Mana in Parliament, 17-19 September 2013
Posted on September 22, 2013 by admin in Mana in Parliament, NewsMāori Community Development Act review: Waiwhetu Marae
First up this week Hone attended the review hui at Waiwhetu Marae in Lower Hutt. As a result of strong opposition to the disestablishment of the New Zealand Māori Council in the last few weeks, government representatives took pains to tell the hui that they’re not advocating to get rid of the Council, but are instead asking Māori if they want a change or not. They of course omitted to say that the government will decide if and what changes are made; not Maori. The government then proceeded to outline a pile of problems that make change a necessity … and it’s clear that the changes they’re pushing for will make fundamental changes to the role and structure of the Council. Hui participants spoke strongly to the kaupapa, outlining a wider context to Māori community development over the last 60 years and the central role of marae and community committees and the NZ Māori Council in it. As a result, they spoke strongly for no change to the role and structure of the Council, with the Māori wardens to be kept with them, and instead said the issues were a result of inadequate funding and government and police interference and sabotage. Let’s see if the government will listen and leave things as they are, while increasing funding and support.
The deadline for written submissions has been extended and will now close at 5pm on Thursday 31 October. See www.tpk.govt.nz/consultation/mcda/ for further details.
Government Bills up this week
· Vulnerable Children Bill: Following on from their White Paper for Vulnerable Children, the government’s Vulnerable Children Bill to better protect children from harm and abuse went up for its first reading on Tuesday. It was supported by all parties in Parliament – mostly because all support the ethos of child safety rather than the Bill itself as it’s full of a number of serious flaws. The Bill makes a lot of noise about making children safe, but it’s very likely to fall short – not least because the government is hell-bent on pushing vulnerable families closer to the edge via benefit cuts, state housing closures, refusing to increase the minimum wage, doing little to create jobs, and failing to let communities reduce alcohol outlets and pokie machine numbers in their neighbourhoods, and so on. See the MANA website, www.mana.org.nz, for Hone’s media statement where he outlines some of the issues with the Bill including the fact it will push more and more onto Child Youth and Family who are already under-resourced to deal with their current caseload. Another significant issue is that the Bill will require hundreds of thousands of government workers to be vetted for their suitability to work with or near children, at a cost of millions of dollars, despite there being no evidence it will make children safer. It will also enable anyone accused of offending against children to be sacked without evidence or an investigation or trial. Ae, let’s be staunch about keeping our kids safe, but not by making laws that can lead to mindless persecution and which – again – might not even be effective in protecting children. We’ll be reading all the submissions with interest and will need the above concerns to be addressed (and the government to do an about-face on its social policies) to continue supporting the Bill i.e. not likely! Submissions to the Social Services select committee are due by 5pm, Wednesday 30 October.
· Electoral Amendment Bill: The first reading of the Electoral Amendment Bill was also held this week, and it was also unanimously supported – this time for the right reasons! The Bill introduces a number of changes designed to make it easier to vote in elections, including on-line enrolment (but not on-line voting as yet), and to assist in making the background paperwork easier for those involved in running campaigns. The changes were recommended by the Justice and Electoral select committee following their review of the 2011 general election.
· Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Bill: The second reading of this Bill to revamp the Historic Places Trust was held on Wednesday. MANA was happy to support it given the changes made by the Local Government and Environment select committee in response to submissions from Māori. The Bill continues the Māori Heritage Council which will now have wider functions that are more consistent with the Treaty of Waitangi and that will potentially be more inclusive of iwi.
· Family Court Proceedings Reform Bill: The committee stage of this Bill was also up on Wednesday and third reading was held on Thursday. MANA continued to oppose this Bill to make the Family Court less accessible and more costly for whānau.
First charter schools announced
This week the government announced that five charter schools will open next year. See the MANA website for Hone’s mixed response to this.
On the one hand, MANA has strongly opposed charter schools because they erode the public school system by not having to have qualified teachers, not having to follow the curriculum, not having to report on the controversial national standards, nor being able to be held publically accountable for spending and decision-making through having school boards or being subject to the Official Information Act; and because the government has chosen to invest in these private endeavours rather than in kura kaupapa Māori which has proven to be the most successful learning system for Māori primary and secondary students.
On the other hand, two of the charter schools – Te Kura Hourua o Whangarei Terenga Paraoa sponsored by He Puna Mārama Charitable Trust, and Te Kura Hourua ki Whangaruru sponsored by Ngā Parirau Mātauranga Trust – will be set up in Hone’s electorate by people he knows are dedicated to doing the best for rangatahi Māori. He wishes them the very best. Whatever the response, it was still possible for the government to support such endeavours without creating charter schools and opening up the terrain for private companies to see education as a profit-making business – such as by setting them up as special character schools.
The snapper debate continued
This continued to be a hot topic in Parliament this week. See the MANA website for Hone’s ‘take’ on the issue: that the best way to maintain snapper stocks is not by penalising recreational or customary fishers but to focus on the dumping problem that, due to holes in the Quota Management System, sees thousands of tonnes of fish dumped at sea every year. He says it’s typical of this government: pick on the little guy while protecting the commercial interest, even if it’s flawed and even if it’ll achieve nothing real.
Discussion · No Comments
There are no responses to “Mana in Parliament, 17-19 September 2013”.No one has posted a comment on this post yet. Start the discussion!
Leave a Comment