WELLINGTON - Working out how much Maori get from general Government spending may be too expensive and difficult to do.
Prime Minister Helen Clark announced in February that under the Government's Closing the Gaps policy, departments would be required to outline their expenditure on Maori for this year's Budget.
But Government papers issued yesterday by Maori Affairs Minister Dover Samuels say most departments will be required to report only on spending aimed specifically at Maori and at-risk groups.
A study of "high priority" agencies, including education, health and social services, will see if it is cost-effective to make departments establish how much Maori get from overall spending.
Finance Minister Michael Cullen said in a January paper that departments would have "significant" difficulty providing information on spending on Maori, especially when the spending was on services such as health, which were used by the whole population.
"This is due to the inability by many departments to identify the number of Maori taking up Government services."
Mr Samuels said yesterday that only a few agencies would be asked to outline their mainstream spending, so the cost of gathering the information could be assessed.
But department heads would also have to demonstrate how they intended to address the Government's policy of improving outcomes for Maori.
Te Puni Kokiri (Ministry of Maori Development) would carry out audits to gauge the effectiveness of Government spending on Maori.
- NZPA
Maori spending check too hard
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