Other Organisations join the Council

Te Ao Hou, March 1964, Page 11

Other Organisations join the Council The Council knew that it could not work in isolation when it discussed the everyday social problems of our people, so it invited the Dominion Executive of the Maori Women's Welfare League, representatives of the Maori Women's Health League and a group of Welfare Officers from the Department of Maori Affairs to join in its deliberations. Experts from several different fields also attended. The whole seminar was financed by grants from various Trust Boards, both Maori and Pakeha, the main contributions coming from the McKenzie Trust and the Maori Purposes Fund Board. So that everyone could add their contribution to the discussion the seminar spent much of its time in groups of eight or nine members. The views of each group were then considered in full session, and the decisions sent on to the Council were the result of much careful thought and strenuous argument. The seminar had been planned to allow as much time as possible for discussion and the members made full use of every minute. They were also free to follow up any points that they themselves thought important and, from remarks made at the final meeting, the Council's aims seem to have been successfully achieved. It turned out that the subject that received the most attention was education. Many of the recommendations that were passed related to one or other aspects of this subject.