Te Pāti Māori will radically increase the social housing stock and ensure 50 percent of all new social housing is allocated to Māori, who make up 50 percent of the social housing waitlist.

As part of this package, $600 million will go toward building 2,000 houses on ancestral land, and making land available for Papakaīnga to ensure it is used in the best possible way. This will contribute to the re-establishment of marae-based communities that were ripped apart by urbanisation of the 1950s and 1960s.

This policy announcement comes during this year’s National Māori Housing Conference in Rotorua, attended by Te Pāti Māori co-leader and housing spokesperson Rawiri Waititi.

“Over 100,000 people are homeless in Aotearoa, and 60 percent of them are Māori. Tangata whenua should never be homeless in their homeland. This is the most significant breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi today” said Rawiri Waititi.

“Rent and food prices are higher than ever while wages are still low. Too many of our people have been forced to live on the street, in cars and garages, in motels, or in cold damp houses that are making them sick.

“A third of Māori are living houses that are considered damp, overcrowded, and unsafe. 30,000 tamariki are hospitalised each year because of substandard housing” said Waititi.

“Māori make up half of the social housing waitlist. A third of Māori will shift residence every three years. 30 percent of Māori are paying over 30 percent of their income in rent, working hard to pay off somebody else’s mortgage.

“There isn’t enough affordable, quality housing for whānau to rent or own. We need more social housing, and half of that needs to go to Māori.

“Our whānau and tamariki deserve a fair go in education, health, and welfare. Safe, secure, and long-term housing is key to the wellbeing of our people. It is our right” said Waititi.

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