The voices of Māori became more prominent in 2022 across various sectors, from health through to local government.
TVNZ's Te Karere takes a look at some of the major issues in Te Ao Māori and how they made a significant difference for Māori.
Te Aka Whai Ora is born
This year saw a major shake-up in the country's health system.
Dr Matire Harwood, GP and professor, says it’s not an equitable amount. (Source: 1News)
Twenty District Health Boards were amalgamated into one and the Māori Health Authority, known as Te Aka Whai Ora, was established.
Chair Tipa Mahuta said an authority like this has been a goal for Te Ao Māori for a very long time.
“Kua pau te kotahi rau tau tātau e whai ake i te hauora Māori. Kua tutuki i te rangi nei hei kawe i ngā ōhaki a kui mā, a koro mā," she said during its establishment.
(A century has passed and we continue to practice traditional medicine, today we have achieved the dream and legacy of our ancestors.)
Manurewa Marae CEO Takutai Kemp emphasised to Te Karere earlier this year the importance of having equitable access to health treatment for Māori.
“Amohia ake te ora o te iwi kia puta ki te whaiao.”
(Our health and wellbeing is paramount.)
Health Minister Andrew Little was quite candid about how the previous health system did not serve the needs of Māori.
“The reality is we have a health system that hasn’t been serving the needs of all New Zealanders, it hasn’t been serving the needs of Māori.”
Associate Minister of Health Peeni Henare affirmed publicly this year that Māori hold the answers to Māori health problems.
“Kei tō tāua mātauranga Māori he oranga mō tātou te iwi Māori.”
(Our Māori knowledge will be our lifesaver.)
Māori representation surges at local government level
There was a surge in Māori leadership across the country as 35 councils across the country adopted Māori wards.
It’s being done in a bid to make councils more culturally safe. (Source: 1News)
Both Elijah Pue (who stood for the mayoralty of the Ruapehu district) and Dinnie Moeahu (who stood in New Plymouth) spoke to the calibre and age of people standing for council and mayoralty.
“In 2022 we have strong confident competent people standing for the mayoralty in districts,” Moeahu said.
“We have more young people standing for mayor we have more young people standing for council,” 28-year-old Pue told Te Karere.
Pue wasn’t the only Māori who threw his hat in the ring for the chance to become mayor. Te Reo exponent and teacher Moko Tepania also ran for the mayoralty in the Far North and won with 7805 votes, a result which came down to the wire and required the count of special votes.
Tepania explained to Te Karere that Maori participation at local government level, whether as a voter or councillor or mayor, is vital.
"E noho ana ko te Tiriti o Waitangi ki roto i te ture Kāwanatanga ā-rohe e mea ana me whai pānga mai te Māori ki roto i ngā whiringa kōrero a ngā kaunihera.
"Nō reira e tika ana kia whai reo anō ai ngā Māori ki ngā kaunihera katoa."
(The Treaty of Waitangi is entrenched into local government law saying that Māori need to be involved in local government discussions. So, it's necessary that Māori have a voice across all councils)
"Matua rā i tēnei i Te Hiku o te Ika, te kāinga o te hainatanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi, ka mutu i koni atu i te rima tekau paiheneti o ngā kainoho o tēnei rohe he Māori tonu."
(Here in the Far North, it's the home of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, what's more, more than 50% of residents here are of Māori descent).
Tepania also made it clear to Te Karere that getting Māori actively engaged for the next election is also a must.
"He toru tau ki te akiaki iwi ki te whakaako atu te mana o te pōti i te mea ka tū anō ahau hei aha taku tatari kia tae rānō hei kaunihera mataamuri ki te whakaputa ko wai hei koromatua.
"Oh nā wai i teka horekau i teka, nā kua whai i te tūranga ."
(So there's three years to encourage and show our people the power of voting, because I'll stand again and I don't want to wait for the slowest council's results to find out who is mayor. Was it a lie? Well it ain't because I've got the position)
And from local government elections in October to December 2 and the attempted banning of karakia from Kaipara District Council’s council meetings. The issue arose when elected member Pera Paniora tried to offer one at the council’s first meeting after the election. Pera was swiftly intercepted by mayor Craig Jepson, who stopped her from speaking.
“This is a council that’s full of people who are non-religious, religious, of different ethnicities and I intend to run a secular council here which respects everybody and I will not be veering from that. Thank you.”
Paniora shared with media exactly how she felt with what the mayor said.
They’re not happy with his partial back down and compromise. (Source: 1News)
“It was quite degrading, it was disappointing.”
The affair drew the attention of both the Human Rights Commissioner Meng Foon and Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta, both adamant that local government has a responsibility to consider Māori through the Treaty of Waitangi.
“I would hope that the tikanga or proceedings can be determined based on the input of all councillors who have been elected to represent their community,” Mahuta said.
Fast forward to December 14, and a peaceful protest was organised and held by Kaipara locals. By this point, the mayor had done a u-turn on his ban, however, the fact that the mayor had attempted to ban karakia in the way that he did in the first place still drew ire and anger from Ngāti Whātua elder Dame Naida Glavish.
“Horekau ia e mōhio ana ki tēnei mea te manaaki tangata.
“Horekau, he kuare!”
(He does not know how to look after and care for people. He doesn’t, he's ignorant)
“Mēna e hiahia ana ia ki te whakatohatohangia, tīmatahia atu i a ia ka pēhea tōna ake karakia tēnei mea, tēnei mea te karakia.
“Ehara i te inoi, ehara i te mea nō ngā hāhi he karakia nō ngā atuatanga.
“Koia a ia e kore e taea e ia te tae atu ki nga karanga atuatanga i roto i tēnei mea te karakia.”
(If he wants to divide that honour up, and if it starts with him, how can he conduct a karakia? A karakia isn't a blessing, it isn't a Christian custom, he can't conduct incantations to the gods through karakia at all)
Glavish then took it further by suggesting to the mayor what his next actions should be.
“Ina kore ia e whakarongo mai, koia kē ka heke ki raro e kore rawa tātou e neke atu.
“Nō tātou te kāinga nei, ehara i te wāhi nohoanga, he kāinga kē tēnei.”
(If he doesn't listen he needs to step down. We are never going to go away from our home, this isn't just a settlement or township, this is our homeland.)
Paniora shared with Te Karere just how much the community tautoko means for her.
“It's overwhelming, the tautoko of all of our whānau, you know our community coming in here showing solidarity unity you know they understand that this behaviour is not acceptable.”
Papakāinga established, three waters reform
More papakāinga initiatives were established across the country as a means to lure descendants back to their homelands in a bid to reverse Māori urban migration, where in just 50 years from 1936 to 1986 Māori went from 83% rural to 83% urban.
However, for Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, where urbanisation came to them, January 19 saw a new papakāinga development open with 10 brand new whare for descendants. Ngāti Whātua kaumātua Matt Maihi was quite poignant about the new development, considering how they were made homeless by the actions of the Crown in the 1950s when their original pā opposite Ōkahu Bay was burnt to the ground.
“He nui tonu te mamae mō ō tātou whenua, engari hei aha tērā mahi mō tēnei whare ātaahua hoki.”
(It's been really painful as we pine for our land. However, despite what happened, this beautiful house, my heart is renewed)
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei’s Ngarimu Blair also shared the range of emotion he could see on the faces of his own people at the opening of the development.
“I kite au i runga i te kanohi te pā mai te hari, te koa me te pōuri.
“Te pōuritanga, nō te mea te whakahokinga mahara ki a rātou kua mene ki te pō.
“Ki a rātou e takoto ana ki raro, ki Ōkahu ki roto i te urupā, nō reira, he maha ngā kare ā-roto.”
(I can see the happiness on their faces. Happiness and sadness. Sadness, because memories come back of their loved ones now passed on, to those who are now laying, in the cemetery at Ōkahu Bay. It brings a lot of emotions)
And to Porirua where the cost of renting came into sharp focus. On June 16 it was reported that Porirua was the most expensive community to pay rent in with the median weekly rent sitting at $700 at the time. Wesley Action Community manager Liz Makalio said quite openly to Te Karere that whānau out there are doing it tough.
“I think the biggest struggle is that there’s just not enough houses.
“There’s nowhere for whānau to actually just have a house and be with their whānau.
The people are living with multiple generations in one room people doing what they need to to survive, couch surfing with their tamariki.
“Whānau are not in a situation where they can buy a home where they can plant that seed and it's an asset for their mokopuna.
“So whānau who are stuck, you know, in a Kāinga Ora home or whatever will never be able to plant the seed that their mokopuna can have in the future.”
The controversial three waters reform also saw uproar in some communities. However, Mahuta is sticking to her guns as she believes it's a move that’ll benefit future generations
“It’s not been an easy set of issues to try and address I think a lot of people would of thought, 'let’s stop with it, we‘re just regulating drinking water that’s enough'.”
Labour used their super majority to pass the legislation at the third and final reading, after removing an anti-privatisation clause and lost Green Party support in the process.
However, throughout the year, opposition to the reform has been quite vociferous from some Māori groups, concerned that there will be four entities in total in control of water infrastructure which will cover large parts of the country and therefore a large number of iwi as a result.
While 2022 has seen a number of kaupapa that directly impact Māori social wellbeing, it remains to be seen whether any of these kaupapa will play into next year’s Te Matatini performances, which are usually pointed and send a message to the government of the day, and something that the government may especially want to observe given it’s election year in 2023.
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