May 31, 2024
Māori programmes savaged in Budget
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In a sing for your supper Budget, Finance Minister Nicola Willis is guaranteeing $48 million for kapa haka festival Te Matatini until 2028 while cutting more than $300 million from kaupapa Māori initiatives.
Ms Willis says her first budget is about getting the government books in order while also delivering promised tax cuts.
Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga, which has been working through $140 million over five years given by Labour to address Māori housing in areas like Te Tai Rāwhiti and Te Taitokerau, has been cut by $40 million.
Ms Willis has said Māori will still benefit from the Government’s other housing investments.
Te Puni Kokiri loses $96 million over the next five years; there’s $32 million chopped from Crown-Māori relations agency Te Arawhiti, and $37 million from the Ministry for Primary Industry’s Mātauranga Māori fund.
The Education Ministry has lost $22m from its initiative for iwi-centric learning for rangatahi, Te Kawa Matakura, and $4m from its programme for partnering to strengthen Māori education.
Scrapping the Māori Health Authority – Te Aka Whai Ora will save $35 million, and a similar amount will go from climate change, including Māori initiatives.
Minister Willis has pocketed $2m allocated to bilingual signs, $6m from the Mana Ōrite programme, which aimed to address systemic racism in the justice system, and $55 million by scrapping the Jobs for Nature Fund.
On the positive side, there’s the $48 million for Te Matatini, $8 million to upgrade buildings at Kōhanga Reo, and $2 million to increase te reo Māori competence of teachers already in schools.