Watchdogs to trail money for Maori

By NAOMI LARKIN

Fears that money given for Maori development has disappeared or been rashly spent have prompted the Government to appoint two ministers to control the process.

Prime Minister-designate Helen Clark named Tariana Turia and Parekura Horomia Associate Ministers of Maori Affairs with the specific job of tracking spending and ensuring it is used to best meet Maori needs.

"A very major and justifiable concern of Maori has been the virtual disappearance of money spent on Maori needs in the budgets of mainstream Government agencies," she said.

"We are all dissatisfied at where the money has gone.

"The new Government wants that money to be tracked and spent in ways which best meet Maori needs. This is not a matter of more money. It is a matter of more effective spending of existing budgets."

A lack of commitment by the National Government to "really making a difference" was responsible for the problems, she said.

The move means the pair have been given a wide range of mainstream portfolios.

Tariana Turia, is Associate Minister of Maori Affairs (Social Development), Health, Corrections, Housing, Social Services and Employment (Social Services).

Parekura Horomia is Associate Minister of Maori Affairs (Economic Development), Education, Social Services and Employment (Employment).

Helen Clark described the action as "an audit, but then you move on from there."

Mr Horomia said previous efforts to tidy up funding had failed because of a lack of resources and solid backup in key areas. The new appointments would provide this.

"Two of the critical aspects are leadership and sharing information.

"It's not just about resourcing and the fiscal aspects, it's also about informing, participating and ensuring that both the Government and Maori start to get real about our people participating at all levels."

Tariana Turia said the initial focus would be on developing self-management within Maori organisations and the Maori community, starting from the bottom up - whanau, hapu, iwi.

"It's going to take some time to begin to unbundle what money has been spent on Maori and so while that's happening our focus will be on capacity-building, both for organisations and for a workforce which is able to manage in all of those areas."