The Maori Party today agreed with the analysis of former Labour Cabinet Minister, John Tamihere, "that this Budget would be very good for the Maori Party because of its lack of attention to Maori matters".

"It's all very well the Finance Minister using flash words to impress - that there would be a 'reallocation' from existing initiatives - to "better position Maori to build and leverage off their collective resources.....to improve their quality of life"....but we want to know, what does it all mean?" asked Tariana Turia, co-leader, Maori Party.

"The real losers in this Budget are the eight to nine thousand Maori students who used to rely on Manaaki Tauira funding to give them access to education".

"The losers in this Budget are those Maori and Pacific students who are being denied the Maori and Polynesian Scholarships which have been instrumental in helping these communities access tertairy education".

"The losers of this budget are the 230,000 children living in poverty who's parents are denied the 'In-Work Payments' of the Working for Families Package".

"The Maori Party asks - why pick on our children and young people to prop up policy packages for a Government that wants to conjure up some creative cosmetic surgery to make it look as if they have a commitment to Maori?".

"We will be demanding of the Minister to come clean and face up with the facts about what cuts and cancellations have been authorised today to come up with this $23.9m to fund a new programme for TPK".

- National Identity: which Dr Cullen states includes "in some respects the place of Maori in this land" - Maori were the only culture mentioned in the section on 'national identity' - but still no resources to ensure that this identity maintains its special place.

- Katie Small reports on the Discussion Paper for the Immigration Act law reform released by Immigration Minister, David Cunliffe. Changes in global migration, potential immigrants to New Zealand, and the country's attitude to potential immigrants make this review long overdue. But is it a repressive shift toward the totalitarian compared to the current law? Justice, security, and immigration commentators say this time the Government's gone too far. See... Is The NZ Govt's Immigration Review Repressive?

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