The headline M\u0101ori announcement is a $48m package over four years aimed at stabilising the M\u0101ori media sector following fears of a looming fiscal cliff<\/a>. The money, held in contingency, will support M\u0101ori broadcasters adapting to digital platforms, commissioning new te reo M\u0101ori content, developing talent and strengthening capability across the sector.<\/p>\n
For months, M\u0101ori media organisations have warned the sector faced severe financial pressure as temporary funding streams began drying up. Responding to the budget announcement, Te M\u0101ngai P\u0101ho kaiwhakahaere Larry Parr described the announcement as \u201csignificantly brighter than we had been anticipating\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cInvestment into the revitalisation of te reo M\u0101ori is an investment in the identity, culture and future wellbeing of all of Aotearoa New Zealand,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Larry Parr after his investiture as ONZM, for services to film and television, by the governor-general, Dame Patsy Reddy, in 2018.<\/p>\n
The budget stopped, however, of fully restoring the sector\u2019s financial position, with Parr saying it \u201cdoes not completely remove the pressure on our baseline funding\u201d.<\/p>\n
The government has also reprioritised $10m from the M\u0101ori Development Fund toward Te M\u0101ori Manaaki Taonga Trust, to support trade-focused events,\u00a0 showcasing M\u0101ori arts and products internationally and workforce development tied to taonga and creative industries.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, M\u0101ori settlement obligations continue to carry a hefty fiscal price tag. Budget 2026 allocates $8m toward aquaculture settlement obligations under the M\u0101ori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Act, although significant portions remain commercially sensitive and withheld from public release. The full $8 million has been specifically allocated to the 2026\/27 financial year.<\/p>\n
There is investment in justice infrastructure, including $6.5m over three years towards new Rotorua High Court, District Court and M\u0101ori Land Court facilities.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, there were smaller, symbolic investments, including $400,000 to expand the Ng\u0101rimu VC and 28th M\u0101ori Battalion scholarships programme, additional support for M\u0101ori-medium education as part of wider school infrastructure spending and ongoing contingency funding for Treaty of Waitangi settlement negotiations.<\/p>\n
What did opposition parties and M\u0101ori advocates make of all this? The overall take was this was a budget of imbalance.<\/p>\n
Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori highlighted figures showing a reported $136m reduction in M\u0101ori development funding and accused the government of deliberately deprioritising M\u0101ori aspirations while funding defence, prisons and infrastructure. \u201cThe overall budget boasts a general increase of $13.4b and M\u0101ori took a loss of $34m,\u201d said the party\u2019s co-leader Rawiri Waititi. \u201cM\u0101ori are not mentioned once in any of the budget press releases.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rawiri Waititi is critical of the treatment of M\u0101ori in Budget 2026. (Photo: Lynn Grieveson \u2013 Newsroom via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Waititi linked the budget to worsening economic hardship among M\u0101ori communities, pointing to rising unemployment, increasing living costs and growing inequality. \u201cPeople do not experience the economy through GDP graphs,\u201d he said. \u201cThey experience it at the supermarket checkouts. At the petrol station. When the rent comes out. When the power bill arrives.\u201d<\/p>\n
His broader argument was ideological as much as fiscal, saying the coalition government is shifting public wealth upward while preparing the ground for future privatisation. \u201cThis is not a story of the haves and have-nots anymore,\u201d Waititi said. \u201cThis is a story of the have-nots and the have-yachts.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Green Party had similar concerns. Co-leader Marama Davidson accused the government of abandoning its tiriti obligations \u201cto make way for the super-rich and powerful\u201d. \u201cDespite the desperate need in our M\u0101ori communities, Willis has seen fit to again turn away while delivering billions of dollars for landlords, fossil fuel dependency, and new military equipment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Community sector organisations also warned the budget lacked meaningful relief for struggling wh\u0101nau. Te Pai Ora Social Service Providers Aotearoa chief executive Belinda Himiona said that soaring fuel prices and living costs were pushing families and community providers to breaking point. \u201cWh\u0101nau are making impossible choices about whether to pay for fuel or groceries or medical appointments.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finance minister Nicola Willis and prime minister Christopher Luxon. (Photo: Marty Melville \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
While the organisation welcomed new spending aimed at improving child safety and Oranga Tamariki responsiveness, it argued the broader balance of the budget was wrong. \u201cMany cupboards are nearly empty,\u201d Himiona said. \u201cWe are looking for the bare basics and they aren\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The coalition government, however, is framing the budget as proof it remains committed to te reo M\u0101ori and M\u0101ori cultural development despite broader fiscal restraint. M\u0101ori development minister Tama Potaka said the investments showed the government recognised te reo M\u0101ori as \u201cone of the great taonga of this country\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe language connects us to our history, our identity, our whenua, and to one another,\u201d Potaka said. \u201cBudget 2026 invests in ensuring te reo M\u0101ori remains strong, visible and enduring for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n
M\u0101ori-focused spending announcements may help soften criticism around culture and language revitalisation, but they are unlikely to quieten broader concerns about poverty, unemployment and inequality. Independent Te Tai Tonga MP Takuta Ferris said the budget revealed a government more interested in \u201cmanaging the symptoms of inequality rather than transforming the causes of it\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ferris criticised the government for expanding defence and prison spending while M\u0101ori communities continued to face rising housing insecurity, worsening mental health pressures and entrenched poverty.<\/p>\n
T\u0101kuta Ferris is critical of where the funding increases are going. (Photo: Parliament NZ)<\/p>\n
\u201cBudgets are about priorities\u201d, Ferris said. \u201cThis government has shown us exactly what its priorities are and M\u0101ori communities are still being asked to wait.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ferris pointed to more than $500m in Corrections spending and continued defence expansion \u2013 including $1.6bn in new funding tied to the government\u2019s broader Defence Capability Plan \u2013 as evidence the coalition was investing more heavily in state enforcement than preventative social support.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need investment in kaupapa M\u0101ori healthcare, affordable housing, addiction recovery, education pathways and wh\u0101nau support before crisis occurs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
While Budget 2026 contains M\u0101ori investments, many M\u0101ori may continue asking: investment into what and for who?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While some investments were targeted at M\u0101ori, critics say the government has its priorities wrong and the budget…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451654,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8133,26380,44640,42,229870,43,135,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-451653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-analysis","tag-atea","tag-budget-2026","tag-headlines","tag-maori-media","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}