Chatham Island plight of Maoris outlined

Press, 3 November 1984, Page 12

Chatham Island plight of Maoris outlined

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington The plight of the Maori on the Chatham Islands was the subject of a special paper to the Maori economic summit conference in Wellington.. “One of our major problems on the Chathams is the lack of people,” said Mr Norman Thomas, the Chatham Islands kaumatua.

“Without people industry :annot be developed, land cannot be developed, and our economic plight cannot be alleviated.

“Without housing of the standard expected on the mainland being available, coupled with the lack of career and employment opportunities, there is simply no way we can encourage and attract our young people to return and settle oh the Chathams,” he said.

There was an urgent need for loan finance for housing to be made available.

Six applications awaited approval in the Christchurch office of the Maori Affairs Department, which had recently advised that no further loan finance would be available until April 1, 1984.

Mr Thomas said that as there was no surplus or

alternative housing available on the Chathams, the need for relief was now urgent.

A recently announced increase of 35 per cent in the shipping freight rates on the Chatham Islands service was expected to add 54000 to the cost of freighting kitset housing components to the Chathams.

“Our people simply cannot afford to build at these costs in the future,” he said. “A reintroduction of the suspensory loan scheme for Chatham Island housing would assist greatly.” Lack of trees on the Chathams spelled doom for the farming sector in the future unless urgent action was taken to start planting.

Trees were needed not only for shelter but to provide fencing and perhaps materials for building, Mr Thomas said. Costs of importing posts and other materials for fencing were prohibitive.

While some landowners had started tree-planting programmes, these programmes were not largescale and were private.

They would not provide for local needs in the foreseeable future.

What was needed was a joint programme involving the Lands and Survey Department, the Forest Service, and the Maori Affairs Department, he said. A forestry programme would provide full-time employment for young people, as well as meeting the Chathams’ future needs.

Significant progress had been made in agriculture in rcent years but development costs, especially with the shipping freight rate rise, would mean that future development was slowed. Continuation of the meat works in the future was essential, Mr Thomas said.

Proposals to mine the 46,000-acre Te Whaanga Lagoon were a matter of grave concern.

The lagoon was the home of large numbers of swans and ducks, and supported a wide variety of marine life, he said. Flounders and eel abounded, with whitebait available in season, and cockles and mussels also.

If mining were permitted, it could lead to the total destruction of marine life in the lagoon.

The lagoon should be set aside as a reserve and min-

ing not allowed, Mr Thomas said. The Maori Affairs Department should lead the way to ensure that this asset was fully protected from destruction. Because of the seasonal nature of most occupations on the Chathams — mainly fishing and farming — permanent employment was very difficult to obtain. Every effort had to be made to encourage the development of employment opportunities locally, Mr Thomas said.