Te Ururoa Flavell.
The special significance of marae to Maori and communities is being acknowledged in this year's Budget.
Ten million dollars is being allocated over four years to help repair and restore whare and revitalise the paepae, building resilience of those charged with maintaining the protocols of marae, Maori Development Minister Te
Ururoa Flavell said.
The funding for Marae Ora - Sustaining the Marae, Sustaining the Pae, is part of a broad-based $27 million package that will also help more whanau live in safe, secure and healthy homes.
"Marae are places of refuge for our people and provide facilities to enable us to continue with our own way of life. Our language and tikanga are given their fullest expression on the marae at our tangi and hui, Mr Flavell said.
"In order to be able to support the wellbeing of whanau, hapu, iwi and communities, marae must be safe, secure and healthy. This funding will support the restoration of whare, repair facilities, insulate meeting houses and provide for reo and tikanga wananga.
"Our marae are the glue that binds us together, anchoring us in one place and helping shape who we are. As we have seen recently with the Kaikoura earthquake and the Edgecumbe flood, they also step up to the plate in the times of need," Mr Flavell said.
Budget 2017 will also continue to build on the momentum of success generated by the Maori Housing Network - Kainga Ora, with a further $8m allocated in this year's Budget.
"Since it was launched in October 2015 the Maori Housing Network has supported 140 housing proposals worth $37.5 million covering a wide spectrum of housing needs," Mr Flavell said.
"The funding extension will allow more vital home improvements, whanau housing projects and affordable homes for Maori to be built."
The Pathways to Home-Ownership - Te Ara Mauwhare will provide $9m over three years to trial innovative new approaches helping whanau achieve more housing independence.
"Some whanau are already benefiting from shared equity models or rent-to-buy arrangements to get them into affordable homes and we want to explore more community-led proposals."
Te Puni Kokiri will partner with organisations to test the feasibility of different pathways to help low to modest income whanau realise their home ownership goals.
"We want to see more Maori secure in their own homes and this new funding will help them down that path," Mr Flavell said.
