When Government funding weakens community – Jonathan Ayling

Opinion byColumnist·NZ Herald·12 Aug, 2026 05:00 PM6 mins to readJonathan Ayling is a strategy consultant and professional director. ‌New Zealand has reason to be proud of what decades of Treaty settlements achieved in providing iwi with greater self-determination, Jonathan Ayling writes. Photo / Jason DordayThe Green Party wants taxpayers to provide $2.4 billion to establish a permanent fund for marae across New Zealand. To put that extraordinary sum in perspective, it is almost four times the new capital funding allocated to health infrastructure in Budget 2026. It is a poor policy, not only because