The Budget reveals a trend of money shifting away from Crown-Maori policy advice and into the pockets of claimants and Maori welfare services.
Treasury documents show a fall in administration costs and money allocated for guidance from two government departments - the Office of Treaty Settlements and Te Puni Kokiri.
A partner at the financial consulting company PwC, Hamiora Bowkett, says the re-allocation of money from Wellington to the front line is deliberate.
He says it has always been difficult for departments to meet ministerial and political demands, but all state agencies are under pressure to deliver efficiencies and to keep moving money to the front line.
