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Summarised by Centrist
Iwi leaders have attacked Budget 2026, accusing the government of failing to address Māori unemployment, which sits at 11.5 per cent, about double the national average.
The Iwi Leaders Forum said the Budget offered “no plan, no funding and no policies” specifically aimed at getting Māori into work.
Na Raihania, chair of the Ngāti Porou health service and a representative of the Iwi Leaders Forum, said the government had “turned its back on Māori”.
“It’s taking the lifeblood out of the people, and handing it to those who are actually doing okay,” he said.
Raihania went further, calling the Budget “economic apartheid” and accusing the government of the “systemic dismantling of structures that support whānau and hapū”.
Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka rejected the claim, saying Māori unemployment reflected wider economic challenges and that the Budget included practical pathways into work.
“The Budget provides funding for an additional 1000 Youth Guarantee places and doubles Trades Academy places to 20,000, creating more pathways for rangatahi into training and work,” he said.
The difference is partly ideological. Iwi leaders and union representatives argued that “one size fits all” policies have failed Māori. Te Rōpū Kaimahi Māori representative Ken Mair said “mainstreaming has never worked for us in any way whatsoever”.
The government’s response is that skills, trades training and employment pathways are more effective than separate race-based schemes. Potaka also secured $48 million for Te Māngai Pāho, the te reo Māori broadcasting agency.
Former Productivity Commission chair Dr Ganesh Ahirao said Māori were being hit hard by weak labour conditions, with 52,000 Māori unemployed and one in four rangatahi Māori out of work.
