Chronology for 1938-1971
Assimilating into universal welfare
Labour’s policies were underpinned by a principle of universality and a vision of the nation as a classless community. Rich, middle-class and poor were linked by the same national system of state support and social services; superannuation, however small, was to be available to every aged person who was not already on another benefit and was an important symbol of citizenship. The ‘system as a whole was removed from ‘the taint of charity’ and became a source of national pride’.[i] go to footnote
This was a period of great demographic change for iwi Māori with the mass migration of its rural population to the cities of New Zealand. The need for workers in essential industries and the post-war labour boom provided rangatahi and whānau Māori with ample employment, 'incomes that were almost equal to those of Pākehā, and access to family welfare benefits that boosted the incomes of large families by around 50 percent.'[ii] go to footnote However, the financial rewards were offset by one or both parents working long hours to cover the costs of city living and it exposed Māori to discrimination. The Department of Māori Affairs played a welfare role in the lives of whānau Māori during this period, with a policy of integrating Māori into the social fabric of ‘mainstream’ New Zealand society. Through housing allocation policies attempts were made to pepper pot Māori in Pākehā suburban streets.[iii] go to footnote Young Māori women who moved to the cities for essential industry work or single rangatahi simply moving to the city for work opportunities were directed into hostels.
Before the 1950s, child welfare agencies endeavoured to keep Māori children with their families or in their own tribal area.[iv] go to footnote In the 1950s, Māori became a disproportionate minority in all areas of child welfare work with a steady growth in Māori juvenile delinquency with recorded Māori offending at three or four times the rate of Pākehā, particularly in the 15–20 age.[v] go to footnote
Chronology events
Displaying 41 - 50 of 270 events.
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Tohunga Suppression Act
Prohibited traditional Māori healing practices.[i]
Date: 1907 Period: 1900-1937 -
Native Land Act
This Act prohibited customary whāngai practices. Instead, formal adoptions needed to be legally registered through the Native Land Court.[i]
Date: 1909 Period: 1900-1937 -
Pensions Act
This Act consolidated statutes relating to old age, widows, and military pensions. The Act did not apply to Māori who were receiving money appropriated for Native purposes under the Civil List Act 1908. Application required an applicant’s age to be corrobo…
Date: 1913 Period: 1900-1937 -
Māori contingent leave for war
Te Hokowhitu a Tū: Altogether 2,227 men served overseas. Three hundred and thirty-six Māori men (15 percent) who served in the war, on Gallipoli Peninsula or the Western Front, were killed. Of those who returned, nearly 40 percent had been wounded.[i]
Date: 1915 Period: 1900-1937 -
Māori Soldiers Fund
Lady Liverpool with Miria Woodbine Pomare formed a Māori Soldiers Fund which drew upon the resources of 28 Māori women’s committees across the country.[i]
Date: 1915 Period: 1900-1937 -
Military Services Act
The Military Services Act 1916 introduced conscription. Initially conscription applied only to Pākehā, but in June 1917 it was extended to Māori. Nearly 30,000 conscripts had joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force by the end of the war. New forms of pe…
Date: 1916 Period: 1900-1937 -
Eastern Māori Patriotic Association established
Set up by Āpirana Ngata to raise funds for Māori returned servicemen, because of the doubt that the Government would act fairly in providing land for rehabilitation.[i]
Date: 1917 Period: 1900-1937 -
Influenza epidemic
The official figures released at the time grossly underestimated Māori suffering; their death rate was seven times higher than for Pākehā. It is now thought that more than 2,100 Māori died in the epidemic.[i]
Date: 1918 Period: 1900-1937 -
The Epidemic Allowance (Epidemic Pension)
The Epidemic Allowance (Epidemic Pension) was introduced as an immediate response to the sudden deaths during the influenza epidemic of 1918. The Allowance provided for widows whose husbands had died in the epidemic and for the support of children of widow…
Date: 1918 Period: 1900-1937 -
Housing Act
Introduced due to a housing shortage that had become acute with the return of soldiers, a scarcity of labour and a rise in the cost of building materials. The Scheme operated for only three years during which time 800 houses were built.[i]
Date: 1919 Period: 1900-1937
Footnotes
- [i] go to main content Tim Garlick, Social Developments: An organizational history of the Ministry of Social Development and its predecessors, 1860-2011, Steele Roberts Aotearoa, Wellington, 2012, p.70.
- [ii] go to main content Melissa Matutina Williams, Panguru and the City, Bridget Williams Books, Wellington, 2010, p. 195.
- [iii] go to main content Urbanisation – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand
- [iv] go to main content Bronwyn Dalley, Family Matters, Wellington, 1998, p. 6.
- [v] go to main content Dalley, 1998, p. 192.