Phil Goff

Wellington, Feb 16 NZPA - Development of the Government's Whanau Ora policy has been a shambles, Labour leader Phil Goff says.

However Social Development and Employment Minister Paula Bennett is blaming the media for confusion around the policy.

Whanau Ora is a Maori Party initiative designed to bring together all the agencies involved in family support and deliver it more effectively to struggling families.

Details of how it would work are yet to be announced but it is likely to involve non-government organisations working on a community basis and using funding from a variety of government sources. The Government received a report prepared by a taskforce looking at the proposal last week.

Mr Key yesterday reiterated that the policy was based on need, not race, and families would have to opt into it.

This morning Ms Bennett was asked why the Maori Party co-leaders Tariana Turia -- who is Associate Social Development and Employment Minister -- and Pita Sharples had been allowed to promote the policy as if it were for Maori only and whether they had a different vision of it from the Government's one.

Mrs Turia last week said that if non-Maori groups wanted to take advantage of the policy they would have to form their own one.

"I don't think there is a misunderstanding," Ms Bennett said.

"I think it's really kind of clear. I think that misunderstanding has been really built up by the members of the media really. Because we are kind of clear on where it is, what the concept is, how it works for those families that need it most.

"The Maori Party certainly talked about it as a concept and how it works with Maori people, which is not surprising. It's what their focus is, it's how they got voted in."

Asked why the Government had not made efforts to clarify that the policy was not only for Maori, Ms Bennett said she did not think there had been any confusion.

"I think it was really clear. It's other people who have managed to confuse and misconstrue what's actually been said and it those who don't understand it as a concept."

Mr Goff said he did not understand what the policy was and said the Government should release its report.

"This has been an absolute shambles. We have got (Mr) Key saying one thing, (Mrs) Turia saying the opposite and we don't know where the money is coming from for it. Except it is out of other programmes, who is going to be disadvantaged in order to fund Whanau Ora.

"I think you can target programmes as long as everyone in need has access to a relevant programme. We don't know whether that is going to happen."

Mr Key yesterday said that at present, social services were delivered through various contracts funded by health, housing and other ministries.

The idea was to "collapse" those contracts into one which would give more flexibility in the way social services were delivered.

The system will be explained in the May 20 budget and Mr Key said there would be "some new money" for it.

He said reports of $1 billion being siphoned off into Whanau Ora weren't correct and the system would have to be phased in.