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Source: ONE News -
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The introduction of the Whanau Ora scheme is set to be one of the biggest changes to New Zealand's welfare system in recent times.
The idea is to bring together assistance for housing, education, justice and welfare into one delivery service to to help struggling families.
But it seems political partners are struggling to agree on just who Whanau Ora (meaning 'family well being') is for.
"My expectation is that any family that wants support and wants to operate under the Whanau Ora process, irrelevant of their ethnicity, will get that support and that's exactly what is going to happen," says Prime Minister John Key.
Tariana Turia says there may be a separate Whanau Ora just for Maori.
"We may have Whanau Ora specific to Maori communities and there may well be other programmes for other communities as well but Whanau Ora is a cultural concept," says Turia.
Labour says the government is speaking with two voices.
"When john key speaks to a Maori audience he says it's for Maori, then when he speaks to the general population he says it's for all New Zealanders and it's not having any race based funding," Annette King says.
ONE News has official documents that say Whanau Ora was originally to focus on "improving outcomes for Maori whanau" and that it may apply "to other groups in the future".
So who will be in charge of running the Whanau Ora scheme?
Turia says the Maori Affairs Ministry would do it well, despite their website saying their sole focus is on Maori development.
"I guess what I am saying to you is that in the Maori providers sector they do provide to the non-Maori New Zealanders and none of them would miss out," she says.
This issue may be cleared up when a major report on Whanau Ora is released in April.
