30 September 2019

The Government’s failure to distribute the lauded $80 million funding boost for Whānau Ora to Whānau Ora providers is yet another example of its inability to deliver, National’s Māori Development spokesperson Jo Hayes says.

“In this year’s Budget, the Government announced $80 million of funding after it ignored Whānau Ora last year and didn’t give commissioners the funds they needed to continue with the positive, successful work of the programme.

“But it appears that Budget 2019 will be yet another disappointment for whānau. Holding back budgeted funds means that, once again, much-needed support won’t be delivered by frontline navigators and whānau will miss out.

“Whānau Ora Minister Peeni Henare needs to front up and explain why he doesn’t want to give Commissioning Agencies the funds they need to carry out their work.

“Commissioning Agency Te Pou Matakana has publicly expressed dismay that money is being diverted away from the front line to administration costs and other Government departments.

“It’s disappointing that yet again, Labour’s Māori caucus isn’t supporting programmes that measurably improve outcomes for Māori and has let this fall by the wayside when they should be delivering for their communities.

“Whānau Ora was established by the previous National Government because we understood that families knew their own needs best, and it was important to give them the tools to realise their potential.

“This Labour-led Government is failing to deliver for Māori.”

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