Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: The Moana Pasifika revelation could do huge damage

Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

How disappointing is the revelation that Whānau Ora money has been used to fund the Moana Pasifika rugby team?

How disappointing is that?

And this is not a criticism of the team. I mean, the team has been one of the rockstar stories of the Super Rugby season. This is about the funding.

This is the kind of revelation, I reckon, that does huge damage to public confidence and Government use of taxpayer money.

Because this is money that, to our minds, is supposed to be going to some of the most vulnerable people, to helping Māori and Pasifika families with things like health, medical appointments, baby jabs, education, housing, that kind of thing.

But instead, we find out it's been going to fund a rugby team for elite athletes - and this has been going on for at least 2 years.

One of the outfits that's contracted to spend final order funds, Pacifica Medical Association Group - we're going to call them PMA - has been giving $770,000 a year to Moana Pasifika.

Now, if they do it again this year - we haven't got the financials - but if they do it again at the same level, it will total $2.3 million. That's a lot of money.

Now, credit where credit is due, credit to the new Whānau Ora minister or to his department. Either of which appears to have already stopped this in its tracks.

They've taken the contract off PMA, given it to a new outfit - and that outfit has to abide by a much tighter set of measurements around the spending and the money and a bit more clarity about whether they're getting their bang bang for their buck when they spend the dollars.

But once again, even though it has been stopped - and credit where credit is due - taxpayer money has been wasted.

And the lesson here, if there is a lesson, is that it is absolutely fine to hand out taxpayer money to a third party.

But if you do that, there have got to be rules and there has got to be supervision. Otherwise, money that we all think is going to families who need it could instead be propping up a rugby team.

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