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Auckland Mayor, Len Brown, says funding for marae improvements may be part of the city’s plan.
The Auckland Council met with the Independent Māori Statutory Board this week for a quarterly update and what the mayor says was a frank and useful discussion.
The board has set targets for Māori economic development, and it also wants to see the council support a major Māori cultural event.
Mr Brown says there is still work to be done.
"There are infrastructure investment areas we haven't got totally on top of, for example how we support local marae. Under the Manukau City Council, we had a pretty clear budgetary line for that. We are working towards that in this council. There are a lot of marae around Auckland. How we engage with them and assist them in some of their capital works where it is appropriate and get into partnerships with that are some of the key issues," he says.
Mayor Brown says as well as working with the Independent Māori Statutory Board, the council needs to foster relationships with each of the 19 iwi who call parts of Tāmaki Makaurau their turangawaewae.
Copyright © 2013, UMA Broadcasting Ltd
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