Funding for New Zealand’s Ministry for Pacific Peoples (MPP) is set to be reduced by almost $36 million in Budget 2025.

This follows a cut of nearly $26 million in the 2024 budget.

As part of these budgetary savings, the Tauola Business Fund will be closed. But, $6.3 million a year will remain to support Pacific economic and business development through the Pacific Business Trust and Pacific Business Village.

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The Budget cuts also affect the Tupu Aotearoa programme, which supports Pacific people in finding employment and training, alongside the Ministry of Social Development’s employment initiatives.

While $5.25 million a year will still fund the programme, a total of $22 million a year has been cut over the last four years.

The ministry will save almost $1 million by returning funding allocated for the Dawn Raids reconciliation programme from 2027/28 onwards.

There are two years of limited funding left to complete the ministry Dawn Raids programmes, which support the Crown’s reconciliation efforts.

Funding for Pasifika Wardens
Despite these reductions, a new initiative providing funding for Pasifika Wardens will introduce $1 million of new spending over the next four years.

The initiative will improve services to Pacific communities through capacity building, volunteer training, transportation, and enhanced administrative support.

Funding for the National Fale Malae has ceased, as only $2.7 million of the allocated $10 million has been spent since funding was granted in Budget 2020.

The remaining $6.6 million will be reprioritised over the next two years to address other priorities within the Arts, Culture and Heritage portfolio, including the National Music Centre.

Foreign Affairs funding for the International Development Cooperation (IDC) projects, particularly focussed on the Pacific, is also affected. The IDC received an $800 million commitment in 2021 from the Labour government.

The funding was time-limited, leading to a $200 million annual fiscal cliff starting in January 2026.

Budget 2025 aims to mitigate this impact by providing ongoing, baselined funding of $100 million a year to cover half of the shortfall. An additional $5 million will address a $10 million annual shortfall in departmental funding.

Support for IDC projects
The new funding will support IDC projects, emphasising the Pacific region without being exclusively aimed at climate finance objectives. Overall, $367.5 million will be allocated to the IDC over four years.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis said the Budget addressed a prominent fiscal cliff, especially concerning climate finance.

“The Budget addresses this, at least in part, through ongoing, baselined funding of $100 million a year, focused on the Pacific,” she said in her Budget speech.

“Members will not be surprised to know that the Minister of Foreign Affairs has made a case for more funding, and this will be looked at in future Budgets.”

More funding has been allocated for new homework and tutoring services for learners in Years nine and 10 at schools with at least 50 percent Pacific students to meet the requirements for the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA).

About 50 schools across New Zealand are expected to benefit from the initiative, which will receive nearly $7 million over the next four years, having been reprioritised from funding for the Pacific Education Programme.

As a result, funding will be stopped for three programmes aimed at supporting Tu’u Mālohi, Pacific Reading Together and Developing Mathematical Inquiry Communities.

Republished from Pacific Media Network News with permission.

A range of initiatives for Pacific people was announced in the New Zealand Budget last week.

This Wellbeing Budget included increases in funding for Pacific health, education, language and economic development.

While the Ministry of Pacific Peoples has hailed it as an unprecedented support package for Pacific people, there is concern that it does not go far enough to address issues in the community.

LISTEN: Mixed reactions to NZ Budget initiatives for Pacific people

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT
Porirua community leader John Fiso says considering Pacific people figure in the lowest end of health and housing statistics, and have the lowest median income in New Zealand, the budget is disappointing.

He says the government talked about providing an equity model, but it should have focused on a needs model.

“What do we mean by equity? Because if it’s based on needs [for] Pacific it falls well short. I think we’ve got to come back to the key requirements for Pasifika – it is health, it is education, it is economic development. We can talk about it all we want, but there doesn’t seem to be any resources following it.”

Fiso says while the budget is known as the Wellbeing Budget, he believes it should focus on specific issues.

“What we don’t have, is we don’t have houses, we have pay that’s $12,000 – the lowest in the country, we have the highest health statistics in terms of needs. Those are the things you can measure if you are improving on. How happy you feel – disregarding those factors and to Pacific people, are you happy? It’s a redundant question for me.”

He says there should have been an emphasis on targets that are measurable and achievable.

“If I was telling a third form group to set their goals for the future, two of those things would be measurable and achievable. I’m not sure you can achieve or measure happiness – and I’m not sure you can achieve a whole lot of these other things that are on the table. If it’s not measurable for me, then it’s almost a negative for Pacific or under-served communities because you’ve got no way of holding anybody to account.”

The Wellbeing Budget included a particular focus on improving mental health in New Zealand.

The chief executive of the Pasifika mental health organisation Le Va is Monique Faleafa. She says that from her perspective the budget’s holistic approach to Pasifika wellbeing was encouraging.

“So it’s a budget, not with just an economic and fiscal outlook, but it’s included health and welfare and even the environment. So that holistic approach we know will benefit Pasifika communities.”

But Dr Faleafa says that access to support services is the biggest issue for Pasifika people in New Zealand and this needs to be further supported by the community, alongside the funding boost.

“Now the trick is in how do we get Pacific leadership to co-design and communities, and people with lived experience, these services that are going to be more accessible. Because they’re still not going to be accessible no matter how much funding they’ve got.”

Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says the budget was unprecedented in what it provided for Pacific people in New Zealand.

He says there is NZ$13.2 million specifically tagged for Pacific people, but additional funding will also be provided through a number of government initiatives.

He says that he sees it as a package that addresses issues that Pacific have faced for a long time in New Zealand.

“The package that we’ve put together is the first package ever, that in my view lays the foundation of tackling the long-term issues that Pacific peoples have always faced.”

Aupitoa says the budget aims acknowledge that well-being Pacific people is more than just in economic terms, but also is also centred around language, culture and spiritually.

• This article is published under the Pacific Media Centre’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.
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The well-being of Pacific people in New Zealand has been recognised in this year’s Budget with increases in funding for the community in education, languages, health and business.

The government said the initiatives announced in the Budget would provide Pacific peoples with more scope to lift their own well-being.

It also said that by embracing Pacific values and co-designing initiatives with Pacific peoples, equality can start to be a reality.

READ MORE: NZ’s 2019 ‘Wellbeing’ Budget – ‘Building the blocks’

Boost for Pacific education
The Budget provides NZ$27.4 million over four years to ensure Pacific students and their families have the skills, knowledge and opportunities to pursue education.

This includes Pacific PowerUP, an educational programme that aimed at actively supporting Pacific parents, families and communities to support their children’s learning.

The Budget will also provide $NZ14.5 million to the Ministry for Pacific Peoples to grow opportunities for young people not in employment, education or training.

Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio said the the funding will grow opportunities with education providers in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch to place up to 2220 Pasifika young people into employment, education or training though the Pacific Employment Support Service.

Pacific Language Unit to be established
A major boost for Pacific Languages was also announced in the Budget.

It allocated NZ$20 million over four years so the Ministry for Pacific Peoples can establish a new Pacific Language Unit, with a set of language support functions to help ensure their survival.

New Zealand currently holds Samoan, Cook Island, Tongan, Tuvaluan, Fijian, Niuean and Tokelauan language weeks every year.

Many Pacific languages are struggling to survive within their communities in New Zealand and Aupito said that without action Pasifika risk losing their wisdom, culture, and sense of belonging.

Funding for Pacific peoples’ health and well-being
An important part of delivering improved health outcomes for Pacific peoples will be to increase their health workforce.

This will be done with funding of NZ$14.3 million over four years for a strengthened training pathway, from secondary school to tertiary study, work experience and work placements including increasing the number of Pacific people who are nurses and midwives.

There will also be increased investment of NZ$9.8 million over four years in developing innovative Pacific community initiatives, including some aimed at sharing evidence-based Pacific models of care.

The Budget also provides NZ$12 million in funding for rheumatic fever programmes to reduce the incidence rate among Māori and Pacific peoples and support better management of the illness.

In addition it invests $NZ1 million to research how a whānau-centred approach to primary healthcare can improve outcomes for Māori and Pacific peoples.

There was a focus on mental health in the Budget and there has been provision to fund up to eight programmes for Māori and Pacific people designed to strengthen personal identity and connection to the community.

Transforming the Pacific economy
The Budget provides NZ$11 million over four years to boost the Pacific Business Trust.

This funding will expand the delivery of business services, and support industry and community economic development activities focused on growing Pacific businesses and job opportunities.

It will also include research, monitoring and evaluation of Pacific peoples’ contribution to New Zealand’s economy.

• This article is published under the Pacific Media Centre’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.
• More Pacific stories