Reviewing Maori affairs spending is a low priority and could damage the government's support arrangements with the Maori Party, ACT leader Rodney Hide says.
ACT yesterday won agreement for a series of private sector-led taskforces to review government spending as part of its support deal with National.
But Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia bristled at the suggestion one of Mr Hide's taskforces could run the ruler over portfolios held by her or Pita Sharples, the party's other co-leader.
"I can't imagine anybody from the private sector to come into an office and go through the budget line-by-line to be able to tell us what we should or should not be doing," Mrs Turia said.
She said her party was very close to its constituents and had given undertakings about how it would operate.
"That doesn't include political parties who may think they know better than us."
Prime Minister elect John Key yesterday said whatever came out of the taskforces would have to go before Cabinet and it had yet to be decided which areas would be looked at by them.
Mr Hide today said it would be up to the National government what areas were reviewed, but there were higher priority areas than Maori affairs, which was also fraught with relationship dangers.
"I think we've got a lot of high priority stuff," he said on Radio New Zealand.
"I think the important thing is to build a good relationship with the Maori Party and starting out by doing a review wouldn't be the best way to do that quite frankly and I think there are plenty of other areas we could be getting on with."
Under the Maori Party's deal with National, Dr Sharples will be Maori Affairs Minister, associate education minister and associate corrections minister.
Mrs Turia will be Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, associate health minister and associate social development minister.
