May 25, 2017
Budget impact debated
A budget that spends 10 times more locking up Maori in prison than it does keeping them out.
That’s the verdict of Labour’s Maori development and corrections spokesperson Kelvin Davis to Steven Joyce’s first Budget.
The Maori Party claims the budget includes $122 million in initiatives to support whanau aspirations, bringing to more than $2 billion the gains the party has made since it lined up with National nine years ago.
But Mr Davis says a lot of the money is recycled from initiatives that weren’t taken up and he estimates there is only $25 million added to the Maori vote.
He says tax cuts are offset by changes in allowances so a worker on minimum wage can expect an extra dollar a week.
He disputed Maori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell’s claim another 2500 whanau will benefit from whanau ora.
Mr Flavell says the extra $10 million over four years for whanau ora means the programme now has an operating budget of $73.5m a year.
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