Māori Party proposes Crown land and $100 million to launch Māori supermarket chains

At the opening of Waikato’s first social supermarket, Te Kāpata Kai o Kirikiriroa/Kirikiriroa’s Cupboard, Te Pāti Māori unveiled a policy to give Māori collectives access to Crown- or council-owned land in profitable locations and to provide $100 million in seed capital for new supermarket chains. The plan is part of a larger kai sovereignty agenda that also proposes an income-tax credit equivalent to up to eight weeks of food annually, funded by five new taxes such as a wealth tax and a vacant-home tax.

The party argues that breaking the Foodstuffs-Woolworths duopoly will allow Māori and independent grocers to compete. Additional measures include a $100 million Community Kai Fund for home gardens and a $100 million agricultural innovation fund for regenerative farming. Te Pāti Māori’s co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi say tax reform is essential to finance the $3 billion-plus package, while Labour and National have announced their own, more limited, supermarket-reform proposals.