Budget 2007 an important investment in Mâori

Budget 2007 continues the Labour-led government's commitment to making significant and strategic investment in Māori.

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Budget 2007 continues the Labour-led government's commitment to making significant and strategic investment in Māori, Māori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia said today.

"This is both in terms of specific initiatives to protect and nourish our culture, language and identity and through broader investments into areas like Vote Health which will have a major impact on Māori lifestyles and wellbeing.''

When Labour was elected in 1999 there was high unemployment, a surge in poverty and a sense of social exclusion, particularly among Māori, Mr Horomia said.

Labour has charted a dedicated course to change that and to build a fairer society where everyone is provided with opportunities.

"Labour's Māori Caucus has worked hard to ensure that the right investments are put in place through successive government Budgets to take Māori forward, as part of that wider goal."

We are already seeing some tremendous results and as further initiatives bed in - such as cheaper doctors visits and prescriptions and the Working for Families package - we will see more good news, Mr Horomia said.

Budget 2007 includes a major new savings initiative which will see the government match individual weekly Kiwisaver investments with a maximum $20 top-up from July 1. This will rise to up to $40 a week over time - providing valuable incentives for all New Zealanders to save.

The Budget builds on our work to date and makes a number of important new investments from a range of portfolio areas.

This includes Vote Māori Affairs which invests about $35 million in a range of new initiatives, with a significant amount of the money going into Māori broadcasting, which is playing a vital role in nuturing our language, our voice and our knowledge of our contemporary selves, Mr Horomia said.




''As Associate Education Minister I am pleased to announce the inclusion of over $120 million in new Māori education initiatives in the Budget - and a range of other new Vote Education funding measures from which Māori will directly benefit.''


I'm also delighted by a 25 per cent a year increase in the Waitangi Tribunal's funding, which I hope will help speed up settlements, Mr Horomia said.


"I believe both the Crown and Māori need to expedite the settlement process so we can focus on realising the potential from the assets these resources deliver.


"I also believe Māori now need to focus more of our energy on ensuring our young get the best education and skills they can, so they are best positioned to develop both our assets and our unique identity in the future."
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He haumitanga whakahirahira atu ki te Māori

Kei te mau kaha tonu I roto I te Tahua Pūtea 2007, te piriponotanga a te kāwanatanga Reipa-ārahi ki te hanga haumitanga tāpua, rautaki, atu ki te Māori, I ki te Minita Take Māori, a Parekura Horomia, I te rangi nei.

"Kua pēnei, tuatahi, I runga I ngā kōkiri motuhake ki te tiaki me te whakatipu I a mātou tikanga, te reo, me te tuakiri, ā, tuarua, mā roto I ngā haumitanga whānui ake ki roto I ngā wāhi pērā I te Kaupapa Hauora, tēnei ka whakapā tino kaha rawa atu ki ngā āhua noho me te oranga o te Māori."

I te pōtitanga I a Reipa I te tau 1999, I te kaha rawa atu te kore mahi, te pikinga ake o te pōhara, me tētahi whakaaro aukati hapori, I waenga I te Māori, e kī ana a Horomia.

Kua whakaritea e Reipa hē huarahi pono ki te whakarerekē I tērā āhuatanga, me te hanga hapori noho pai ake, kei reira e whakawhiwhia ana ngā huarahi wātea mō te katoa.

"I te mahi kaha rawa atu te Uepū Māori, ki te whakapūmau ko ngā haumitanga tōtika tonu I hangaia ki roto I ngā Tahua Pūtea a ngā kāwanatanga kairīwhi o mua, ki te kawe whakamua I te Māori, hei wāhanga o taua whāinga whānui ake."

Kei te kite kē tātou I ngā hua tino pai, ā, kia hono pai atu ētahi ake kōkiri - pērā I ngā utu tākuta ngāwari iho, me ngā tuhinga puka rongoā, me te mōkihi Mahi mō ngā Whānau, - ka kite ano tātou I ētahi kōrero pai, e kī ana a Horomia.

E tāpiri ana i roto o Tahua Pūtea 2007, ko tētahi kōkiri putunga hou, ka kite I te kāwanatanga e tuku moni tāpiri ana ki ngā haumitanga ā-wiki o Kiwisaver, piki ki te $20 te taumata, atu I te 1 o Hōngongoi. Ka piki atu tēnei ki te $40 ia wiki hei te wā - me te whakawhiwhi manawarū uara pū mō ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa.

E hanga atu ana e te Tahua Pūtea, ki runga I a mātou mahinga ki tēnei wā, me te hanga I ētahi ake haumitanga hou, mai I ngā momo kaupapa take.

E tāpiri ana te Kaupapa Take Māori ka whakahaumi I te āhua $35 miriona ki roto I ētahi momo kōkiri hou, me ētahi moni rahi tonu ka tukuna atu ki ngā tikanga pāpāho Māori, kei a rātou nei te tūranga whakahirahira ki te whakatipu I tā tātou reo, a tātou whakaaro, me a tātou mātauranga mō tātou ake ināianei, e ki ana a Horomia.

I raro I taku tūranga Minita Tuarua mō te Mātauranga, e harikoa ana ahau ki te whakamōhio, kei runga ake I te $120 miriona mō nga kōkiri akoranga Māori hou, kei roto I te Tahua Pūtea - me ngā momo Kaupapa Mātauranga hou, ka whiwhi moni, hei painga hāngai tonu mō te Māori."

E harikoa ana ano ahau, mō te pikinga e 25 ōrau, ia tau, mō te Taraipiunara o Waitangi, me taku tūmanako ka āwhina kia tere ake ngā whakataunga Tiriti, I ki a Horomia.

Kei te pono ahau me whai kaha tonu te Karauna me te Māori, ki te whakatere ake I ngā whakaritenga whakatau kia huri tātou ki te arotahi atu ki te whakatinana I te pūmanawa nohopuku Māori me ngā taonga ka kawea e ēnei rawa.

"Kei te pono ano ahau, me huri atu te Māori ki te aro kaha atu ki te whakapūmau ka whiwhi a tātou taiohi I ngā akoranga me ngā pukenga tino pai e taea e rātou, kia tū tino kaha rātou ki te whanake I a tātou rawa taputapu, me tā tātou tuakiri ahurei, hei ngā wā kei mua."