Listen Now: 
A fiddling round the edges budget is what Greens co-leader Metiria Turei expects from tomorrow's budget.
Ms Turei says there will be little green or brown in the budget, and the government has walked back from promises it made to address child poverty, the issue that probably affects the largest number of whanau Maori.
She says it defines poverty so-narrowly that it misses out 200,000 kids, and it has ruled out any new initiatives.
"We might see a more punitive approach so more punishment of welfare. There is not going to be any change of income for these kids and their families. There won't be any significant improvement in housing for these kids and their families. It's going to be a lot of fiddling around the edges and moving money in a big pot but there is not going to be any real change," she says.
Metiria Turei also expects an onslaught on the non-government welfare sector through new rules for getting government funding.
Copyright © 2015, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
RELATED NEWS
