11. HONE HARAWIRA (Māori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) Link to this
to the Minister of Finance
Ka pēhea te Wāhanga Kaitohutohu Kaupapa Rawa e whai mōhio, e mōhio rānei i ngā whakapaunga pūtea Māori i roto i te Kāwana, he aha hoki te rahi o te whakapaunga whai hua a te Māori?
[How does Treasury track expenditure for Māori across Government, and to what extent does this expenditure contribute to Māori economic development?]
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Minister of Finance) Link to this
Treasury does not track explicitly the split of all expenditure by ethnic groups across all sectors. However, all Government departments are expected to report on their progress in reducing inequalities, in their annual reports.
He aha te āhua o te ngākau kino o ngā mahi kei te whakahaerehia e te Tari Kaitohutohu Kaupapa Rawa i kitea e te rōpū whakawā ā-waho, arā, ngā kaupapa tāuteute, pupuri kaimahi, ā, he aha hoki ngā kaupapa hei ngaki i ngā whakanōhanga kai kiri?
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.]
[What was the nature of the unintended bias identified by external review as occurring in the operations of Treasury’s recruitment and retention procedure; and what initiatives have been taken to address institutional racism?]
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
I certainly do not accept that there is institutional racism within Treasury. Indeed, the recent report released by the Controller and Auditor-General actually is quite supportive of actions taken by Treasury. However, it is fair to say that Treasury has not made as much progress as it would wish in terms of hiring Māori staff.
Hon Bill EnglishHow can Treasury track Government expenditure at all, when we found out today that the Government cannot organise the audit of the financial statements of a public institution, that the Government is paying for squads of district health board staff to fly halfway round the world and compete with each other for health employees, and that the Government has a policy that allows New Zealanders on incomes of $80,000 to $100,000 to stay in State houses intended for the needy?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
First, the Controller and Auditor-General, not the Government, is responsible for the audit of the wānanga—because, of course, the Controller and Auditor-General is an Officer of Parliament, not an officer of the Government. On the last point, it was National policy that lifted any notion of social targeting in the allocation of State housing. On the matter of the district health boards, it was the National Government that moved away from a small number of large area health boards to a large number of small district health boards.
Te Ururoa Flavell Link to this
He aha te whakautu a te Tari Kaitohutohu Kaupapa Rawa ki tērā i kitea e te Kai Ripoata mō te Rōpū Whakakotahi Tangata i te Ao i te tau kua taha ake nei, arā, he waimeha te āhua o ngā kaute hei whakaatu i tēnā mātāwaka, i tēnā mātāwaka?
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.]
[What response has Treasury made to findings from the United Nations special rapporteur late last year that there is a lack of significant disaggregated statistical data identifying ethnicity?]
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
Some data is disaggregated but much Government spending is quite impossible to disaggregate. I have no idea how one would disaggregate the spending on roading, for example. It is very hard to disaggregate most spending within the compulsory health sector. It is very hard to disaggregate very large areas of Government spending into spending by ethnicity, by the very nature of the spending that occurs. It would make no sense to have spending for Māori for roads, and for Pākehā for roads, unless we had separate Māori and Pākehā roads.
I tēnei wiki i te ripoata o te Tari Tumuaki o te Mana Arotake, “he ruarua noa iho nga kaimahi” o te Tari Kaitohutohu Kaupapa Rawa “kei a rātou ngā momo mātauranga Māori”, ā, he aha aua momo mātauranga?
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.]
[What is the “particular expertise in Māori issues” that the Auditor-General’s report released this week identified “a few staff” in Treasury as having?]
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
The report identifies that Treasury does recognise issues in relation to Māori. It is now taking a more structured approach to engaging with Māori through to a more responsive policy statement plan in 2000 that has been implemented and subsequently revised. It manages its staff to try to recognise and to respond to issues for Māori.