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Download AudioA Māori political scientist says cutting Māori-specific initiatives for trickle-down tax cuts won’t help those looking for a hand up.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ first budget cut $40 million from Māori housing schemes and $96 million from the Māori Development portfolio over the next 4 years, as well as ending the Jobs for Nature fund.
Associate Professor Lara Greaves from Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington, says anything targeted at a specific group seemed to go.
“There’s more of an attitude towards like we’re doing funding for all New Zealanders rather than hapū and iwi and hāpori Māori, so that’s something that we can kind of see in the numbers and in the rhetoric of this government as well so that’s something to kind of watch over the next couple of years,” she says.
Dr Greaves says while some middle-class Māori may benefit from the tax cuts, the vast majority of working Māori will get about $4 extra a week.
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