New Zealanders should be asking some very hard questions about where their money is going. The government has committed over $49 million in funding for Te Matatini, the national kapa haka festival, through to the 2027/28 financial year. That includes a $48.7 million three-year allocation announced in Budget 2024. To put this into perspective, recent annual funding has been around $17 million. This is a huge jump for what is essentially a performance festival, and it really does raise some serious questions about priorities.
