Solving the housing crisis facing many Māori whānau will be that much harder with Kāinga Ora proposing to more than halve the specialist team focused on supporting the housing dreams of Māori.

The latest restructure will see a net reduction of 27 roles from Te Kurutao Group Māori which currently has 48 FTEs. This follows earlier decisions to cut 130 roles in the wake of the Government’s spending cuts which have stripped $1 billion from Kāinga Ora.

"This is outrageous at a time when it’s never been more important to provide, healthy, secure and affordable housing for Māori if we are to make real inroads into poverty in this country," said Janice Panoho, Te Kaihautū Māori for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.

"Te Kurutao is helping Kāinga Ora deliver on its function as defined in legislation and that is to ‘understand, support, and enable the aspirations of Māori in relation to urban development’. [1]

"To help do that, you need a specialist team capable of building and maintaining relationships, and one that understands the barriers facing hapū and Māori organisations from developing projects, particularly building papakāinga and housing on Māori-owned land.

"Te Kurutao is the team of experts who bring a critical te Ao Māori perspective to housing challenges, assisting other staff at Kāinga Ora and advising Māori on funding and planning issues. Their work supports Kāinga Ora to turn ideas into projects that deliver affordable, quality housing for hapū and Māori organisations.

"All the evidence points to the need to be investing more in this area especially with the gap between Māori and Pakeha housing statistics growing in recent years."

According to a 2020 Cabinet paper, the Māori home ownership rate is only 28 per cent compared to 57 per cent for the general population. Māori make up a third of public housing tenants despite being around 15 per cent of the general population. Māori are five times more likely than Pākehā to be homeless. [2]

"There is a worrying trend across the public service now, that despite the evidence showing Māori more likely to experience social and economic challenges, the Government is happy to stand by and allow specialist Māori advisers to be sacked - the very people who say they are critical to improving results for Māori."

Māori advisors have been axed from Oranga Tamariki, Health, ACC and other agencies.

"None of this makes sense if the Government was really committed to improving outcomes for those who most need the support of a quality public service.

"Instead, the Government has been focused on finding savings everywhere to fund tax cuts. That money trickling into pay packets now, will have a real cost in terms of a public service that can’t properly deliver on the needs of many Māori today.," said Janice Panoho.

Example of work of Te Kurutao Group

Case study re Te Kurutao’s projects with Te Rūnaka o Awarua in Motupōhue; Partnership bolsters bid for ‘critical’ iwi housing aspirations :: Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities (kaingaora.govt.nz).

[1] Kāinga Ora-Homes and Communities Act 2019

[2] Te Maihi o te Whare Māori - the Māori and Iwi Housing Innovation (MAIHI)

Framework for Action, May 2020

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