New Zealand Productivity Commission Bill Second Reading; Wednesday 24 November 2010

Rahui Katene, MP for Te Tai Tonga

I came across a very simple statement today which I think sums up what might well be a core operating principle that the Productivity Commission might live by.

And that is, that the simple act of paying positive attention to people has a great deal to do with productivity.

It might well be the greatest single factor that could assist the new Independent Crown Entity in going about its role, to carry out inquiries and reviews into productivity related matters.

The Commission is intended to fill a gap in the existing institutions for the provision of independent policy advice to Government based on community wide engagement.

This is something, of course, that we in the Maori Party are absolutely supportive of.

We believe that Government would be a lot stronger if we chose to empower communities, whanau and hapu to develop responses to issues impacting on them, by trusting them and resourcing them.

This is a clear priority for the Maori Party. We want to see more community services and less government bureaucracy for the outcome of whanau restoration.

Indeed, we have a particular passion for a concept we call ‘Opportunity Communities’ : which is that we support communities by trusting in their own locally developed solutions.

So we come to this second reading of the Productivity Commission Bill, and we are pleased to see community engagement given priority.

It is our view that if we did place value on community wide engagement, we might be able to ensure that those who have never had the backing to reach their potential will be supported to find new and sustainable opportunities to achieve their goals.

The intention of the Commission will be to assess how well the current environment supports “the overall well-being of New Zealanders”; identify areas where improvements could be made; and where relevant, outline better options/alternative approaches.

The Maori Party supports investing in regional research and development programmes that will forecast the long term opportunities and skills required to increase productivity and economic growth.

In order to achieve a prosperous economy the Maori Party advocates improving quality and performance. It is important that the community receives accurate information about our progress as a nation. To advance this, the Maori Party proposes the adoption of the Genuine Progress Index.

We believe that very useful proposals that the Commission might consider could be Maori productivity and its contribution to the wider economy, focusing on both output and outcome, social, cultural and economic development and wellbeing, including GPI.

The Māori Party has always promoted a Genuine Progress Index as the standard measure of business success. As the Minister of Finance could no doubt elaborate upon, Gross Domestic Product simply measures a country’s overall economic output or the market value of all final goods and services made within the borders of a country in a year. We want to stimulate instead, a debate about productivity based on the general overall wellbeing of the population.

Given the recession and the global collapse, a priority for the Productivity Commission could be to investigate an integrated Genuine Progress Index to measure social, cultural and environmental costs and benefits as part of economic performance.

Sitting in this House and debating across a huge raft of legislation, we have come too often to receive proposals for tax reform which show a lack of imagination and creative thinking.

At a wider level, conventional accounting for the national economy is inadequate. A GPI tool will gather and integrate data on our economic, social, environmental and cultural performance, and the heritage that we will be leaving for future generations.

At a more detailed level, the GPI takes into account not just the bottom line on consumption, but a broader view including the implications of climate change and its consequences; the effects of ongoing demand on natural resources such as water and air and the impact on our ecosystems; and the overall challenge of how to create sustainable progress on a finite planet, and should include the consequences that fall out of our high oil dependency.

Another priority we would like to hear given weight by the Productivity Commission is the drive to achieve sustainable development, and to keeping the environment healthy, safe and intact for everyone and for future generations.

At the beginning of this year, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment released a report in trying to set in place roles and responsibilities for regular reporting on the state of the environment to different public entities. While the Māori Party supports productivity, environmental reporting, such as outlined in the new National Environmental Reporting Act should offer tangata whenua assurance that long term concerns about the protection of the environment can be addressed.

And while it is not the most appropriate time for fullscale examination of the issues around mining; I would just suggest that consideration be given as to how New Zealand based mining companies can employ the local community and Māori, and still incorporate care for the environment, including marine, and local Māori custom for the benefit of the community and the wider public.

Productivity; must of course, also focus on social and cultural capital, and it would be useful to hear from the Minister whether the Commission could provide an opportunity to undertake research as it relates to social lending and social enterprise, and developments in this space. It would be helpful to understand whether the Government has a role in supporting these developments, particularly as it relates to Māori and those in need in communities.

The development of social lending and investment has been substantial overseas and has risen in parallel to the rise of social enterprises. It is still relatively undeveloped in New Zealand. Some South Island community trusts have experience in social lending, and some local councils have also offered local groups loans on “soft” terms. Social enterprises have appeared as a new and distinctive type of entity delivering strong social outcomes. They are similar to commercial businesses, and have some form of income from the provision of a service. But they are also similar to charities in having social outcomes as fundamental objectives.

So it may well be that the Productivity Commission provides us with the space and reason to focus on such approaches towards increasing Productivity.

And in this light, we would hope that investigation should also be undertaken in regards to people or organisations that offer unsecured loans at high interest rates to individuals.

The Māori Party supports the concept of increasing accountability and transparency of such transactions. Recent work in this area suggests there is a close correlation between high density of liquor outlets, pokie venues and loan sharks in areas of high deprivation; again another priority in the debate around Productivity.

Finally, it is of note that the New Zealand Productivity Commission that we are considering in this Bill is closely modelled on the successful Australian Productivity Commission.

And I would like to highlight that the Australian Productivity Commission has reported on Aboriginal affairs in Australia. Similarly, the example could be followed in Aotearoa, so that it is a priority that investigation is undertaken into the social, cultural and economic development and wellbeing of tangata whenua.

Mr Speaker, we do place considerable interest in the advances of this Bill, and we are happy to support it at its second reading.

ENDS

© Scoop Media