17 May 2013

'Middle of the road' Budget for Maori

5:33 pm on 17 May 2013

The development of te reo is one of the big wins for Maori in this year's Budget - and there's a boost for Whanau Ora.

Financial services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) is calling the Budget middle-of-the road for Maori.

It says Maori will benefit from new mainstream housing and health schemes, but it's not an exciting spending plan from the Government.

In targeted funding, the Maori Language Commission is to get an extra $6 million in new money this year.

While in education, more than 250 existing teaching scholarships will now be ring-fenced for Maori language medium education and secondary te reo Maori trainees.

There's less money available to be spent on Crown-Maori policy advice - both from Te Puni Kokiri and the Office of Treaty Settlements.

For example, there's no new money for Treaty Negotiations.

There's a significant drop in the portfolio's budget from last year, when a large sum was set aside for Ngati Whatua.

There are new spending priorities at Te Puni Kokiri and the Office of Treaty Settlements - which PWC says reflect a drive to take money from Wellington policy advice - and give it to tribes and claimants.