Hon Carmel Sepuloni

Minister for Social Development and Employment

Hon Willie Jackson

Minister for Māori Development

Growing the Māori and wider economy, giving effect to Te Tiriti principles and supporting more Māori into employment, education and training as we secure the recovery from COVID-19 are all at the heart of the Government’s new Māori Employment Action Plan, Minister for Social Development and Employment Carmel Sepuloni announced today.

“Te Mahere Whai Mahi Māori - the Māori Employment Action Plan is another tool in our toolbox and supports our Government’s Employment Strategy,” Carmel Sepuloni said.

“Te Whai Mahi underlines our commitment to supporting kaupapa Māori and working kanohi ki te kanohi and in partnership with whānau, hapū, iwi and wider hapori to improve employment outcomes for Māori.

“We know that to tackle the big issues facing Māori, get real results, and put an end to the disparity between Māori and non-Māori, we must do more. This requires working with and supporting Māori as employees, employers, and drivers of the Māori and wider economy, and as Te Tiriti partners.

“Te Whai Mahi is for Māori from all backgrounds and walks of life. Whether you’re an aspiring wāhine Māori entrepreneur, a tāngata whaikaha with a desire to get into leadership roles or an older Māori wanting to upskill, this plan will support you to do just that,” Carmel Sepuloni said.

Minister for Māori Development Willie Jackson said supporting more Māori into quality employment, education and training is important now more than ever, as we secure our recovery from COVID-19.

“Te Whai Mahi will help build Māori economic resilience to ensure they recover from the economic impacts of COVID-19 and are well placed to weather future economic shocks.

“The Māori labour force is growing five times faster than non-Māori and we must improve employment outcomes for them. This means more Māori skilled employees and employers are equipped and ready for the future of work,” Willie Jackson said.

Te Whai Mahi supports our Government’s overall Employment Strategy, along with six other population-specific employment action plans, and builds on the suite of government employment programmes and initiatives, which are proving to be successful.

“Te Whai Mahi will help us continue on the journey as we support more Māori to build on their skills and move into rewarding, secure and well-paid mahi,” Carmel Sepuloni said.

Te Mahere Whai Mahi Māori - The Māori Employment Action Plan builds on the mahi of Te Ara Mahi Māori, an independent reference group appointed to advise Ministers on key areas for the Action Plan.

Editors notes:

Te Mahere Whai Mahi Māori - The Māori Employment Action Plan and Cabinet Paper attached

Actions fall into three key focus areas, or pou:

- People: Māori have the skills and knowledge to lead, and succeed at all stages of their careers

- Workplaces: Māori thrive in workplaces that have good conditions and are free from discrimination

- Futures: Iwi, hapū and Māori are leaders in future-focused and sustainable sectors.

• The actions have been grouped into immediate, medium and long-term actions. The immediate actions are expected to lay the essential foundations for the more transformational work that is planned for the medium and longer term.

The immediate actions are:

1.1 work with Māori to embed a tikanga-Māori-based framework into employment policy, and develop tools to implement the framework

1.2 explore the changes needed for the EET system to be effective and equitable for Māori

1.3 improve education outcomes for Māori learners, by implementing and reporting on actions in Ka hikitia – ka hāpaitia - The Māori education strategy

1.4 improve education provided on mātauranga Māori and te reo Māori

1.5 research incentives and barriers for employers providing flexible work, and how flexible work could benefit kaimahi Māori

1.6 research how workplaces can be more inclusive for kaimahi Māori

1.7 research incentives for employers to give kaimahi Māori lifelong opportunities to upskill, learn and develop

1.8 work with BusinessNZ and the Council of Trade Unions to find ways to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) comply with employment and health and safety responsibilities

1.9 remove barriers that kaimahi Māori face to access information about employment rights and responsibilities

1.10 accelerate iwi, hapū and Māori leadership of, and engagement in, future growth industries

1.11 build stronger pathways and support for wāhine Māori entrepreneurs.

• The Government expects to implement the immediate actions in the next two years, and progress a series of medium-term actions over the next two to five years and long-term actions over the next five or more years.
• Te Mahere Whai Mahi Māori builds on the mahi of Te Ara Mahi Māori, an independent Māori reference group. Te Ara Mahi Māori was appointed to help inform the development of the Māori Employment Action Plan and provide advice about focus areas.
• The group held hui with Māori communities and stakeholders across the motu, to develop recommendations for improving labour market outcomes for Māori.
• The other action plans include those for Pacific peoples, women, former refugees, recent migrants and ethnic communities, youth, older workers and disabled people.
• The action plans are a part of a suite of interventions and initiatives designed to improve the lives of people working in Aotearoa New Zealand.

E whai nei te kāwanatanga ki te tautoko i a ngāi Māori e kuhu ana ki te ao whai mahi

Ko te whakawhānuitanga o te ōhanga Māori me te ōhanga whānui, ko te whakamanatanga o ngā mātāpono o Te Tiriti o Waitangi, ko te tautoko kia tokomaha ake a ngāi Māori e uru ana ki ngā toronga mahi, ki ngā kuratini ako hoki i roto i ēnei wā whakatikatika i te KOWHEORI-19, koinei ētahi o ngā kaupapa kei te iho o te Te Mahere Whai Mahi Māori hou a te kāwanatanga e ai ki tā te pānuitanga a Carmel Sepuloni, te Minita Whakahiato Ora, Whai Mahi hoki i tēnei rā.

“He pāraharaha anō Te Mahere Whai Mahi Māori kei tō mātou kete e tautoko nei i te rautaki whai mahi a te kāwanatanga,” te kōrero a Carmel Sepuloni.

“E whakaraupapatia nei e Te Whai Mahi tā mātou manawanui ki te tautoko i ngā kaupapa Māori, i te hiahia kia whāia te tikanga kanohi ki te kanohi, me te kōtui atu hoki ki ngā whānau, ki ngā hapū, ki ngā iwi me ngā hapori whānui ki te whakapai ake i ngā hua e puta ake ana kia ngāi Māori.”

“E mōhio nei tātou, e ea ai ngā raruraru e pā ana kia ngāi Māori, e kitea ai ngā putanga hua me te ārai atu hoki i ngā tīwehewehenga i waenganui i a ngāi Māori me ngāi tauiwi, e tika ana me mahi tahi atu mātou ki te tautoko i a ngāi Māori kia ora hei hunga kaimahi Māori, hei kaitukumahi Māori, hei kaikōkiri haere i te ao ōhanga Māori me te ōhanga whānui, hei kōtuinga Tiriti hoki.”

“He kaupapa Te Whai Mahi mā ngāi Māori, ahakoa ko wāi, ahakoa nō hea. Mēnā wahine tūtūtoa Māori koe, mēnā he tangata whaikaha e hiahia ana ki te uru ki ngā tūranga kaihautū, mēnā he kaumātua rānei koe e hiahia ana ki te whakapakari i ōu pūkenga, mā tēnei mahere koe e tautoko ki te whai i tāu huarahi,” te kōrero a Carmel Sepuloni.

Hei tā te Minita Whakawhanaketanga Māori, a Willie Jackson, he mea hirahira te tautoko kia tokomaha ake a ngāi Māori e uru ana ki ngā toronga mahi, ki ngā kuratini ako hoki i roto i ēnei wā whakatikatika i te KOWHEORI-19.

“Ka tautoko a Te Whai Mahi i te manawa titikaha o te ao ōhanga Māori kia mātūtū mai anō i ngā whakararu a te KOWHEORI-19, me te mārama hoki me pehea e kaupare ai ngā tūkinotanga mai ki te ōhanga hei ngā rā ki tua.”

“Kei te whānui haere te ao tuku mahi Māori, ka mutu, he whānui ake ki tā te ao tuku mahi o tauiwi. Nā reira, ko tā tātou mahi he whakapai ake i ngā putanga whai mahi mō rātou, kia tokomaha ake ngā kaimahi me ngā kaitukumahi Māori e whai pūkenga ana kia rite ai ki te whai mahi hei ngā rā ki tua,” te kōrero a Willie Jackson.

E tautoko ana Te Whai Mahi i te rautaki whai mahi whānui a te kāwanatanga, me ētahi hoki o ngā mahere whai mahi e ono e hāngai pū nei ki te taupori. Ka whai haere ēnei i te maha o ngā hōtaka me ngā kaupapa whai mahi a te kāwanatanga, ā, kei te kitea ngā hua angitū.

“Ko tā Te Whai Mahi he hāpai ake kia whāia tonutia tēnei ara e nui ake ai te tokomaha o ngāi Māori e whakapakari ana i ō rātou pūkenga kia uru rātou ki ētahi tūranga mahi whai hua, tūranga pūmau, tūranga pai nei hoki te utu,” te kōrero a Carmel Sepuloni.

Ko tā Te Mahere Whai Mahi Māori he whai haere i ngā mahi a Te Ara Mahi Māori, he rōpū motuhake Māori kua whakatūria hei kaitohutohu mā ngā Minita i roto i ngā wāhanga matua o tēnei Mahere Hohe.

Ngā pitopito kōrero a te Etita:

Ka taka mai ngā tohu angitū ki ēnei aronga matua, ki ēnei pou e toru:

- Te Iwi Whānui: Kei a ngāi Māori ngā pūkenga, ngā mātauranga me ngā mōhiotanga ki te ārahi kia angitū ai i roto i te ao mahi Māori;

- Ngā Wāhi Mahi: Ka ora a ngāi Māori ki ngā kāhui mahi whai tikanga ora, ā, kāore nei e kitea te wairua whakahāwea;

- Te Anamata: Ko ngā iwi, ko ngā hapū me ngāi Māori kei te kōkiri whakamua i ngā rāngai toitūtanga hei ngā rā ki tua.

· Kua whakatōpūtia ēnei tohu angitū ki ngā whāinga mahi pae inamata, pae kōhiwi, pae tawhiti hoki. Ko te whakapae, mā ngā mahi o te pae inamata e takoto ai te tūāpapa mō ngā mahi taioreore e whāia ana i te pae kōhiwi me te pae tawhiti.

Ko ngā mahi pae inamata ko te:

1.12 mahi tahi me ngāi Māori ki te whakatō i tētahi pou tarāwaho whai tikanga Māori ki ngā kaupapa here whai mahi, me te waihanga pāraharaha hei whakatutuki i te pou tarāwaho;

1.13 tūhura i ngā panonitanga e tika ana e whai take ai, e mana ōrite ai hoki te pūnaha EET mō ngāi Māori;

1.14 whakapai ake i i ngā putanga mātauranga ki ngā ākonga Māori mā te whakaū me te kohi i ngā rongorongo e pā ana ki ngā mahi kei te rautaki mātauranga e kīia nei, ko “Ka hikitia – ka hāpaitia”;

1.15 whakapai ake i ngā huarahi ako e pā ana ki te mātauranga Māori, ki te reo Māori hoki;

1.16 rangahau i ngā poapoa me ngā aukatinga mō ngā kaitukumahi e tuku mahi ana ā-pīngore nei, me te titiro ki ngā pāinga o te mahi pīngore mō ngā kaimahi Māori;

1.17 rangahau me pēhea e whaiuru ake ai ngā wāhi mahi mō ngā kaimahi Māori;

1.18 rangahau i ngā poapoa mō ngā kaitukumahi e whai āheinga ai ngā kaimahi Māori ki te whakapakari ake, ki te ako me te whakawhanake, haere ake nei;

1.19 mahi tahi atu ki a Pakihi Aotearoa me Te Kauae Kaimahi ki te kimi huarahi tautoko i ngā tūtūtoa iti, āhua iti nei hoki (SME) kia tika ai te whai i ngā haepapa whai mahi, hauora, haumaru hoki;

1.20 ārai atu i ngā aukatinga ki a ngāi Māori mō te āhua ki te toro pārongo mō ngā mōtika me ngā haepapa whai mahi;

1.21 whakatere i ngā mahi hautū a ngā iwi, a ngā hapū me ngāi Māori i roto i ngā toronga ahumahi e whanake haere nei hei ngā rā ki tua;

1.22 whakakaha ake i ngā ara whai me ngā mahi ki te tautoko i ngā tūtūtoa wāhine Māori.

· Ko tā te kāwanatanga hiaihia he whakatutuki i ngā mahi pae inamata hei te rua tau kei mua i te aroaro, me te kōkiri hoki i ētahi o ngā mahi pae kōhiwi hei te rua ki te rima tau kei mua i te aroaro, ā neke atu.

· Ko tā Te Mahere Whai Mahi Māori he whai haere i ngā mahi a Te Ara Mahi Māori, he rōpū motuhake Māori. I whakatūria a Te Ara Mahi Māori hei hāpai ake i te waihangatanga o Te Mahere Whai Mahi Māori ki te tuku kōrero āwhina mō ngā wāhi whai aronga.

· I whakatūria e te rōpū ētahi hui ki te taha o ētahi hapori Māori, rōpū whai pānga hoki huri noa i te motu ki te hanga tūtohunga e pai ake ai ngā putanga hua ki a ngāi Māori i te ao tuku mahi.

· Ko ētahi o ngā mahere hohe ko ērā mō ngāi Pasifika, mō te ira wahine, mō te hunga whakauru o mua, mō te hunga manene o nā tata nei me ētahi atu iwi, mō te hunga rangatahi, mō ngā kaimahi kua kaumātua tae noa ki te hunga hauā.

· Ka hāngai ngā mahere hohe ki ngā whawhenga me ngā kaupapa kua waihangatia ki te whakapai ake i te ora o te hunga kaimahi puta noa i Aotearoa.

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