Māori housing leaders are looking beyond Aotearoa for new ways to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing whānau, with Te Matapihi leading a delegation to India to explore affordable construction, new technology, sustainable housing and international partnerships that could help build more Māori homes.
Te Matapihi Chief Executive Ali Hamlin-Paenga has led the Māori housing delegation as part of a strategic visit to India running from 26 August to 6 September.
The national Māori housing body says the kaupapa is about identifying global best practice and building relationships capable of translating innovation overseas into practical housing outcomes back home.
Te Matapihi describes itself as the independent voice of the Māori housing sector, advocating for Māori housing policy and working across government, providers and communities to address the Māori housing crisis.
For Hamlin-Paenga, who whakapapa to Te Aitanga ā Māhaki and Ngāti Kahungunu, the visit represents an opportunity to look at what one of the world’s largest and fastest-developing nations can teach Aotearoa about building homes at scale.
India offers a different housing laboratory
India faces housing challenges on a scale vastly greater than New Zealand, but that scale has also driven investment and innovation in construction, infrastructure, digital technology and urban development.
During the visit, the delegation has been examining affordable housing, sustainable construction materials, scalable building technologies, climate resilience and infrastructure.
Discussions have also extended into water and waste management, smart-community technology, artificial intelligence in housing design and digital service delivery.
For Māori communities facing high construction costs, difficult development economics and the challenges of building on collectively owned whenua, the attraction is obvious.
The question is not simply whether India can build differently.
It is whether some of those ideas can be adapted to a Māori context while preserving tikanga, whakapapa, whenua relationships and the aspirations of whānau.
A Māori housing crisis needs more than one solution
Te Matapihi’s international push comes against a much bigger challenge at home.
Māori housing is not simply an issue of supply.
For Te Matapihi, a Māori housing system is connected to wai, kai, whānau, whenua and whakapapa. Its approach recognises that kāinga needs to accommodate cultural relationships, multigenerational living and connections with marae, kōhanga reo, kura and wider community infrastructure.
That makes the challenge different from simply producing the greatest possible number of standard houses.
A solution that works for a large urban development overseas may need significant adaptation before it can work for papakāinga on whenua Māori.
But new materials, modular construction, prefabrication, digital planning and lower-cost building systems could potentially address some of the practical barriers Māori housing providers encounter.
From university laboratories to papakāinga
One of the delegation’s significant engagements has been with Osmania University in Hyderabad, where discussions explored potential partnerships in housing research, sustainable construction and urban development.
The delegation examined the university’s work in sustainable materials and scalable construction technology and discussed possible joint research, technology-based pilot programmes and formal institutional partnerships.
That could be particularly significant if the relationship moves beyond a study tour.
Rather than simply importing a finished Indian housing product, collaboration could allow Māori housing organisations and researchers to examine which technologies can be adapted to New Zealand’s regulatory, climatic and cultural environment.
The discussions also considered student and research exchanges and opportunities to strengthen technical and leadership capability among rangatahi.
That potentially turns housing into an economic-development opportunity as well.
If Māori organisations can build capability around emerging construction methods, engineering, digital design and sustainable materials, the benefits could extend beyond individual housing projects into Māori employment, skills and enterprise.
Technology could change how homes are delivered
Housing construction in Aotearoa remains expensive.
For Māori organisations, costs can be compounded by infrastructure requirements, financing barriers, consenting, fragmented land ownership and the complexity of developing whenua Māori.
International technology will not make those barriers disappear.
But the India mission suggests Te Matapihi is looking at whether innovation can reduce some of the pressure.
Scalable construction systems can potentially shorten build times.
Alternative materials may reduce costs or improve environmental performance.
Digital planning tools can make design and project management more efficient.
Artificial intelligence could increasingly assist with design optimisation, modelling, infrastructure planning and resource use.
And smart-community technology could eventually influence how larger papakāinga developments manage energy, water and other infrastructure.
The challenge will be ensuring technology serves Māori housing aspirations rather than forcing Māori communities to reshape themselves around technology.
Climate resilience becoming part of the housing equation
Climate resilience has also featured prominently in discussions in India.
That has particular relevance for Māori.
Many marae, papakāinga and Māori communities are located in coastal, rural or river environments increasingly exposed to flooding, erosion, storms and other climate hazards.
Housing built today may need to serve several generations.
That means decisions about location, materials, water systems, energy, infrastructure and resilience have implications extending decades into the future.
Indian experience with heat, extreme rainfall, population density and infrastructure pressure may not translate directly to Aotearoa, but it provides another source of ideas for designing communities capable of adapting to a changing climate.
Housing diplomacy opens another door
The delegation has also become about more than construction.
Hamlin-Paenga’s public reflections on the mission point to a wider agenda involving Māori leadership, enterprise, education, culture and innovation, alongside strengthening relationships between Aotearoa and India.
Former Foreign Affairs Minister and current Te Matapihi deputy chair Nanaia Mahuta has also participated in the wider delegation, alongside Te Matapihi chair Jordon Robertson and other Māori and Pacific leaders.
That gives the mission an economic-development dimension.
Housing represents an enormous global industry encompassing construction, architecture, manufacturing, technology, infrastructure, finance and research.
For Māori, international relationships in those areas could potentially create opportunities not just to purchase technology, but to develop Māori businesses, research partnerships and intellectual capability.
The test comes when everyone gets home
International delegations can produce impressive photographs, meetings and memoranda.
The harder test is what happens afterwards.
Te Matapihi and its Indian counterparts have already identified possible pathways including formal university relationships, collaborative research and technology-based pilot programmes.
Turning those possibilities into actual homes will require considerably more work.
Any imported construction technology would need to satisfy New Zealand building standards and regulations.
Costs would need to stack up after shipping, manufacturing, licensing and local adaptation.
Solutions would need to work with whenua Māori ownership structures.
And most importantly, Māori communities themselves would need to determine whether the technology meets their aspirations.
But Te Matapihi’s approach represents something significant.
Instead of accepting that New Zealand’s existing housing system is the only system Māori can work within, it is searching internationally for alternatives.
Housing by Māori, for Māori
The wider policy challenge remains substantial.
The Government itself acknowledges critical gaps exist for whānau Māori within the housing system and that Māori need to be placed at the centre of approaches intended to improve Māori housing outcomes.
The India delegation asks what comes next.
If another country has developed a cheaper construction method, can Māori use it?
If universities have developed better sustainable materials, can they be tested here?
If digital technology can reduce costs or speed up development, can Māori providers access it?
If international partnerships can unlock investment, skills and expertise, can those relationships ultimately help put more whānau into secure homes?
For Ali Hamlin-Paenga and Te Matapihi, the journey to India is therefore not simply about looking at houses.
It is about looking for new tools Māori can bring home and place in Māori hands.
Because the success of the mission will not ultimately be measured by how many meetings were held in India.
It will be measured by whether the relationships, technology and ideas brought back to Aotearoa eventually become warm, affordable and enduring kāinga for whānau Māori.
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