Hone Harawira: Speech
te-pati-maori
Wed May 02 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Hone Harawira: Speech
Wednesday, 2 May 2007, 9:39 am
Speech: The Maori Party
Government Notice of Motion One: That a respectful address be presented to His Excellency the Governor-General commending to his Excellency the alterations to the appropriations for the 2006/07 financial year in respect of Vote Audit; Vote Ombudsman and Vote Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment and the appropriations and information for the 2007/08 financial year in respect of Vote Audit; Vote Ombudsman and Vote Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment
Hone Harawira, Maori Party;
Tuesday 1 May 2007
The Maori Party is very interested in the Officers of Parliament Committee – and not just because it’s another meeting that we weren’t invited to attend.
We’ve looked over the operations of the Offices of the Controller and Auditor-General; the Ombudsmen and the Commissioner for the Environment to see whether they can carry out their duties independently of political interest, because they have wide ranging powers of investigation, independent of the government of the day, and reporting to Parliament through the Speaker of the House rather than through a Minister of government.
Treaty Commissioner
Indeed, this is the model that we have been looking at for the role of Treaty Commissioner – someone independent of government, charged with protecting and promoting the rights of the Treaty as the very foundation of our nation – to honour the vision of those who signed the Treaty; to promote the Treaty’s commitment to partnership; to raise awareness and understanding of the Treaty; to review any decision made in respect of the Treaty by government; to consider new ideas and new responsibilities in theproper application of the Treaty in legislation; and to give value to Te Tiriti o Waitangiasour nations most important constitutional manuscript, independently of the meanderings of fickle governments.
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And it was with those thoughts uppermost in mind that we noted some interesting points in the budget report before the House.
Vote Audit
In Vote Audit, the biggie was a massive increase of $18 million for audit and assurance services, an increase which even the Committee called a“significant variance”.
Apparently the money is so the Audit Office“can forecast audit fees more accurately”.
Now not being on the committee makes it a bit hard to understand what that actually means, but if the Audit Office is planning on working with Treasury to“develop an appropriate level of disclosure”, then might I suggest some basic disclosure of what exactly they want another $18 million for, might be a pretty good place to start.
$18 million is a hell of a lot of money, particularly given that the Maori Party has just been told that $1.5 million is too much to spend on Treaty education and cultural competency lessons for immigration advisors.
Vote Ombudsman
When the proposal to appoint an additional ombudsman came before the House last year, the Maori Party supported it, because the Ombudsman's office gets 6000 complaints a year; and Maori see the independence of this Office as helpful in holding boards of trustees, social service agencies; prisons; CYFS and heaps of other government organisations, to account.
In fact, Kahungunu academic, Moana Jackson, has even suggested that the Ombusdman might also be a good start for Maori dealings with the Police, and I note that in the wake of the Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct, both Ron Mark and Nandor Tanczos also spoke in favour of an independent Police Complaints Authority; a position well overdue.
Vote Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment
In respect of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, the Maori Party is keen to see the Office building on the development of indicators of progress towards sustainable development, which factors in the social and environmental costs and benefits of growth. This is an area we have long supportedto help provide a measure of comprehensive, sustainable, and inclusive advancement.
One recent example is the landfill at Hokio Beach.
On one hand, you got Horowhenua District Council saying that they’re happy to take waste from other regions as a means of generating revenue.
On the other we have a long process of dis-satisfaction about the landfill site from both Muaupoko and Ngati Pareraukawa, because of it’s proximity to the Ngatokowaru Marae and other waahi tapu in the area, the impact caused by building a landfill on a highly porous base such as sand, the refusal to recognise iwi kaitiakitanga, and the pollution already being caused by sewage discharge into local streams, affecting the marine environment, and killing local tuna stocks.
The Resource Management Act requirements were undermined – consultation was flawed; alternative sites were never investigated; and there is major dissatisfaction from local iwi, local residents, environmentalists and conservationists.
Another current example is in Cable Bay in the Far North, where a developer wants to build an over bridge down onto a public beach rather than use a footpath like everyone else. The developer already has a poor public record in other areas in Tai Tokerau, and yet Council seems happy to continue to deal with him. As in Horowhenua, major concerns have also been raised about the lack of consultation, and non-notifiable consent procedures being used in the face of petitions from locals opposing the development.
Opposition to the over bridge is huge from local residents, conservationists and local hapu and iwi as well. In fact, local support for the over bridge is almost zero, and yet still Council continues to support the proposal.
These are exactly the kinds of issue we would want the Commissioner for the Environment to give priority to, but given that the Office only got a one-off payment of $50,000 for sustainable development projects, we doubt that the office can do much to help.
And because of that, we wonder whether government is serious about supporting the concept of Genuine Progress, and helping parliament understand how to achieve environmental sustainability, if they won’t back the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment to do her job effectively.
Support
Finally, we support the independent roles of these three Offices of Parliament to be guardians, advocates, auditors, educators and advisers to parliament and the people, and in that light we will support the Notice of Motion.
ends
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