New Life for the People

Te Ao Hou, April 1955, Page 12

New Life for the People What part will the Maori people play in the future of Kawerau? Out of the 1200 to 1400 construction workers several hundred are Maoris. Some live in the camp and 200 come to Kawerau every day in buses from Te Teko, Ruatoki and other settlements. For many, the regular well-paid work in their own district is a new experience. A warden told Te Ao Hou that the people's way of life has greatly improved as a result of the new opportunities and the old social problems are now much less marked. Many of the workers are saving for motor-cars. A Maori club, called-Kumea Te Ora, with 50 members is active in Kawerau. Half are Maoris. The club, organised by Fletcher-Merritt-Raymond's recreation officer, Mr Frank Cooke, organizes all kinds of entertainments, raises money and has the distinction of being the only club in Kawerau that can hold dances

—they have secret sources of dancing partners who are a great rarity. The chairman is August Honata, from Opotiki, whose talents as a showman were developed as a member of the Torere Youth Club. Will the workers stay when the mill opens and will all this community activity be kept alive? On that question, it is possible to be reasonably hopeful. Tasman's personnel officer, Mr Stoneham, has visited the Maori settlements to discuss employment at the mill for people within travelling distance. Te Ao Hou asked the company's general manager, Mr Maurice L. Hobday, what the prospects of the Maori people will be. Mr Hobday expressed particular interest in giving the local people whose land he had bought the fullest opportunity to get permanent and well-paid employment for themselves and their children. He also hoped that Maoris from other parts of New Zealand would look to Tasman for work in its newsprint—paper, pulp and timber mills. ‘Above all I hope,’ said Mr Hobday, ‘that many young Maori men will show themselves keen to learn the highly skilled craft of paper-making. ‘For five generations my family have been paper-makers, and my son intends to become a paper-maker. I am proud that I shall be responsible for training New Zealanders in the craft and I should be happy to think that there will be Maori families in which there will be the tradition of son following father as a skilled paper-maker.’ This should give food for thought, together with the fact that about 450 State houses and 50 company houses are available for people from all over New Zealand who get jobs with Tasman and have families. These jobs and homes will be offered to tradesmen of all sorts—skilled sawmill workers will be specially sought after—as well as young men to be thoroughly trained by Canadian experts in pulp and paper making. For paper-makers educational standard is not so important; the Company wants bright workers of good physical build whose history shows that they are stable and reliable. Payment will be fairly high, particularly because of the round-the-clock shift system which that for an average 42-hour week a worker gets an average 53 ¼ payment hours as well as shift allowances. There is also to be a pension scheme, a company doctor, an industrial nurse and an accident prevention officer. The Company is interested in helping the town in establishing a full and healthy community life and has, to this end, appointed a welfare officer. Maori participation in life at Kawerau may, considering all this, be quite considerable and it looks as if living conditions will be most favourable. Many young people, particularly from the Bay of Plenty and East Coast districts, may decide to settle in Kawerau rather than Auckland, and this, particularly for married couples, may be the better way of life in many cases. E. Schwimmer