We are determined to close the gaps. Our very foundations as a country demand it. So said the Minister of Finance as his Budget delivered $243 million for social and economic development programmes for Maori and Pacific Islanders over the next four years.
No one, of course, would disagree with Michael Cullen. The country's social cohesion is endangered by the large gap between Maori and non-Maori in health, life expectancy, educational achievement, employment and income. And a group alienated by their entrenchment at the bottom of the heap represents fertile ground for radical politics.
The fears of social and political instability have heightened over the past decade as the divide has grown. Closing the gaps, however, has proved a perplexing exercise. Even the efforts of Tau Henare, at his most determined as Maori Affairs Minister, failed to prevent a number of the gaps widening. Now, the Government pins great store on the bridging assault sketched in its first Budget.
Dover Samuels, the Minister of Maori Affairs, reckons evidence that the fresh initiatives are, indeed, closing the gaps will emerge as early as next year. It will be surprising if that evidence is as strong as he would like. Devolving responsibility for delivering social services through iwi and other Maori and Pacific Island structures is a process more probably measured in generations than years.
There is, in fact, little in the Budget to suggest the Government believes it has found a quickfix solution. Talk, rather than action, will characterise the first phase of devolution. Much of this year's funding will help communities devise economic and social programmes that fit their own needs and preferences. Assistance for Maori will, thus, be delivered in a Maori way, not in a manner drawn up by a bureaucrat in Wellington. In the unlovely jargon of the day, this empowerment process is termed capacity building.
It is not, of course, without potential pitfalls. Devolution depends on communities having the right mix of skills to devise and implement programmes. And building new delivery channels can all too easily lead to the creation of new bureaucracies. Money destined for the social and economic enhancement of a community will end up being siphoned into administration. Devolution will succeed only if the deliverers are accountable. Their programmes must meet standards of delivery and display that they are, indeed, closing the gaps. Failure should result in contracts being terminated.
Government departments charged with improving the lot of Maori or Pacific Islanders are already expected to be more accountable. Departmental chief executives will be required to disclose the extent of their endeavours in their annual reports. Failure to close the relevant gap could cost them performance bonuses.
The Ministry of Maori Development (Te Puni Kokiri) has also been given the muscle to prepare audits on spending on Maori and Pacific Island projects. If all this may also smack of words, rather than substance, the Prime Minister clearly intends to be a galvanising presence. When Dover Samuels pleaded an entrenched culture of ignoring Maori Affairs, she quickly styled herself de facto Minister of Maori Affairs.
In the end the gaps will be closed most emphatically by Maori or Pacific Island parents making determined efforts to lift their lot and that of their children. Some of that resolve would flow from a prosperous economy, and the jobs provided by it. The $20 million to be given to iwi groups over the next four years to create employment opportunities is no substitute for the bigger economic picture.
However, such spending and, indeed, the whole empowerment of Maori to deal with their own problems may well encourage individuals to lift their expectations and performance. From that point, the gaps will start to close.
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