By Caleb Fotheringham and Lydia Lewis of RNZ
Total funding for Pacific Peoples has been slashed by about $26 million in this year’s New Zealand budget - but a Pacific community leader says he’s not surprised.
“In 2024/25, total baseline funding for Vote Pacific Peoples is just over $90.2 million,” a government spokesperson confirmed.
“This is a reduction from approximately $116.2 million in 2023/24.”
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti was unavailable for an interview on Budget Day, but in a statement, he said his main priorities as the minister would be housing, economic development, education, employment and health.
“I am working with the Ministry for Pacific Peoples to ensure existing funding is directed towards the most effective investments in these areas, that will make the most difference for Pacific communities,” he said.
A spokesperson for Reti’s office said investments in existing programmes that have been successful to date woud continue, “with some funding realigned” to programmes in housing, economic development, health, education and employment.
Carmel Sepuloni, former Deputy Prime Minister and now Labour’s Pacific spokesperson, told RNZ Pacific “there is nothing in this budget for Māori or Pacific”.
“What we need to recognise, that with the census data has just come out recently, is that Māori and Pacific have younger demographics; they will be the workforce increasingly moving forward,” she said.
“We should be investing and upskilling training opportunities, not taking away from that.”
Sepuloni said vulnerable New Zealanders had been “left out in the cold”.
Funding to help Pacific peoples in Aotearoa achieve home ownership, through the Pacific Financial Capability programme, has not been renewed by the coalition government.
Sepuloni said it was a real blow.
“When you cut crucial programmes like that, it actually puts those particular people and communities at risk.
“It all just flies against supporting vulnerable people to be able to get ahead.”
A 2022 Review of Retirement Income Policies | Retirement Commission Te Ara Ahunga Ora A report, commissioned by Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission and undertaken by the Ministry of Pacific Peoples, revealed better housing solutions and financial education are key to improving the wellbeing of Pacific peoples in retirement.
The University of Auckland’s Sir Collin Tukuitonga said the budget was along the lines of what he expected.
He said he was disappointed there was nothing for Pacific providers “given Pacific providers tend to have better outcomes”.
Te Whatu Ora/Health NZ is set to receive $16.68b in new funding over three Budgets.
Sir Collin was pleased with the extension of mammogram breast cancer screening and said other health initiatives would benefit Pacifika also.
The government has confirmed universal free prescriptions would be stopped in July with the re-introduction of $5 co-payments for most people.
“It will be a barrier for people wanting to get access to medicines, and will delay people not picking up the scripts and potentially ending up in hospital,” Sir Collin said.
Prescriptions will stay free for people with Community Services cards, people under 14, and people aged 65 and over.
Also announced in the budget, average income households will get a tax cut of up to $102 per fortnight from the end of July this year.
Waitaki deputy mayor Hana Halalele, who is the general manager of Ōamaru Pacific Island Community Group, said tax cuts would provide a small amount of relief but would not make up for cuts to other Government initiatives.
“Every dollar will count, I think things like the [cuts] to the school lunch’s programme, the cut with the home start grant - just those kinds of things will hurt some of our families.”
Policy academic Terence Wood, with the Development Policy Centre at the Australian National University, said when it comes to aid spending in the Budget, New Zealand is “remarkably untransparent”.
“In Australia, they provide nice simple PDFs on budget night and it’s really easy to know what their aid programme is going to spend and where in coming years,” he said.
“In New Zealand, it’s actually pretty hard to work out.”
Wood said the aid spending is written “almost as if they’re deliberately designed to bamboozle people”.
However, he said the triennium will see aid fall by about 5 per cent.
The current triennium - or three-year period - is coming to a close this financial year.
“That fall is going to be made of specific cuts to aid outside of the Pacific.”
He also said climate aid globally was being decreased.
“And it may be that ultimately the decrease [in climate aid] will be reversed when the next COP occurs, and when one of our high-ranking politicians goes and if they want some nice, new announceable [sic] aid.”
Wood said if climate aid continued to fall it could impact the Pacific.
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