Hardship and Hope

Loss of land is at the root of Māori poverty, health, education and imprisonment data. But fresh efforts are enabling whānau to build homes and security on collectively owned land. In inland Hawkes Bay, two former meat workers have led the development of a new papākainga, a modern version of an ancient way of living in which every resident is connected by whakapapa to the earth beneath their feet.

In east Porirua, the 120-year-old kindergarten movement has become a hub for innovative community-building and support for struggling whānau. “This is not about saving the poor kids,” says Whānau Manaaki CEO Mandy Coulston. “This is about nation-building. They don’t need to be saved. They are highly competent, amazing people. There might be shit going on, and so you support them.”

The paediatric ward at Hawkes Bay Hospital is full of kids with avoidable respiratory and skin diseases: they’re canaries in the coal mine of a broken and impoverished housing system. Four years ago, Hastings’ mayor declared it a crisis. A “coalition of the willing”, including iwi, Māori social service providers, local and Crown agencies, came together to start building their way out of a severe housing deficit that’s been decades in the making.

Our failure to improve the lot of disadvantaged families costs us all. A new report calls for increased accountability for officials and more trust in frontline initiatives that work.