Pressure to deliver for Māori in Budget

There are high expectations for the Government to deliver the resources needed to fund meaningful change for Māori in the Budget.

While Labour enjoys strong support from Māori, the election of 2020 – which heralded the surprise return of the Māori Party – is a reminder that such support cannot be taken for granted.

Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi, who brought the party back to Parliament by beating Labour in Waiariki, delivered one last warning to Labour just before the Budget’s release.

‘‘All eyes are on the biggest Māori caucus of any Government, and so Māori are watching. We are watching to see if they will make a difference, but 0.37% will not make a difference,’’ he said.

Waititi was referencing Labour’s historic win in 2020, which saw it return to Government with the biggest Māori caucus ever.

He was also referencing the amount of funding he says the Government committed to ‘‘by Māori for Māori’’ initiatives in Budget 2021, 0.37% of Government expenditure.

It’s a crude measure of what the Government delivers for Māori, focusing mainly on programmes such as Whānau Ora – which funds communities to lead their own health, housing, welfare and cultural programmes.

Of course, other work the Government does can also benefit Māori. In four of the Government’s 10 pre-Budget announcements, ministers discussed the impact on Māori. These were projects such as funding for driver licences and trades training, with programmes the Government says specifically aim to reduce inequity between Māori and Pākehā.

Inside Labour’s own caucus and among many Māori leaders outside Parliament, there has also been an increased focus on these by-Māori for-Māori policies.

These policies work on an ideological level, as an expression of tino rangatiratanga or self-determination. And during the pandemic, it also worked in practice.

During the Covid-19 vaccination campaign, Māori communities worked tirelessly to vaccinate their own people. But it wasn’t easy work, with groups such as Te Aroha Kanarahi Trust resorting to a GiveALittle page to buy the van needed to reach vulnerable communities in Tairāwhiti.

Calls grew louder for policy that enables community-led solutions. The slower uptake of vaccines among Māori, at the start of the rollout, was seen as proof that a Government-down approach didn’t work and wasn’t delivering value for money.

The Government’s under pressure to deliver more for Māori.