A high-powered conference in Rotorua aims to 'change the narrative” on Māori housing, with particular urgency in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle.

Around 400 tangata whenua, Cabinet ministers, MPs, government officials and representatives from regional, community and the private sector will come together for the three-day think tank, which begins on Wednesday, March 29.

The event will be the seventh biennial National Māori Housing Conference, and will focus on what Māori housing success looks like in the post-Covid and post-cyclone world, says Lauren James of Ngāti Whakaue, who co-chairs the conference organising committee.

'Our intention organising this wānanga was to canvas the housing continuum as broadly and deeply as possible – to achieve a balance of focus that covers Papakāinga solutions, affordable rental and home ownership, homelessness, climate change, economics, Treaty and human rights, construction, and innovation through to what our next-gen rangatahi are saying about housing security in fresh research,” says Lauren.

Students from five south Auckland schools will be contributing to the The Forever House Project, a partnership between the Ara Education Charitable Trust, Stuff and others. Photo: Abigail Dougherty and Ricky Wilson/Stuff.

Lauren says mātauranga Māori knowledge brings unique insight to the national housing crisis.

'It uses our practices and principles that have been passed down from generation to generation,” she says.

'Examples like understanding the environment we are building in based on historical iwi knowledge and what can be built where, applying Māori design in our housing forms and seeing Māori design in the housing design.”

Māori have been disproportionately affected by negative housing outcomes, and three years ago the United Nations called New Zealand's housing crisis 'a significant human rights crisis”.

'We know that [the housing] crisis impacts Māori more than others,” says Wayne Knox, general manager of Te Matapihi, the peak body for Māori housing providers.

Wayne is also a member of the conference committee.

'On top of that we've got a major recovery from the rest of the flooding. It's going to have a massive impact not just on housing but well-being, the economy and all of that. At the same time, we're in recovery mode from Covid. It's a cascading crisis, one thing after the other.”

The Government's Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga programme aims to address housing inequities faced by Māori, investing $730 million over 4 years to accelerate Māori housing delivery.

'We're seeing tangible progress now of integrated projects happening across the motu – it's a force for social change,” says Wayne.

Wayne Knox is the general manager of Te Matapihi, and a member of the conference committee. Photo: Supplied.

'There's been enough trust to look at doing things differently and now we're starting to see the results and benefits of that. There are Māori-led and strong kaupapa Māori pathways which is absolutely the right direction that we need to take to deal with the housing crisis while recovering from the flooding.”

The hui will feature presentations by various rangatira of the Te Arawa confederation in the Bay of Plenty, Ngarimu Blair of Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei, Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader Rawiri Waititi , Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt, Economist Shamubeel Eaqub, advocate Pania Newton, welfare expert Dr Huhana Hickey, and Waitangi Tribunal legal counsel Annette Sykes, among others.

The event will include practical example of success stories; on day one, after the pōwhiri at Te Papaiouru Marae, delegate will get on the tools with a site visit to a trade academy at Rotorua Boys' High School that upskills senior students building new housing stock for relocation by Kāinga Ora.

They'll also stand on the whenua to learn about housing developments on the tribal lands of Ngāti Uenukukōpako and Ngāti Whakaue, which take a holistic approach to building communities, rather than just housing.

'We hope those attending will come away with some real gems that they can put into practice in the areas that they live and deliver services in,” says Lauren.

The National Māori Housing Conference will be held at the Energy Events Centre in Rotorua.

Stuff