Launch of the 2010 NZ Children's Social Health Monitor results

Launch of the 2010 NZ Childrens' Social Health Monitor results The Hunter Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin Monday 13 December 2010; 2pm Rahui Katene, MP for Te Tai Tonga [check against delivery]

I want to thank the Child and Youth Epidemiology Service and the National Centre for Lifecourse Research for this initiative in inspiring debate on the best policy responses to ensure child wellbeing.

I have to say, it has not been an easy afternoon. No-one can feel comfortable with the findings of this report which demonstrate a picture of considerable concern for the health and wellbeing of our tamariki.

Of course much of the data is not new but what is distinctive about this report is the way in which it brings together a number of datasets to track the impact of the recession and rising unemployment on children's health outcomes. The Maori Party is very supportive of such an approach, which attempts to address the cumulative indicators and impacts, rather than just focusing on any one sector in isolation.

The challenge from the 2004 Living Standards Survey has suggested for some years now that successive Governments are not doing enough about our most vulnerable children – and that is particularly so for the 20% of New Zealand children whose family income is reliant on income support as the primary source of income.

As the 2004 Survey revealed, a significant majority – some 58% - of this group are not being adequately protected in the current social safety net – and instead find themselves precariously placed at risk of severe or significant hardship.

This symposium today is highly timely as we wait for the various streams of work concerning an overhaul of the welfare system to come to fruition.

We must ensure adequacy of support for those in need, for families facing economic adversity and living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Failure to do so, refusal to address the impact of deprivation, of inconsistent and insufficient income inevitably constrains the educational options and health outcomes for our young people; placing unacceptable limitations on their aspirations and opportunities.

There are some immediate structural reforms that Governments can and should do.

For a start, the Maori Party has placed considerable pressure on both this Government and the last, to raise the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour; and to create additional mechanisms to ensure those 230,000 children whose parents are not receiving the support of Working for Families, are not unnecessarily and unfairly excluded from their capacity to provide for their children.

We must address the high youth unemployment rates and in particularly the disproportionately high rates for our young Maori and Pasifika job-seekers.

And while we are doing this, we must continue to ask those searching questions – whose story is being told, who is telling the story, whose voices are being heard?

And I want to raise, as an example, the fact that an increase in GDP is highlighted as being the first key point emerging from this children’s social health monitor.

The Maori Party seeks to promote wider measures of social health than reliance on GDP which is conventionally known as the main indicator of the total amount of cash flowing in an economy. Under a GDP lens, it is assumed that the more GDP rises, the better the overall welfare of the nation will be.

And yet, ironically, it does not measure other high level indicators which might tell us of a different story. Indicators which express the health – in all its manifestations – of our families; the quality of the lives, the joy of children’s play; the safety of our streets; the collective contribution we make to more connected communities.

Under a Genuine Progress Index, we might look at all the factors that constrain or enable a full expression of health and wellbeing. Factors such as: • Wairuatanga – spirituality • Hinengaro – the mind • Tinana – physical wellbeing • Whanaungatanga – extended family • Waiora – total wellbeing for the family and individual • Mauri – the life force • Mana ake – the unique identity of the family and individual • Ha a kui ma a koro ma – breath of life from our ancestors • Whatumanawa – the open and healthy expression of emotion • Whenua –reconnection to the land • Whakapapa– maintaining connections to whanau, hapu and iwi.

And when we look at such measures of wellbeing, we might then set about a programme of eliminating social hazards which act as impediments to the fullest expression of health and wellbeing.

The Maori Party has systematically set about addressing some of these social hazards. We have introduced a private members bill to address the harm being done by pokies, particularly for Maori, Pasifika, Asian, low income workers and beneficiaries.

We have introduced two Governments bill and initiated a select committee inquiry to address the adverse effects of tobacco use amongst our communities.

And through a private members bill that I introduced, we raised the concept that food should be exempt from GST on the grounds that GST hits low-income people disproportionately.

And I want to just say how proud I was of the initiative taken a fortnight ago in the launch of Speak Out Nelson Tasman – an initiative kicked off by local residents who have had enough of racial violence in their community, and sought to set up a system to encourage the reporting of incidents.

That sort of leadership is what we must encourage in other areas – including of course the importance of keeping children free from harm from injury, assault, neglect or maltreatment.

But it isn’t just about eliminating that which serves to damage our environment and to limit our collective potential. It is also very much about the best policy responses being those that the people themselves design, develop and own.

The Maori Party promotes whanau ora as the way forward to achieving a future where whanau determine what is in their best interests. Our consistent approach to policy challenges is to empower communities, whanau and hapu to develop responses to issues impacting on them; by trusting them and resourcing them.

We support communities by trusting in their own locally developed solutions We have talked about those who have never had the backing to reach their potential, being able to be supported to find new and sustainable opportunities to achieve their goals.

We have been delighted at the way in which the Whanau Ora approach has taken hold. At its very core Whānau Ora is about empowering whānau to take control of their future. What we want for our whānau is to be self-determining, to be living healthy lifestyles, to be participating fully in society and to be economically secure.

What has been so exciting with Whanau Ora is to see the level of cooperation and collaboration amongst providers, committed to supporting whanau to drive their future onwards.

Here in Dunedin, for example, the successful provider collective – Te Waka Kotuia o Araiteuru, encompasses the skills, expertise and passions of Te Roopu Tautoko ki te Tonga; Te Hou Ora Whanau Services; Tumai Ora Whānau Services; Tokomairiro Waiora Inc; Kai Tahu ki Otago; Arai Te Uru Whare Hauora Ltd; and ADA 2007 Ltd.

So let’s come back to the question of what will be the best policy responses to ensure child wellbeing?

For Maori, our concept of children is two-fold – he taonga he mokopuna – they are precious gifts from our ancestors which we hold a collective responsibility to protect. They are the lifeblood of the generations before them, and they maintain the whakapapa links to our future. Their safety is our safety; our wellbeing.

But secondly, our tamariki are intimately and immediately located in the context of whanau – the wider world of their extended family providing the vital foundation for their life.

And I want to end with a whakatauki which expresses the importance we place on all of us, taking the responsibility to uphold the wellbeing of our tamariki and our whanau as paramount.

He ao te rangi ka uhia a, ma te huruhuru te manu ka rere ai.

The sky is clothed by the clouds and feathers are required to enable a bird to fly.

Our commitment, as the Maori Party, is that while we must do all we can to ensure our children are clothed, warm, healthy and safe, we know that ultimately our greatest opportunity to make a difference is to support whanau to be the very best that they can be.

ENDS

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