May 21, 2023
Te reo is a rongoā, Bernie O’Donnell Co-Chair Te Mātāwai
Te reo is a rongoā says the Co-Chair of Te Mātāwai Bernie O’Donnell.
Te Mātāwai encourages kāinga, hapori and iwi to identify, pursue and fulfil their own Māori language aspirations it received $10 million over 4 years in last week’s Budget.
“What’s really pleasing to see is the recognition of language and culture as a rongoā. It’s what’s needed if we’re going to talk about health, hauora, wellbeing and, trauma.” says Bernie O’Donnell.
Health is the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, he says. What we need to do is understand the social determinants that force us into that space.
“When people talk health in a Pakeha context they don’t get the type of things we talk about. ”
“Language is about expressing ourselves as a people, it’s about being Māori. ”
“The Budget, starts to talk about the context of hauora and wellbeing and will turn everything on its head. says Bernie O’Donnell.
This year Te Mātāwai received over 500 applications from Māori whānau, marae, kāinga, hapori and iwi totalling $29 million, but it only had $10.8 million available for distribution.
Here is how the Māori Budget 2023 has been allocated:
• Whare: Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga $200 million
• Whenua: Te Ringa Hāpai Whenua Fund $23 million (over 4yrs)
• Cyclone Recovery Efforts: $19.9 million (over 4yrs)
• Whānau Ora: $168.1 million (over 4yrs)
• Hauora: $132 million
• Māori Education: $225 million
• Māori Justice: Te Ao Marama $11.7 million (for 2023/2024yr)
• Te Matatini: $34 million (over 2yrs)
• Matariki: $18 million (over 4yrs)
• Te Mātāwai: $10 million (over 4yrs)
• Māori Media: $51 million (over 2yrs)
• Māori Tourism: $8 million