

Before I finish my contribution, I too want to just give my thanks to the chair of the Māori Affairs Committee. I think you’re doing a good job, Rino, and thank you very much. You have a very good way about you, looking after us. And thanks also, to the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, the Hon Andrew Little, kia ora.

Tēnā koe, kia orana. Tuatahi e tāpiri atu āku whakaaro ki ērā i waihotia te mema a Willow-Jean Prime, arā ko te hanga o tēnei Whare he wāhanga mō te iti me te rahi, ngā pouaru, ngā pani, me ngā rawakore. Koinei te tāhūhū o te whare e akiaki nei, e tiaki nei e mātou tēnei kāwanatanga, ki ngā kaupapa matua kei mua i te aroaro o te hunga pōhara, nō reira tautoko ōna kōrero.

[Greetings. Firstly, I would like to add my thoughts to those expressed by the member Willow-Jean Prime, namely the structure of this House which includes parts for all, the widows, the orphans, and the poor. This is the theme that we of this Government are exhorting and looking after, the main issues facing the poor, therefore I support her speech.]

I just wanted to respond to some of the things that have been raised in the committee in relation to the Māori development portfolio, and we do have a good story to tell. But it’s more than that: we want to see action on the ground, and we have a plan, because we know that for far too long, too many people, without opportunity, have not been benefiting under the previous administration. The points that were made by the chairperson of the Māori Affairs Committee that much has been gained across the whole Budget for Māori, and, in particular, our having a focus in the Māori development space to grow further opportunity is exactly the plan that Māori have been calling for. In fact, they voted with their feet because they knew that this plan would work.

The member Willow-Jean Prime actually pointed to all the different parts of the new funding that would channel support to where we think it could make a critical difference, in line with the rest of what the Government is doing. Take papakāinga housing—we know that it’s not just about building houses; it’s about whānau enterprise and it’s about developing land opportunities and sustainable housing opportunities. We will see more of that under this Budget.

Also in the area of rangatahi, we have the Minister of Employment, who has a plan which actually builds on the proposition that our young people want to work, they deserve work, and they deserve sustainable employment. That must be done in partnership not only with business, not only with Māori collectives and Māori enterprise, but also with local and central government. We need a joined-up solution for our rangatahi because for far too long, far too many have been dropping off the radar with nowhere to go.

Also, I want to pick up on the point raised by the previous Minister for Treaty Settlements around Te Ture Whenua. See, this is the difficult thing: the previous administration was prepared to throw money at a Māori Land Service without knowing whether or not they could get the legislation over the line to actually support that direction of travel. People voted with their feet in the Māori electorates because they knew that that approach was not actually going to deliver real gains for Māori whānau, Māori trusts, and Māori collectives, who really wanted the solutions to come back to them in real ways. That was politics gone wrong, and, certainly, National paid for it.

There was another point that was raised in relation to the Budget, and this was something I spoke on at length at the select committee. Actually, if you look at the total budget and the difference, in the last year of the previous administration, the total budget was around about $328 million. For the 2018 Budget, the total vote was $342 million. Now, that’s an increase, and I explained to the select committee that the difference in the numbers was that we had around about $37 million that was put aside in the projects that I’ve identified in the contingency funds.

So the next question falling off that is: why was it contingency? In the papakāinga space, we knew that in order to develop the types of projects that had multiple benefits, rather than just building a house—multiple benefits like whānau enterprise, community development—ensuring that that dollar was a part of a circular economy to deliver far greater gains, we could continue to develop the model that we knew worked in this approach. It’s much the same in terms of the rangatahi space.

Also, I wanted to just, lastly, come to the point about Whānau Ora. Now, why would the Minister throw more money at Whānau Ora before the review outcome had been found? He wouldn’t. The point of the matter there is that we had campaigned on the approach to reviewing Whānau Ora to see what worked, to ensure that a commissioning approach across three different agencies, done three different ways, could identify where the real opportunity of doing things differently might be. Now, I don’t know what the outcome of that review will deliver; neither does the Minister. But it would be prudent of him to ensure that the review took its natural course before he made a final determination about where to next, because that is the question.

We’re committed to outcomes for Māori. We’re committed to gains that will see real opportunities, real jobs, sustainable incomes, and breaking the cycle of inequality and poverty that’s been around far too long.

E Te Tiamana, kia orana. I rise to take this last call for the Opposition and, in doing so, acknowledge the Minister for Māori Development, the Hon Nanaia Mahuta. I listened to your words keenly and intently, and the Minister has addressed the committee talking about growth and gain for Māori development. Well, the purpose of the Estimates debate is to hold the Minister accountable for the decisions around allocation of funding to areas.

When I go through the Estimates for Māori development, these are the key words that strike one as one reads them from page 230 of the booklet: “decrease”, “no new policy initiatives”, “reduce”, “moved to other Government priorities”, “funding is spread across the Budget”, “integrating”—not only for Māori, but “integrating”—“a reduction”, “tagged”, “not included”, “disestablished”. These are the key words that strike one when reading through Vote Māori Development, and this is the emphasis of my kōrero to the committee this afternoon. It’s about scrutinising the Government’s performance and delivery—or rather, more to the point, its underperformance and under-delivery; its undervaluing of Māori development.

In my service in the House as a member of the Opposition on these benches, I’ve repeatedly heard the coalition Government decrying, bemoaning, and lamenting its long years in Opposition, which obviously weren’t long enough, because, regrettably, in this allocation of funding for Vote Māori Development, it has decreased, reduced, lessened priority, diminished, and mainstreamed funding, doing nothing more than assimilating the interests of Māori and suppressing, not growing, Māori development—nothing more and a whole lot less. In short, this Government has short-changed Māori in Vote Māori Development. Let’s look at the rhetoric again, as I have outlined from pages 230 onwards—this Government has short-changed Vote Māori Development.

So let me step you through some of the rhetoric, some of the promises. Whānau Ora was what the Labour Party campaigned on during the election campaign—promises of $20 million to grow that. There was no talk about a review. We now have 123-plus reviews; Whānau Ora is one of them that has suffered. It’s this particular approach of under-delivery and under-deliverables—funding all slipstreamed into mainstream funding; assimilated policies and assimilated ideas.

Let’s look at the overview in Vote Māori Development. As I said, those key words—it’s about less, which is not about more for Māori development.

Assimilation and immersion is what this is all about. Vote Māori Development is all negatively geared and deconstructed. This is indicative of the regard for the largest representation Māori MPs have ever had in a Government. Regrettably, my colleagues across the Chamber—all 13 of you—have been focused on targeting, assimilation, and immersion into the mainstream. It’s disappointing and ashamedly the voice of the largest representation of Māori ever in Government. The silence is deafening, when we need to hear you speak up, when we need to hear the members across the Chamber speak up the strongest and the most at the times most important for Māori.

The Speech from the Throne referenced, “This government is proud to have the most Māori and Pacific Island cabinet ministers of any New Zealand government; with eight Māori and four Pacific Island ministers.” I put it to my colleagues across the Chamber that you are needed to speak up in the Māori interests, in the Māori voice, not immerse and assimilate, as is evident in this Budget round for Vote Māori Development. As the spokesperson for Māori tourism, I’ve looked through the Estimates here and, again, I see that there has been the immersion and assimilation of Māori funding from the Minister of Tourism over to the Minister for Māori Development. I see that the funding—there’s been no increase; again, immersed and assimilated.

Hearing from the representatives from Māori broadcasting, from Māori Television, their concern and view is that there’s been no increase. In the last four years—[Bell rung]—particularly, for our Māori public broadcasters—

CHAIRPERSON (Adrian Rurawhe): Order! Is the member seeking a further call?

May I please, Mr Chair?

CHAIRPERSON (Adrian Rurawhe): I call Harete Hipango.

Kia ora, thank you.

In briefly summing up, the Māori Affairs Committee heard from the public broadcasters, in relation to the funding that is here, that there’s been no increase, and questioned why it is that Māori are treated differently from our mainstream broadcaster. There’s nothing clear about the currency in recognising the importance of Māori broadcasting.

So, in conclusion, it’s highlighted very clearly that the coalition Government regrettably, with our Māori representation, has not lifted the voice of the Māori interest. Kia ora.