Minister of Māori Affairs

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The Minister of Māori Development is the minister of the New Zealand government with broad responsibility for government policy towards Māori, the first inhabitants of New Zealand. The current Minister of Māori Development is Te Ururoa Flavell. Between 1947 and 2014 the position was called Minister of Māori Affairs; before that it was known as Minister of Native Affairs.

Role

The role of the Minister of Māori Development differs somewhat from those of other ministers. While the Minister of Māori Development does have a government department to supervise (Te Puni Kōkiri, TPK for short, or the Ministry of Māori Development), he or she also has input into other portfolios to the extent that they affect Māori. For example, the Minister of Māori Development would expect to be involved in the development of Māori language policy in the education portfolio, even though education is normally the sole responsibility of the Minister of Education.

History

The office was originally called Minister of Native Affairs, or simply Native Minister. Most early Ministers of Native Affairs were not Māori, although a convention existed that there should be Māori in Cabinet (albeit without portfolio). Prior to the implementation of responsible government, Māori affairs (specifically the purchase of land from Māori by the Crown) had been handled by the Governor.

Attitudes of early Ministers were varied. The first Minister, William Richmond, considered Māori to be savages, and believed that his task was to "reform" Māori by making them more like Europeans. He was particularly hostile to Māori tradition of shared land ownership, considering it "beastly communism". Other Ministers were more friendly to Māori interests — James FitzGerald, the sixth Minister, believed that peaceful co-existence with Māori was vital, and considered the confiscation of Māori land to be an "enormous crime". Other Ministers have varied between these positions.

The first Minister of Native Affairs to be ethnically Māori was James Caroll, appointed by the Liberal Party in the late 19th century. Another prominent Minister of Native Affairs was Apirana Ngata, also of the Liberals. For the most part, however, early Ministers were Pākehā, although were frequently advised by Māori colleagues. Maui Pomare of the Reform Party and Eruera Tirikatene of the Labour Party were examples of politicians who played a major role in the portfolio without actually holding office. After Caroll and Ngata, it was not until Matiu Rata (1972–1975) that there was another ethnically Māori Minister of Māori Affairs.

Under the Maori Purposes Act 1947, the Ministerial title and all other government usage was changed from 'Native' to 'Maori'.

Contemporary times

In modern times, the tendency has been for the major parties to have Māori as their Māori Affairs spokespeople (and thus as Minister) when possible. The Labour Party has consistently had Māori in this role since the 1970s, while the National Party has had a mixture of Māori and Pākehā.

The current Minister of Māori Development is Te Ururoa Flavell, a member of the Maori Party. The Labour Maori Affairs Spokesman is Kelvin Davis,[1] while The Greens and New Zealand First have Metiria Turei and Winston Peters respectively.

After the 2014 general election cabinet reshuffle, the title was changed from Minister of Maori Affairs to Minister of Maori Development. While Prime Minister John Key said that there was not really any difference in the what the portfolio would inolve, "it gives you a sense of where the minister [Flavell] will want to shape the portfolio".[2]

List of Ministers of Māori Affairs

The table below lists ministers who have held responsibility for Māori issues. Initially, the title used was Minister of Native Affairs, but the title was changed to Minister of Maori Affairs on 17 December 1947 and then to Minister of Māori Affairs with the insertion of the macron in modern orthography under the Māori Language Commission.

Colour key
(for political parties)

  Independent  
  Liberal  
  Reform  
  United  
  Labour  

  National  
  NZ First  
  Mauri Pacific  
  Māori  

No. Name Portrait Term of Office Prime Minister
1 William Richmond 27 August 1858 10 November 1860 Stafford
2 Frederick Weld 10 November 1860 12 July 1861
3 Walter Mantell 12 July 1861 18 December 1861 Fox
4 Dillon Bell 18 December 1861 30 October 1863 Domett
5 William Fox 18 December 1861 30 October 1863 Whitaker
(3) Walter Mantell 30 October 1863 27 July 1865 Weld
6 James FitzGerald 27 July 1865 16 October 1865
7 Andrew Russell 16 October 1865 24 August 1866 Stafford
8 James Crowe Richmond 24 August 1866 28 June 1869
9 Donald McLean 28 June 1869 7 December 1876 Fox
Waterhouse
Fox
Vogel
Pollen
Vogel
Atkinson
10 Daniel Pollen 18 December 1876 13 October 1877
11 John Sheehan 15 October 1877 8 October 1879 Grey
12 John Bryce 8 October 1879 21 January 1881 Hall
13 William Rolleston 4 February 1881 19 October 1881
(12) John Bryce 19 October 1881 16 August 1884
Whitaker
Atkinson
14 John Ballance 16 August 1884
3 September 1884		 28 August 1884
8 October 1887		 Stout
15 Edwin Mitchelson 8 October 1887 24 January 1891 Atkinson
(14) John Ballance 24 January 1891 4 February 1891 Ballance
16 Alfred Cadman 4 February 1891 29 June 1893
Seddon
17 Richard Seddon 29 June 1893 21 December 1899
18 James Carroll 21 December 1899 28 March 1912
Hall-Jones
Ward
19 William MacDonald 28 March 1912 10 July 1912 Mackenzie
20 William Herries 10 July 1912 7 February 1921 Massey
21 Gordon Coates 7 February 1921 10 December 1928
Bell
Coates
22 Apirana Ngata 10 December 1928 1 November 1934 Ward
Forbes
23 George Forbes 1 November 1934 6 December 1935
24 Michael Joseph Savage 6 December 1935 27 March 1940 Savage
25 Frank Langstone 1 April 1940 21 December 1942 Fraser
26 Rex Mason 7 July 1943 19 December 1946
27 Peter Fraser 19 December 1946 13 December 1949
28 Ernest Corbett 13 December 1949 26 September 1957 Holland
Holyoake
29 Keith Holyoake 26 September 1957 26 September 1957
30 Walter Nash 12 December 1957 12 December 1960 Nash
31 Ralph Hanan 12 December 1960 24 July 1969 Holyoake
32 Duncan MacIntyre 22 December 1969 8 December 1972
Marshall
33 Matiu Rata 8 December 1972 12 December 1975 Kirk
Rowling
(32) Duncan MacIntyre 12 December 1975 13 December 1978 Muldoon
34 Ben Couch 13 December 1978 26 July 1984
35 Koro Wētere 26 July 1984 2 November 1990 Lange
Palmer
Moore
36 Winston Peters 2 November 1990 October 1991 Bolger
37 Doug Kidd October 1991 6 November 1993
38 John Luxton 6 November 1993 12 October 1996
39 Tau Henare 12 October 1996 5 December 1999
Shipley
40 Dover Samuels 5 December 1999 28 June 2000 Clark
41 Parekura Horomia 26 July 2000 19 December 2008
42 Pita Sharples 19 December 2008 8 October 2014 Key
43 Te Ururoa Flavell 8 October 2014 incumbent

References

  1. ↑ Labour's new-look shadow cabinet, retrieved 30 November 2015
  2. ↑ Bennett, Adam (6 October 2014). "Flavell given portfolio renamed to reflect 'new focus' on Maori future". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 7 October 2014.

External links

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