N.Z. MAORI COUNCIL SOME IMPORTANT ISSUES by John Booth Associate Secretary, N.Z. Maori Council Before this issue of ‘Te Ao Hou’ reaches you, the New Zealand Maori Council will have met again in Wellington to carry forward its work on behalf of the Maori people. At this stage the Council has to make haste slowly as its policy has to be worked out carefully and the District Councils, Executives and Maori Committees need time to think about the many problems involved. Part of the settling down process is to decide what are the really important issues and to try to tackle these effectively. There are a great many small questions that could, if we were not careful, take up the full time of the Council. These, however, must be put on one side until the vital policy decisions have been made. To help it make these decisions, the Council has adopted two procedures. First, surveys are being undertaken in some areas (beginning with the Ngarauru Maori Executive area) to get from the ordinary man and woman an outline of their main problems. Second, a special study group consisting of our Councillors, the Executive of the Maori Women's Welfare League, and some of the senior Welfare Officers, is to meet to talk about the problems facing the Maori people. We have heard from a great many well-wishers about what is wrong with the Maori. We are going to get our answer direct from Maoris themselves, and these answers, both from the people and from Maori experts, will help guide the Council in what it places first on its list of important matters to be dealt with.

Town and Country Planning The last issue of ‘Te Ao Hou’ mentioned several matters which the Council is considering. One was the effect that the Town and Country Planning Act is having on rural housing for our people. At the moment we are waiting to see if there are to be any changes in this legislation, and if this should be so, we will be ready to put the Council's views forward for consideration by the Government Department concerned. As another line of approach to this question, at least one District Council is making a detailed examination of the possibility of building more homes in a Maori community several miles from town but still close enough for residents to go in to work each day. The Department of Maori Affairs has not been keen about such schemes in the past, but we would like to know how much support for such proposals there would be from people who need new homes but who are not willing to move all the way into town. If you think that it is a good idea to build new Maori settlements a few miles from town you should ask your local Maori Committee to pass a remit supporting rural housing settlements.

Protection of Urupa and Historic Sites As a result of attending a conference of Regional Committees of the National Historic Places Trust at Christchurch, where the Council was very ably represented by Joe Karetai, we have been drawn into further discussions on how historic pas and urupa may be better protected. Even where a pa is on private property it is possible for the owner to make it a Private Historic Reserve. This, and other possibilities, will be examined closely and more detailed proposals should result. For the protection of urupa there may be a need to strengthen the law about interfering with human remains. This is also being looked into. There has been some difficulty, in at least one district, with curio hunters who show little respect for the dead. We hope that anyone Continued on page 53