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 231 - 240 of 270 events.
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Māori-led approaches to family violence
In April 2008, at a national summit hosted by Tainui and opened by King Tuheitia and held at Hopuhopu marae, Māori leaders in attendance proposed new strengths-based and Māori-led approaches to Māori family violence, resulting in the E Tu Whānau initiative…
Date: 2008 Period: 1990-current -
‘Future Focus’ welfare reforms
The fifth National Government-led coalition embarked on an ambitious programme of welfare reform – the largest such programme since major cuts to welfare benefit rates in the early 1990s. The first phase was the Future Focus initiative. From late September…
Date: 2010 Period: 1990-current -
Tamariki in state care
The number of Māori children in care rose from 54.7% in June 2013 to 61.2% of children in care in 2017. The Pākehā proportion of children in care over the same period reduced from 33.2% to 26%.[i] Between 2015 and 2018, the total number of newborn babies (…
Date: 2010 Period: 1990-current -
Taskforce on Whānau-centred Initiatives
MSD provided administrative support to the Whānau Ora taskforce set up in 2009 to address concerns about health and social service providers being too slow and focused on individuals rather than whānau wellbeing and capabilities. The Taskforce reported to …
Date: 2010 Period: 1990-current -
Welfare Working Group (WWG) established
Introduced by the National Government, the WWG, in its final report, summarised its recommendations as: ‘a plan for a large scale and comprehensive reform of the welfare system to reduce long-term welfare dependency.’ Two key elements were the introduction…
Date: 2010 Period: 1990-current -
Whānau Ora policy
Whānau Ora – an interagency approach to providing services and opportunities to all New Zealand families in need –was also about the transformation of whānau (with whānau setting their own direction). It was driven by a focus on outcomes that whānau would …
Date: 2010 Period: 1990-current -
Christchurch earthquake
A major earthquake strikes Christchurch and surrounding areas. Ngāi Tahu becomes a statutory partner with Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA). Ngai Tahu and Ngā Mātā Waka from across the country established the Māori Recovery Network reaching o…
Date: 2011 Period: 1990-current -
Investment approach announced
In November 2011 the government announced that a long-term fiscal liability focus, or ‘investment approach’, would underpin its future welfare reform programme.[i]
Date: 2011 Period: 1990-current -
Ko Aotearoa Tēnei released
The Waitangi Tribunal released the Wai 262 report: Ko Aotearoa Tēnei. It recommended ‘wide-ranging reforms to laws and policies affecting Māori culture and identity and [called] for the Crown-Māori relationship to move beyond grievance to a new era based o…
Date: 2011 Period: 1990-current -
Te Hiku o Te Ika Iwi signed
The Crown Social Development and Wellbeing Accord entailed Te Hiku Iwi and the Crown working in partnership towards the cultural, social and economic prosperity of the communities, whānau, hapū and iwi of Te Hiku. The Ministry of Social Development was one…
Date: 2013 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.