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 191 - 200 of 270 events.
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Placement targets for the long-term unemployed
The New Zealand Employment Service was required to place 40,000 job seekers registered for 26 weeks or more, within its overall target of 90,000 placements. The Service was also required to improve its placement results for women, Māori, Pacific Islanders …
Date: 1990 Period: 1990-current -
Fourth National Government welfare reforms
The National Government cut welfare benefits and removed the universal family benefit entirely with Ruth Richardson’s ‘mother of all budgets’.[i] Jenny Shipley criticised welfare system dependency and benefits as a poverty trap and pushed a modest ‘safety …
Date: 1991 Period: 1990-current -
Ka Awatea report
Winston Peters, National MP, releases Ka Awatea which recommended the abolition of the Iwi Transition Agency and Manatū Māori, replacing them with a new Ministry of Māori Development, Te Puni Kōkiri (TPK).[i] This new agency was to have a strong regional p…
Date: 1991 Period: 1990-current -
NZ Census of Population and Dwellings includes ‘Iwi’
The first national census since 1901 to include iwi.[i]
Date: 1991 Period: 1990-current -
Te Whānau o Waipareira Trust
The Trust moved from providing services based on ‘goodwill and voluntary labour of [the] Māori community’ to funded services under the name Te Whānau o Waipareira Social Services. This development arose from a two-year contract with DSW to provide a homebu…
Date: 1991 Period: 1990-current -
DSW split into three business units
Government welfare reforms separated the Department of Social Welfare into three standalone units. The New Zealand Community Funding Agency was established as one of the key ‘operating businesses’ of the Department of Social Welfare and helped ensure that…
Date: 1992 Period: 1990-current -
Establishment of Te Puni Kōkiri
Te Puni Kōkiri, Ministry of Māori Development, replaced Manatū Māori as well as the Iwi Transition Agency. Both agencies had replaced the Department of Māori Affairs. Part of the role of the new Ministry was to monitor other government departments for deli…
Date: 1992 Period: 1990-current -
Additional social welfare reforms
Release of DSW’s Briefing to the Incoming Minister, published in 1993, raised concerns about increasing number of sole parents, and long-term unemployment following the passage of Employment Contracts Act. The fourth National Government's Prime Ministerial…
Date: 1993 Period: 1990-current -
From Welfare to Well-Being
Department of Social Welfare, From Welfare to Well-Being (Wellington: Department of Social Welfare, 1994) introduced the idea of reciprocal obligations.[i] Introduction of case managers to address barriers individuals face returning to work. Sole Parent …
Date: 1994 Period: 1990-current -
Māori Development Conference - Hui Whakapumau
A two-day meeting of Māori who gathered to review the Decade of Māori Development 1984–94, and to focus on issues which needed to be addressed if ‘self-determination and social justice were to prevail’. Hui called for a shift in focus from iwi development …
Date: 1994 Period: 1990-current
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.