A Report on the Council's Activities

Te Ao Hou, June 1964, Page 29

A Report on the Council's Activities Describing the formation of the Council, the President, Sir Turi Carroll, said that it was appropriate that the last meeting of this first Council should be held in Rotorua. It was largely due to the determination and persistence of certain prominent Rotorua leaders, particularly Major Vercoe and Mr Anaru, that the Council came into existence. After the first District Councils, called together in 1953, were allowed to go into recess, members of the Wai-Ariki Council realised the need for the completion of the organisation that included only Tribal Committees and Executives. The Wai-Ariki Council met again in 1958 and called a conference of other District Councils in October, 1959, when it was resolved to press for the formation of a New Zealand Maori Council. The Chairman of that meeting was the late Major Vercoe. Sir Turi also said that a general survey of the Council's work showed that it had fulfilled an important function in representing Maori views and in opening the way for fuller consultation between the government and the people. At first the Council seemed to have too much thrust upon it and not enough time to take matters on to the maraes where the opinions of all the people could be gathered. ‘We prefer’, said Sir Turi, ‘that all our Maori Associations, right down to individual Maori Committees, should be able to express their views on all matters coming before the Council so that our decision will truly reflect Maori opinion’.