Chronology for 1990-current
Kei hea te rito? Bi-culturalising welfare
Multiple waves of welfare reform occur throughout this period in line with changing government leaders and governments. Between November 1990 and 1999 the National Government welfare reforms were made under Ruth Richardson. Economic and Social Initiative (ESI) outlines proposed social and employment policy changes ‘(Jim Bolger, Ruth Richardson and Bill Birch were the authors)’. This led to the Employment Contracts Act 1991, and eligibility and benefit cuts to increase work incentives, work testing and means testing family benefit via new ‘Family Support’ payments.[i] go to footnote
‘Māori welfare dependency rose while incomes decreased to such an extent that in 1990 the average income of Māori households languished at about 20 percent below the average income for New Zealand households as a whole’.[ii] go to footnote The rate of Māori unemployment continued to climb, reaching 25.4 percent of the total Māori workforce in 1992.’[iii] go to footnote By the end of this period the wellbeing of Māori children remained a dominating issue. In July 2020, there were 4,179 tamariki Māori in state care, representing 69 percent of the total care population. By 31 December 2020, Māori comprised 75 percent of the children and young people currently in the Youth Justice custody of the chief executive. This compared to the nine percent in custody who identified as New Zealand European or other.[iv] go to footnote
Between 1999 and 2008 the Fifth Labour Government placed some emphasis on addressing inequalities and family development. A further round of benefit cuts and beneficiary obligations followed with the National Government 2011–2017. This National Government also focused on more targeted spending through adopting a Social Investment approach.
Iwi Māori sought greater control over their welfare. It was a period of growth of post-settlement agreements or accords, where largely settled iwi were engaged in long-term work with different government departments focusing on a range of cultural, social, economic and environmental outcomes for their people.
Chronology events
Displaying 21 - 30 of 270 events.
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Māori Representation Act
Māori acquired four seats in the House of Representatives.
Date: 1867 Period: 1835-1899 -
Native Schools Act
Native Schools Act 1867 provided subsidies for rural Māori communities that offered land for a school site and contributed to the teachers’ salaries. This was a parsimonious measure, paid for partly by withdrawal or diminution of government contributions t…
Date: 1867 Period: 1835-1899 -
Neglected and Criminal Children Act
Authorised residential institutions which formed the basis of government social services for children in 19th century New Zealand.[i] Enabled Provincial Councils to establish ‘industrial schools’ to which the courts could commit neglected, indigent or deli…
Date: 1867 Period: 1835-1899 -
Earliest records of special courts for children
Until the early 1900s children committed to state care in New Zealand passed through the regular adult court system, normally the magistrate’s court.[i]
Date: 1870 Period: 1835-1899 -
Treaty of Waitangi rights judged a legal nullity
by Chief Justice Prendergast.
Date: 1877 Period: 1835-1899 -
Jurisdiction over industrial schools
This change of jurisdiction from the Department of Justice to the Department of Education signalled a shift from residential schools as primarily punitive institutions to more reformative institutions. [i]
Date: 1880 Period: 1835-1899 -
Native Succession Act
Māori women’s property rights took a step backwards in 1881 when the Native Succession Act created the potential to discriminate against Māori women’s property rights under customary marriage.[i]
Date: 1881 Period: 1835-1899 -
Infants Guardianship and Contracts Act
Legislation was mainly concerned with the welfare of the child from 1887. The Infants Guardianship and Contracts Act 1887 listed three factors judges were to consider when awarding custody: 1. welfare of the child; 2. parents’ behaviour; 3. parents’ wishes…
Date: 1887 Period: 1835-1899 -
Developments in welfare and income provision
This decade saw the enactments of women’s suffrage, labour legislation, and old-age pensions.[i] Hospitals existed as a charitable aid system and pensions were available for the aged and widowed, alongside existing provision by religious and other voluntar…
Date: 1890 Period: 1835-1899 -
Māori Parliament established
Establishment of Kotahitanga o Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Meri Te Tai Mangakahia campaigned for women’s suffrage. The first woman to address the Kotahitanga Parliament (in May 1893), she noted that Māori women were landowners, and entitled to political represen…
Date: 1892 Period: 1835-1899
Footnotes
- [i] go to main content Ben Loughrey-Webb, ‘The Welfare Reforms of the Fourth (1990-99) and Fifth (2008-2014) National Governments: A Critical Analysis and Evaluation’, MA Thesis, University of Otago, 2015, pp. 63-8.
- [ii] go to main content Atholl Anderson, Judith Binney, Aroha Harris, Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History, Bridget Williams Books, Wellington, 2014, p. 426.
- [iii] go to main content Tangata Whenua, p. 426.
- [iv] go to main content For this and further examples, see: He Pāharakeke, he Rito Whakakīkinga Whāruarua (justice.govt.nz)