Chronology for 1835-1899
The colonial redistribution of welfare: Dismantling hapū ora
This period opens with a politically and socio-economically robust iwi Māori population of around 80,000 people.[i] go to footnote Whenua and whakapapa form the basis of hapū and whānau wellbeing. W.H. Oliver argues that the first instrument of social policy in New Zealand was the system set up by Hobson in 1840 for the purchase and resale to settlers of Māori land.[ii] go to footnote Pākehā welfare was dependent on the continued dispossession of Māori land.[iii]go to footnote
The New Zealand Wars (1845–1872) either directly or indirectly impacted all iwi Māori throughout New Zealand.[iv] go to footnote Related legislative measures enabled the Crown to alienate Māori land and taonga across the motu prior to and beyond the next century via confiscation, land tenure reforms, local legislative measures and contested land purchases.
Iwi Māori assertions of rangatiratanga and resistance to the alienation of lands occurred across the motu, either physically, through the courts, via direct petitioning to the government or through the simple occupation of lands. Such measures led to some government concessions, such as the Sims Commission and South Island Landless Natives Act 1906,[v] go to footnote but after 1872 resistance also sometimes led to the government’s use of force in the later 19th century and well into the 20th century. (eg, Parihaka in 1881, Waima in 1898, Takaparawhāu in 1978).[vi] go to footnote
By the end of the 19th century Māori were a minority of the national. In 1896 the Māori population hit an all-time low of 42,650, compared to a Pākehā population of just over 700,000. Although the Māori population was recovering, their communities were reeling from land alienation, decline of resources, indebtedness, diseases and Māori communities survived on subsistence economies, with a growing dependence on paid work.
Māori were either excluded or faced barriers to accessing welfare support introduced during this period.
Chronology events
Displaying 161 - 170 of 270 events.
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Remote Area Policy
Provision was made in policy guidelines to refuse to grant or cancel an Unemployment Benefit when a person has deliberately and without good reason moved to a locality where there is no work available either with the intention of living on the benefit in a…
Date: 1982 Period: 1972-1989 -
Maatua Whāngai programme
The programme was established to centralise whānau, hapū and iwi in all welfare work. It aimed to keep Māori young people and children among their whānau or hapū and out of government institutions.[i] The programme was founded on the Tu Tangata principle o…
Date: 1983 Period: 1972-1989 -
Race Relations Conciliator’s report on youth and law
Report argued the inadequacy of representation for Māori and general appropriateness of the court system for Māori.[i]
Date: 1983 Period: 1972-1989 -
DSW accused of racism
The Women’s Anti-Racism Action Group (WARAG) accused the Department of Social Welfare of practising institutional racism in that the framework of the Department (staffing, training, legislation and policies) reflected a relentlessly Pākehā view of society …
Date: 1984 Period: 1972-1989 -
Fourth Labour Government elected July 1984
The fourth Labour Government in power from 1984 to 1990. Minister of Finance, Roger Douglas, introduces neoliberal economic reforms between 1984 and 1988. Known as Rogernomics, ‘the government removed a swathe of regulations and subsidies, privatised state…
Date: 1984 Period: 1972-1989 -
Hui Taumata
Hui Taumata (Māori Economic Development Conference), convened by Koro Wētere, was held at Parliament and spanned three days. Leaders asked the government to grant more authority which led to greater awareness amongst government departments of Māori concern…
Date: 1984 Period: 1972-1989 -
Unemployment Benefit: Remote area policy clarified
It was accepted that a person had a good reason for relocating to a remote area (and could therefore continue to be eligible for the Unemployment Benefit) if they had previous connections with the area or previous lengthy residence. This included Māori ret…
Date: 1984 Period: 1972-1989 -
A Māori Perspective for DSW
A Ministerial Advisory Committee, chaired by John Te Rangi-Aniwaniwa Rangihau, was established to: ‘advise the Minister of Social Welfare on the most appropriate means to achieve the goal of an approach which would meet the needs of Māori in policy, planni…
Date: 1985 Period: 1972-1989 -
Maatua Whāngai review
The review revealed problems arising from hasty implementation and the lack of a whakapapa-based concept of community.[i]
Date: 1985 Period: 1972-1989 -
Mana Enterprises Scheme initiated
Funds allocated by the Department of Māori to facilitate the entry of Māori into business through Māori authorities, usually tribal but also urban.
Date: 1985 Period: 1972-1989
Footnotes
- [i] go to main content ‘The first Māori census was attempted in 1857–58’. Atholl Anderson, Judith Binney, Aroha Harris, Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History, Bridget Williams Books, Wellington, 2014, p. 246. Earlier censuses were taken during the 1840s, however these were particular to regions and settlements and from there estimates were made by missionaries and colonists as to what the national population level might have been. Salmond and other prominent authors are sceptical of these figures and believe the numbers were greater. A census of Māori was attempted in 1867 but warfare prevented its completion. Tangata Whenua, Appendix One, p. 490.
- [ii] go to main content Cited in Margaret Tennant, Past Judgement: Social Policy in New Zealand History, co-edited with Bronwyn Dalley, 2004, p. 17.; ‘The April report: report of the Royal Commission on Social Policy’, Volume 1: New Zealand Today, New Zealand Royal Commission on Social Policy, Wellington, 1988, pp. 4–5.
- [iii] go to main content Tennant, 2004, p. 41.
- [iv] go to main content For more detailed information see the following link: https://teara.govt.nz/en/new-zealand-wars
- [v] go to main content For more information see: Atholl Anderson, Judith Binney, Aroha Harris, Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History, Bridget Williams Books, Wellington, 2014, pp. 256–301, and https://teara.govt.nz/en/new-zealand-wars
- [vi] go to main content Tangata Whenua, pp.322-3.