May 31, 2024
Local solutions for gnarly problems says Potaka
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Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka wants to see less government involvement in the delivery of solutions for Māori.
Vote Māori took a $96 million haircut in yesterday’s budget, and there was also a $40 million reduction in the amount set aside for Māori housing, $32 million shaved from crown-Māori relations agency Te Arawhiti and many programmes targeting Māori were cut completely.
But Mr Potaka says hundreds of millions of dollars will stay in Māori pockets because of tax cuts.
National also has a deliberate plan to encourage devolution, such as the shift in providing social housing from Kainga Ora to community housing providers.
“We don’t think government delivery of services all the time is the right thing. We actually believe that communities, businesses and organisations out in the rohe have greater reach into hard to get whānau, whether they are whānau Māori or whānau Pākehā or whatever whānau, that they have community-based solutions, locally-led, whānau-led solutions for some of the gnarly social challenges we have as a country,” Mr Potaka says.
He says the Māori economy is moving faster than the mainstream economy and there is a lot of untapped potential.