Editorial: New minister needed for Maori affairs

For how much longer can the Prime Minister grit her teeth and continue to express confidence in Parekura Horomia, her Maori Affairs Minister? Not long, surely. Mr Horomia's ongoing bumbling over the issues raised by sloppy procedures and lax accountability at Te Mangai Paho has become indefensible. Opposition probing during Question Time in Parliament was once deflected by unintelligible rambling; now it is treated with disdainful and equally unenlightening brevity. The outcome remains severely embarrassing. Both Maori and the Government deserve a better voice than that which on Tuesday responded to Opposition taunts by agreeing that Maori should "most certainly" vote National.

The Government has done its level best to protect Mr Horomia. Aside from the obvious question-time tutelage, it has mischievously attempted to shift the blame for the minister's discomfort. According to Helen Clark, Mr Horomia's poor performance springs from the bad advice he has received from Te Puni Kokiri, not least the misinformation that he relayed to Parliament. Thus, the blowtorch has been turned on to the Maori development ministry and its monitoring of Te Mangai Paho. But if Te Puni Kokiri has questions to answer, so, equally, it must be asked if the ministry's shortcomings reflect an absence of respect for the Minister of Maori Affairs. If, in other words, ministry officials would have played so fast and loose with answers to parliamentary questions if they had answered to a more commanding and authoritative figure.

Mr Horomia's supporters contend that he retains the support of traditional iwi organisations, that his mana is undiminished by his wretched performance in Parliament. But if, indeed, Mr Horomia still represents iwi Maori, he is representing them poorly. Yet as much as Helen Clark must recognise this, she also knows that the solution may be equally problematic.

John Tamihere, the junior minister and heir apparent, is an independent spirit who this week has allied himself even more closely with urban Maori. Accusing ageing tribal leaders of "strangling" their younger successors by refusing to step aside can only estrange him even more from traditional iwi groups. Nor, of course, did his speech prepared for this year's Knowledge Wave conference, in which he said Government policy was perpetuating the welfare dependency trap, endear him to his parliamentary colleagues.

As is often the case, however, the validity of the points raised, and the growing support for his solution - community control of social services for Maori - were drowned by the subsequent telling-off.

There is a risk in appointing Mr Tamihere as Minister of Maori Affairs, both in terms of his outspokenness and the novel nature of many of his ideas. But that is more than offset by the potential for channelling his creative thinking and enthusiasm. Once he was fully inside the tent, there would be no excuse for flailing and frustration. His focus on urban Maori might also be less of a problem than imagined. Once handed the ministerial reins, Mr Tamihere would have to become a voice for all Maori. An adversarial attitude towards iwi groups would soon render him ineffectual, and unable to implement meaningful reform.

The choice before the Prime Minister has become stark. Mr Tamihere asks the right questions and deserves his chance to find the right answers. Mr Horomia can hardly be said to have asked the right questions; now he certainly cannot find the right answers. The minister is serving both Maori and the Government poorly. The time has come for a change to be made.