The Auditor-General, Lyn Provost tries to put a positive spin on her report on the Whanau Ora scheme but this is hard to reconcile with the fact that almost a third of the allocated $137.6 million budget was taken up with administration costs.
This equates with it requiring spending a $1 fee for every $2 of benefit.
The fact that legal entities are needed to implement the plans begs the question, how many more lawyers will be able to command the high fees that have been paid over the years to those implementing Treaty claims? Where is the accountability? As with similar schemes funded by public money that go awry, no one is ever held
responsible. For how much longer will the average New Zealander accept this squandering of the Nation's finances?
Chris Finlayson needs to acknowledge that many of the settlements of Maori claims he has affected have led to the financial advantage of a small group of elitist Kaumtua of the Whanau hierarchy, but have had no apparent benefits to ordinary Maori.
None of the activities of these controlling bodies has resulted in improvement to the many problems facing Maori in employment, welfare dependency, health, education, and crime.

Bryan Johnson, Omokoroa