So when the Minister of Social Development decides that the income of some of the poorest children in New Zealand would be halved if their parents didn’t meet her new social obligations, the average person might expect she’d have done a bit of work to ensure that those kids would be all right.

Right?

Well, no. According to Paula Bennett, she has absolutely no idea how these kids are even going to survive. “I think living on the full DPB is hard, I don’t know how you can live on 50 per cent”, she said in the Herald yesterday. This is the same Minister who giggled uncontrollably in the House today when she pointed out that the Government doesn’t measure child poverty. She may find that hysterical, but personally, I don’t find that very funny at all.

John Banks probably didn’t intend to suggest the Green Party and parents up and down the country are right to warn of the dangers of privatising state education through charter schools, while the Government ignores us.

But Banskie should be forewarned, if I can stretch the Cassandra metaphor even further, that such slipups happen when non experts involve themselves in stuff they know nothing about. Like teaching. And history.

Now though, the Government has ripped the hearts out of some of the hardest hit communities.

While we rejoice with those school communities who were spared, we share the sentiment of Ouruhia School, one of those who managed to defeat a closure proposal, who said that their “heart goes out to all the other school communities, parents, teachers, support staff and most of all to our young ones whose schools are closing.”

Currently, seven schools are set to close and twelve more to merge. This number could be added to in the coming months as decisions on the status of a number of schools is still yet to be determined, including the five schools in the Aranui Cluster.

The thoughts of all the Green Party go out to the students, parents and teachers of Branston Intermediate, Glenmoor, Greenpark, Kendal, Linwood Intermediate, Manning Intermediate and Richmond, all of which are planned to close.

Richard Chambers, the head of Manning Intermediate has stated that “The minister promised us that we would have two years no matter what. It was a guarantee she made to our community repeatedly, it was unequivocal”.

Now though, it seems his school may be closed at the end of the year, creating further disruption in the lives of everyone associated with the school.

That disruption will be even larger for Christchurch’s disabled students. CCS Disability Action has noted that “not all schools are welcoming to disabled students” and that “for the majority of families with disabled students choosing a school was a stressful draining experience.”

There is currently no plan in place from the Ministry to ensure that disabled students are welcome and supported at their new schools, or to ensure that their support programs and resources transfer smoothly.

With the census coming up in just two weeks, it is remarkable that Hekia Parata was not willing to wait for the most reliable data on population movement in Christchurch. Similarly, her decisions do not take into account the vital work being done by communities, and supported by the Christchurch City Council and CERA, to plan for renewal in many hard hit suburbs, including the work in New Brighton.

Closing schools now undermines that hard work that could have a huge potential impact on population, and therefore school rolls.

Hekia Parata owes an unequivocal apology to the people of Christchurch for the on-going misinformation and stress she has forced upon all those involved in this disastrous process.

At every step in this process, schools have complained that they were not adequately consulted, that they were not listened to and that their concerns were never addressed. Still, Hekia Parata has not apologised.

Throughout this whole process, the one thing that has not changed is the inconsistent approach by this Minister. She says one thing to some, then the opposite to others. She promises one thing, then delivers another.

It appears that some of the schools may have been saved simply because they were able to lobby the most effectively. This is an unacceptable way to make decisions that impact so heavily on the lives of so many children, parents, teachers and support staff.

In the coming weeks and months, the Green Party will continue to stand strong with the people of Christchurch as they continue to fight to save their schools and restore their wonderful city.

Im also pleased that Labour agrees with us, that Charter schools have no future in NZ and that together we will remove them from our education system.

We would put a stop to charter schools, and any charter schools set up by the time we get into Government will have to become state schools, that are free, accessible to local kids, accountable to an elected board, and employ qualified teachers. Some may want to apply to become integrated schools and will need to meet all criteria under the Education Act to do that. If they don’t want to apply or they fail the criteria, then they have to close. It’s a fair approach that protects the families and kids while putting the charter school owners on notice.

This position attracted a critique from Labour, who claim it will create an incentive for charter school operators to quickly set up.

We don’t want to leave kids and communities at a loose end by simply shutting the schools down as Labour would. The kids come first after all.

Our proposal to incorporate them in the public system is a measured approach that means kids education will not be negatively affected by punitive school closures but also puts a stop to charter schools continuing.

How the schools are integrated will need to be looked at on a case by case basis. If there is a local state school, then the charter school may be merged back into that. It may be the school becomes a regular public school, or it may become a state integrated school that has a special character or a kura kaupapa Maori.

Regardless any such school will be public, free, and accessible to local kids and employ qualified teachers. We think this is a constructive way to deal with the problem the National and ACT Government is about to leave us without hurting kids.

Yes we want to stop charter schools now. Yes we hope no charter schools start up by the time we are in Government. And yes, if any do start up they won’t be charter schools for long. There is no future for charter schools under a Green/Labour Government.

Tēnēi te mihi ki te kaihanga i te timatanga, nāna te rangi e tū nei, nāna te papa e takato nei.
Nāna ngā maunga pokapoka kapua, nāna ngā puna waiora, ngā awa, ngā manga me te moana nui.
Nāna ngā ngāhere whāngai tangata, nāna te ao me te pō. Nāna ngā mea katoa.
Ki a Ranginui e tū nei, te reo rauriki, tēnā koe.
Ki a Papatuānuku, te reo reiuru, tēnā koe.
Ki a koutou katoa i huihui mai nei i tēnēi rā, tēnā koutou katoa.

Prayer

E nga Atua o te Moana-nui-a-kiwa, (God of the Pacific Ocean)
Me enei motu o Aotearoa, (And these islands of Aotearoa,)
Nga Atua o te iwi Maori, te iwi Pakeha, (The God of Maori and Pakeha,)
Me ratou katoa e noho nei i tenei whenua; (And all who dwell in this land;)

We delight in the potential of this still, quiet dawn and the precious uniqueness of these green islands of Aotearoa New Zealand.

We give thanks for what is ours and ours alone: For our weta and katipo, our kakapo and kokako; for our Maui dolphins and pipi, our cabbage trees and harakeke.

May we have the courage and the grace to live in harmony with creation – to nurture and protect those wild places that we love and sustain us.

We are thankful for the inspiration of the great women in our own country – Princess Te Puea, Dame Mira Szaszy, Sister Mary Aubert, and Millicent Baxter – women who have shown us how the power of love, peace, compassion, courage, and wisdom can transform poverty and hardship into strength and well being.

How can we, as this country’s leaders, address the inequity that has grown up amongst us?

How can we build a nation where we trust and look after one another – where we are our brother’s and sisters keeper – not their bitter rival?

We look to the children of our country for this inspiration, their unconditional love, their need for care and comfort.

Whakanuia to matou aroha tetahi ki tetahi, (Increase our love and trust in one another)
Whakakahangia to matou whai (And strengthen our quest)
Ki te tika, te hohourongo hoki. (For justice and reconciliation.)

On this Waitangi Day, may Te Tiriti o Waitangi be a reminder of the covenant that two sovereign nations have made with each other.

May Te Tiriti continue to challenge us to honour one another and return love and compassion to the heart of our politics and our lives spent together.

Amine

Delivered February 6, 2013, Treaty House, Waitangi
Metiria is the first Green Party Co-leader to speak at the Waitangi Day dawn service.

To quote Bill English – “Is that it? Six weeks over summer to think about new policy, and the Government has comes up with precisely nothing.”

There is nothing in today’s speech that offers tangible solutions to the big issues facing everyday New Zealanders.

Worse, the direction set out by this Government does not reflect the intrinsic character of New Zealand or the underlying values of New Zealanders.

Their hands-off economic conservatism benefits their wealthy backers and runs counter to our country’s proud history of economic egalitarianism and fairness.

Their cold hearted social policies run roughshod over our decades-old social contract, of supporting people when they need help and our loving commitment to be our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.

And their short sighted view of our beautiful environment, our rivers and beaches, forests and National Parks, as nothing more than irritating impediments to their exploitative economic agenda, is like stabbing a knife into the heart of our national identity.

It’s not who we are. And it’s not who we want to be.

It’s not who we are

New Zealanders have a strong and proud national identity.

At our best we are a unique mix of environmental guardians, social reformers and economic innovators.

New Zealanders also have a proud tradition of leading and forging an independent path.

We weren’t the second country to give women the vote – we were the first.

Hillary wasn’t the second person to climb Mount Everest – he was the first.

We said no to nuclear even though it damaged our relationship with the greatest superpower on earth, because it was the right thing to do.

We are gritty fighters who regularly punch above our weight.

We are constantly striving for a better future that is economically, socially and environmentally richer.

But John Key and his Government do not reflect who we are. Instead of making us richer in the things that matter, they make us poorer.

Because on every important measure this Government is failing. And in their failure they undermine our heritage, our identity and our potential.

Economic failure

So let’s look at that failure further, and what better place to start than the economy.

New Zealanders are finally waking up to what Americans learnt four years ago. If you want to destroy an economy, hand it over to an investment banker to run it.

All of John Key’s Wall Street insider knowledge has been used to dazzling disaster on the New Zealand economy.

The Merrill Lynch playbook of destroying good, everyday jobs, fuelling an unaffordable housing crisis, and damaging our long term viability, just so the rich can get richer quickly has been expertly implemented here.

The fallacy that National Governments are good managers of the economy has proven to be wrong again. The facts speak for themselves.

When the National Government took office, the unemployment rate was 4.5 percent. It is now 7.3 percent.

There has been a net reduction of over 40,000 jobs in the manufacturing sector alone.

When National took office, Government debt was $40 billion. It is now $82 billion.

When National took office, the national savings rate was a modest 2.1 percent. It is now 0.7 percent.

While John Key continues to blame the global financial crisis for his Government’s poor economic performance, most other OECD countries have been getting on and managing it.

IMF data shows that the New Zealand economy has performed worse than the majority of countries in the OECD since 2009. The data shows New Zealand scored 18th out of the 34 OECD countries for GDP growth, 22nd for unemployment, 30th for the current account deficit, 28th for national savings growth, and 23rd for government debt.

By nearly all measures of traditional economic success – growth, employment, the current account deficit, national savings, and government debt – New Zealand has performed poorly when compared to the rest of the OECD.

This is a bleak picture. Economic measure after economic measure tell a story of missed opportunities, that left unresolved will leave generations of Kiwis permanently worse off.

It’s not who we are. New Zealanders are proud economic innovators. We have transformed our economy many times over to respond to the world around us and seize the opportunities of the future.

The best opportunities for the New Zealand economy lie in transitioning to a truly green economy, yet there was not a single mention of these opportunities in the Prime Ministers speech today.

The Pure Advantage group’s report, released last year, tells us we have natural global advantages in geothermal energy. But the Government wants to hock off our best launchpad into that lucrative energy market by selling Mighty River Power.

We need to stop the Government’s ideologically blinkered asset sales so all New Zealanders can benefit from the huge geothermal opportunities Mighty River Power has before it.

But today’s speech attempts once more to make the unwinnable case for asset sales.

The Prime Minister is still trying to convince New Zealanders that asset sales are a good deal for the country. We know that selling our power companies doesn’t add up – that’s why over 360,000 New Zealanders have signed the petition calling for a referendum to stop the sales.

The report the Green party commissioned from BERL proved categorically that asset sales would cost the government more than they bring in. Even Treasury’s projections now confirm that the sale process alone would cost hundreds of millions.

The costs of selling our assets would go on forever. The sales would leave a $100m a year hole in the government’s books, long after the revenue is gone.

Environmental failure

The Government’s failures don’t stop there – they are undermining a key part of who we are as a country when they undermine and devalue the environment of our beautiful country.

We all remember being able to swim in rivers when we were growing up but now we can’t because a lot of them are full of, um, effluent.

The Government seems to have a pathological opposition to any measure that seeks to protect our beautiful country and make our claims to 100% Pure a reality.

Bringing in Nick Smith for a spot of Greenwash window dressing won’t change that.

The so far under told story of this Government is their failure as environmental guardians.

Their approach to the environment runs counter to our history and who we are. The Government’s environmental policies do not share the values of everyday Kiwis who want to love and protect our amazing country.

Again when we look at the environment, the facts speak for themselves. New Zealand has plummeted from the top spot overall to 14th in the most recent Yale Environmental Index.

Our Maui’s dolphins are on the brink of extinction. In 2005 it was estimated that the population of Maui’s dolphins was 111. Now it is estimated there are only 55 adult Maui’s dolphins remaining.

And yet the Government still hasn’t implemented the interim measures to protect Maui’s dolphins that DOC proposed in March of last year.

What would it say about us if we allowed the Maui’s dolphin to become extinct? How will we explain to our grandchildren we were more prepared to stand up for the interests of commercial fishing than a tiny dolphin that was relying on us for its very existence? What would the Maui’s dolphin’s extinction say about National’s actual commitment to the environment?

And let’s not forget about climate change. Our agricultural nation relies on a stable climate for prosperity, and yet this Government has pulled out of Kyoto and gutted the ETS.

And while our gross emissions continue to increase under this Government and we do a disservice to our local economy, what does it say about our commitment to our Pacific brothers and sisters?

What does our withdrawal from tackling climate change internationally say to our nearest neighbours whose islands are going under water?

We are a Pacific nation with a significant Pacifika population here, but we don’t care enough to do the heavy lifting on climate change to tackle this serious issue playing out in our own backyard, to our own family.

That’s just not who we are.

Social failure

I wouldn’t want to be a child growing up in New Zealand today. The support that my daughter and I received, that helped me to get to where I am today, has been stripped away by this Government.

This Government’s social policies have been a disaster for New Zealand families, especially children.

On official measures, income inequality in New Zealand is now the highest it has ever been. Low and middle income earners are feeling the squeeze while the best-off continue to increase the share of wealth in their control.

At the same time, more of our kids are now living in poverty, from 22 percent prior to the election in 2008 to 25 percent at the end of this Government’s first term. National crows about its rheumatic fever program but allows more and more kids to suffer from it because they ignore the housing crisis.

Everyone deserves a secure roof over their heads. But our rates of home ownership have plummeted with less than two-thirds of homes now owned by the families living in them.

The recent Demographia report, showing that New Zealand has some of the most unaffordable housing in the world, was met with more inaction by this failed Government.

So much for all of us being in this together. For many New Zealanders the ability to lead a good life is cut off at the knees by the lack of opportunity and support at an early age.

The Government’s mean spirited approach to poverty and hardship does not reflect the values that have shaped our more egalitarian past.

We can be a more caring country again, one that protects our most vulnerable citizens and offers an equality of opportunity for all.

No new ideas

The Government has lost touch of who we are as a country and have no new ideas to get us out of the hole they have dug.

The desperate cabinet reshuffle embeds that failure; it rings only a change of personnel, not policy.

And the Prime Minister’s plan, set out in a speech last Friday and again today, offers more of the same blame and excuses. A boring plan by a bored man.

It’s the Government’s worst ideas of 2012 repeated, it’s Groundhog Day.

Adverse asset sales that will make the Government’s books permanently worse off, and lose the clean energy potential of these companies.

A shonky SkyCity convention centre funded by the proceeds of gambling addiction, human misery and money laundering.

Dangerous deep sea drilling that puts our beautiful beaches at risk of a Gulf of Mexico scale oil spill.

Today’s speech from the Prime Minister is most telling for what it doesn’t mention. The plans the Government is not making.

Not a word on the crisis in manufacturing and the 40,000 jobs lost under their watch.

Not a single word on climate change. Not mentioned once.

Just a sentence on child poverty, and only a vague reference to looking at other peoples work and recommendations.

Not an utterance on the Auckland CBD rail loop and the Government’s plans for support of it.

Where are the plans to tackle youth unemployment, the exodus of New Zealanders to Australia, restocking the empty earthquake fund or rebuilding our billion dollar 100% Pure brand after recent criticisms of it?

All the Government is good for is name calling, untruthful slander and school yard jibes that seek to ridicule real work the opposition is undertaking to address big issues like unemployment and housing affordability.

You know a Government is tired when all it can do is attack good ideas that are popular with the public.

John Key has been relegated to the Prime Minister for making excuses. Deep down he knows they’ve failed and under National the future is blighted rather than brighter.

The Government’s long holiday from running the country needs to end. If they won’t act we all need to step up instead if we want a better future.

Green priorities for 2013

Unfortunately 2013 isn’t an election year. But New Zealanders can’t wait until the next election to stop the dangerous direction the Government is taking.

This year the Greens will step up the fight for decent jobs, elimination of child poverty, and our defence of our environment.

We will do this through generating fresh thinking and new ideas, and through building a movement of people to stop the worst of the Government’s agenda.

At Ratana last week, I announced our plans to help families achieve the kiwi dream of owning their own home, or being more secure in a rental home.

This initiative will have lasting impacts. It will give young families a real shot at owning their own home. It is also great for our environment as we build more sustainable, compact homes, and on child health and family well-being. It will also create thousands of jobs.

The Green Party will continue to develop smart solutions to our modern problems. We will offer New Zealanders real alternatives to this tired, bored and unimaginative Government.

But as well as new ideas, we will also offer New Zealanders the opportunity to take action.

The Green Party has launched an initiative to draw together new constituencies of New Zealanders disillusioned with the direction the Government is taking.

We are committed to giving New Zealanders a political voice and the opportunity to be involved in politics outside of elections and without having to join a party. We think this is essential for our democracy.

Opposing a tired old Government, developing new ideas and giving Kiwis the chance to get active in politics. Those are our priorities for this year.

It is clear that the Key Government is resorting to the politics of fear and hate to try and hold onto power, but it won’t work because that’s not who New Zealanders are.

The Government may have given up on making our country a better place but the people

 24^th January, 2013

 Tēnēi au e tu whakaiti nei i raro i a Ranginui, i runga i a Papatuānuku, e titiro kau ana ki ngā maunga whakahi me ngā tini uri o Tane.

Ki Te Temepara Tapu, ki ngā whare katoa o te pā nei, e tū… e tū… e tū…

E kui mā, e koro mā, ngā kaka wahanui o te pae me ngā manutioriori o rongo maraeroa tēnā koutou katoa e whakanui nei i tēnēi kaupapa i te rā nei.

Ki a koe e te Tūmuaki, e mihi kau ana ki a koe.

Tēna koutou e te iwi morehu.  Kua tae mai nei te Roopu Kākāriki ki te whakanui i te huritau o tēnēi o ngā rangatira miharo rawa atu o te motu a Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana.

Ka tuku au i ngā mihi o ngā mema katoa o tēnēi roopu ki a koutou

Ko au te kaiārahi wahine o te Roopu Kākāriki.  Nō Ati Hau nui a Paparangi, nō Ngati Kahungunu ki Wairarapa hoki.

Mihi mai i runga i te kaupapa e whakakōtahi nei i a tātou, arā te oranga o te iwi Māori me ngā tāngata katoa e nohonoho nei ki Aotearoa.  Ko te Mangai tētehi o ngā tino pou o te motu mō te mahi whakapāhekoheko tangata.

Kei te tino whakapono mātou o Te Roopu Kākāriki i ngā hua o te whakahonore o Te Tiriti.

Kei te mohio mātou ko ngā kupu Māori ngā kupu tika. Ko te whakamanatanga o Te Tiriti o Waitangi me ōna tini ahuatanga katoa tētahi o ngā mea whakahirahira rawa atu nei i roto i to mātou kawenata.

Kāore e mutu ngā mihi kia koutou i tō manaakitanga ki a mātou i tēnēi rā.  He honore nui mōku ki te korero ki a koutou i tēnēi rā ki te whakanui i te huritau o tēnēi rangatira o te motu.

I tēnēi wā ka huri au ki te Reo Pākehā.

Here I humbly stand below Ranginui, on Papatuānuku, looking with wonder at the great mountains and the descendants of Tāne. 

To the sacred Temple, to all the houses of this pa, long may you stand strong.

To our esteemed elders, you are the great orators of the bench and the beautiful voices of rongo maraeroa. Many greetings to you for celebrating this day.

To you, the President, warm greetings to you.

The Green Party has arrived to celebrate the birthday of this wonderful leader of the country, Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana. I pass on to you the greetings of all the members of the Green Party.

I am the female co-leader of the Green Party, of Ati Hau nui a Paparangi and Kahungunu ki Wairarapa.  Greetings on the kaupapa that brings us together today -  the wellbeing of the Māori people and all the people of New Zealand.  The Mangai (Ratana) was one the very best in the country at uniting people.

We in the Green Party deeply believe in the benefits of honouring the Treaty. We know the Māori text is the correct legal text.  And the enhancement of the Treaty is a key part of our Charter.

May the greetings never end for your hospitality towards us today.  It is a great opportunity for me to speak to you today to celebrate the birthday of this rangatira.

My dad would bring us to Ratana every year.  It was always a big crowd and a big party.  Behind the bandstand there, I had my first kiss (just a kiss, mind) when I was twelve.  We’d stay in our bus and be part of this great celebration.  Sometimes we’d watch the politicians come on to the marae.

I can see my dad now, leaning against the verandah, in his shorts and jandals, watching the politicians and saying “they talk a lot but they don’t say much”.

He was not a learned man, but he had a strong view about politics.  For him politics was about whether or not there was enough work, enough housing, a decent school for his kids. It was about whether his whānau had enough to eat.  His politics was the politics of the whānau.  And all the talk in the world meant nothing if his whānau still struggled for those basics.

But he’d be proud to see me stand here, alongside you, to be part of this celebration still and to be talking on this paepae to the morehu.

As long as I held to the kaupapa of whānau politics.

In my work over the past few years, I have put child poverty at the centre of everything I do.

Central to whānau politics is the right of our tamariki to a good life and a fair future. Central to whānau politics is the right of our tamariki to a strong and healthy whānau.   Central to that vision is the rightful implementation of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and a return to the values of love and compassion in politics. This was the life’s work of the prophet.

Eliminating poverty is not a matter for charity, it is an act of justice.  And it starts with the basics.

I talk to too many whānau who have been forced to move homes too many times, who are trapped in a no win cycle of uprooting their kids, changing schools and starting again because they can’t afford to keep up with rent rises, or the home is so cold and mouldy it’s making their kids sick, and they can’t afford to buy one of their own.

The cost of groceries, power and school fees is so high that they barely manage to get through each day, let alone put money aside each week to save for the deposit on their own home.  I know we can do better for our whānau.

So today, in honour of Ratana’s political tradition and as the first Greens Co-leader to speak on this paepae I have three whānau focussed solutions for a Home for Life to present to you.

Many of us here will remember our parents and grandparents using the family benefit to buy their home, or maybe the old Māori Affairs loans.  Loads of kids in my generation and earlier generations grew up in their own home because their parents had access to a low interest mortgage, with no deposit needed.   It is still considered by thousands of New Zealanders as the single most critical support that a government can give to a young family – a secure affordable home.

As we were writing our Home for Life policy, the Labour Party announced their plan to build 100,000 new low cost homes. This is fantastic news and we support this policy.  But it will work only for those who can afford a mortgage.  Most of our whānau cannot  and the Green Party policy will help fix that.

So, first we would set up a Progressive Ownership housing scheme.  The government will build more state houses, with iwi, local government and community groups – modern, efficient, healthy homes.

Families would rent these homes and enter into Progressive Ownership agreements with the government.  Families would pay a basic, fixed rent and be able to make extra payments to buy shares in the house.

Eventually, the family can buy the entire property or they can cash-up those savings to use as deposit on another house.

This means that whānau on low incomes, too low to get a mortgage, could start the process of owning their own homes, using the support of government, like we did in the past.  There would be no mortgage, so no risk of families losing their homes and they could just pay the basic rent when times get tough. It would be affordable for our whānau.

Because our focus is on the best life for our tamariki, families with children would get first preference.

Secure tenancy

But for many reasons people will still need, or prefer to rent. Seventy per cent of poor children live in a rental house.  Yet tenants are constantly worried about being kicked out, about asking the landlord to fix it up in case they kicked out and always worried about the rent increasing.

So we propose two major changes to better protect tenants.

First, we would give tenants a first right of renewal on their tenancy. A right of renewal gives renting families security knowing that they can continue to live in their home if they want and they can raise legitimate concerns with the landlord without fear they’ll be kicked out.

Second, we would change the law so rent increases would be limited to once every twelve months and the process for deciding increases will have to be in the tenancy agreement.  That means families will have certainty about rent increases, when they will happen and how much they will be.

These proposals offer better security for landlords and allow whānau to build stronger links within their communities and give our kids more secure homes.

Warrant of fitness for rentals

Our third proposal is to make homes healthier and safer for our kids. Too many damp and cold homes are making too many kids sick. In Christchurch, investors are buying up broken homes and renting them to poor families, families who do not deserve to be ripped off.

We say a rental house needs to meet a minimum healthy standard.  Houses will need to be insulated, weather-tight, have heating, hot and cold tap water, a toilet, a shower or a bath, electricity and a stove before it can be rented out.  Would you believe they don’t have to at the moment?

Landlords are in the business of providing a service and their product ought to meet minimum standards, just like any other product or service does.  They can of course access the Greens Warm Up New Zealand fund to help with the cost of insulation.

Our children should no longer be forced to live in cold, damp substandard houses that make them sick.

These three proposals make up our Home for Life package.  They are practical solutions to our housing crisis and offer whānau and families a real chance at decent housing and home ownership.

I want to acknowledge Whaea Tariana.  She has been such an inspiration to me even where we have disagreed.  I have become strong advocate of her Whānau Ora vision because I can see how it transforms and empowers whānau, in a way never tried in politics before.  I am a fierce advocate for the right of every whānau to a warm dry home, to good school and to a decent dignified income.  And for every solution that helps deliver this, as Whānau Ora does.

In my work over the last ten years, I have seen how Maori politics has transformed.  We are no longer caged within one, or two, political frames.  Ngā Uri are strong and diverse.  We have taken every opportunity for new political power and held politicians to account.

Ratana is still the first place politicians come because here we have to face the people.  And show whether we have lived up to the kaupapa of whānau politics.

I hope that I have honoured you, and the memory of my dad, today.

Tēna koutou, tēna koutou tēna koutou kātoa.

Commentators have labelled John Key’s Cabinet reshuffle “dramatic” and “bold” but really all he is doing is swapping a few roles around between his MPs who have failed, if they even really tried, to make life better for New Zealanders.

Today’s reshuffle means more of the same, delivered mostly by the same people and a couple of newbies in lesser roles.

Excuse me if I don’t get excited about Nick Smith being reinstated to Cabinet so quickly. He resigned because his behaviour as ACC Minister was wrong and unethical. John Key, by reinstating him so quickly, has set a very low bar for ministerial standards.

Needing to reinstate a disgraced minister to Cabinet shows there wasn’t exactly a wealth of talent to choose from.

Was it dramatic or bold for John Key to sack Kate Wilkinson and Phil Heatley from Cabinet? Really Kate Wilkinson should have gone back in November when she resigned her labour portfolio over the Pike River deaths. And Phil Heatley’s only claim to fame was to get into trouble for using taxpayer money to take his family on holiday.

Swapping jobs around between different National MPs is superficial change. What needs to change is the overall direction of this anti-regulation government that won’t act to help people.

This reshuffle will do nothing to help New Zealanders struggling in tough times. Bill English was in a newspaper this morning saying welfare reform and the public service will be priorities this year – really? Not jobs?

What does today’s reshuffle offer New Zealanders? More of the same, the same focus on letting the market solve problems while some families live in cold, damp houses and struggle to put food on the table.

One interesting thing about today’s announcement is that Nick Smith will handle housing market and social housing issues. Perhaps John Key, after four years in Government, has finally noticed that many people are finding it hard to get into a home.

You can look to the Green Party when it comes to dramatic and bold solutions on housing. Or on jobs. Or on just about any matter that effects real New Zealanders not those living on $206,000 plus a year.

Next year we get to have a real reshuffle – the General Election.

We both come from a childhood of deprivation and honour our parents for their hard work and unconditional love.  As children, we both had access to a state education, to free healthcare, to a state provided home and state support for our parents when they needed it and for us, through the Family Benefit.  Our parents lived through a period where full employment was a state priority.

And now we are both the leaders of political parties with the power to make  decisions about children just like us.  Not our own children.  Our own children had the benefit of the state’s commitment to social investment and the subsequent mobility it gave us.  But children like we were.

The difference between us is that John has eroded those same social supports that gave us a leg up.

State housing is much more difficult to get these days and much less secure because of his policies.  State education is underfunded and undermined because of his policies.  Healthcare for children is more limited and less effective. The parents of today’s poor children have less money, less security, and less respect because his National party fails to acknowledge how harder it is for parents and families these days.

He is in no position to lecture anyone about his childhood when he leaves the new generation of poor kids without the state supports he and I had.

My Criminal Proceeds (Application to Casinos) Amendment Bill is a chance to protect New Zealand businesses from the harm of gambling crime. It is due to be voted on by Parliament tonight.

It would help ensure that money stolen from small business owners, and community organisations, is given back to them if its been shown to have been stolen to gamble at a casino.

Every year there are several cases where a gambling addict is convicted of stealing huge sums of money from their employer. The thief is jailed, the business destroyed, but the casino gets to bank the proceeds. That’s not fair.

When Richard Arthur Watson stole $5,495,000 from his employer to gamble, Skycity treated him as a VIP high roller.

My Bill says that if the casino should have been aware his gambling was likely to be as a result of crime, it can’t keep the proceeds.

The Government says there are existing laws that ensure that Casinos clamp down on money laundering and crime. There are, but none of those laws ensure the state can take the proceeds back off the casino if it doesn’t do that job properly.

ACT’s John Banks, who once railed against the “wide boys” at the casino (till they helped fund his mayoral campaign) reckons my Bill would only get the money off the casino, but not return it those it’s been stolen from.

He’s being disingenuous.

Anyone can apply for a an order to the court if they have a claim to some property. The trick, and my bill does this, is to get the property off the person it doesn’t belong to first.

A vote against my Bill today is a vote against small businesses and victims of gambling crime.

By choosing to harangue mothers for the tragic deaths of their children, Hide has helped to reinforce the very ignorance that continues to put children at risk. A number of these women had no or very little assistance when pregnant and that shame and fear was a factor in the death of their new born babies. The fact that less than half of the 33 child deaths were at the hands of their mothers further shows that Hide is wrong in placing the sole focus on the mums.

First, Hide places much of the blame for these deaths on the Domestic Purposes Benefit. He claims that the financial support provided by the State enables abuse of children, when in fact without the DPB, it is clear that many thousands more children would suffer from poverty and the associated impacts of that poverty.

Second, the Police report that Hide’s article was based on shows that 12 out of the 15 children killed by their mothers were four years old or less. This strongly suggests post-natal depression played a part in these tragedies (indeed, three of these mothers killed themselves immediately after killing their children).

These tragic deaths seem to me to be the result of despair, not anger – quite a different picture from the child deaths caused by men.

We need solutions to prevent child death, not further vitriol levelled against women.

What is needed to prevent further deaths is more support for new mothers, not less. We have seen a systematic destruction of community services over recent decades, the hands on, trusted, non-judgemental support that all mothers could readily access as they needed. It is this kind of help that community workers say has to be reinstated to protect mothers and their children from violence, hardship and despair.

Post-natal depression, poverty and the lack of community support all need addressing in order to ensure that all children are able to have good lives and the best chance at a fair future. By ignoring these real issues and simply blaming mothers and the DPB, Rodney Hide is frightening even more women away from the help they need to keep themselves and their kids safe.

The release of the damning Deloitte Independent Review of Information Systems Security on November 2nd shows clearly that the breach cannot simply be blamed on individual error from the four MSD staffers currently facing employment investigations, and it identifies systemic issues for which responsibility lies at the feet of Minister Bennett and Chief Executive Brendan Boyle.

The report states that “[t]here is little evidence, at the design stage, of analysis of security and privacy risks, specification of requirements based on such analysis, and assessment of the solution design to ensure that requirements are met and risks are mitigated”. Considering the importance of the confidential information the Ministry holds on thousands of our most vulnerable citizens, this lack of consideration of privacy risks is a damning indictment on the culture at the Ministry, a culture created from the very top.

The report also found that “[t]he policy guidelines are silent on the escalation of risks that are not rated as ‘high’ or above” and that “the type of project documentation we would usually expect … does not appear to have been developed, maintained consistently and signed off”. This shift away from best practice is a clear failure of the Ministry’s leadership.

Minister Bennett cannot continue to shy away from taking responsibility. She must stop trying to shift the blame for her lack of leadership and the systemic issues present in her Ministry onto a few lowly staffers.

Under this National Government, the privacy of thousands of our citizens has repeatedly been breached, including the major breaches at ACC and MSD. New Zealanders deserve better.

It seems that the same level of concern does not apply to people who embarrass her, however, as she also said she had “zero interest” in an investigation into whether a member of her staff or her Ministry leaked the details of the person who originally discovered the kiosk privacy breach to the media. Bennett added that this person “did not ask that his information be kept confidential”, showing that in her view, information provided to her Ministry should be public unless explicitly stated otherwise!

This is an unacceptable opinion from the Minister in charge of a Ministry that holds information on some of our most marginalised and vulnerable citizens, including children in the care of Child, Youth and Family; sickness and invalids beneficiaries and people who have taken legal action against the Ministry.

Meanwhile, Bennett still denies leaking private information about individuals, despite the Director of the Office of Human Rights Proceedings Robert Hesketh stating that he believed that Bennett breached the privacy of two solo mums who had criticised her decision to remove the Training Incentive Allowance (TIA) for degree level courses. We have consistently opposed this decision, and called for the TIA to be reinstated to allow approximately 10,000 people to upskill and improve their employment prospects.

As I said in my speech in the Urgent Debate on this issue in Parliament today, the massive breach of privacy at the Ministry of Social Development is a complete failure of leadership from Minister Bennett. At this point, the only lesson she is providing to her Ministry is that it’s fine to release confidential information about New Zealanders, as long as you can pass the buck when you get called out on it.

Perhaps Paula Bennett might like to request a briefing from the Privacy Commissioner about how the Privacy Act works. She clearly needs it.

The statement below could very well be the basis for a future speech by an MP opposed to National’s legislation that will result in many young New Zealanders getting a pay cut.

The fundamental proposition this bill puts up is that we need to pay people less to get them into their first job so that they can have an unskilled future. That is what this bill essentially will do to New Zealanders. We see a different future for New Zealanders. We want those young people to get into training and skills so that they are not talking about getting the lowest-paid job they possibly can, but instead are looking to get the best-paid job they possibly can. If we can achieve that, we can make the dynamic change in our economic base that will give New Zealand the growth potential we need.

The above wise words are not however from some future political speech but were uttered by National MP David Bennett in 2010.  At that time National were opposing ACT MP Roger Douglas’s attempt to give young New Zealanders a discriminatory pay cut.

Unfortunately the lofty rhetoric of Hamilton’s David Bennett has drifted off into the ether as National launch their version of Sir Roger’s legislation.

Young people looking for a decent start to their working life under the current Government will soon be able to look forward to;

-        earning significantly less than the minimum wage.

-        being dismissed from a job paying a pittance anytime in the first three months

-        losing their rights to state support if they don’t accept a job paying less than the minimum wage that they can be fired from at any time.

National’s plans for young people seem to be more and more about them getting into the lowest paid job than less and less about making certain they have the skills to survive in the 21^st Century workforce.

Thankfully, Jan and Denise are doing it too, which will make it better and easier because we are allowed to combine funds. I’m not worried about eating less, lord knows I have enough stored, but I do think I am at real risk of forgetting.

I am always astounded by how much food there is around. Along most city streets one out of every three or four shops sells food. There is a great abundance of food in most of our lives. And if we are privileged enough to have enough, we just dont see that abundance.

Many years ago, I was doing it hard, living in Wellington on the dole. One night I had 2 bucks left and I was really hungry, so I bought a pie at the service station up the road and it was foul, genuinely inedible, and I cried. I was too young and too miserable to take it back. And I was furious, no money, no food, not a chance in hell of anything changing. There was food everywhere but, on that day, none for me.

And thats what I dont want to forget. There is food everywhere and now, like many, I buy food all the time without ever thinking about how much there is around me. Or it’s real cost. Or about those who dont have enough to buy it, here and elsewhere.

I will be angry with myself if I get distracted and forget that I am on this challenge. It will indicate a blasé attitude to food that can’t be justified in an increasingly unequal world, let alone and increasingly unequal country, where kids go everyday seeing all this food around them but not having enough money for it. And going hungry.

I am raising funds for Oxfam, who support great work overseas, but in NZ as well. I hope you help me raise money, by donating to the campaign https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/metiria

The most recent high profile case is that of Billy Mckee.  Billy should never have been arrested let alone convicted.  There is a growing campaign to support him.

Anarkaytie has set out the background.

Billy McKee was convicted on five charges. Sentencing has been set down for Palmerston North District Court on the 30th October, 2012. Billy has been bailed to his home address while awaiting sentencing.

Billy McKee, who hosts the GreenCross NZ medical cannabis users website, was arrested in 2010 on charges relating to his medical cannabis use.

Billy campaigns for legalisation of cannabis, and considers that it is one of the best medications to deal with chronic pain.

Billy lost a leg below the knee when a drunk driver deliberately rammed his motorbike over 30 years ago. The incident resulted in him being confined to a wheelchair and in constant pain from nerve damage to the stump as well as suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.

The pain medications he was prescribed by doctors caused intolerable side effects where even driving was considered unsafe. He found that the only thing that controlled his pain, depression, irritability and other symptoms, while still allowing him to function, was cannabis.

This led him to study the medical benefits of cannabis, become a counsellor and form GreenCross, an organisation devoted to helping sick people obtain relief through the medicinal use of cannabis.

McKee now faces jail time for running GreenCross and helping sick patients obtain their medicine.

He was entrapped by an undercover police officer posing as someone suffering from severe migraines. McKee said that migraines can indicate in the early stages of brain tumors and many people have found that cannabis relieves the symptoms of migraines and allows them to function normally.

McKee accepted the young man as being a genuine sufferer. The undercover cop appealed to his compassion in asking Billy to supply him with cannabis. Billy says, “I was really worried about him.”

Anyway, some of the kids and I had a whale of a time painting a banner with our feet to launch the Take the Step campaign to end child poverty. There’s little as much fun as getting messy with paint…

So this last week was also very challenging, especially at the Auckland University debate and the Marae Investigates special. I am not known for holding my tongue – its my job to be professionally opinionated – but I was very aware of my own Reo limitations.

I don’t believe that the protection of the Reo is only the responsibility of individuals, whanau or Maori. Government needs to actively help and to remove barriers. Pakeha should feel confident about treating the Reo as their own language too. I am strongly of the view that I have a responsibility to make structural changes for the benefit of the Reo, for iwi, hapu and every New Zealander.

But I can do more. And I should. So, in admittedly small steps I will.

One small step is to make sure my questions are in the Reo, first the primary question and increasingly the supps. I did that last week and again today. It makes me try new words, new phrasing, learn more about pronunciation and emphasis. Another is to use the Reo for all the formal things I have to say, in the House and elsewhere. I can’t hold a conversation in the Reo but I can still use it. And using a little bit everyday in different ways, counts.

I’m nervous. Practically everything I say and do is public and regularly criticised. I will get it wrong often and be embarrassed. But (I hope) it will get easier. And it’s still the right thing to do.

South Korea has argued two main reasons for their decision. First, to

analyze and accumulate biological and ecological data on the minke whales migrating off the Korean peninsula. This research program will provide more comprehensive and detailed scientific information on the stocks and their interaction with other stocks will be more available.

And second, in recognition of cultural diversity

And in the consistent view of our government, it is essential that member governments mutually recognize the importance of cultural diversity and heritage of other countries.

We all know the fallacy of the first excuse – no scientifically robust information as ever come from the Japanese whaling program and none is expected from South Korea. Murray McCully described it as “commercial fishing in drag” – a somewhat queer description.

It is the second reason that worries me most – will cultural heritage become another loophole exploited by a state’s commercial interests in whaling? Will South Korea want to use the aboriginal subsistence hunting exemption in the future?

The IWC rules allows for aboriginal subsistence whaling for specific indigenous communities.

The catch limits are small and the communities need to reapply every five years. MFAT has supported the aboriginal whaling exemption. And so do I, to a point.

But in order to protect the rights of indigenous communities, it’s critical that those rights are not abused for commercial purposes. Indigenous communities will lose their rights if commercial interests dominate – it’s an old story.

Te Ohu Kaimoana have made a statement to the International Whaling Commission arguing for the continuation of traditional whale hunting by native inhabitants of Greenland (Inuit), United States (Alaskan Inupiat and the Makah), Russian Siberia (Chukotkan), and St Vincent and the Grenadines. Matiu Rei, who I have great respect for, likened the Commission’s rules to the colonisation process but failed to recognise the threat that commercial interests also present to indigenous rights.

If indigenous rights advocates miss that link they greatly increase the risk of even worse exploitation and abuse.

I’m suspicious about this. Te Ohu Kai Moana has maintained a relaxed approach to whaling for some years. Glenn Inwood, who works (last I heard) for TOKM is also the spokesperson in NZ for the Japanese whaling companies. While TOKM might have a legitimate interest in supporting the aboriginal subsistence whaling exemption, their close association to the Japanese commercial whaling entities suggest to me that they may have other interests as well. When I’m feeling especially cynical I wonder if they are supporting whaling because of current or future economic opportunities in Asia?

I sincerely hope not. I sincerely hope that Te Ohu Kaimoana will fight against commercial exploitation of aboriginal subsistence rights just as fiercely as they do against institutional abuse. If not, they become a tool for that exploitation and we all lose.

Instead of just promising to lock more people up for longer, or forever, they say they will work differently, including more closely with communities and iwi.

They have targets that may seem unrealistic — violent crime down by 20 per cent, hmmm — but hey, we’re not going to bag them for trying. The recent increase in drug and alcohol treatment for offenders is a good start. Alcohol and drug addiction is both a driver of violent crime and a leading cause of recidivism. Tackling this seriously will help to keep families and communities safer. And it is the community organisations and networks that can provide the government with the best information and help.

So what needs to happen as they pursue these goals is to engage with communities about how to make changes.

The newly formed Justice Coalition would be the perfect way to do that. It’s made up of 11 significant justice sector organisations. The coalition is a who’s who of people trying to make a difference in the justice area: Victim Support, Prisoners Aid and Rehabilitation Trust, Salvation Army, Restorative Justice Aotearoa, Community Law Centres of Aotearoa, New Zealand Howard League for Penal Reform Inc, Henwood Trust, National Coalition of Howard Leagues, Robson Hanan Trust (Rethinking Crime and Punishment), The National Collective of Independent Women’s Refuges, and Prison Fellowship New Zealand.

The coalition represents a diverse bunch of people who know the communities they work with and have incredible networks. I’d hate to see the plan only informed by ministers or officials in their ivory towers in Wellington. Advice can be circular in an environment where nervous officials tell their bosses what they want to hear.

If government can take a holistic view, bring in those who are the experts in the community and treat families with compassion, we can make real gains in keeping families and communities safer.