March 08, 2024
Māori voice absent at housing table
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi says there is no Māori voice on the Government’s housing committees.
The previous Labour Government had a dedicated associate minister for Māori housing and earmarked almost a billon dollars for Māori initiatives.
Mr Waititi says fears those initiatives won’t get further support.
“I think about Willie Te Aho and everybody else who has been doing some awesome work out there building homes on our papakainga, building homes on Maori whenua, but in actual fact you don’t have a Maori voice sitting around any of the housing ministries at this point,” he says.
Maori Development Minister Tama Potaka has an associate housing delegation with responsibility for papakāinga and Māori community housing developments, but he must seek the approval of the ministers of Finance and Housing for any expenditure above $20 million.