A statement from Hui Te Ūepu on Budget 2022.

Grant Robertson, Minister of Finance, said this budget would provide economic security in good times and bad.

Māori members in TEU Te Hautū Kahurangi know all about ngā piki, ngā heke – good times and bad.  It’s a core whāinga for us.

This budget fails to provide support for ākonga and kaimahi Māori in tertiary education, at the very time significant investment is needed in order to meet the three goals outlined in the budget.

There are investments in some areas that are welcomed such as the increase in funding for Te Reo Māori which advances what our former Tauheke Huirangi Waikerepuru fought for all his life.

However, it fails to reach any level of future focused aspirational outcomes as the focus is on funding for Māori tertiary education into a few work-based training programmes, and where there has been a reduction in investment in wānanga or does not address university training spaces for ākonga Māori, or where there is a failure to resource and invest in increasing kaimahi Māori in the tertiary education sector.

We are calling on the government to recognise that investing $1bn to support better Māori health, education, and economic outcomes as well as stronger cultural wellbeing, can only be achieved through investment in Māori aspirational outcomes in tertiary education.

[Hui Te Ūepu is an annual conference of Māori members of Te Hautū Kahurangi | Tertiary Education Union]