More must be done so younger Māori see themselves represented by Auckland leadership

Friday, 30 October 2020

Watch: Residents from the four corners of the supercity have their say on whether things are better or worse under Auckland Council. Video first published October 28 2010.

OPINION: From time to time I look out from Ōrakei Marae, which sits at the very centre of Tāmaki Makaurau above Okahu Bay on the shores of the Waitematā Harbour.

Our marae is the beating heart of my Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei people, and from its vantage point beside Takaparawhau (Bastion Point), the beauty of our harbours, the ancient and constant allure of the whenua of my people can be taken in and admired.

My thoughts often wonder on the future for our tamariki in these lands, where once we held complete domain.

More must be done to ensure Tāmaki Makaura’s younger Māori population see themselves represented not only across council, but across the bureaucracy and private sector, says Ngarimu Blair.

Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei uniquely have known connection to Tāmaki Makaurau from well before anyone could have imagined the churning super city that quickly and pervasively consumed almost all our lands, and pushed my people to its very margins.

Blair said Ōrakei Marae was the beating heart of his Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei people (File photo).

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Ten years, is a short time in the time frame of our eternal connection to the whenua at the very centre of the new Auckland super city. Nevertheless, when asked the question in 2020, and the year that it has been, 2010 seems a very long time ago.

Ngarimu Blair says one of the challenges for the city is to manage the constant growth and surge in population.

So long ago, that then-Act leader Rodney Hide was local government minister, which played a part in the new super city getting off to a concerning start for Māori, by rejecting the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance recommendations of two Māori members on the Auckland Council by voters on the Māori Electoral Roll, and the creation of a Mana Whenua Forum, appointed by Iwi of the wider region.

Today more than 207,000 Māori - almost a quarter of all Māori - live in Tāmaki Makaurau, 13 per cent of its population. In 2018, over half of the population was younger than 25, and a third were tamariki under 15 years of age.

The challenges for the city is to manage the constant growth and surge in population to ensure infrastructure and the ability to cope with the growth is better planned and funded. The intense pressure on roads, the air, the wai, on housing, has a pervasive and damaging impact on almost all who call Tāmaki Makaurau home.

For our younger Māori population more must be done to ensure they are able to see themselves represented not only across council, but across the bureaucracy and private sector throughout the leadership across Tāmaki Makaurau.

More must be done, alongside iwi and urban Māori entities, like Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei to ensure home ownership, and the greater connection to a community that ownership affords, is within the reach of more across the city, but especially for our people who are least likely to own a home, and are therefore more likely to feel the financial burden and drain that is renting today in Auckland city.

Education and training with real employment and small business outcomes for our growing young Māori population must be a focus – hope and feeling part of, and included in future planning are the key to helping ensure Māori more quickly move away from the margins, and are supported to climb above the negative social statistics that we too often endure.

Ngāti Whatua Ōrākei have been of these lands since before Auckland existed, we will always be here. We understand absolutely the importance of whenua, its constancy, while those who command above it may come and go.

We will continue to share the wisdom of our ancestors and our eternal connection with those who share our lands today and are willing to listen. It is knowledge and wisdom which seeks to protect and support us all and to put first the sustainability of our resources, so that there may be a legacy for our mokopuna yet to come.

As we embark on the next 10 years of this journey, refocused and united by the devastation and disruption of a pandemic and the impact that has had on us all, let us seek out that which unites us as we chart our path ahead.

Ngarimu Blair is the deputy chair of the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust, which administers the assets of Auckland’s largest iwi.