A Lower North Island Maori Trust Board chair says the Government needs to change the way it delivers services to tangata whenua, partly because the current system is expensive.
Agencies such as Te Puni Kokiri (the Ministry of Maori Development), the Maori Language Commission and the Maori Broadcasting Agency were set up after the dis-establishment of the Department of Maori Affairs in 1990.
Te Runanganui o Taranaki Whanui ki te Upoko o te Ika a Maui chairperson Neville Baker says having a range of service providers is not cost effective, and it would be easier for tangata whenua to have one governing agency to go to for help.
Mr Baker says many ministries have been restructured and some almagamated, which he believes should also happen with government services dedicated to Maori.