At first glance, the Budget looks good for Māori - $1 Billion over four years including $580 million across the health, justice and social sectors.
Of that, there's just $260 million in new spending for Māori health - including the creation of the new Māori Health Authority - a drop in the bucket of wider health spending.
The Mana Kidz programme at a school in south Auckland is a success story of the 'by Māori, for Māori' approach to healthcare.
"If we are involved in designing solutions that meet the needs of our whanau, we get better results," said Māori health leader Dr Rawiri Jansen.
But on Thursday that proven approach is getting a fraction of the health spend, less than the $477 million given over four years in subsidies to movie makers.
A step forward of $260 million over four years is being spent on a health system tailored to Māori. That's $168 Million for Te Mana Hauora Māori, funding initiatives aimed at improving care for Māori and supporting a Māori-led approach.
There will also be $20 Million to support Iwi-Māori Partnership Boards, $30 Million to support Māori community care providers and $39 Million for the development of the Māori health workforce.
The communities who vaccinated huge numbers of Māori through the pandemic demonstrated the value of this investment
"All of those community groups and all of those agencies who stood up in the COVID response will be integral to how we move forward in these health reforms," said Selah Hart, Hapai te Hauora chief executive.
But Māori health providers say Māori must benefit from the mainstream dollar too.
"What I don't want to do is just have the Māori health agency or Māori providers being pigeoned holed to provide the solution to years and years of under service and underfunding," said Hart.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson said if the Government is going to address "decades-long inequities in our health system, we have to have sustained investment over a long period of time".
Another area historically underfunded - the disability sector - is being righted.
"For far too long they've been forgotten in important conversations that they should have been included in," said Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni.
There's a billion-dollar package - including $108 million to set up a Ministry for Disabled People, increased funding by $735 million to maintain care and $100 million to extend the Enabling Good Lives programme.
It's welcome news for a sector crying out for years for a boost.
