$1b plan to streamline spending for Maori

Tariana Turia. Photo / Hawke's Bay Today

Up to $1 billion could be moved from specific projects for Maori to a bulk fund aimed at broad goals such as improving Maori education and health.

Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia is driving the radical proposal through her two portfolios as Associate Minister of Health and of Social Development.

She said it would help cut the huge compliance costs agencies faced and reduce the need for the Government to deal with many small contracts tied to specific goals such as youth work, social workers in schools and alternative education.

"We will get a better spend because people will be able to access a pool of money to deal with a range of issues," she said.

"It's a great opportunity to build trust because the sad thing about it is that the bureaucracy doesn't trust the non-government sector and that's why we end up with particularly prescribed contracts and with people being over-audited. I'd like to see that change."

She said she had asked Massey University professor Mason Durie to produce initial ideas on how to do it, and was hoping it would begin at some level by the end of June.

She was also looking into ways to ensure monitoring of how the money was spent.

Professor Durie said the scheme would almost certainly start on a trial basis in a few places to find out "under what circumstances this would work and under what circumstances it wouldn't work".

Agencies said they often ended up working with the same families under various contracts.

Receiving a bulk sum of money to achieve broader social outcomes such as lifting families' health status, education and work achievements would enable them to take a "holistic" approach to each family's needs.

Mrs Turia said the Maori workshop group at February's Job Summit in Manukau suggested the ultimate goal could be to devolve "maybe 2 per cent of the total budget".

Government spending is now $62 billion a year, so that would amount to about $1.2 billion a year.

Mrs Turia said she would like to extend the idea beyond the health and social development portfolios to include housing, education and justice services - and not only for Maori.

"While my focus may well be on getting Maori organisations up and running, it's an opportunity in fact for the community and voluntary sector - the not-for-profit sector, the Pacific community, the migrant communities and of course others if they choose to."

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett, said she was working with Mrs Turia on the idea.

"As far as I'm concerned, anything that leads to improved outcomes is worth considering," she said.