February 10, 2016
Minister’s priorities stretch budget
The cost of Te Puni Kokiri’s decision to restructure just before the election is now being counted, with the Maori Development Ministry reporting a blow out in the cost of consultants.
Labour MPs on the Maori affairs select committee yesterday grilled chief executive Michelle Hippolite on how the success of the so called transformation was measured.
It emerged that last year the ministry spent just under $8 million on consultants, almost the same as it spent on staff.
Ms Hippolite said many were taken on so the ministry could respond to the priorities set by the new minister Te Ururoa Flavell, particularly the rewrites of Te Ture Whenua Maori land law and the Maori Language Act.
Hauraki Waikato MP Nanaia Mahuta says the changes had not delivered the promised improved outcomes to Maori.
She says the ministry is no longer able to audit how other government agencies are delivering for Maori, and it is at best monitoring.
It is also struggling to contain the risks around the transfer of responsibility for funding Whanau Ora projects to independent commissioning agencies.
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