Today the Associate Minister of Housing (Māori Housing) Peeni Henare and the Minister of Housing and Urban Development,
Megan Woods, launched the Government’s Policy Statement on Housing and Urban Development (GPS-HUD) and the new Maihi Ka
Ora the National Māori Housing Strategy.
“As the Associate Minister of Housing (Māori Housing), it is a privilege for me to be part of our new National Māori
Housing Strategy called ‘Maihi Ka Ora’.
“I say, ‘part of’, because this is a strategy that has come about through a true partnership with Māori. A document that
articulates Māori aspirations, the role of the Crown and the outcomes we will work together to achieve.
“Māori have called for us to not only take immediate action to address the housing crisis we face today, but to take a
long-term approach, to have a vision for what we want our Māori housing future to look like, and more importantly to map
out a pathway on how we will get there together.
“The GPS-HUD and our new National Māori Housing Strategy – Maihi Ka Ora are the road maps we will use to realise the
goals this government has set for the future of housing in New Zealand,” Peeni Henare said.
“We developed these long-term plans in parallel and they are strongly connected through Te Maihi o te Whare Māori – the
Māori Housing Innovation (MAIHI) Framework for Action.
"This connection ensured that when we set the vision for housing and urban development to guide future work, we created
space for Māori to led local housing solutions using a ‘by Māori, for Māori’ approach.
“As Māori, we understand the importance of going home. We feel the pull to return to where we belong. To be with our
people. To reunite with our whānau and remain connected to our whenua. Home for us is both a physical structure, and a
whānau construct. It is people, and it is a place.
“That is why Maihi Ka Ora takes a holistic approach to housing. It grows from an understanding that a healthy, secure
and affordable house is only part of the solution to the crisis we are facing. We must also make sure that what is
inside our whare, our whānau, is just as healthy as the building that surrounds them.
“We all know the statistics. The number of Māori that are homeless, those that cannot find an affordable rental, many
who see owning their own home as an aspiration for the well off.
“But the statistics we see, the numbers used to describe the state of crisis we find ourselves in, they have faces. They
are our whānau. Our cousins, our nannies, our children, and their children.
“This strategy isn’t just about changing numbers or improving statistics. It is about changing the lives of whānau
today, tomorrow and into the future.
“We will get there. Together. Māori and the Crown in true partnership delivering better houses, better homes, and a
better future for our whānau.