Last week’s budget announcements, saw more than $1 billion in budget commitments made towards Māori development initiatives.
These commitments cover several areas, including: whānau, wāhine & rangatahi resilience, media, whenua, protection of mātauranga Māori and taonga, support for Māori arts as well as cadetships and progressive procurement. A useful summary covering these specific initiative, budget and time period are outlined here.
The Māori Health commitments – criticised outside of government as making up just 2.3% of the overall new health spending – is seen by Māori Ministers as a step in the right direction to help build capacity and capability as the Authority’s work picks up momentum.
Other budget 2022 commitments available to both Māori and non-Māori businesses and commitments to support an economic recovery include new and existing funding through the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and covers: the Business Growth Fund ($100 million) to enable SMEs to grow, create new jobs and increase their contributions to economic and regional development, as well as the continuation of the Regional Strategic Partnership Fund ($200 million; through Budget 2021) to support local projects and approaches tailored to regional needs and advantages.
A summary of the entire budget can be found here.
