Speech: Appointment of the Controller and Auditor General - Rahui Katene

The Maori Party is pleased to take a call in supporting the appointment of Lyn Provost to the role of Controller and Auditor General.

One of the most insightful reflections of the former Controller and Auditor General, Kevin Brady, was that “it’s not a popularity poll type of job”.

And he should know.

During his reign, the Controller and Auditor General launched nearly 200 inquiries, including high profile inquiries into the controversial eighteen million dollar PR campaign spent by Labour on Working for Families; various probes into political parties including our friends in ACT and the Greens; and of course the most explosive of these being when he captured the nation’s interest in the 2006 report into election spending.

So Lyn Provost has big footprints to fill.

And Mrs Provost has the support of the House in stepping up to the challenge.

The release from the Speaker of the House said it all – “it is vital that the person appointed to this position has impeccable integrity and sound judgement”.

But Mrs Provost also has a reputation for bringing a fresh breath of air to an organisation and its functions.

She was not only the first woman to be appointed Deputy Police Commissioner; she was also the first non-sworn person to be given the job – and both of those capacities gave her a unique edge in the leadership position.

Her focus on becoming the second of command in the Police force was to make sure that every time a member of the public had contact with the police it was a positive experience.

The Maori Party, of course, would have no debate with that.

There is now more than sufficient evidence to demonstrate the Police perceptions of Maori were certainly worthy of review.

But she has also brought her vision to many other areas of the public service including a role as acting chief executive of Archives New Zealand; and senior manager at the State Services Commission.

The breadth of her experience will be a huge asset for the perspectives she will bring to the role of Controller and Auditor-General.

The Maori Party has always placed great confidence in the capacity of the Controller and Auditor-General to provide an independent view, the type of uncompromising approach to auditing for outcomes beyond reproach.

We need leadership which is fearless, frank and firm, if we are to invest in the type of accountability and transparency the system demands.

In our Maori Party Policy we have called on the Office of the Controller and Auditor-General to report annually on the effectiveness of interventions targeted at Maori, Pacific, refugee and migrant communities as well as young people.

We believe that the role requires officers of Parliament who can be brave, who can be honourable and who can be independent. These qualities are essential to understand whether the interventions that Government pursues are actually making the difference in terms of outcomes.

We also would like to see the Office report annually on the capability of the state sector to achieve outcomes for Maori while at the same time profiling good practice.

It might well be the perfect time for the Office of the Controller and Auditor-General to take a brave new look at institutional racism, as was very evident in Question Time today.

The presence, operation and effect of institutional racism was highlighted in New Zealand in 1986 with the publication of Puao-Te-Ata-Tu, a report by the Ministerial Advisory Committee on a Maori Perspective for the Department of Social Welfare.

The report described the differences between Maori and non-Maori clients, across a range of indicators, as a “picture … of crisis proportions”, recommending significant changes to the policies and practices of government agencies with the objective to “eliminate deprivation and alienation”.

The substantive recommendations of the report appear to have been ignored; and provide, therefore, a perfect opportunity for the new Auditor-General to look critically at whether the picture of crisis proportions is still prevalent in our agencies of the state.

For twenty years on the “picture” is, across many indicators, either unchanged or more dire than in 1986 – such as the differences between Maori/non-Maori prison admissions or life expectancy, respectively.

The Maori Party will be introducing a Private Members Bill, at the first available opportunity, to eliminate the presence, operation and effects of institutional racism.

But in the period between that time that the legislation appears and now; we welcome the opportunity for the new Auditor-General to hit the ground running, with an inquiry to ascertain the extent to which government departments, and their contracted service providers, are eliminating institutional racism.

The Maori Party welcomes Mrs Provost to the position and wishes her every success in demonstrating impeccable integrity and sound judgement in the formidable tasks ahead.

ENDS

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