Budget 2024 has brought unsurprising confirmation that collectively, as the profession of social work, we remain largely out of step with the Government’s values, priorities, and worldview.
This realisation, although disparaging, does not bring a sense of shame, but pride.
Pride that we value people. He aha te mea nui tea o? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. Pride that we value equity and social justice for the oppressed and disadvantaged. Pride that we ache to see the full realisation of tino rangatiratanga and kāwanatanga for Tangata Whenua. Pride that we uphold human rights and think of those with the least, first.
These values are certainly not reflected by the Government in the release of the Budget 2024 yesterday.
The Budget has delivered for the squeezed middle. It speaks to neo-liberal aspirations of property investment and working your way out of poverty. With tax cuts of close to $3.7 billion many will feel a sense of winning, but at what expense is this small win?
The summary of initiatives tells the tale of ‘savings’, but in real terms these are likely to mean:
- Continued breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and upholding of the status quo of colonisation. Cuts to Māori development total $96.7m1 with many programmes aimed at capacity building for Māori being scaled down or ceased. This speaks to the Government’s wider attitude around their obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi, an attitude which stands in direct opposition to our profession. The Ministry for Pacific People has been whittled down by 40%.
- Reduced access to housing. Emergency housing eligibility is to be ‘tightened’ and cost savings are budgeted in the use of emergency housing, the first-home grant has been scrapped, and cuts have been made to investing in the supply and capability of Māori housing.
- Cost of living relief that only relates to those in employment. Those receiving benefits have seen no relief, yet they experience the effects most acutely. Ironically, the government may be perpetuating the need for benefits given the public service job cut tally sits at over 51202 and unemployment is rising3 .
- Greater law enforcement, which is being portrayed as a win by the Government. This includes more police, and investment in military-style academies for youth involved in offending. However, it is not difficult to see that increases in crime, particularly for youth, are linked to high levels of social inequality4 . Enforcement rather than addressing these conditions and the determinants which are exacerbating them is leading our country in the wrong direction. We need social justice, not punitive justice.
- Health services that continue to struggle to keep up with demand and do not address barriers to access. With the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora, we see ‘cost savings’ at the expense of Māori health equity. Universal free prescriptions have also been removed as part of this budget, and modest funding for PHARMAC is likely to mean health inequities related to cancer treatment continue.
- Climate change action that continues to lag. We understand that people are intrinsically connected to whenua, and the health of our whenua is related to the health of people. Climate mitigation strategies are seeing significant disinvestment, particularly around the science and innovation and agricultural emissions measures. Again, there is irony, given a significant budget line relates to Cyclone Gabrielle recovery, yet through inadequate climate change action, we are likely to experience many more ‘Cyclone Gabrielle’ equivalents in the future.
- A child protection system which cannot consistently respond to the needs of tamariki and rangatahi. Total investment for Oranga Tamariki is $8.3m, hefty reductions in spending (and job losses for social work) are offset by significant investment in new punitive initiatives to address youth offending.
- A missed opportunity for investment in social work. Cost savings have been found in social work regulation, we would have hoped to see this mean lower registration fees for social workers, however, it appears to have been drawn back into general government savings rather than reinvested back into the sector.
As an Association we don’t deny nor minimise the financial pressure that many households across Aotearoa New Zealand are currently experiencing, however, we do not believe that a budget which prioritises minimal tax savings delivers ‘fiscal responsibility’ when the result is lower levels of public services and increasing inequity for Māori and Pacific. The impact of this budget for Tangata Whenua is significant. We see a blatant disregard for Te Tiriti and the needs of Tangata Whenua, particularly because of the disproportionate representation of Māori in spheres such as social housing, criminal justice, child protection and poor health outcomes, where reductions in spending are marked.
We had many members across the motu participate in Toitu te Tiriti strikes yesterday and are proud of the collective activism which is bringing our community together in the face of Government decisions which seek to tear the fabric of our society apart.
Kia kaha, kia maia, kia manawanui. We, as social workers all have a part to play, and social justice will prevail if we keep playing them.
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