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The Te Hiku o Te Ika Social Development and Well Being Accord (the Social Accord) is a collaboration between Te Hiku Iwi and the Crown to improve the lives of the Māori people of Te Hiku. It is attached to the Deed of Settlements between Ngāi Takoto, Te Aupouri, Te Rarawa and Ngāti Kuri and the Crown. It enables Iwi to participate in decision making alongside government, in order to provide a local voice and perspective about critical social problems affecting Te Hiku Iwi and how they can be addressed.
So why is this Well Being Report so important to the process? If we want to change and improve the social circumstances of Te Hiku people, we need to know what the current state of social development is in our area. A baseline picture is required so that we can continue to improve the situation for our future generations. Predictably the picture painted by this report is not a pretty one with high unemployment, health concerns, educational underachievement and serious justice issues. But the important thing is that we gather the evidence as a snapshot in time, so that when we re-evaluate in five, ten, twenty five years' time, we can see how life has improved for our tamariki mokopuna. So what are the next steps? This report will be used by the Iwi and the Crown to: ● Assess the current state of the Māori whānau of Te Hiku ● Identify key underlying issues affecting their social circumstances ● Establish priorities so that Iwi and government agencies can together begin to address them and ● Jointly develop solutions with input from Iwi who will provide local solutions alongside those of various government agencies |
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This report provides foundation information that both the Iwi and the Crown can work with, to identify a way forward that will contribute to substantive change for the future of Te Hiku. It was an ancestress from Te Hiku o Te Ika, Meringaroto, who first coined the famous saying "He aha te mea nui o tēnei ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata." What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people. Her wisdom is a taonga that continues to inform down through the ages to guide us in the Social Accord process. It will keep us focused on the most important thing for Te Hiku o Te Ika; our people.