Housing Minister Tama Potaka is defending the Government’s record on Māori housing as a new human rights review warns Aotearoa is moving backwards on housing outcomes and Te Tiriti commitments.
The criticism comes as Māori remain disproportionately affected by homelessness and housing insecurity, while the Government points to falling emergency housing numbers, new social housing investment and changes intended to make it easier for whānau to develop papakāinga.
Speaking with Radio Waatea, Potaka was challenged over whether the Government’s approach is delivering for Māori communities at a time when housing remains one of the biggest pressures confronting whānau.
The Aotearoa New Zealand Human Rights Foundation’s latest housing review argues the country has made almost no overall progress towards ensuring everyone has access to a decent home.
It is particularly critical of the shift away from dedicated Māori housing initiatives towards broader contestable funding and argues the Government is retreating from a Te Tiriti-based approach to housing.
GOVERNMENT POINTS TO EMERGENCY HOUSING FALL
Potaka has instead highlighted the dramatic reduction in the number of children living in emergency accommodation.
The Government has made reducing reliance on emergency housing motels a central part of its housing programme.
Potaka has previously said thousands of children were living in emergency housing when National came into office and has pointed to the reduction as evidence the Government’s approach is working.
But critics say falling emergency housing numbers do not necessarily mean the underlying housing crisis has been solved.
Figures reported earlier this year showed emergency housing applications being declined at significantly higher rates, with Māori continuing to be disproportionately represented among people seeking support.
That has fuelled concerns that some people may simply be disappearing from the emergency housing statistics while continuing to experience homelessness, overcrowding or insecure accommodation.
PAPAKĀINGA REFORMS PART OF GOVERNMENT RESPONSE
The Government can also point to changes intended to make building on whenua Māori easier.
New national environmental standards for papakāinga came into force in July, allowing up to 10 homes on ancestral Māori land in specified zones, subject to environmental and safety requirements.
The changes are intended to reduce inconsistent council rules, consenting complexity and costs that have frustrated Māori landowners trying to house whānau on their own whenua.
Potaka has argued those reforms recognise the relationship Māori have with whenua and can support long-term whānau wellbeing.
Māori housing providers have broadly welcomed moves to simplify papakāinga development but have warned planning reform alone will not build houses.
Infrastructure, finance and access to capital remain significant barriers.
BILLIONS, BUDGETS AND WHO GETS THE HOMES
Budget 2026 provided $69.2 million towards between 1,800 and 2,250 additional social homes and another $22.4 million aimed at preventing households from entering emergency housing.
The Government says its Flexible Housing Fund allows Māori housing providers alongside community organisations and other providers to develop housing based on local need.
But Māori housing advocates have criticised the replacement of ring-fenced Māori housing funding with a competitive model.
That distinction goes to the heart of the Human Rights Foundation’s criticism.
The argument is not simply about whether government money is being spent on housing.
It is about whether Māori have sufficient control over the design, funding and delivery of housing solutions for Māori communities.
POTAKA STANDS BY LUXON
The Waatea interview also moved beyond housing and into the increasingly heated political debate surrounding Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
Asked whether he continues to stand behind the Prime Minister, Potaka said he does.
Luxon has faced renewed scrutiny over his leadership as the Government heads towards the November election.
For Potaka, a senior Māori minister within National, that support puts him firmly behind the party leader as the election campaign intensifies.
NO COMMENT ON MMP
But when Waatea raised Luxon’s push for a referendum on MMP, Potaka declined to comment.
The Prime Minister’s position has opened another significant political debate over New Zealand’s electoral system.
For Māori, any discussion about changing MMP carries particular significance.
Since its introduction in 1996, MMP has contributed to a more diverse Parliament and created greater opportunities for smaller parties, including Māori political movements, to gain representation and influence.
That makes any proposal to reconsider the system a potentially major issue for Māori voters heading into Election 2026.
Potaka’s decision not to enter that debate leaves the Prime Minister carrying the argument for now.
THE TEST IS WHAT HAPPENS TO WHĀNAU
Housing, however, remains the immediate challenge.
Government ministers can point to fewer families in emergency motels, new social housing investment and planning reforms for papakāinga.
Critics can point to increasing emergency housing rejection rates, persistent homelessness, severe housing deprivation and the removal of dedicated Māori housing funding.
Both sets of numbers can exist at the same time.
The real test is what is happening to whānau after they leave the statistics.
Are they moving into secure homes?
Are Māori providers building enough houses?
Can whānau develop their whenua?
And are tamariki moving from emergency accommodation into stable housing — or simply into another form of insecurity?
For Tama Potaka and the Government, those questions will follow them into Election 2026.
Because ultimately, success in Māori housing will not be measured by how many people disappear from an emergency housing register.
It will be measured by how many whānau finally have a secure place to call home.
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