Rt Hon Winston Peters
New Zealand First Leader
22 November 2012

WHANAU ORA HURTING ALL NEW ZEALAND TAXPAYERS

New Zealand First has accused the Maori Party of waffling about inanities over the seriously flawed Whanau Ora scheme which fails to tackle the big issues facing Maori.

The comment comes after a speech today from Whanau Ora Minister, Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia who painted a pretty Whanau Ora picture less than a week after a bleak report was released which heavily criticised the scheme.

Rt Hon Winston Peters says it’s hard to fathom how Ms Turia could wax lyrical about Whanau Ora when the report said it had no basic data available on participation levels, and glaring monitoring gaps on how millions of taxpayer dollars are being spent.

“Struggling families need help in areas such as health, education, housing and employment. Whanau Ora fails to deal with these issues.

“Instead it funds a rugby match between Ngati Porou and Raukawa which Minister Turia said was ‘about people coming together, connecting’.

“That is a disgraceful waste of taxpayer money, as is the race-based Whanau Ora policy itself.

“The National Party only agreed to the fundamentally-flawed Whanau Ora scheme as a sweetener to ensure the support of the Maori Party.

“All New Zealanders, including struggling Maori families, are now paying the price of this shallow political enticement,” says Mr Peters.

ENDS

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Scoop Business: Bathurst Gets Nod For DoC Access To Denniston Mine

Conservation Minister Nick Smith has approved access over conservation estate land for Bathurst Resources to develop an open cast coal mine on the Denniston Plateau, above Westport, to the dismay of environmental opponents.

The timing for Smith’s move avoids Bathurst having to resubmit applications for access agreements under the revised Crown Minerals Act, which comes into force tomorrow and would have required public consultation.

The announcement lands in the middle of delicate negotiations between the company, environmental groups and other interested parties that could pave the way to a broader agreement on the Escarpment proposal, whose resource consents are still subject to court appeals. More>>