May 16, 2022
Office politics confuse ACT
ACT MP Nicole McKee is defending her party’s alternative budget which calls for the scrapping of Māori and other ministries.
Ms McKee says the aim is to get a healthy economy, driving communities and support Kiwi identity.
She says ACT can’t see any value coming from the $71 million spent by Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry for Māori Development, and programmes like Whānau Ora could be run by other ministries like Health without a reduction in the core work.
“The Office of Crown-Māori Relations, we want to get rid of that but we also agree it is very important that our treaty settlements continue and ACT has always supported the treaty settlements and the kaupapa within it. But the Office for Crown-Māori Relations could actually come within the Office of Treaty Settlements, We’ve got two offices with lots of money going back and forth. They could do the same job,” Ms McKee says.
The Office for Treaty Settlements is actually a major part of Te Arawhiti.