
MANA in Parliament, 11-13 September 2012
Posted on September 15, 2012 by admin in Mana in ParliamentFeed the Kids Bill: gathering political support
The week started on a high note with Labour leader, David Shearer, announcing their support for the introduction of food in schools programmes. While what they’ve proposed is a scaled down version of what MANA is promoting in our Feed the Kids Bill, it’s really heartening to see the political momentum building for such an immediate and simple way to address growing child poverty in Aotearoa. See the MANA website for Hone’s media statement congratulating Labour. Our Feed the Kids Bill will go back into the ballot box next week and, if chosen, we look forward to Labour’s full support when it comes before Parliament.
Government Bill’s up this week
A number of new bills came before Parliament this week.
- Marine Legislation Bill: The Bill seeks to improve maritime safety rules and procedures in the wake of the Rena disaster last year, and to fill the holes in the law that it showed up – including increasing the fines for those breaching safety standards. MANA supported the Bill at first reading, although there needs to be greater provision for hapū and iwi to be involved in developing maritime safety protocols. We encourage those with an interest in this area to make a submission to the Transport and Industrial Relations select committee who will be examining the Bill.
- Land Transport Management Amendment Bill: The Bill will enable the government to push ahead with their flawed roading policy by doing things like limiting who gets to have a say. Their roading policy is flawed because it prioritises building unnecessary new roads over properly maintaining the ones we already have, and does not invest enough into public transport development for the future. MANA opposed the Bill at first reading.
- Patents Bill: We also opposed the second reading of this Bill because it will work to protect big corporates but not the smaller players, including those whānau developing software.
MANA UP: Unemployment, benefit cuts, and housing
- Unemployment: In response to the announcement that another 100 jobs will be lost in Kawerau, MANA has continued to push the introduction of aFinancial Transactions Tax as a solution. The tax would reduce trading on the NZ dollar which would lower its value and make it much more affordable for businesses to stay here instead of selling up to overseas buyers or moving overseas themselves. In this way the tax would help to keep jobs in NZ and help address growing unemployment. See the MANA website for John Minto’s press release.
- Benefit cuts: See the MANA website also for Hone’s release pointing out the huge flaws in Paula Bennett’s plans to cut the DPB in half if parents don’t enrol their kids with a doctor or into a kōhanga/early childhood education or school, which were announced on Tuesday. Not only will a 50% cut in an already abysmally low income be hugely detrimental to the children involved, the policy takes no account of often long wait lists in kōhanga and ECE nor the massive shortage of GPs in most areas. Why doesn’t the government put their focus here instead of their constant benefit-bashing? Because it gets them votes – and that’s what they care about the most.
- Housing: On Wednesday afternoon, Hone was invited to attend a housing meeting with a large collective of Māori community organisations in Porirua, arranged by Piripi Gray (nō Ngāti Toa). We heard stories of how difficult it is to get repairs done, and done properly; how the insulation scheme hasn’t worked because it’s not done properly or checked – and that it’s pointless if the walls aren’t done too. We heard stories of whānau being moved out of homes, or put on long wait lists even when there are houses available. We heard about how hard it is to contact Housing Corp since the introduction of the new 0800 number. And we heard about the effects all this has on the health and wellbeing of kids, parents and grandparents. Despite such stories, the hui was very positive due to the huge commitment all showed to working together to care for the whānau in their community. See the MANA website for our housing policy which includes the building of 20,000 new state homes that would be required to pass a warrant of fitness test, and ways to enable whānau to own their own homes. In the meantime, as reiterated by Hone at the hui, the best bet for communities in the face of a government who simply doesn’t care is to pull together and help care for one another.
National hui on Māori water rights
And the week finished on a high note too with the national hui on Māori water rights called by Kingi Tuheitia and held at Tūrangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawahia. Both Hone and Annette attended the hui on behalf of MANA and joined the resounding call for unity and for the government’s asset sale programme to be put aside. A 1000 copies of Hone’s ‘Open Letter to John Key’ printed in Thursday’s NZ Herald were distributed to the hui attendees (see the MANA website for a copy). A big mihi to those MANA supporters who helped with this. As has been reported in media up and down the country, the hui resulted in a number of significant resolutions being passed – and which were discussed at an Iwi Leaders Forum hui today:
- That Māori proprietary rights and interests in water be settled before the sale of shares and before hapū and iwi enter negotiations with Crown;
- That Kingi Tuheitia, Sir Tumu Te Heuheu, Sir Eddie Durie, Dame Iritana Tawhiwhirangi and Kaa O’Brien, New Zealand Māori Council choose negotiators— including women—to deal with the Crown; and
- That if negotiations fail, iwi will support a New Zealand Māori Council court challenge.
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