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 81 - 90 of 270 events.
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A ‘needy families’ scheme began
This means tested scheme was a highly targeted form of poverty prevention. There was no publicity for the scheme and it could not be applied for. Families came into it via the Social Security Department, the State Advances Corporation, voluntary welfare gr…
Date: 1941 Period: 1938-1971 -
Autonomous Māori War Effort Organisation established
The Māori War Effort Organisation (MWEO) based on representative tribal leadership was established. Its initial function was to assist with recruiting, but the organisation expanded to the production and supply of food, investigation of Māori housing condi…
Date: 1942 Period: 1938-1971 -
Needy Families scheme
Almost 300 families with 1,730 children had been helped through the scheme. Aid was divided fairly evenly between rental subsidies, grants, and the provision of homes.[i]
Date: 1943 Period: 1938-1971 -
Fareham House opened
Fareham House was opened in August 1944, specifically for Māori girls to separate them from female Pākehā ‘sexual delinquents’ on whom they were thought to have detrimental effects. Kuini Te Tau was appointed to run Fareham House in the late 1950s and emph…
Date: 1944 Period: 1938-1971 -
Māori population
More than 500 Māori were working in essential industries during WW2.[i] The Māori population was 100,870 on 31 December 1944, with 19% of Māori living in urban areas.[ii]
Date: 1945 Period: 1938-1971 -
Māori Social and Economic Advancement Act
The Act[i] incorporated MWEO tribal and executive committees into the Native Affairs Department. Māori welfare officers appointed under the Act set up a network of committees and executives concerned with welfare and marae administration. The Act gave tri…
Date: 1945 Period: 1938-1971 -
The Social Security Amendment Act
Introduced universal family benefit. This brought almost every family into the social security system and receiving benefits became a common experience from rich to poor, multiplying the number of parents receiving the family benefit by five.[i] Like its p…
Date: 1945 Period: 1938-1971 -
Support through Needy Families scheme
More than 900 families and more than 5,000 children were helped through the scheme. Support includes: 296 rental subsidies and grants, another 68 rental subsidies, 342 grants for food, bedding or furniture and families moved into 382 homes.[i]
Date: 1946 Period: 1938-1971 -
Māori replaces Native in official usage
This change was legislated in the Maori Purposes Act 1947.
Date: 1947 Period: 1938-1971 -
Responsibility for the Needy Families scheme
The Child Welfare Branch of the Department of Education was responsible for giving practical assistance to large or needy families and was now solely responsible for the ‘Needy Families’ scheme.[i] Work included supervising children from the Pacific Island…
Date: 1948 Period: 1938-1971
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.