Legislation passed in Parliament on Wednesday night requiring sole parents to work is nothing more than an attempt by the Government to force and bully beneficiaries to find jobs which are simply not there, said Mangere MP Su’a William Sio.

“These changes mean that solo parents will have to find part-time work once their child turns six and also requires sickness beneficiaries to be work tested.  They will face the loss of 50 percent of their main benefit the first time they do not comply with their work obligations.  Many employers are less likely to cater for parents with children, especially when the high unemployment rate means employers can pick and choose new employees.

“Even the Attorney General has said that work testing sole parents on the DPB is an unjustifiable breach of human rights. Dr Huhana Hickey has also said that the legislation contravenes the UN Rights of Disabilities – the right of disabled people to live well, their right not to be poor. 

“Submitters such as Associate Professor MA O’Brien have said ‘there is no evidence for the gross and obscene assumptions of dependency’.  The Waitakere Community Law Services said the legislation ‘assumes that women choose to be on DPB, and choose to be on sickness benefit’.

“No woman chooses to be abandoned with kids by a drunken, violent or abusive spouse.  Nor do women have control when a spouse has an affair with someone else and leaves which is what has happened in many circumstances.  This Government’s thinking that somehow women choose these situations so they can get on the DPB is absurd,” Su’a William Sio said.

“Instead of a ‘kick in the pants’ the government should be focussing on giving people the tools to gain employment, such as providing good child care, early intervention and most of all providing the resources for education and training, all of which have been stripped away by the government.”

Our communities want jobs.  They deserve jobs with pay that can sustain families.  Furthermore, this government needs to start valuing parenthood and the work of raising children.

The Government’s Social Security (New Work Tests, Incentives, and Obligations) Amendment Bill does not create jobs, and will place many single parent homes in worse situations than they currently are in.  The Budgeting Services in Mangere have said to me this legislation will force greater poverty and suffering on children.

MP for Mangere Su’a William Sio and Labour’s Associate Spokesperson on Local Government and Pacific Affairs is calling on Aucklanders to make sure they are enrolled to vote in the upcoming local government elections.

“I think the Auckland Supercity local body election is the most critical election in the history of New Zealand and I want to see everyone participate,” Su’a William Sio said.

“We must vote if we are to protect the social cohesion of our diverse communities, protect our valuable and strategic income generating assets, protect social justice for generations to come, and protect our right to participate in the decision-making process of the new Supercity.

“Otherwise the wrong mayor may get elected, wrong councillors, and the wrong people get on the local boards, because people didn’t think their vote was important. We will potentially lose control of everything that is valuable to our families, our kids and our community in the years to come.

“If the wrong crowd get in and take control of the Auckland Supercity we will pay dearly when user charges are introduced and assets are flogged off to the highest bidder,” Su’a William Sio said.

“It is also important to have everyone participate to send a strong signal to whoever wins, that we the people are watching them and can just as easily vote them out in the next local body election.

The electoral roll closes on Friday 20 August.

“People need to register, or update their mailing address if they’ve moved, before the end of this Friday.

People can check if they are enrolled by calling 0800 ENROL NOW

(0800 36 76 56), free texting their name and address to 3676, visiting any PostShop or on www.elections.org.nz.

“Voting papers will be mailed out to those who are on the roll after 17 September.  Voters need to freepost their vote back before 9 October to make it count,” Su’a William Sio said.

Contact: Sua William Sio 021 243 0464

The Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs must listen to the overwhelming voice of Auckland’s Pacific communities and allow them to elect their own representatives to the Super City’s Pacific Advisory Board, Labour MP for Mangere Sua William Sio said today.

“To ensure the real needs of Auckland’s Pacific community are taken into account in the decision making process, Pacific people must have a say in who represents them,” Sua William Sio said.

“It should be the role of the Mayor and the Auckland Council to support, sponsor and provide resources for the Board to conduct its new roles and functions, rather than the Mayor appointing this Board.

“With the MPIA seeking input from the Pacific community on how the advisory board will be chosen, now is the time for Pacific people to speak up.”

“I sat on the Auckland Governance Legislative select committee and heard the vast majority of Pacific submitters advocating to maintain their right to elect their own Pacific representatives on the panel, as is the current practice on the four Pacific advisory boards in Manukau, Waitakere, Auckland City and North Shore.”

Su’a William Sio said he has major concerns around the proposal of one group that was seen as self appointed by the Pacific community and who demanded they be appointed to the advisory panel, without going through a consultative process.

“The Auckland Pacific Forum, which has close links to the Pacific Economic Development Agency (PEDA) and is led by the Pacific Island Chamber of Commerce, has lobbied that it be chosen to represent Pacific people,” Sua William Sio said.

“I strongly oppose any such move. It would not be representative of the Pacific community at large. The well established democratic process working in Manukau, Waitakere, the North Shore and Auckland to choose Pacific community reps has served those cities well over many years.

“No system is perfect but these established processes have enabled the Pacific communities in Manukau & Waitakere to make significant contributions and latterly also in North Shore and Auckland City

“Labour will fight any move that would strip the right of Pacific communities to choose their representatives that advise civic leaders.”

Income inequality will accelerate significantly with the Government extending its 90 day “fire at will” law to every workplace and preventing unions organising in worksites, says Mangere MP Su’a William Sio, and will hurt Manukau communities the hardest.

“National’s introduction of the 90 day law was only the beginning of eroding workers rights and undermining their terms and conditions. John Key’s plan to extend the law to cover all workplaces confirms this is a true blue National Government,” Sua William Sio said.

“These are draconian measures that don’t belong in the Kiwi worksite where investing in workforce development will pay huge dividends for business as well as local communities.

“Pacific unemployment has doubled under National and now stands at 14.4%. That means there are just over 13,000 Pacific people out of work.

“The erosion of workers rights leads to increased unemployment, falling wages, and the loss of other terms and conditions such as holidays, sick leave etc.

“But this isn’t all. Combined with rising cost of living and a GST increase, the gap between the ‘haves and the have-nots’ will widen for the Mangere community where the median income is $20,600. 

“It makes me angry to know that some chief executive salaries now top the half-million mark while an unemployed person over 25 gets just $221.85 a week before tax, a sum lower in real terms than in 1991.”

In the next few months I am going to keep asking our communities what kind of society do you want to live in?  Values and priorities are changing so fast around us, we need to stop and ask this question now, before we lose sight of what is truly important in building strong societies.

For me I want to live in a fair society where everyone is treated equally irrespective of race, colour, religion, sex, age, culture, and preference.  I want for every kid, our kids, to have free access to health care, education, a home, and every opportunity to realise their fullest potential.  I want our kids to be protected from the harm of unhealthy foods, tobacco, alcohol and violence.  If our kids are to take up their rightful place as future leaders of families, communities and indeed our nation, then we must ensure that they receive quality education from early years to primary, high school and be given a choice of tertiary education of either pursuing a degree, trade, or whatever profession they choose.

I would like to see every able person to have a job that will enable them to earn a living that can sustain their family now and into the future. I would like to see more workplace training. 

I would like to see the elderly, disabled, sick and poor being protected and provided with care and their basic necessities.

This can happen provided that everyone is willing to chip in and support a fair society through paying their fair share of taxes.  This can happen provided “a fair society” is the driving force for our political decisions and there is a collective willingness for all of us to look after one another.  It can happen if greed and individualism is not the driving force behind political decisions.  It can happen if we recognise that “poverty anywhere will undermine wealth everywhere”.

Unfortunately, under the National-Act-Maori Party Government I believe we are not heading in this direction.  This Government is positioning New Zealand for a user-pays society and creating a problem for all New Zealanders.  The problem:  is Inequality!*

Consider the 2010 Budget.  Bill English told us it was about building  “a more prosperous and ambitious New Zealand”.  His recipe – big tax cuts for the rich, small if any for the poor, and these tax cuts would be funded by a 20% increase in GST, cuts in health, ECE, housing and lay-offs in other portfolios, and the sell-off, in the near future, of state assets like ACC, KiwiBank, etc.

Every Early Childhood Centre I’ve visited so far will all be affected by the Government cuts, some of the big licenses will lose up to $360,000 from their budgets, other small ones will lose about $25,000. 

The Government has said to these centres they must increase their fees or cut their expenditure.  This may mean centres firing quality staff, cutting staff training, cutting good nutrition, and cutting health checks. 

What this will mean is some parents will not afford ECE for their child and will keep them at home.  Inequality?  Absolutely!  Eventually what I suspect will emerge are centres that provide a low fee paying, low quality play centre service with unqualified staff, and those centres that charge high fees for their service.

Additionally, there’s been significant cuts in health expenditure as compared with previous years.  Budget 2010 have revealed wide ranging cuts to public health services.  About $18 million has been taken out of the oral health budget for young people under the age of 18 over the next four years. About $12 million has been cut from tobacco control programmes over four years.

Also cut over the next four years is $8million of sexual health promotion and prevention programmes, $1 million from public health alcohol and drug services, $4 million from mental health workforce development and $1.2 million from the Like Minds Like Mine campaign.  Inequality?  You better believe the consequences of all these cuts is inequality in the health of our communities, our country.

For example, life expectancy varies by more than 28 years, a disgrace that our Ministry of Health says puts us “in a range generally associated with third world developing countries.”  In some New Zealand neighbourhoods you are unlikely to live long enough to collect your super while in others the family will still be waiting for your to pop off at 90.” *

Income inequality will accelerate significantly with the Government extending its 90 Day Fire at Will Law to every workplace and preventing unions organising in worksites. The erosion of workers rights leads to mass unemployment, the fall of wages, the loss of other terms and conditions such as holidays, sick leave etc.

It makes me angry to know that some chief executive salaries now top the half-million mark while an unemployed person over 25 gets just $221.85 a week before tax, a sum lower in real terms than in 1991.*

If you want a fair and equal society, we must fight for it and not be silent.

* PSA Journal June 2010

Ends.

The MP for Mangere Su’a William Sio has secured assurances from the Minister of the Community and Voluntary sector Tariana Turia today that she will be keeping an eye on the Digital Literacy and Connections budget.

“The Minister provided an assurance to me that she will ensure the Computer Clubhouses and Computer in Homes initiative by the Manukau community will be financially supported long term,” Su’a William Sio said.

The Computer Clubhouse provides a creative and safe out-of-school learning environment where young people from underserved communities work with adult mentors to explore their own ideas, develop skills, and build confidence in themselves through the use of technology.

“This is an important community programme and I am committed to ensuring that the Government continues to fund it.

“The Computer Clubhouse is a community initiative, which has grown through the hard-work and dedication of Mike Usmar and his team.  It is well planned, well researched, carried out by qualified individuals, supported by Manukau City Council, businesses, tertiary organisations and the local communities.  The funds going into this initiative is a long-term investment towards the future of our young people and this country.”

Su’a William Sio said he was concerned that budget documents had not provided ongoing funding for the programme, which is why he had chosen to question the Minister.

Held at the  Malaeola Hall, Mangere

Sa’afiafiaga ma le Fa’afetai i le Au Lakapi Taitaofitu a Samoa ua Siamupini i le Lalolagi

Ua ou fia tu i luga ose mauga ma ou pese i lenei po. Ua ou fia pese i lou fiafia. Ua ou fia pese i o’u lagona faagaeetia. Ua ou fia pese i lou agaga faafetai. Aisea?

Ua tele tausaga o tatou mulimuli ma tapuaia taumafaiga a tamaalii ia. Ua tele tausaga o tatou matamata i le TV i le tapuaiga o le au a si o tatou atunuu po’o fea lava i le lalolagi o loo ta’aalo ai.

E fia tausaga o tatou faitio pe a pau le polo, pe misi le pu’e, pe vaai atu o sela mai. E fia tausaga o tatou faitio i le faiaoga pea faaletonu le tapenaina o tama taaalo mo lenei faagatama.

Ao ua a nei? O lenei ua sii Samoa o se tamai atunuu i le vasa Pasefika ma tuu i luga o le fa’atumutumuga o mauga maualuluga o le lakapi ta’ito’afitu o le lalolagi.

Ua siamupini Samoa! Ua ou matua lagona le mitamita tele ma ua ou fia pese ai i le pese o le “We are the Champions”, aua ua siamupini Samoa i le lalolagi.

Ua le auala Ausetalia. Ua le auala foi Aferika ma Niu Sila oni atunuu e lelei le tamaoaiga ma mafai ona latou faatinoina ni tapenaga o a latou au taaalo e sili atu i nai atunuu vaivai, e iai si o tatou atunuu.

O’u te manatua ai lea o le tala ia Feepo. Faimai ua patipati taoto Feepo ina ua maua tala i lona atalii o Leatiogie, ua sao mai Amouta, ua sao mai Amotia, ma toe mulimuliane ua sao foi i le malae nai Moamoa. E iai le aso lenei.

Se ua malietoa, ua malo tau, malo le tauivi, malo le finau. Fa’amalo le fa’aea atunuu. O lea ua outou fa’ati’eti’e Samoa i le faatumutumuga o faamoemoe.

O lea la ua afifio mai lo tatou atunuu ua aofaga potopoto i lenei po. Ua afio le afioga i le Hai Komesina, le afioga ia Asi Tuatagaloa ma lana masiofo. Ua afio le afioga i le Konesula Aoao o Samoa, le afioga i le ma’upu taulagi, le afioga ia Faoolotoi. Ua afifio foi o’u uso a faipule o le Malo Niu Sila. Ua afifio foi sui mamalu o le pulega e faasino ia Manukau. O loo susu foi le paia o le aufaigaluega a le Atua, i susuga i faafeagaiga i fata faitaulaga e fia o loo talaia le tala lelei i itu e fa o Aukilani Aoao. O lea ua afifio aiga , uo ma e ua masani.

Ua afifio le paia i aiga e fia o Samoa. Le paia i Aiga o Tupu, Aiga o Nofo, Aiga o Papa, ma aiga na tafaifa ia Salamasina. Le mamalu ia Tumua ma Pule, Ituau ma Alataua, Aiga I le Tai ma le Va’a o Fonoti.

Vaeatu le tapuaiga mamalu o le Malo Tutoatasi o Samoa i le Ao Mamalu i le Ao o le Malo, le Afioga i le Tuiatua Tupua Tamasese Efi, faapea le Palemia ma lana Kapineta.

Ua afifio mai lou atunuu i lenei po, e momoli atu le lagona o le fiafia ma le agaga faafetai ona o taumafaiga a nei tamaalii o Samoa ua tino mai.

Ma o le a tatou pepese iai.

Ua fa’afetai,
Ua fa’afetai,
Ua malie mata e vaai.
Ua tasi lava oe,
Ua tasi lava oe,
I lou nei faamoemoe.

Ou te fia faafetai foi i le afioga ia Aiolupotea ma le afioga ia Vui ma le faalapotopotoga o le NZ Samoa Rugby Sports Club. Fa’afetai i lo outou faamaopopoina mai o Samoa mo lenei avanoa matagofie. Fa’afetai ua faatino i Magele o lenei faamoemoe, ua onomea ma talafeagai aua o Magele o le faitotoa o Niu Sila.

I am grateful that this event is being held here in Mangere.

I want to stand at the top of a mountain and sing tonight. I want to sing about how happy I am. I want to sing of how proud I feel. I want to sing an express how grateful I am. Why is that you may ask?

For many years we have followed and supported these players. For many years we have watched them on TV as they represented us in the different countries throughout the world where they played.

How many years have we complained when they dropped the ball, or missed a tackle or they just seemed tired and unfit? How many years have we criticised their coaches for not preparing these boys well for their games?

And now what has happened? A small island nation called Samoa has been lifted to the top of the mountain in the sport of 7 aside rugby. Samoa is the world champions of the 7 aside rugby. I feel a tremendous amount of pride in my heart and I wish I could sing aloud the song, “We are the Champions” by Queens, as Samoa are the champion of the world.

I remember the story about Fe’epo. He could not sit, walk, or travel, but had so much love and support for his son who was involved in the brutal sport of “club fighting”. Fe’epo requested runners to tell him every detail of each fight.

Each time he heard the news, it is said he clapped his hands in delight while lying down, when his son Leatiogie battled his way from the battlegrounds of Amouta and won. He clapped lying down when he heard his son had won the battles at Amotai and finally winning in the battleground of Moamoa. This is an appropriate story for tonight. We all feel like Fe’epo.

Good job that Australia missed out. South Africa and New Zealand also missed out. These are countries that have the economic means to prepare their teams well for the international stages, unlike small countries like Samoa.

You are brave warriors who have so bravely fought with such courage and boldness. You have lifted your country in the world arena and have inspired us all and have given hope to future generations.

And so tonight your people have come to acknowledge you. We have all come to celebrate. His excellency the High Commissioner of Samoa, le Afioga ia Asi Tuatagaloa and his good lady. His excellency the Consul General, le ma’upu taulagi, le Afioga ia Faoolotoi. My parliamentary colleagues of the New Zealand parliament are present, and so are Manukau City Councillors.

We have the reverend ministers of the various churches that preach the Gospel to the four corners of the Auckland region. Your families, friends and supporters are here tonight. All of Samoa in the Auckland region are here.

I acknowledge here the honorifics of all those present.

Le paia i Aiga e fia o Samoa
Aiga o Tupu, Aiga o Nofo, Aiga o Gafa, Aiga o Papa,
Aiga na Tafaifa ia Salamasina
Le mamalu ia Tumua ma Pule
Ituau ma Alataua,
Aiga I le Tai ma le
Va’a o Fonoti

And we will sing for you our song of gratitude:

Ua fa’afetai, ua fa’afetai,
Ua malie mata e vaai.
Ua tasi lava oe, ua tasi lava oe,
I lou nei faamoemoe.

Well done to you all. You make us all so proud, and this is such a fitting end to the Samoan Language Week.

I acknowledge le Afioga ia Aiolupotea John Roache, President of the NZ Samoa Rugby Sports Club and his Secretary le Afioga ia Vui for organising this event and for bringing us all together tonight.

Thank you for holding this event in Mangere. It is very fitting and appropriate that we are in Mangere the Gateway to New Zealand and the centre of the galaxy.

Ia soifua.

The Minister of Pacific Island Affairs is failing to convince the Pacific community that she followed proper processes when approving $4.8 million dollars of taxpayer money to a private company in this month’s Budget, Labour’s MP for Mangere Su’a William Sio said today.
 
“Georgina te Heu Heu has dodged the hard questions around the awarding of nearly $5 million dollars to the Pacific Economic Development Agency (PEDA),” Su’a William Sio said.
 
“The Minister has refused to reveal who lobbied the Government on behalf of PEDA. Despite being asked for specifics by Pacific media outlets, Georgina te Heu Heu has been evasive.
 
“We know who runs and owns PEDA, so if it was the directors, why doesn’t Georgina te Heu Heu just say so? And if it wasn’t PEDA directors, who then was lobbying very senior Ministers for the funding?
 
“It is very curious why Georgina te Heu Heu has danced around this issue.”
 
Su’a William Sio says the Government’s processes and transparency around this funding has been back to front.
 
“The funding has already been approved but the Minister is yet to sit down with PEDA directors to finalise accountability and objective arrangements,” Su’a William Sio said.
 
“Taxpayers expect much better transparency before a single dollar is committed. With nearly $5 million at stake, Kiwis would have hoped the Government had carried out thorough due diligence before signing on the dotted line.

“For Georgina te Heu Heu to also say PEDA won the appropriation because the Government wants to ‘back winners’ is weak.
 
“Little is known about PEDA and it has little or no track record in delivering social services to Pacific people in Auckland.
 
“Georgina te Heu Heu should stop evading the hard questions around PEDA. The Pacific community deserves answers,” Su’a William Sio said.

The Pacific Island Affairs Minister must start answering questions around the nearly $5 million of funding given to a little known company to provide social services to Pacific Islanders, Labour’s Mangere MP Su’a William Sio said today.

“Georgina te Heu Heu has dodged questions around the money given to the Pacific Economic Development Agnecy (PEDA) since it was spotted in the fine print of last weeks Budget announcements,” Sua William Sio said.

“The $4.8 million dollars given to PEDA is a significant amount of money given the size of the Pacific Island Affairs vote.

“Georgina te Heu Heu needs to explain whether there was a tender process for this funding and if there was, why no-one involved in Pacific Social Services seemed to know about it.

“If the Government saw fit to give PEDA $4.8 million then the Minister should front up and tell Pacific people why the funding has been approved, how it was approved and what it will achieve.

“Little is known how PEDA will put the money into action. There are reports that it will only operate out of Auckland, if so, I would have major concerns about the fairness of that for Pacific Islanders living in other areas.

“Georgina te Heu Heu’s failure to answer questioning around this issue is disrespectful to the many organisations that could have benefited from that appropriation.

“PEDA may do a good job with funding it has been allocated but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t know who was involved in securing it.

“Much of what is being said about this Budget allocation is based on whispers and rumours. It’s time the Minister went public about the process and the people involved,” Su’a William Sio said.

Held at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, Mangere

To welcome His Excellency Syed Ibne Abbas, Pakistan’s new High Commissioner to New Zealand

You excellency, my parliamentary colleagues, distinguished guests, friends, ladies and gentlemen

I am delighted this evening to join with the Chairman, President and members of the Pakistan Business Forum to be part of this significant occasion.

It is my pleasure as the local MP to join with friends and leaders of the Pakistan community to formally welcome you to my place, Mangere the Gateway to the Nation and the centre of the galaxy.

I have greeted you in some of the different languages that are spoken by over 180 ethnic groups that live side by side in Mangere, in Manukau City and throughout the Auckland region.

That will give you a taste of the diversity of cultures and languages that exists in this wonderful place of ours.  It is one of the strengths of this region to speak different languages, and we are comfortable with it, and accommodate one another in our communications.  I have even used Maori to welcome you even though I myself am not Maori.

I call Mangere the Gateway and the centre of the galaxy because the local international airport enables New Zealand to touch the rest of the world, which is good for international business links as well as strengthening links with families and friends who visit us from all over the world.

The diversity that exists in Mangere provides the depth of richness that does not exist as strongly anywhere else in New Zealand.  The Pakistan community is one community that contributes significantly to the richness in this region and indeed throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. 

It does so through the Pakistan business sector trading not only between New Zealand and the original homeland, but the growing trade between New Zealand and some of the Pacific island nations.

It also contributes through culture, language, food and personalities like my friend Pakistan born Dr Ashraf Coundhary who is a member of the Labour party.

Your excellency, I hope you get the opportunity to visit some of the sites in Mangere and around this region.  We have Villa Maria an internationally renowned winery that has won many international awards for best wine, just around the corner from here.

Not too far from here are the local Otuatua stonefields which provide evidence of Maori occupation in the local area for the past 200 years, and contains a record of over 100 years of European farming.

There are many good eating places in the area with that particular spice you may be craving for as well.

But if you simply want to buy a car I would recommend you to Mr Ghulam Murtaza Chouldhary the owner of GM cars, or to Mr Nadeem Ashraf the owner of Tarnica Cars.

I could also recommend you to a good Pakistan business that can assist you with buying a house in Mangere or better still to design and build your own house.

Your excellency, before I sit down I want to share with you and the Pakistan New Zealand Business Forum a dream I have been promoting in our local schools. 

For many years, Papalagi people have been trying to assimilate us into European culture.  In this region, we have assimilated Papalagi people into our own culture through our sons and daughters marrying their sons and daughters.  Their children, our grandchildren, are beautiful and gifted, and will become future leaders of this country.  One of them will become Prime Minister of New Zealand.  Another could become Mayor of the new Auckland supercity.

Who is to say that in the year 2030 that one of your sons will not become Prime Minister of New Zealand?  Why should it not be that one of your daughters will become the Mayor of the Auckland supercity in the year 2030?

There is nothing to stop your children and mine to achieve these things.  Our children will become the future leaders of this country of ours, and we must prepare them for this role and responsibility.  I sincerely believe this.

It cannot be the National MP Mr Kanwaljit Bakshi, as after last Thursday’s budget, his government will become a one term government.

And although my colleague Dr Ashraf Choudhary is a senior MP to both myself and Mr Bakshi, it cannot be him either, as he is in the twilight hours of his life.

It will be one of our children.

Your excellency, welcome once again to Mangere the Gateway to the Nation and the centre of the galaxy and I wish you good health and an enjoyable evening.