"Some things don’t change" says Maori Party Whip
te-pati-maori
Mon Jun 13 2011 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
“Some things don’t change” says Maori Party Whip
Monday, 13 June 2011, 4:48 pm
Press Release: The Maori Party
“Some things don’t change” says Maori Party Whip, Te Ururoa Flavell
Monday 13 June 2011
Maori Party Whip, Te Ururoa Flavell, has today expressed disgust at the ongoing campaign of misinformation being promulgated by Tai Tokerau candidate, Hone Harawira.
"Concerned Maori Party members in Te Tai Tokerau brought to my attention the door-knocking script that Mana Party members have been following, and in the interests of transparency I intend to set the record straight".
“Frankly, I’ve had enough of the mischief-making; the constant diet of mis-information and outright lies"
“Some things don’t change it seems, whatever party Mr Harawira belongs to. He never lets the facts get in the way of a good story”
“My challenge to Hone is play fair – if you’ve got something to say, at least make it truthful.
----------------------
Correcting the Record
(Statements from the Mana Party made in bold and italic)
WHY DID HONE SPLIT WITH THE MAORI PARTY?
• Because the Maori Party split with their own kaupapa and their own people : Untrue. Kaupapa Maori are the foundation of our party. Our constitution is derived from kaupapa tuku iho and every policy position taken reflects our kaupapa and the aspirations of our people.
• They voted for the Marine and Coastal Area Bill when 90% of Maori opposed it. This is a gross exaggeration. The Takutaimoana Bill was our bill – of course we supported it as it reinstated due access to the courts; and repealed the 2004 Foreshore and Seabed Act. The 90% figure is pure fabrication. In February 2011, Te Karere asked 1000 Maori voters did they think the Maori Party should support the Takutai Moana bill. 31% said yes; 32% said no. One percent difference.
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• They increased GST when 100% of Maori opposed it : The National Party increased GST. There is no factual basis for the 100% figure.
• They gave $30m to “Pakeha Private Schools” and gave Kura nothing: This was a National Party arrangement with the ACT Party - again nothing to do with the Maori Party. In Budget 2009, the Government increased private school funding to make independent schools more affordable to parents. All students, including Maori, are eligible for Aspire Scholarships if they are from households that have an annual income of $65,000. 96% of Maori children are in mainstream settings. Who would deny them any opportunity to have every option available that any other child has? As for giving ‘kura nothing’ – see next question.
• They gave $21m to “Pakeha” Teachers and gave Kura teachers nothing. In Budget 2011, Minister Sharples achieved $80m for Maori medium education including teachers and whanau in kura kaupapa Maori. There is no documentation of any funding allocated to 'pakeha' teachers.
• $9 million to support iwi to develop school and community-based language initiatives;
• $3 million to support Te Runanganui o nga Kura Kaupapa Māori to develop a curriculum and associated resources based on the philosophy of Te Aho Matua.;
• $8 million to realign Kura transport assistance - which has been capped since 1995
• 60 million to build new kura kaupapa Māori and upgrade existing school buildings.
• There was also $17 million to allow an additional 20 schools to participate in the Te Kotahitanga teacher training programme (which is to support cultural competency)
• and $6.5 million to allow expand family-based literacy programmes to all decile one, two and three schools.
• They allowed Whanau Ora to be cut back to just 1.3% We have no idea what this statistic relates to – in actual fact, Whanau Ora increased in funding by $30m in the 2011 Budget.
• Hone held to the Tai Tokerau line but the Maori Party went ahead anyway : In the five years Hone was a Maori Party MP, I cannot recall him ever presenting a budget proposal for consideration from Te Tai Tokerau.
• And the Maori Party forced Hone out because he kept raising these issues : Hone resigned from the Maori Party on 22 February 2011 – his choice.
ENDS
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