Stop talking, let’s build houses!
Just quietly, I want to get my kids out of my house too so they can put down roots, and we can thrive as a nation together.
Te Puea Marae put out the invitation ahead of the election. When they opened their doors to the homeless this winter, they asked me to come and cook for the families who once again had found relief within their manaakitanga.
There it was, I met families who were gripped by shame and hopelessness, struggling to accept charity while desperately needing support. I love the whanau of Te Puea. They give without expectation. They volunteer to provide hope, respect and unconditional love.
One of the families searching for relief consisted of five children under the age of 7. They were quietly tearful as they told their story. They were housed in a motel by Work and Income NZ, watching their ballooning debt pass the $10,000 mark. When they could no longer allow the debt to grow, with no hope of being housed anytime soon, they returned to their car – driving around the city each night looking for a safe haven to park for the evening. Eventually they heard about the Mangere marae and arrived on their steps desperately seeking help.
Now, here they were on the eve of moving into a home that would cater to their needs, having only been at the marae for a week-and-a-half. I was bewildered! Miffed and annoyed! How is it that Te Puea Marae can do what Work and Income and Housing NZ cannot?
Te Puea holds many answers for the housing crisis and continues to be a beacon. By contrast, a ministry that seems to move as slow as a fly stuck in molasses – lots of wing-flapping with no relief – means the crisis continues. The government, like a stuck blue-arse fly in its death throes, made a lot of busy buzzing noises with little cohesive or substantial result. It’s all been too slow – too slow, too slow. Such suffering has ensued when, if they had acted immediately, much would now be different. Let’s hope the next government moves with greater haste. Hold up, before you all start to cry foul, saying, ‘‘Marama you agreed to sell state houses’’. Let me say I do not have a problem taking housing away from Housing NZ, who evict our whanau without attempting to work through solutions, and putting those homes in the hands of social housing providers who do a better job. Including iwi. However, the bigger issue is to build more homes that are energy-efficient, while still being affordable for our whanau.
So, let’s build houses! I’m going to throw my hat in the ring to find solutions for our whanau using the papakainga model. Work with our land holdings in the hands of iwi and hapu¯ to generate regional growth through improved infrastructure, providing homes and jobs at the same time.
Our whanau, like the Robins whanau of Kohupatiki in Clive, reduce costs by living together as adult families in the same home. The papakainga model will cater to their needs, may involve communal outdoor spaces or shared mara kai and such.
Aunty Vikki (I’m unofficially adopted) says: ‘‘Our children and their children will always have their own homes on their own land amongst their own iwi.’’
Each development will be unique to the aspirations of whanau involved. Developed on Ma¯ori land with the goal of including rangatahi and whanau in the industry, earning qualifications and supporting ongoing business development. I want to help.
Just quietly, I want to get my kids out of my house too so they can put down roots, have security of tenure and thrive together.
Actually work to lift all boats with the rising tide instead of leaving behind families and individuals burdened under homelessness and poverty.
Alison Mau is on holiday