28 May 2009 Media Statement
Budget fails to protect jobs for Maori

Maori will be deeply disappointed with today’s Budget which does nothing to keep whanau in work and includes no new Maori Affairs spending whatsoever, says Labour’s Maori Affairs spokesperson Parekura Horomia.

“With more than one in ten Maori now unemployed and over 1000 Kiwis joining the dole queue each week, this should have been a jobs Budget and it wasn’t.

“There is no coherent plan to keep people in work and given our whanau are among the worst hit by the recession, this of particular concern to our communities,” says Parekura Horomia.

“We needed significant investment in skills training and job creation to steer New Zealand out of the economic downturn, but we haven’t got it.

“And the best the Minister of Maori Affairs is able to offer is a network of community advocates who will work to ensure whanau are getting the benefits they are entitled to.

“Surely the Maori Party could have done better than that? It’s no wonder the Minister’s first choice was to spend Budget Day in Australia.

“It is also disappointing that the Maori Party is trying to hoodwink the public into thinking it has secured new money in this Budget,” says Parekura Horomia.

“It claims to have secured over $120 million worth of initiatives specifically for Maori over the next four years.

“Yet the $50 million worth of initiatives which come from Dr Sharples’ Maori Affairs budget are funded from existing money diverted from other initiatives and programmes. This includes the $32 million to be spent on whanau advocates.

“And the documents show that far from securing more money for his agency, the Minister will spend less over the next four years than Labour planned to.

“Much of the other funding heralded by the Maori Party, such as the economic development taskforce and aquaculture funding has already been announced.

“This is not a mana-enhancing Budget for the Maori Party at all. Maori will feel let down. Lost for words? Certainly lost for anything positive to say.”

ENDS

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