Housing in Rotorua. Photo / Felix Desmarais / LDR
OPINION
“We have come too far, not to go further. We have done too much, not to do more.”
As we head into the seventh biennial National Māori Housing Conference tomorrow, these timeless words of Sir James Henare aptly describe where we are in our journey to address the housing crisis in Aotearoa. Although current efforts by the Māori housing sector and government are significant and headed in the right direction, they must be sustained to successfully turn the tide of this crisis.
The first National Māori Housing Conference was held in 2010 in Rotorua. Before it was widely recognised at a national level we were amidst a housing crisis, it was already clear to Māori. Because, as with virtually all indicators of health and wellbeing, Māori are worse off when it comes to housing.
Māori make up over 50 per cent of all those who are homeless. An alarming proportion of those Māori afflicted by homelessness and its concomitant woes are tamariki and rangatahi, and there is a growing number of kaumātua who are unhoused.
Stage one of WAI2750, the Waitangi Tribunal’s kaupapa inquiry into housing policy and services, focused on homelessness. Claimants put forward a definition of homelessness that acknowledges:
Homelessness is the absence and loss of kāinga (ancestral home), ahi kā roa (the perpetually burning home fires), the capability and capacity to achieve and sustain an enduring state of whānau ora (whānau wellbeing), tū mana motuhake (self-sufficiency).
Many claimants emphasised how the impacts of colonisation, especially land loss, is at the core of this humanitarian crisis. And how ensuing intergenerational trauma has been exacerbated by legislation and policy that discriminates against Māori.
Future stages of the inquiry will focus on whenua Māori (collectively owned Māori land), housing policy and regulation, social and public housing, and the relationship between housing and health. The evidence is hard to hear. But a concurrent housing inquiry by the Human Rights Commission reminds us that:
Accountability is a crucial feature of good governance, democracy, and human rights. Without accountability, these can easily become window-dressing. Weak accountability undermines housing laws, policies, strategies, plans, and initiatives.
It is the willingness to address the harsh realities of so many whānau, and to create a better future for our mokopuna, that is impelling so many to heed the call of Ngāti Whakaue to attend the 2023 National Māori Housing Conference – “Tukua mai kia piri, tukua mai kia tata”.
This conference will be coming full circle in a sense, a moment to reflect on how far we have come, as we return back to where the conference began. Rotorua has been in the national spotlight due to the impacts of emergency housing on local communities. And though homelessness will be a focus at this conference, it will be in the context of finding solutions – sustainable, long-term, Māori-led housing solutions to the housing crisis.
With over 600 delegates registered, this will be the largest ever Māori housing conference. The programme canvases Māori housing success and innovation across the housing continuum, both locally and nationally.
Day one of the conference will provide space for representatives from areas impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle to speak to response efforts, and for delegates to formulate positions on cyclone recovery and climate change resilience to put to politicians on day two.
The conference has been strategically timed to be well enough in advance of the October elections to inform the thinking and housing policies of political parties. Representatives of Labour, National, the Greens and the Māori Party will address the conference and respond to some of the key issues raised by delegates.
Keynote speakers will address salient topics including reimagining papakāinga, Māori social housing, tangata whenua-led responses to homelessness, and innovation in off-site manufacturing. We will hear about progress with two of the iwi prototypes within the Government’s watershed Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga programme, which is investing $730m into Māori housing over four years. Leadership will also be celebrated, with a tribute dinner in memory of renowned Māori housing hero, the late Ricky Houghton, and the inauguration of the Māori Housing Awards.
Whilst we are faced with many challenges, there is much also to celebrate. As luminaries and leaders from across the motu gather as one to chart the next leg of our journey and keep our waka steady:
Ko te whakaariki, ko te whakaariki!
Tukua mai kia piri, tukua mai kia tata!
Kia eke mai ki runga ki te paepae poto o Houmaitawhiti!
Wayne Knox is the general manager of Te Matapihi, the national peak body for Māori housing providers.