-
Related
Associate Minister of Maori Affairs John Tamihere is calling for Maori to start solving their own problems by using money to connect with and support urban Maori.
On Tuesday John Tamihere launched a research report on the well-being of Maori in larger urban areas, completed by the University of Auckland's James Henare Maori Research Centre.
"There are two new iwi on the block in Wairoa called Ngati Black Power and Ngati Mongrel Mob. If that's where people are having to go to get their whanau, we've got some major worries about the hapu-iwi model," Tamihere said.
"It's not about the police, it's not CYF, it's not Winz, it's us, and the sooner we start to take responsibility and the less we externalise what's wrong, then the better we will get...that's the challenge."
Tamihere said it is time for Maori to focus on whanau, to stop blaming their problems on other people and begin finding solutions within the Maori community.
He said Maori need to re-ingest money from fisheries claims back into the whanau, help create support networks for urban Maori and rework the concept of whanau in a modern environment.
He said he hopes the new report will help shape policies.
Tamihere has also blasted plans by dissident iwi groups to occupy beaches this summer, calling the protestors "new chequebook Maori".
The government's seabed and foreshore proposal will be released next week and already some Maori are voicing strong objections to it.
Iwi and hapu representatives plan to meet over the next few weeks to discuss their claim for the seabed and foreshore.
On TV ONE's Breakfast show on Tuesday, Doctor Margaret Mutu from the Maori Studies department at Auckland University said the government's decision will leave Maori stripped of traditional rights.
