11. Hon TAU HENARE (National) Link to this
to the Minister of Maori Affairs
Does the Māori Trustee and Māori Development Amendment Bill include provisions for appropriating $35 million from the Māori Trustee?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Minister of Māori Affairs) Link to this
Clause 15 of the Māori Trustee and Māori Development Amendment Bill provides for the transfer of $35 million from the general purposes fund as a contribution to the Māori Business Aotearoa New Zealand fund.
Why then did Te Puni Kōkiri have to grant the Māori Trustee $360,000 from its Māori potential fund last financial year?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
The Māori Trustee is an organisation in its own right that can contribute to the future development of Māori. That is why there is a contract with the Māori Trustee, as there is with nearly 400 other organisations.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. My question asked why Te Puni Kōkiri had to grant the Māori Trustee $360,000 from its Māori potential fund, but that answer not only had nothing to do with the question but did not even address the question. I would like it that the same rules that apply to me—[ Interruption]
Madam SPEAKERPlease be seated. I understand the member’s point. I actually think the Minister addressed the question. It might not have been clear, but he did address it.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I would really like it if the same rules that apply to myself when I interject on a point of order apply to the Rt Hon Winston Peters, as well.
Does the Minister agree with the following reason for the granting of $360,000 to the Māori Trustee by Te Puni Kōkiri: “to assist the Māori Trustee to develop the critical mass of people and resources, information and relationships that will lead to long-term economic sustainability and globally competitive agribusiness, leveraging off Māori land.”; if so, what does it mean?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
It means, quite simply, that Māori are at the front edge of competing on the global stage in relation to exports. Māori are the biggest single exporters of meat. They are the biggest single-cluster owner in Fonterra. They are heading towards being the biggest single owner of fish in the South Pacific. Therefore, we need some convergence. The Māori Trustee is an appropriate place to ensure that that force is brought together.
Dave HereoraHon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
The Māori Business Aotearoa New Zealand fund will present a significant opportunity to accelerate Māori development by pooling existing resources that are available for this purpose. The Māori Trustee, as chairperson of Māori Business Aotearoa New Zealand, will oversee this development fund and will have the benefit of the skills of a board to govern this larger fund. As an independent statutory corporation, the Māori Business Aotearoa New Zealand board will be able to work directly and independently with Māori to progress their economic future.
Dr Pita SharplesTēnā tātou katoa. Is the Minister aware that the total surplus funds paid back by Te Puni Kōkiri to the consolidated fund between 1999 and 2007 were $6.336 million, and would it not have been better to have invested these surplus funds in the setting up of Māori Business Aotearoa New Zealand, instead of appropriating the $35 million from the Māori Trustee beneficiaries?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
I am not too certain on the detail of that exact figure, and I would certainly need to look into it. But Te Puni Kōkiri, along with the Māori Trustee, is ensuring that that development is progressing well.
Why did the Minister approve the $360,000 grant to the Māori Trustee, when it is obvious that the Māori Trustee does not need an extra $360,000—it already has at least $35 million in the general purposes fund, which the Government wants to purloin?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
Unless things have changed since that member was the Minister of Māori Affairs, when he did nothing, it is a contract between the ministry and the Māori Trustee, not the Minister, and it is sanctioned by the senior team—the executive team.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. My question was about the grant that Te Puni Kōkiri made—[ Interruption] That is the second time.
Well, that is the question, really, is it not? The member wants a specific answer to his question. As members know, one cannot require that. All Ministers have to do is address the question. We all see reality differently, obviously. Therefore, sometimes it is not surprising that there is not an understanding between the question and the answer.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I think I will ask you to have the Minister removed because of that, and then I will ask you to have somebody else, in his stead, answer the question.
Rt Hon Winston Peters Link to this
Is the real problem with this issue in respect of Māori development a lack of funds, which is historically best assessed or judged by the fact that when yours truly was the Minister of Māori Affairs the funding was $239 million, and under the Richardson regime and the National Government, all by itself, it became $32 million, and as a consequence the department has struggled ever since?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
On behalf of the Minister of Māori Affairs, yes, indeed, funding was drastically cut for the ministry during the 1990s, and it was restored under this Labour-led Government.
Was it not a fact that a former Minister of Māori Affairs, the Hon Koro Wētere, went through the Māori Affairs budget with a huge knife and cut it from the $200 million - odd that the Rt Hon Winston Peters talks about to at least half of that, in terms of the establishment of the Iwi Transition Authority?
Rt Hon Winston Peters Link to this
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. With respect to Mr Henare, he should do a bit of work and know a bit of the history. The Iwi Transition Authority was set up in 1988, which is a full 3 years before the budget that I am talking about.
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
As I was saying, this is becoming a bit like Monty Python. One can go back even further. The Hon Koro Wētere saw a massive expansion in the budget that he controlled from 1984 onwards. He then launched a change to the whole structure, and funding was split between the department and the Iwi Transition Authority.
What advice has the Minister received about the 1991 Charters, Sykes, and Nīkora review of the Māori Trustee and about the need to pay compensation to the Māori Trustee if certain moneys are taken from the trustee’s general purposes fund?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
I do not have the information in front of me to be able to answer that question, so if the member cares to put it down in writing I am sure he will get a more complete answer. What I can tell the member is that the proposal is to create a substantial fund for investment in Māori development purposes. None of that money is coming from the funds that are specifically earmarked for the beneficiaries.