"The need for politicians to be seen to be 'doing something' is about to cost us all a great deal of money by retrying all the old, failed approaches of the past," warns Libertarianz Maori Affairs Spokesman Luke Howison.

"Whanau Ora is a murky, feel-good government program which is being touted by National and the Maori Party as a wonderful home-grown solution to the many problems of poverty-stricken Maori families."

"Somehow, throwing money at social workers and instructing them to help 'problem families' is supposed to solve everything."

"Yet, well-meaning politicians have already funneled billions of taxpayer dollars into the socio-economic underclass in the hopes of 'fixing' the problem," says Howison. "And the only result has been a larger and larger underclass, more and more Maori in jail, and a bigger and bigger hole in the taxpayer's pocket."

"Government involvement in whanau is not the solution. Government involvement is the problem."

Libertarianz proposes a simple three-step program to slash the size of the underclass in New Zealand:

• Dismantle the welfare state which traps many families in an aimless lifestyle
• Slash taxes and regulations to promote wealth- and job-creation
• End the War on Drugs which turns many Maori into criminals

"Ironically, the Whanau Ora approach is half right. Strong, caring, working families are the solution to many of the challenges facing Maori. It is the other half of the approach - welfare money distributed by bureaucrats - which is the problem," concludes Howison.

"It's enough to make you vote Libertarianz!"

For more information, please contact:

Luke Howison
Libertarianz Maori Affairs Spokesman
Phone: 027 314 3007
Email: luke.howison@libertarianz.org.nz

Libertarianz: More Freedom, Less Government
www.libertarianz.org.nz