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Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell has welcomed the additional funding allocated to Te Pūnaha Hiringa: Māori Innovation Fund announced in yesterday’s Budget.

Te Pūnaha Hiringa: Māori Innovation Fund will be expanded from $2 million to $3 million per year.

“This will help more Māori enterprises to gain the skills, knowledge and networks they need to get new ventures off the ground and grow existing businesses and asset bases,” Mr Flavell says.

Whānau Ora will receive a $40 million boost of operating funding over the next four years, allowing it to substantially increase the number of whānau it can support, Māori Development and Whānau Ora Minister Te Ururoa Flavell says.

Budget 2016 also includes $4 million to provide microfinance to whānau and $5 million to go toward increasing Māori electoral participation.

Budget 2016 provides $14.2 million to support the establishment of the new Māori Land Service, which is a key element of the current reform of Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993.

The $8 million of operating funding over two years, plus $6.2 million of capital, will be used to engage with Māori landowners and others in the design and establishment of the new Māori Land Service, Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell says.

Budget 2016 provides $34.6 million of operating funding over four years to support the revitalisation of te reo Māori across key Māori language initiatives.

The new funding provides all New Zealanders with access to more te reo Māori - a great advance for the Māori language, Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell says.

“The funding will enable whānau, hapū and iwi to play a greater leadership role in the design and planning of initiatives that makes a real difference to the revitalisation of the Māori language,” Mr Flavell says.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy and Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell have tonight congratulated The Proprietors of Rakaia Incorporated, this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy winner.

The Proprietors of Rakaia Incorporated were presented with the 2016 Ahuwhenua Trophy BNZ Māori Excellence in Farming award tonight in Hamilton.

“The Incorporation has a long and proud history back to 1886. They have set a fantastic example to other Māori landowners of what can be achieved through ambition and hard work,” says Mr Guy.

An additional $9.6 million over four years will provide for more Māori and Pasifika Trades Training (MPTT) as demand for the programme continues to grow, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Maori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell say.

“This funding will provide places for 2,500 young Māori and Pasifika learners in MPTT programmes this year, and 3,400 next year, up from just 1,200 in 2014,” Mr Joyce says. 

Māori land owners in Northland have promising options for developing their land, according to a report commissioned by the Ministry for Primary Industries, Te Rūnanga-Ā-Iwi-O-Ngāpuhi and the Far North District Council.

“The report shows that in a 50km radius around Kaikohe there are nearly 4000 small parcels of unproductive land that have the potential to be developed for uses like horticulture and agriculture,” says Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy. 

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell this morning shared the stage with Mayors from Los Angeles, Guangzhou and Auckland to discuss further developing the cities’ cultural and economic relationships.

Mr Flavell, along with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Guangzhou Vice Mayor Wang Dong and Auckland Mayor Len Brown, came together at the Tripartite Economic Summit in Auckland which celebrates the relationships between the three sister cities.

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell welcomed the first reading of Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill in the House today. 

Mr Flavell says the Bill aims to recognise and provide for the mana and tino rangatiratanga that Māori have always exercised over their lands, resources and taonga.

“To achieve that purpose will be one of the most important measures that Parliament will consider for Māori in our time,” Mr Flavell says.

Mr Speaker, I move, that the Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill be now read a first time.

I nominate the Māori Affairs Committee to consider the Bill.

Mihi

The Government is transferring up to $11.38 million in funding and programmes from the Ministry of Social Development to support Whānau Ora.

The transfer is part of a review of social service spending which aims to achieve better outcomes for the most vulnerable whānau and families.

“This transfer reflects the commitment by social sector Ministers to strengthen efforts to support Whānau Ora and identify opportunities for the Crown and Iwi to support shared development, aims and aspirations,” the Minister for Whānau Ora, Te Ururoa Flavell, said.

The Māori Housing Network is to receive a $12.6 million boost over the next four years, helping more whānau to realise their housing aspirations, Maori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell says.

“Māori are over-represented in housing deprivation statistics and this increase in funding would allow the Network to help more whānau in need,” Mr Flavell says.

“The Māori Housing Network is about ensuring whānau have access to safe, secure and healthy homes which in turn improve their health and wellbeing.”

An iwi-led housing project in Christchurch has been lauded today by the Minister for Māori Development as another string to the bow of positive initiatives being driven by Te Rūnanga o Ngai Tahu for whānau in their takiwā. 

Speaking today at the launch of the Addington housing project, Te Ururoa Flavell said three earthquake-affected houses relocated from Sumner and now fully renovated for whānau, “added impetus to the Rūnanga priority to enhance the economic and social wellbeing of the iwi.”

The Ngatikahu ki Whangaroa Settlement Bill passed its first reading in Parliament yesterday, signalling a new chapter in the 15-year endeavour by the iwi to seek redress for Treaty of Waitangi breaches by the Crown.

“The first reading of this Bill is validation of the hard work, tears, arguments, and terse moments that the people of Ngatikahu ki Whangaroa have endured to have their Bill discussed in the House”, says Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell.

At hui earlier this year, I gave an undertaking to carefully consider the Waitangi Tribunal report into the reform of Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 before introducing the Bill into Parliament.

The report, He Kura Whenua Ka Rokohanga, was released last month. I thank the Tribunal for the thorough consideration of the issues and their recommendations.

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell says the Treaty Settlement Claims Bills of Tauranga Moana iwi are a testament to the tribes’ determination to work together.

Tauranga Moana Iwi Collective Redress and Ngā Hapū o Ngāti Ranginui Claims Settlement Bill and the Ngāti Pukenga Claims Settlement Bill passed their first reading in Parliament yesterday.

“I want to pay tribute to these tribes that have united to avoid competition against each other over their treaty settlement negotiations.”

I tēnei rangi i whakaaetia te pānuitanga tuatoru a Te Pire mō te Reo Māori e te Whare Pāremata, ākuanei, ka whakamanahia tēnei pire i raro i te ture. He mea nui whakaharahara tēnei.

Kua tuhia tēnei pire ki te reo Māori me te reo Ingarihi, waihoki, ko te tuhinga reo Māori te kape matua i raro i te ture.

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell will introduce Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill into Parliament. His decision comes after giving full consideration to the Waitangi Tribunal report released in March and taking extensive advice.

“I thank the Tribunal for its report He Kura Whenua ka Rokohanga and its recommendations. I have read the final report fully and believe that the issues raised in the Tribunal’s recommendations have been addressed or will be addressed as part of the reform programme,” says Mr Flavell.

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell is pleased Te Pire mō Te Reo Māori (Māori Language) Bill has progressed to third reading following widespread debate by the Committee of the Whole House last night.

During the debate, the committee considered four amendments. 

The Māori Development Minister will move an amendment to the Māori Language (Te Reo Māori) Bill today to acknowledge that the Crown’s past policies and practices concerning the Māori language have had a detrimental effect on generations of iwi and Māori.

“The Crown acknowledges it has contributed to the decline in Māori language and its previous actions have had a negative impact on our language and culture”, says Te Ururoa Flavell.

Māori Development Minister, Te Ururoa Flavell, is proud to have opened a new papakāinga that will provide affordable housing options for whānau of Te Aro Pā in Wellington today.

A total of 14 homes have been built at the complex in Evans Bay, with 10 three-bedroom apartments and four single bedroom kaumātua/disability properties.

“I’m pleased to see the opening of Wellington’s first urban papakāinga which is an investment towards the health and wellbeing of Te Aro Pā descendants,” says Mr Flavell.

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell says the deep wounds inflicted on Taranaki and Te Ātiawa iwi can start to heal today as their Treaty Settlement Claims Bills starts their passage through Parliament.

“The settlements are only small when compared with the sustained attacks on their property and persons, the loss of their land, their leadership, their means of livelihood, their personal freedom, and their civil rights,” he says.

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell has described the Rangitāne o Manawatū Claims Settlement Bill as bittersweet, as it begins its passage through Parliament today.

“The people of Rangitāne o Manawatū were subjected to legislative prejudice which made their land more susceptible to partition, fragmentation, and alienation. This was enacted in the hope that Māori would abandon their tribal and communal structures of traditional land holdings.”

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell welcomes the release of the Waitangi Tribunal’s report on the reform of Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993.

“I have received the Tribunal’s final report and will now consider it in its entirety”, says Mr Flavell.

“I welcomed the release of the Tribunal’s draft chapter in February and agree with its comments about the importance of retaining whenua Māori in Māori hands for future generations.