Urban tribe wins battle for recognition

By Richard Knight

The lengthy battle by the West Auckland urban Maori authority the Waipareira Trust for recognition and status as a tribe has won backing from the Government.

Law changes will enable Te Whanau o Waipareira to become guardian for children under Family Court orders and assume other welfare responsibilities from Government agencies - and taxpayer funding for that.

Official recognition of Waipareira's status as no less than a traditional iwi will inspire other urban Maori authorities to seek similar standing.

A memo leaked to the New Zealand Herald about ministerial planning for next Thursday's Budget shows a Waipareira Bill is one of eight pieces of legislation due to be rammed through under urgency immediately after the Budget is read.

Inquiries by the Herald yesterday resulted in a hurried statement being issued jointly by the Ministers of Social Services, Roger Sowry, and Maori Affairs, Tau Henare, acknowledging some of the planned changes.

The ministers said that was part of the Government's response to last year's Waitangi Tribunal report on Waipareira.

They said more would be done to "investigate the implications of further devolution to Maori."

The trust made a Treaty of Waitangi claim in 1994 that it should be seen as a true representative of urban Maori.

At the heart of the claim were Government policies, specifically Department of Social Welfare and Community Funding Agency policies that seriously inhibited the ability of the trust to deliver social services.

The tribunal recommended changes to policies of the department and its agencies to ensure the effectiveness of its welfare programmes.

The trust's chief executive, John Tamihere, said that in simple terms it meant recognition of the trust's ability to provide social services and the opportunity to apply for more money.

A spokesman for the Manukau Urban Maori Authority, Willie Jackson, said there would be a flow-on effect from the status gained by Waipareira.

"If the report is accepted it will give urban authorities a status that cannot be ignored and it would set the precedent.

"Traditional tribal authorities will have to accept the fact that we are a modern-day tribe."

The chief executive of Tauranga-based Ngaiterangi Runanga, Brian Dickson, said tribal organisations had to meet certain criteria before they received any funding.

For Mr Tamihere, the recognition will cap a career at the trust that has seen it go from financial difficulty to a turnover of millions of dollars.

He is due to step down from his post within the next two months to pursue a political career as Labour candidate for the new Maori seat of Hauraki.