May 22, 2023
Whanau Ora puts ruler across Māori spend
Whanau Ora Commissioning Agency chief executive John Tamihere says the agency is developing a Budget scorecard to track how much putea goes to by-Māori for-Māori initiatives.
He says it’s working with the 100-plus partners in its network to finalise the measure, allowing people to follow the money on everything from health to housing.
He says the figure for the latest Budget is about 3 percent of money tagged for Maori being spent by Maori.
“When this Government arrived it was 1.7 percent and I don’t want to be mean-spirited but I do want to say that is a disgrace, that multiple Governments of whatever colour continue to fund non-Maori with out money. That’s a disgrace and it’s got to stop,” he says.
Mr Tamihere says 38 percent of the money received by Te Whanau o Waipareira is spent on non-Maori in the community.