OPPORTUNITIES AND DANGERS IN AUCKLAND by M. P. K. PURIRI District Welfare Officer Department of Maori Affairs Auckland A City, any city, is a place of opportunity—and a place of danger. New Zealand's biggest city is no exception. Opportunities are here in Auckland, and it is tremendously satisfying that more and more of our people are making the most of these opportunities, proudly taking their place as leaders in the Church, in the professions, in business in the skilled trades and in the Armed Forces. During the past twenty years, that is since the beginning of the Second World War, there has been a revolutionary change in Maori society in Auckland. The Maori population of metropolitan Auckland has jumped from between one thousand and two thousand in 1939 to the astonishing figure of twelve thousand today, just twenty years later. At one time the drift of Maoris from the country to the towns was deprecated for it was not realised that this is an inevitable social development brought about by our rapidly increasing population. Our people, of course, must go where the chances of earning a living are best, and the family acres are all too few to support our greater numbers. Therefore, Auckland has an ever increasing Maori labour force, and so far, because of the country's internal stability and economic progress, this force has largely been absorbed. But, and here we come to some of the dangers of city life, this enviable state of affairs could easily change for the worse. A trade recession or slump could occur from a variety of reasons, quite out of the control of our Gvernment, and, of course, the unskilled labour force would be the first to suffer. This new population of Auckland people, these twelve thousand of us living here, have to be Brownie Puriri at his office accommodated, their children educated, and, most important, jobs found for the workers. Europeans have accepted this influx into their communal and commercial life with goodwill. This has been particularly important to the ever increasing Maoris labour force, for without that goodwill Maoris would not have found the opportunities which await them today. This esteem, by and large, has been gained by good behaviour, and it must be a matter of personal pride to all of us that by our actions on and off the job we strengthen and never weaken that good spirit. Now let us look at what Maoris are achieving in Auckland today. Let us start with the trades. Twenty years ago a Maori tradesman was the exception, but today the Maori is found as mechanic, technician, engineer, electrician, carpenter, panel beater, plumber or painter, side by side with European tradesmen, competing with them on equal terms and commanding their respect by his aptitude and ability. The starting point, the gateway to these fields of opportunity is, of course, a term of apprenticeship. Our trained artisans, equal now to the best of Europeans, once had to make