Maori benefit but bottom of heap 'must be first'

Maori will benefit from this year's Budget to the tune of $46 million - but commentators warn that the money must be targeted straight at those at the bottom of the heap, not administrations and bureaucracies.

The Budget has delivered $15 million over three years for a Direct Resourcing Fund, an aspiration that Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia and his associate, Tariana Turia, say has been "long-sought."

Communities will apply directly to Te Puni Kokiri for the money, which the ministers say will disentangle them from "heavily prescriptive central government contracts."

Among the other Budget blessings for Maori are on-going funding for the Maori Business Facilitation Service ($2.88 million) and Capacity Building ($8.5 million), which aims to develop human and organisational skills.

A total of $10 million has also gone to Maori television, and five regional tourism organisations will share new funding of $228,000 this year.

Paul Morgan, executive deputy chair of the Federation of Maori Authorities, said the success of community-focused initiatives depended on the skills of those working at the grass roots.

Practical services need to be delivered, and "the money is a good idea." But skills in leadership and business organisation were areas in which Maoridom was short.

"My main concern about this move is that the money will be chewed up in administration and not spent on targeted programmes," said Mr Morgan.

"It's got to be spent on programmes that assist people to get an infrastructure and organisation in place that has a direction ... a vision."

Academic Pare Keiha said the cynic in him asked "will the money go there [into communities] or go into a bureaucratic mill?"

The skills to really make a difference were in short supply, he said, with the high-flyers with the right skills "hived out" of Maori communities and sent to Wellington.

Professor Keiha, head of Auckland University of Technology's Faculty of Maori Development, Te Ara Poutama, said the money would be best targeted at employment and education initiatives.

"The biggest challenge in any community is how it addresses the long-term need to become sustainable," he said.

Pacific Island communities have benefited from a $500,000 boost to the work of the Pacific Business Trust, which provides low-interest loans and advice to Pacific people.

The money will be targeted at those planning creative arts businesses.