Waiata to mark DCC's Māori Strategy

Dunedin City Councillors have approved plans for better inclusion of Māori and consideration of Te Ao Māori in local government.

Following an 11-1 vote at DCC’s Strategy, Planning and Engagement Committee today, the council will press on in implementing Te Taki Haruru – its Māori Strategic Framework.

Te Taki Haruru is proposed to be governed at a strategic level by Te Pae Māori  (a mana to mana forum set up in partnership with mana whenua and the council), a council report says.

“It will be implemented through three key programmes that will be overseen on an operational level by the Manahautū, delegated staff, and a Project Steering Group (PSG) which is yet to be determined.”

Te Taki Haruru is intended to aid the DCC to “meet its Treaty obligations” through three operational programmes.

These three programmes are:  Tū Kotahi – the Māori Cultural Capability Framework.

This is a programme is designed for DCC staff to gain an understanding of the Treaty “it applies in Ōtepoti Dunedin and local government context.”

Tū Ake – the main Operational Framework for Te Taki Haruru.

This programme works with DCC staff to “create a positive shift in the day-to-day business by applying Te Taki Haruru to their work” and “ensures that new and under-review strategies/policies/plans are underpinned by Te Taki Haruru with identifiable indicators of success.”

Tū Hono – the Māori Engagement Framework.

“This is a supplementary programme supporting DCC staff in fulfilling their Treaty commitments beyond Tū Kotahi and Tū Ake by providing resources on the processes for engaging with mana whenua. These resources will give DCC staff the confidence to know when and how to engage with mana whenua directly.”

Upon voting for the plan councillors were led in a waiata (of Ngati Porou) by Councillor Marie Laufiso.

Councillor Jim O’Malley said said the plan was proof the council was “heading in the right direction”.

Councillor Christine Carey echoed those sentiments, saying implementing the plan would be “good for all of us”.

Councillor Lee Vandervis questioned whether the council had the authority to implement the plan, which he felt would result in giving Te Pae Māori a governance role. He was also critical of the amount of words with no English translations available in the documentation.

Councillor Mandy Mayhem summed up the feelings of the majority of councillors.

“I look forward to lifting our cultural capability at DCC and to the implementation and embedding of Te Taki Haruru.

“The objective of this document is being able to guide council and ensure wellbeing of future generations and environmental sustainability from a Te Ao Māori perspective.

“Mana Whenua are leaders, influencers and partners, particularly in the protection and management of our natural resources and from a social wellbeing perspective to access equitable opportunities for whanau and ensure a feeling of connectiveness, so that everyone may thrive.”

Mana whenua representative Matapura Ellison supported the implementation plan.

“There’s very little ambiguity, I would be very happy to support this.”

Main image: Councillors join a waiata at today's committee meeting.