Human Rights Commission

Te Puni Kōkiri (the Ministry for Māori Development) lead Māori Public Policy and advise on policy affecting Māori wellbeing. Te Puni Kōkiri are the principal advisor on Government-Māori relationships.

Te Puni Kōkiri’s aim is for Māori to enjoy a better quality of life – Māori succeeding as Māori, achieving a sustainable level of success as individuals, in organisations and in collectives. Te Puni Kōkiri build and maintain close and interactive connections with Māori through their network of regional offices, cultivate information and knowledge, and represent the many dimensions of contemporary Māori culture.

Projects 2011

Whānau Ora

Whānau Ora is a new initiative of Government developed from a Māori world view and philosophy with a single overarching aim of best outcomes for whānau. Its meaning is best described as attaining and maintaining wellness, health and resilience. Services funded through Whānau Ora will benefit Māori, but are not limited to Māori and will support the aspiration of all New Zealanders to become more self managing to enable them to take responsibility for their economic, cultural and social development. Te Puni Kōkiri will have a lead role in the implementation of Whānau Ora on behalf of Government that will impact on other agencies that fund service delivery.

Māori Language

Te Puni Kōkiri will have a lead role in conjunction with the Ministry of Education to undertake a comprehensive review of Māori language activity and funding across Government agencies culminating in the development of a revised Māori Language Strategy and progressing the decisions that arise from that.

Māori Economic Development

Increased effort is required to ensure the appropriate policy settings are in place in support of the Māori economic development initiatives that the Minister of Māori Affairs is pursuing through the Ministerial Economic Taskforce. Te Puni Kōkiri will provide high quality second opinion policy advice concerning the impact on Māori as a result of the Government’s wider economic growth agenda; dairy, forestry, aquaculture/seafood, mining resource management, taxation system, and the recent decision to establish a New Zealand Productivity Commission.

Te Puni Kōkiri’s research suggests there is a significant untapped potential within the Māori tourism sector so more effort will be required to raise the quality of Māori tourism experiences and the capability of Māori tourism operators.

Increased Māori participation in New Zealand’s economic system, through for example, Treaty settlements adding the the Māori asset base, has meant many iwi and Māori entities now want to identify the opportunities for innovation and science to unlock the potential value in the Māori asset base.

There will also be a partial change in emphasis on the Māori Business Facilitation Service (MBFS) to support Māori business ‘readiness’ for export and greater focus on the Māori tourism sector. Currently, the MBFS caters to small to medium Māori business start-ups.

The Māori Potential Fund will have a growing emphasis on investments in skills and training, innovation and science. The Fund enables outcomes-base investments in Māori initiatives that better position Māori to build and leverage off their collective resources, knowledge, skills and leadership capability to improve their overall quality of life.

Marine and Coastal Bill

The new Marine and Coastal regime may require advice from Te Puni Kōkiri on resource requirements, negotiations with iwi, and/or on-going local level engagement regarding customary interests, regulatory matters, and decision making.

Constitutional review and reform

Te Puni Kōkiri, in conjunction with the Ministry of Justice, will play a lead role in constitutional review and reform. Te Puni Kōkiri is likely to be required to provide an on-going facilitation and brokerage role and policy advice. The extent of work required will be largely dependent on the agreed terms of reference and level of wider engagement required.

Treaty Settlements

Te Puni Kōkiri anticipates it will be required to provide more facilitation, and a review of resource is likely to be needed, as the pace of Treaty settlements increase to meet the Government’s aim of completing the settlement of historical Treaty claims by 2014.

Māori Wardens

The Māori Wardens Project is a Government initiative to build the capacity and capability of Māori Wardens with a particular focus on youth, safer communities and community reassurance. The service is voluntary and can be seen at a number of community events, providing security, traffic control, crown control, first aid and confidence for the public.