Auckland iwi are keen to develop their own housing strategy for Māori living in Auckland says a Māori housing leader.
Photo: 123rf
The minister of housing, Phil Twyford, and the minister of Māori development, Nanaia Mahuta, have met with Māori housing providers, iwi leaders and community groups at the Auckland Māori Housing summit.
The summit was held for the first time today and it offered the chance to address issues affecting Māori living in Auckland, including housing development projects and rising homelessness.
Te Matapihi chairman, Rau Hoskins, says many iwi leaders supported the government developing a specific iwi housing strategy to deal with Māori housing issues in Auckland.
The current Māori housing strategy, Te Whare Ahuru He Oranga Tāngata, was released by Dame Tariana Turia in 2014.
"It was expressed by a number of Tāmaki iwi that iwi housing issues are unique and they're even more unique in the Tāmaki Makaurau area."
Mr Hoskins said another key area of conversation was how urban Māori would be effected by the government's KiwiBuild plan.
There was no specific numbers, he said, on how urban Māori would benefit from the 50,000 homes the government is planning to build in Auckland over the next ten years.
However, he's confident Māori would benefit from the policy.
"I think there's a reasonable expectation that in KiwiBuild that iwi and Māori will have a big part to play both in the design and the development of those projects but also the occupation of the dwellings."
Another Auckland Māori Housing Summit will be held in six months time, Mr Hoskins said.
"We think this is the beginning of a much longer conservation between Māori and iwi housing providers and the government."