2. Hon ANNETTE KING (Deputy Leader—Labour) Link to this
to the Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment
Does she stand by all her recent statements?
Hon TARIANA TURIA (Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment) Link to this
I stand by 99.9 percent of them.
Who is correct—the Associate Minister, who said yesterday: “At the last minute we were given a copy of the reforms. That makes it difficult to have input into them.”, or the Minister for Social Development and Employment, Paula Bennett, who said yesterday that the first meeting on the social welfare reforms occurred on 26 November 2009, 4 months ago?
Hon TARIANA TURIA Link to this
I was talking about the policy design. Those policies were designed before the election and, of course, the Government has every right to implement its policy without consulting us.
Hon Trevor Mallard Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I think that the Minister was given a couple of choices on when she heard about a particular matter—not a policy, but a Government matter, because she would not have been responsible if it was policy. We cannot ask her questions about consultation before the election, and you would have ruled it out if we had. Therefore, I think you understand that she—
Mr SPEAKERI hear the honourable member. I invite the Hon Tariana Turia to make a somewhat greater effort to answer the question asked, please.
Hon TARIANA TURIA Link to this
I am responsible for the comments that I made, and I made those comments on the basis that National had designed those policies before becoming the Government and that we were not party to that. I at no point talked about consultation. I never used those words in my interview.
Has the Prime Minister told her why he said that there was complete and full consultation by the Minister with all relevant Ministers, including those in the Māori Party, and that the consultation started as late as December last year, or does she believe that the Prime Minister has been misinformed about the quantity and quality of consultation undertaken by the Minister for Social Development and Employment on a policy that has such a major impact on Māori people?
Hon TARIANA TURIA Link to this
It is important for the House to realise that I was not present in Parliament from mid-November right through until January, because I was in hospital.
Is the Minister for Social Development and Employment correct in her chronology of events, in which she indicates that the Associate Minister did not attend meetings, cancelled meetings, and had to be sent a second set of policy papers, implying lost papers? Paula Bennett said that she actually gave the Minister all the related papers on 24 February, which is 1 month ago.
Hon TARIANA TURIA Link to this
I am not going to respond to the issues of there being no papers or of lost papers. I have already made it clear that, in fact, I returned to Parliament around 3 or 4 February. Since then, I have seen the papers that were spoken of. I responded to them. I saw that more as my being informed of what the Government was doing than a consultation document, which had taken place before the election.
Rahui KateneDoes she agree with the sentiments of Māori Party MP Hone Harawira that “Māori have never sought the debilitation that comes with crippling dependency, and nor do we seek poverty.”; and how does she reconcile this with her statement that she supports the notion of benefit reform?
Hon TARIANA TURIA Link to this
I agree with many statements that Māori leaders have made over the years: Tuini Ngāwai and the waiata she wrote about benefit dependency, and Sir Apirana Ngata. He saw such a net as a danger as he believed that it would undermine the work ethic of our people, and he was correct.
In light of the Minister’s answer that she did not realise that the papers she was receiving were consultation papers, was she given a copy of the regulatory impact statement on the welfare system changes prepared by the Ministry of Social Development, in which Te Puni Kōkiri and the Minister of Pacific Island Affairs raised concerns over the impact of the changes on low-income Māori and Pacific people; if she did receive that statement, which came out some time ago, why did she not take the fight about these changes to the Government several months ago?
Hon TARIANA TURIA Link to this
I responded in writing to the issues that were raised, and I was responded to in writing, also.