"A number of our people don't have internet connections, they don't have that IT hook-up," he said, so he hoped the government would do more to "wire up our rural communities".
He also hoped to see support for innovation hubs for Māori business, in cities like Rotorua.
"Innovation hubs that actually become a connecting point for small to medium enterprise businesses. Or those that are aspiring to get into business.
"To help shape and form creative ideas, allowing iwi [members] to get into business and being able to support them with online payment systems, websites, all those sorts of things so they can then get on with business."
Rotorua man Leith Comer (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Māmoe, Te Arawa, Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāti Pāhauwera), a former chief executive of Te Puni Kokiri, said the budget needed to be Covid-19-specific overall.
"I would like to see a very strong safety net for the number of people who are going to be unemployed and whose incomes are going to be drastically reduced. Regrettably, a lot of those will be Māori so we need to make sure that they are supported."
He would also like to see "stimulus in the package for small to medium enterprises so that our economy can recover, along with all of the Māori businesses - particularly on the tourism side - which are suffering".
For the sake of all, Māori and non-Māori, he hoped our hospitals and health workers would have "sufficient funding to continue to combat the coronavirus".
"It's going to be quite a lengthy time so I would like to see that they are well funded."
