Families Package will make a real difference to Māori
Hon Kelvin Davis
Labour Deputy Leader
14 December 2017
Families Package will make a real
difference to Māori
The Government’s
Families Package will make a real difference to Māori
families and help give their children a better start in
life, Labour Deputy Leader Kelvin Davis says.
The
key elements of the Families Package include:
·
Best Start payment to help all New Zealand families with a
newborn by $60 a week up until the child’s first birthday
– and up to three years of age for low- and middle-income
families
· More financial assistance for low-
and middle-income families with children by increasing
Working for Families payments
· Restoring the
Independent Earner Tax Credit to help low-income working
people
· Increasing the Accommodation Supplement
and Accommodation Benefit
· Winter Energy
Payment to help our poorest families heat their homes over
winter.
“We know whānau have been struggling for too long and we promised we would make a difference to them and their communities. Today we deliver on that promise,” Kelvin Davis says.
“Our Families Package delivers targeted support to those who need it most and is an important step in ensuring all New Zealanders see the benefits of our prosperity.”
Kelvin Davis says the measures have a real focus on tamariki.
“We all know the statistics. About a third of our tamariki are in low-income households and around a quarter are living in crowded homes.
“The Best Start payment and the increases to Working for Families payments will significantly benefit tamariki by helping to give them a better start in life. We know that successful investment in a child’s early years can prevent the need for more costly investments and support in later years.
“The Accommodation Supplement and Accommodation Benefit changes will help whānau with high housing costs, and the Winter Energy Payment will help ensure they stay warm and healthy during the coldest months,” Kelvin Davis says.
KiwiBuild will also play its part by delivering 100,000 affordable homes for first home buyers over the next 10 years. Since 1986 the home ownership rate for Māori has fallen by 20 per cent – more than for the overall population (down 15.3 per cent). The number of Māori renting has risen by 88 per cent, double the rate for the general population.
“We need to turn these around for the sake of our communities,” Kelvin Davis says.
“Māori who wish to access further study after secondary school will also be helped by the Government’s fees-free post-secondary study policy.
“This won’t just be for students leaving secondary school. An important aspect of this policy is that it is available to people who have never accessed tertiary training and want to reskill. We know that Māori are disproportionately represented in areas of work which are facing automation, like warehousing, transport and communications.
“The entire Families Package is paid for by reversing the previous Government’s tax cuts.
“Even after paying for the Families Package, the savings from reversing those tax cuts leave an extra $2.84 billion for the Government to invest in other priorities over the next five years.”
Contact: Britton Broun, 021 865 497 britton.broun@parliament.govt.nz
Te Reo Māori version:
Ka tino whai hua te Māori i te kaupapa Manaaki Whānau
Ka tino whai hua te Māori i te kaupapa Manaaki Whānau a te Kāwanatanga e kounga ake ai ngā tau tūāpapa o te tamaiti ki tēnei ao, hei tā te Kaiārahi Tuarua o Reipa, a Kelvin Davis.
Ko ngā kiko matua ēnei o Manaaki Whānau:
He utu Tīmatanga Papai ka whakawhiwhia, e $60 i ia wiki hei tautoko i ngā whānau katoa o Aotearoa, he pēpi hou ā rātou. Hei te rā whānau tuatahi o te pēpi tēnei utu kati ai. Engari, mō ngā whānau whiwhinga pūtea pakupaku me ngā whānau whiwhinga pūtea waenganui, e taea ana tēnei pūtea mō ngā tau e toru o te tamaiti.
Ka nui ake ngā pūtea āwhina mā ngā whānau whiwhinga pūtea pakupaku me ngā whānau whiwhinga pūtea waenganui, he tamariki ā rātou, mā te whakapiki i te utu Hei Oranga Mō te Whānau.
Ka whakahokia te Kaimahi Takitahi Tukunga Tāke hei āwhina i ngā kaimahi whiwhinga pūtea pakupaku.
Ka whakapikihia te Pūtea Tautoko Wāhi Noho me te Pūtea Wāhi Noho.
He Utu Pūngao Takurua hei taunaki i ngā whānau pōhara rawa ki te whakamahana i ō rātou whare i te wā o te takurua.
“E mōhio ana tātou, ka roa kē ngā whānau e taimaha ana, me tā mātou oati, mā mātou rātou me ō rātou hapori e āwhina, e hāpai. Kua tīmata ināianei tonu,” tā Kelvin Davis.
“Tā mātou Manaaki Whānau, he tuku i ngā puna tautoko ki te hunga, me mātua whai e rātou aua tautoko, ā, he takahanga whakahirahira tēnei kia kite ai ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa i ngā hua o te ora.”
Tā Kelvin Davis e mea ana, ko ngā tamariki tonu te aronga nui.
E mōhio katoa ana tātou ki ngā tatauranga. Ko tōna hautoru o ā tātou tamariki, kei ngā whare whiwhinga pūtea pakupaku, ā, ko tōna hauwhā, kei ngā whare e pūhake ana i te tangata.
“Mā te utu Tīmatanga Papai me ngā pikinga pūtea o te utu Hei Oranga Mō te Whānau e tino whai hua ai ngā tamariki i ō rātou tau tūāpapa ki tēnei oranga. E mōhiotia ana, ki te āta poipoia te tamaiti i tōna tamarikitanga, e kore pea ngā puna tautoko utu nui e hiahiatia ā te wā.”
Mā ngā pikinga o te Pūtea Tautoko Wāhi Noho me te Pūtea Wāhi Noho e āwhina atu ngā whānau, inā he nui ā rātou nama wāhi noho, otirā, mā te Utu Pūngao Takurua rātou e whakamahana i te niho roa o ngā marama makariri.”
Ka whai wāhi hoki a HangaKiwi ki te whakatū i ōna whare 100,000 i ngā tau 10 kei mua i te aroaro, hei hoko mā ngā kaihoko hou. Mai i te tau 1986, ko tōna 26% te hekenga o te pāpātanga mō ngā Māori, nā rātou ō rātou whare i hoko – he nui atu tēnei tatau i te taupori whānui (kua heke iho mā 15.3%). Kua piki ake te rahi o te Māori e rēti whare ana mā te 88%, kua tāpiritia te pāpātanga Māori, tēnā i tā te taupori whānui.
“Me mātua panoni ēnei tatauranga, mō ō tātou hapori te painga,” te kupu a Kelvin Davis.
Mō te hunga Māori e hīkaka ana ki te whai tonu i te mātauranga, i muri i te kura tuarua, tērā tētahi puna tautoko kei te puare mai, ko te kaupapa here utu-kore ki tua i te kura tuarua.
“Ehara i te mea, mā ngā ākonga anake e wehe ana i te kura tuarua tēnei āwhina. Ko tētahi aronga nui o tēnei kaupapa here, kia puare mai ngā ara o te mātauranga mō te hunga, kāore anō kia ako i raro i te maru o tētahi wānanga akoako me te hihiko o te ngākau ki te whakapūkenga i a rātou anō. Kei te mārama te kitea, ina whakaritea ki iwi kē, he tokomaha te Māori, kei ngā momo mahi, ā taihoa ake nei, ka riro mā te rorohiko kē ērā mahi e whakatutuki, pēnei i te mahi whare pūkainga taonga, i te hari taonga me te mahi whakawhitiwhiti kōrero, whakaaro.”
“Ka ea te katoa o Manaaki Whānau te utu i te hurihanga iho o ngā poronga tāke a te Kāwanatanga o mua tata nei.
“Ahakoa e utua te
Manaaki Whānau, ko ngā toenga pūtea i mahue mai i te
hurihanga o aua poronga tāke, kei tōna $2.84 piriona. Ka
noho tēnei toenga pūtea hei whakapau mā te Kāwanatanga
ki ētahi kaupapa matua kē i ngā tau e rima e haere ake
nei.”
ends