Hon Tama Potaka
Minister for Māori Development
Minister for Māori Crown Relations

Tōia mai te waka, ki te urunga te waka, ki te moenga te waka, ki te takotoranga i takoto ai te waka!

The Government will modernise its approach to Māori development and accelerate opportunities for the Māori economy through improving Māori GDP per capita, reducing regulatory burdens, and activating opportunities for access to capital.

“For New Zealand to become a world-leading small, advanced economy, government will more effectively work with and alongside Iwi and Māori organisations,” Māori Development and Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says.

To deliver on the Government’s plan to accelerate Māori development, it is clarifying the respective functions of Te Arawhiti and Te Puni Kōkiri to ensure each organisation has a clear focus on the important, but separate, roles they play in delivering for and with Māori.

“Te Arawhiti will remain a departmental agency and continue its core role of progressing long standing Treaty of Waitangi settlements and Takutai Moana applications.

“Te Puni Kōkiri will advise on policy to support the acceleration of Māori economic development, continue to support the revitalisation of Māori language and culture, and support Māori social development including through a social investment lens,” Mr Potaka says.

“The organisation will provide quality policy advice using the Treaty-based public policy framework Te Tautuhi ō Rongo, to ensure that the distinct rights and interests of Iwi (as collectives) and Māori (as citizens) are recognised and provided for. It will also better monitor other agencies to ensure they are delivering adequate services to and for Māori.

“By addressing income and asset productivity gaps between Māori and non-Māori, we will see significant uplift worth billions of dollars in the nation’s wealth. In practical terms, this means more choices for whānau, more employment and business development opportunities for all New Zealanders, and more revenue that can be invested in delivering better public services like hospitals and schools.

“Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, Tauhara North No 2 Trust, and PKW Incorporation in Taranaki are examples that demonstrate that when Māori are doing well, communities, regions and the country do well.

“I have engaged extensively over the last six months and feedback from Iwi leaders confirms that clarifying the respective roles of Te Puni Kōkiri and Te Arawhiti will be welcomed.

“I’ll be meeting with Iwi and Māori leaders shortly to provide more detail on our Government’s approach and seek their feedback.”

Kua whakaae te Kāwanatanga ki te ahunga e whakahohorotia ai te whanaketia o te Māori

Tōia mai te waka, ki te urunga te waka, ki te moenga te waka, ki te takotoranga i takoto ai te waka!

Ka whakahōungia e te Kāwanatanga tāna ahunga atu ki te whanaketanga o te Māori, me tāna whakahohoro i ngā whai wāhitanga ki te ōhanga Māori mā te whakapai ake te tapeke wāriu hokonga ā-tāngata a te Māori, mā te whakawhāiti ngā wahanga ā-herenga, mā te whakahohe hoki ngā whai wāhitanga e toro ake ai ki ngā tahua.

“E puta ai tō Aotearoa ihu hei ōhanga iti, hei ōhanga whatutoto hoki, ka kaha ake tā te kāwanatanga mahi tahi ki ngā umanga a ngā iwi, a te Māori hoki,” hei tā te Minita mō te Whanaketanga Māori, me Ngā Patuitanga Karauna a te Māori, hei tā Tama Potaka.

E pai ai te tuku i tā te Kāwanatanga whakaritenga kia whakahohoro i te whanaketia o te Māori, e āta whakamārama ana ia i ngā mahinga ake a Te Arawhiti me Te Puni Kōkiri e mōhio ai ki ngā tūranga hirahira, wehewehe hoki, a rātou i te wharatonga i ngā hua ki te Māori.

“Ka noho a Te Arawhiti hei tari kāwanatanga, ā, ka whāia tonutia ōna anō pūmanawa, arā, ki te kauneke i ngā whakataunga o Te Tiriti o Waitangi kua roa nei e tārewa ana, me ngā tononga mō te Takutai Moana.

“Mā Te Puni Kōkiri tonu e whakamāherehere ngā kaupapa here, e tautoko te whakahohorotia o te whanaketanga o te ōhanga Māori, e tautoko tonu te whakarauoratia o te reo me te ahurea Māori, e tautoko hoki te whanaketanga ā-pāpori o te Māori, tae rā anō ki te arotahinga haumitanga ā-pāpori,” te kupu a Tama Potaka.

“Mā te umanga e tuku ngā whakamāherehere kounga mō te kaupapa here i te pou tarāwaho ā-kaupapa here tūmatanui mō te Tiriti, e kīia nei ko Te Tautuhi ō Rongo, e mana ai, e whakarawea ai hoki ngā mana motuhake me ngā whaipānga a ngā iwi (hei kotahitanga) me te Māori (hei kirirarau). Māna hoki e aroturuki ngā umanga anō i tā rātou whakarato i ngā ratonga tūmatanui pai nei ki te Māori, mā te Māori hoki.

“I te whai whakaarotanga atu ki te whiwhinga pūtea me ngā āputa o te māpua ā-rawa e tārewa nei i waenga i te Māori me te tauiwi, ka kitea e tātou ngā hikinga e hia nei piriona tāra i te whairawa whānui a te motu. Ko te tikanga rā, ka whānui ake ngā kōwhiringa a ngā whānau, ka rahi ake ngā whai wāhitanga ki te whiwhinga mahinga me te whanaketanga pakihi ki a ngāi Aotearoa, ka nui ake hoki te whainga pūtea hei haumi atu mā tātou kia paruhi ai ngā ratonga tūmatanui pēnei i ngā hōhipera me ngā kura.

“Inā a Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, a Tauhara North No 2 Trust, me PKW Incorporation ki Taranaki e whakatauira ana i tērā kōrero e mea nei, ka taurikura ana te Māori, ka whai hua hoki ngā hapori, ngā rohe, me te motu.

“Kua whānui āku whakapānga i ngā marama e ono kua taha ake nei, ka mutu, he urupare nō ngā rangatira o ngā iwi e tārake nei te kite ka pai ki a rātou mā te āta whakatakotohia o ngā mahinga ake a Te Puni Kōkiri me Te Arawhiti.

“Mea ake nei ahau hui ai ki ngā kaihautū ā-iwi rātou ko ngā rangatira Māori e āmiki kupuria ai te roanga atu o ngā kōrero mō tō tātou kāwanatanga anganga pēheatanga, e whāia ai hoki ngā uruparenga i a rātou.”

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