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Slashed Matariki funding threatens to leave communities in the dark
Government funding for Matariki events was cut by nearly half this year. With some festivals now cancelled or scaled back, Liam Rātana investigates what's been lost – and what's still happening.
Just four years after Matariki became a public holiday, the future of our public celebrations is looking less certain. In Budget 2024, the coalition government slashed funding for Matariki events by 45% – dropping from $5.5m to $3m. For many communities, the impact was immediate, with events cancelled, scaled back, or organisers left scrambling for alternative funding.
Some organisers have described this year's funding process as a 'lolly scramble'. And others say the cuts have made it harder to plan with confidence or secure support for multi-year programming.
The budget decision was made alongside mounting evidence that Matariki is delivering significant benefits – both cultural and economic. According to research commissioned by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, electronic card spending over the Matariki long weekend in 2024 reached nearly $607m. That's a 2.7% increase from 2023 and a 10.8% jump from 2019, the year before the holiday was introduced.
The arts and recreation sector, while making up just 2.8% of total retail spend, saw the largest year-on-year increase, up 32.7% from 2023 and 61.7% from 2019.
But the value of Matariki isn't measured by spending alone. Recent research by Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage also shows a deepening public understanding of the holiday's meaning. The 2024 New Zealanders' Engagement with Matariki report found that while general awareness of Matariki remains steady, there's been a notable increase in people recognising it as a time for reflection, whānau connection, cultural learning and environmental appreciation.
Roughly 70% of survey respondents agreed that Matariki brought people together through local events, helped connect them with te ao Māori and encouraged a deeper connection to the natural world. These are intangible benefits that speak to Matariki's wider role in national identity and social cohesion.
That role has become even more important in a time of increasing political and cultural division. A March 2024 report by the Helen Clark Foundation found that less than half of New Zealanders agreed with positive statements about social cohesion in Aotearoa. The report warned that ongoing polarisation could weaken trust in institutions and make long-term planning more difficult for businesses, communities and individuals alike.
While Matariki alone won't fix social cohesion, it has become a rare moment in the national calendar that brings people together around shared values. The government has defended the decision to cut funding, with prime minister Christopher Luxon telling media during last year's Matariki celebrations: 'We're going through some tough times, we have to make some tough choices across the whole of government spending.'
Some of those choices have already had visible consequences. Free public events like the Tuturu Matariki Festival in Southland and Matariki Kaiapoi in Canterbury have either been cancelled or scaled back due to budget restraints.
Te Puni Kōkiri, which took over responsibility for administering Matariki event funding from Manatū Taonga in 2024, was approached for updated data on this year's funding allocations. No response was received in time for publication.
In 2023, Manatū Taonga allocated $3m across 121 applications through the Matariki Ahunga Nui Fund. By comparison, Te Puni Kōkiri's 2023/2024 Te Pū Harakeke Fund allocated just $211,349 across 46 organisations.
Despite the cuts, hundreds of events are still taking place around the country this Matariki. Many organisers have turned to local councils, iwi authorities or philanthropic partners to keep celebrations going. The official national event will be hosted this year by Ngāti Rangi at Tirorangi Marae in Ohakune, with a national broadcast scheduled for Friday morning.
But with central government support reduced and demand for funding remaining high, organisers say the sustainability of these events is becoming harder to guarantee. As Matariki continues to evolve as a public holiday, questions remain about how it will be resourced – and whether communities will have the support they need to keep the kaupapa alive.
