This year’s Budget reflects the heartlessness of the Coalition Government when it comes to Pasifika, according to the Green Party’s Te Mātāwaka (Māori and Pasifika) caucus.

“I can summarise this Budget in one word: pathetic,” says Teanau Tuiono, the Green Party Spokesperson for Pacific Peoples.

“The Minister couldn’t even muster the energy to put out a press release - the Government is missing in action on Pasifika issues. Our communities deserve more.

“It’s not just cuts to frontline public health and education services that hurt Pasifika. It’s also other stuff like refusing to guarantee ongoing funding for the free school lunch programme which helped kids from struggling families to get to, and get through, school.

“We’ve already seen how Māori and Pasifika are adversely affected by the coalition government’s reactionary policies, such as reintroducing 90-day employment trial periods and scrapping Fair Pay Agreements.

“The Government's policies will hit Pasifika communities particularly hard. These are people for whom trust in the government is already low - this Government needed to deliver and have failed.

“The Greens value the enormous economic, cultural, and social contributions of Pasifika to Aotearoa New Zealand and will continue to speak out for Pasifika because, as the Budget underlines, this Government lacks a heart for the needs of Pacific communities,” says Teanau Tuiono.

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