Concentration of Immigrants

Te Ao Hou, December 1963, Page 12

Concentration of Immigrants In certain areas the increase, as we have seen, has led to a concentration of rural Maori immigrants, with a consequent rise in the proportion of Maori children to those of other ethnic groups; I say other, not white, because the areas which are the reservoirs for Maori population function in the same way for immigrants of other ethnic groups; Cook Islanders, Samoans, Indians, and so on. In two primary schools in these areas, special conditions have been introduced, classes have been reduced to 25 children, teachers have been given inducements to teach in the schools, a special language class is operated, and other

amenities provided. So far these are the only schools in Auckland city where such special conditions have been established and in neither case has it been stated that this was because of the large numbers of Maori children, although in fact Maoris formed the biggest group in each school. So far I have been speaking about the concentration of Maori population. Now let us look at the problems which beset the children in these schools. Let me say straight away that research is woefully limited at all levels, so that much of what I say must be guess work, helped out by personal experience. First, why do people come to the city? In general city life is more rewarding than rural life; cities contain a variety of people, of entertainments and of opportunities which are simply not available in country districts. Living is dearer, but wages are higher and work is more readily available. Family finances can be subsidised by working mothers, living is more convenient, the city dweller has a different outlook, even in New Zealand, from the countryman. These are the things which induce people to come to the city, but if you look at the Real Estate columns of any paper you will see that high on the list of priorities is suburban living. New Zealand cities have not so far met the challenge of urban life and many people fear the creation of a truly urban environment. Maoris seem to be less susceptible to this variety of double-think than whites and are prepared to accept relatively indifferent housing conditions for the sake of convenient location. This of course is not wholly true, since there are often barriers of one kind or another to a Maori's living anywhere else, except perhaps a State suburb. However, the fact remains that Maoris are becoming Auckland's true urban population, along with the other ethnic groups who live in the inner city. I am not persuaded that this is a bad thing, indeed it is for Auckland generally, a good thing, in that it is gradually livening up an otherwise dead town.