The Government’s Budget offers little more than crumbs for our tamariki, while real issues in the ECE system are ignored.

“We would make ECE free, this Government has failed whānau by making it even more unaffordable. Our tamariki deserve better," says Green Party spokesperson for Māori Education and Early Childhood Education Benjamin Doyle.

“Every child in Aotearoa deserves an education that sets them up for success. That demands an ECE system that places tamariki at the heart.

“Today’s minuscule offering in the Budget – an inflation adjustment of 0.5 per cent – isn’t enough to cover inflation. Effectively, ECE is getting a 1.6 per cent cut.

“While puna and kōhanga reo appear to receive marginal funding increases at first glance, a failure to match inflation or consider compounding under-funding year on year means there are real world cuts for both providers.

“Instead of investing into our children's critical early years, the Government continues to prop up a profit-driven system that relies on overcharging parents, underpaying kaiako and, as a result, short-changing our tamariki.

“There’s no relief for whānau today. No overhaul for teachers who have been loudly calling for just that. No bold vision or imagination from our Government.

“Our Green Budget clearly showed how we can cover the full cost of delivering quality ECE, ending subsidies to corporations and instead supporting community-based and public centres that prioritise the needs of our kids, not the interests of shareholders.

“Poipoia te kākano kia puāwai. We must nurture our tamariki from day one, so they can flourish and thrive,” says Benjamin Doyle.

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