This article was first published by the NZ Herald.
Willie Jackson is a Labour list MP and chairman of Labour’s Māori caucus.
OPINION
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has gone back to the Ruth Richardson playbook and decided that rather than supporting Māori, she will cut vital services designed to support Māori aspirations.
When we were in government, we prioritised targeted Māori funding and negotiated more than $1 billion a year over the last four Budgets. This was on top of the universal spend which delivered policies like free lunches in schools, a free first year for tertiary students and free prescriptions for those who needed them.
We know that the only way to turn around negative Māori statistics is to run a twin strategy that is both a universal strategy and a by-Māori-for-Māori strategy.
In contrast, this Government has slashed new spending for by-Māori-for-Māori initiatives to virtually zero. In fact, we are $90 million worse off in the Māori Development portfolio and $300m worse off when you consider the total spent on Māori initiatives.
That is a direct cut to Māori services no matter how the minister wants to dress it up. Her argument that she doesn’t believe Māori will lose out is nonsensical. National has chosen to revert back to a single, universal strategy to access Māori needs and aspirations, rather than a twin strategy that we know works.
And why are we cutting these budgets in the first place? Because this Government is borrowing over $12 billion for tax cuts.
This Government heavily criticised Grant Robertson for borrowing, yet Nicola Willis is borrowing more than Labour did.
When Labour borrowed, we borrowed to save lives from Covid, when National borrows, it is doing it for tax cuts that benefit their rich mates.
This Government has passed the most anti-Māori Budget in a generation alongside a long list of anti-Māori legislation that attacks local representation, attacks Māori health, attacks 7AA provisions inside Oranga Tamariki, attacks the Treaty, tries to remove the Treaty and attempts to erase our language.
The Government then has the audacity to criticise Māori protesting on Budget Day? Thousands of people around the country protested against the Government and its anti-Māori policies on Thursday. I was proud to see the huge crowd that turned up at Parliament.
The Māori Party took the opportunity to call for a separate Māori parliament. It said it is sick of the constant racist attacks on Māori and the time has come to separate out.
While I don’t agree with the Māori Party strategy call for a separate parliament, I understand completely where they are coming from. My preference is to effect change for our people by working within the system and fighting the everyday injustices that confront us as Māori.
Māori, and in fact, all New Zealanders deserve better than Nicola Willis’ pathetic Ruth Richardson-inspired Budget.
Opinion by Willie Jackson published in the NZ Herald.