This article was first published by Stuff.
Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka says David Seymour is wrong to suggest that targeted funding for ethnic communities is “racist”.
Potaka defended targeted funding for Māori, Pasifika and ethnic communities following the release of Budget 2025, which axed hundreds of millions from programmes targeted at those communities.
From the Māori development portfolio, which Potaka is in charge of, $93.25 million was removed - coming out of programmes focused on housing and building the Māori economy.
For Pacific Peoples, $36m was “reprioritised” - with the Government moving to close the Tauola Business Fund and find “efficiencies” in the department.
There was no further funding announced for either Whānau Ora, a scheme that funds community-led solutions, or the Ministry for Ethnic Communities.
Seymour celebrated the Government’s decisions to spend less on programmes targeted at specific ethnic communities.
“I’m really tired of people trying to racially profile us, put us into categories based on our ancestry or whakapapa. It’s just got to stop.
“I’m against any kind of race-based targeting of funding,” he said.
Seymour, who is the associate finance minister, noted that he thought Potaka wasn’t trying to introduce race-based policies.
“What he talks about is specific entities, such as post-governance settlement entities, which exist and are Maori. I don’t have a problem if you’re talking about a specific entity,” he said.
He added, “If your lens through which you see other human beings is race, then I think you’re racist. But second of all, you can use that lens if you like.”
Responding to those comments, in an interview with Stuff, Potaka said it was not racist to fund targeted programmes aimed at improving outcomes for ethnic communities.
“I don’t agree with that. I don’t agree with that at all. Sometimes you have to target certain populations in order to get action,” he said.
He said it wasn’t about prejudice or racism, but recognition that there were regulations, barriers or other issues which got in the way of different communities being able to thrive.
But Potaka, speaking to Stuff in Parliament’s Matangireia Room after the release of Budget 2025, also had to defend the decreased funding for targeted Māori support in housing and economic development.
“What I can observe is this: Nearly all the portfolios have had to tighten belts and that is part of being responsible fiscal managers. We’ve been asked by both Minister Willis and Minister Seymour, in his associate role, to tighten our belts for both baseline savings and grants and funds savings,” he said.
The only new funding announced was $13.2m for Māori Wardens and the Māori Women’s Welfare League. More than $100m was cut from Māori housing and economic development, which Potaka said was because all Government grants were being cutback.
The minister hit out at “armchair critics” who had criticised the restrained funding for Māori communities.
“Actually, hundreds of thousands of Māori will benefit, from having 12-month prescriptions rather than three-month prescriptions or small towns around New Zealand having better access to doctors and nurses,” he said.
He said almost every area of Government needed to look to reduce spending, to bring down interest rates - which in turn would help families paying mortgages. He said it was right that Māori development played its part in cost reductions.
- Stuff
