![Thumbnail: [No. 44 (September 1963) page 51]](/journals/teaohou/images/Mao44TeA/Mao44TeA051(t150).jpg)
N.Z. MAORI COUNCIL
SOME IMPORTANT ISSUES
Before this issue of ‘Te Ao Hou’ reaches you, the New Zealand Maori Council will have met again in Wellington to carry forward its work on behalf of the Maori people. At this stage the Council has to make haste slowly as its policy has to be worked out carefully and the District Councils, Executives and Maori Committees need time to think about the many problems involved.
Part of the settling down process is to decide what are the really important issues and to try to tackle these effectively. There are a great many small questions that could, if we were not careful, take up the full time of the Council. These, however, must be put on one side until the vital policy decisions have been made.
To help it make these decisions, the Council has adopted two procedures. First, surveys are being undertaken in some areas (beginning with the Ngarauru Maori Executive area) to get from the ordinary man and woman an outline of their main problems. Second, a special study group consisting of our Councillors, the Executive of the Maori Women's Welfare League, and some of the senior Welfare Officers, is to meet to talk about the problems facing the Maori people. We have heard from a great many well-wishers about what is wrong with the Maori. We are going to get our answer direct from Maoris themselves, and these answers, both from the people and from Maori experts, will help guide the Council in what it places first on its list of important matters to be dealt with.
Town and Country Planning
The last issue of ‘Te Ao Hou’ mentioned several matters which the Council is considering. One was the effect that the Town and Country Planning Act is having on rural housing for our people. At the moment we are waiting to see if there are to be any changes in this legislation, and if this should be so, we will be ready to put the Council's views forward for consideration by the Government Department concerned.
As another line of approach to this question, at least one District Council is making a detailed examination of the possibility of building more homes in a Maori community several miles from town but still close enough for residents to go in to work each day. The Department of Maori Affairs has not been keen about such schemes in the past, but we would like to know how much support for such proposals there would be from people who need new homes but who are not willing to move all the way into town. If you think that it is a good idea to build new Maori settlements a few miles from town you should ask your local Maori Committee to pass a remit supporting rural housing settlements.
Protection of Urupa and Historic Sites
As a result of attending a conference of Regional Committees of the National Historic Places Trust at Christchurch, where the Council was very ably represented by Joe Karetai, we have been drawn into further discussions on how historic pas and urupa may be better protected. Even where a pa is on private property it is possible for the owner to make it a Private Historic Reserve. This, and other possibilities, will be examined closely and more detailed proposals should result.
For the protection of urupa there may be a need to strengthen the law about interfering with human remains. This is also being looked into. There has been some difficulty, in at least one district, with curio hunters who show little respect for the dead. We hope that anyone
knowing of these activities will bring them to our notice immediately.
Maori News Broadcasts
The Council took up the question of changing the hour of the Maori News as many farmers find it impossible to hear it at 5.45 on a Sunday evening. The Broadcasting Corporation say that they are not able to make it any later and they believe that, because many people now carry transistor radios about with them, there will be few who cannot listen to the news at this time.
For those in the South Island the Corporation points out that 2YA should be heard everywhere without much difficulty. If you find that you cannot get any North Island station that broadcasts the Maori News, let us know so that we can take the matter up again.
Maori Committee Re-elections
In February next year all Maori (Tribal) Committees will be due for re-election. The regulations governing these elections have not yet been published, but we understand that they will be fairly simple and we hope that our people will be out in force to decide who should be on their local Committees. This will also decide who can be on the Executives, District Councils and New Zealand Council as all these people must first be elected to a Maori Committee.
We expect to see Maori Committees much more active than they have been in some cases in the past. Now that you have District Councils and a New Zealand Council there is nothing to stop every important matter being followed right through to the top. The Council is here to serve the people and the way to approach it is through your local Maori Committee, thence to the Executive, the District Council and finally the New Zealand Council.
It will usually not be possible for the New Zealand Council to deal with your complaints direct. They should come to this body through your District Council who may, in fact, be able to handle the matter themselves. When we ask for information from you, as we have in one or two places above, write to the Secretary, P.O. Box 5195, Wellington. Your letters will always be welcome.
