Otautahi Maori Community Hui
Friday 17 April 2009; 1.30pm
Te Rangimarie Centre, Christchurch

Hon Tariana Turia,
Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector

I want to thank Reverend Maurice Manawaroa Gray, and Mairehe Louise Tankersley for the commitment they have shown to working together in the best interests of the people of Otautahi.

The investment they have made to ensure that this day will be a success by working closely with the Christchurch Local Government and Community Regional Office of the Department of Internal Affairs is a tribute to them, and a reflection of the vision of Te Runaka ki Otautahi o Kai Tahu.

This hui is an important starting point to formalise a strong relationship between whanau, hapu and iwi, and the Department’s funding and advisory services.

And I know too, that my friend, Rik Tau, Upoko and Te Atamira representative for the Department of Internal Affairs is with us in spirit, even though his physical self is grappling with the challenge of the clean up of Te Roto o Wairewa.

I was interested to learn that Ngai Tahu are today looking at the investment that will be required to restore the lake to full health.

In earlier times, Wairewa (also known as Lake Forsyth) provided a rich supply of tuna to our peoples along the Banks Peninsula.

But today, the water is poisoned, the fish are dying, the overflow from septic tanks is washed into the lake, and it has become severely degraded with algal blooms and sedimentation problems.

I am told that the local people have a saying,

Ka hähä te tuna ki te roto, ka hähä te reo ki te kaika
Ka hähä te takata ki te whenua

If the lake is full with eels, if the home resounds with speaking
The land will be inhabited by people.

I wanted to link to the rehabilitation of Te Roto o Wairewa because I believe it is vital that we constantly look out to the bigger picture, outside and beyond the parameters of the community organisation grants scheme; or the four walls of the Christchurch office of the Department of Internal Affairs.

Community development is all about communities having greater control and confidence that their local action can make a difference.

It is a process of constant and dynamic dialogue – motivated not only by how well the community is working at the flax roots; but also by how well the key agencies are responding to their needs.

And so the health of Te Roto o Wairewa is as fundamental to the wellbeing of the community, as any of the community and social services that we may deliver within the sector.

Building a healthy community is a key aspiration for our DIA community advisors –and I want to thank you all for the passion you have towards getting to know the heart of your community. I want to also acknowledge all those who have worked, and continue to work, with the community advisors in governance roles on local distribution and national committees for COGS.

Being here at Te Rangimarie is a perfect setting to consider the range of community needs that the Maori community will have.

Te Rangimarie has been a home, a base, a community centre for so many different groups. It was initially established as a Maori youth centre. Educational groups have operated from within its midst since the 1980s, with the first kohanga reo based here, and later Te Kura Whakapumau began its life here.

Te Rangimarie has been a place for tangihanga; a place to host visiting sports and cultural groups; a centre for community groups right across this city. In the last few years we have seen the establishment of a crèche and an ESOL class.

But there is one particular aspect of the history that I want to refer to, as we consider the ongoing relationship between the runaka and the community advisory team.

Over sixty years ago, in 1945, a debate occurred in Parliament around the establishment of apprenticeship schemes for Maori youth.

Eventually, Maori trade training took on a life of its own, when the Department of Maori Affairs launched a number of special training schemes to encourage young Maori into skilled trades.

Over at Rehua, a strong relationship between Te Hahi Weteriana and Ngai Tahu came together, resulting in its heyday, a total of about seventy young trade trainees being accommodated in the hostel each year. While here at Te Rangimarie, a relationship was formed with Te Aranga, the Catholic Māori boys’ hostel in Woolston, to support the many young Maori men who came South, to take part in the scheme.

I want to just reflect on the vision of the Maori leadership at that time, which were determined to prevent a descending spiral of poverty, unemployment, lack of education and lack of prospects that may have otherwise confronted our rangatahi.

I pay tribute to the former Member for Southern Maori, Eruera Tirakatene for his influence with the Maori Social and Economic Advancement Act. My aunt, Iriaka Matiu Ratana, consistently called for hostels and trade training to support the numbers of many young Maori moving to towns to find work.

There was the generosity of Ngai Tahu elders including Rev Wera Couch, Rev Wilf Falkingham and Mr Joe Moss. And of course the legendary commitment of Maori warden officers such as Aunty Kia Riwai, who helped to identify young hopefuls who might be eligible for the Maori Apprentice Scheme.

I have spent some time recalling the origins of the trade training scheme here in Otautahi because I believe in this time of recession, we need to look anew at solutions and strategies which have proven successful in addressing what we know are the ongoing challenges for communities.

That trade training was successful is evident in the large numbers of applications received, and the high placement in the sector once the apprenticeship was completed. Maori apprentices had a very positive reputation with employers, because of their better than average grades and their comparatively small drop out rates.

But it wasn’t just about carpentry and construction; painting and panel-beating; plumbing and plastering.

The trainees were given particular support in literacy and numeracy skills. They received apprentices’ wages, as employees of the Department of Maori Affairs. They had holiday work arranged with private employers.

And because so many of the boys were away from their ancestral and rural roots, special efforts were made to ‘keep them warm’ – through the support of kapa haka and cultural competitions, the formation of the Otautahi Rugby Club; and other initiatives created to make them feel at home. If you look at the carvings inside the wharenui at Rehua, we can see all the waka represented.

In essence, the Maori trade training scheme had all the hallmarks of strong and sustainable community development. It bears the influence of investment in people. It was based on intergenerational connections; and co-operation from agencies and key stakeholders throughout the community.

So now, as we turn the corner into the 21st century recession; what initiatives will emerge from our communities to foster collective spirit; to meet the needs of the local economy; and to lift up the people?

The mahi that the local DIA advisors do in working across our community is invaluable in responding to the real needs of our people.

I want to commend the Christchurch team for recognising that despite best efforts, the engagement between the regional office and Maori communities was not as secure as it should be. As I understand it, communication tended to be on a one-to-one basis, and focused on specific funding applications, with consistent under-representation from Maori community organisations.

The experience that the Christchurch team has had in the past demonstrated that mana whenua and taura here organisations were gaining comparatively low access to local funding information and advisory services – hence the reason for this hui today.

My focus in the role as the Minister of Community and Voluntary Sector is to encourage exactly what is happening here today – the incentive to work together, to co-operate and to collaborate – and to determine how to fully utilise the strengths of the community.

I want to see an emphasis on outcomes, not inputs or purely outputs – that is, how do we know we have made the difference?

And its not just about jobs and houses and qualifications – if you were to ask any of the old boys from the Maori trade training days they would tell you of other tangible outcomes – feeling connected to their whanau; having a sense of cultural strength and confidence; possessing the resilience to endure any of the life challenges we all face.

I am keen to see integrated services, inter-sectoral and interagency collaboration, and priority accorded to effective relationships between the public sector, private sector, non-profit sector and the Maori sector. We must create a rich environment to talk about the value of collaboration, of joined-up approaches; of working together for the collective good.

I hope that today, conversations will be had between those gathered here and the DIA advisors, regarding the opportunities for support that we hope will flourish.

And most of all, I want to see the active involvement of local people determining local solutions. Just as Ngai Tahu are today at Te Roto o Waiwera; all of the Maori communities in Otautahi will have particular priorities and ideas about how to build capacity to produce the best possible outcomes for their people.

This has been a wonderful opportunity to share some memories and I hope, to create the climate for fertile conversations about the possibilities ahead. I wish you all well in what will be a very important relationship for you all.

ENDS

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