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National

Marae head itching to know how much Robertson will spend on housing

Māori housing needs and hopes are high just a day before this year's government budget is announced.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson has indicated a significant investment in Māori housing will be announced, and Te Puea marae head Hurimoana Dennis is waiting anxiously to hear how much as he looks to ramp up his fight against homelessness in Auckland.

"The Budget has been named a wellbeing budget, and I hope that this sort of reflects what we need to do on the frontline," he says.

Te Puea Marae began housing people in response to Auckland's homelessness problem back in 2016 on the smell of an oily rag but has had little investment in its work from outside.

With Robertson confirming the budget will have money for investment in Māori housing, Te Puea looks likely to get some of that investment. For Dennis and his crew, it would go a long way to help with their work.

"We still got cabins here, we got chemical toilets here and the portaloo. So, at some stage, we want to graduate to the real thing. It would be awesome to get some koha pūtea to continue the good work that we do here. We have had 542 whānau we have put into homes and there are only 10 of us."

Dennis also wants benefits increased, saying it is very much needed. An increase is possible given  Finance Minister Grant Robertson has identified reducing child poverty as one of the government's key priorities.

"To us urgent means now, ināiatonu nei. Not tomorrow, not next week or next month, NOW."

For Dennis and others like him, more funding equates to helping more people, something that seemed near impossible given the amount of funding with which providers have had to run on.

Dennis and his small team have been invited to Wellington for the announcement of this year's budget.