Minister of Māori Affairs
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The Minister of Māori Affairs 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 Affairs is Parekura Horomia.
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[edit] Role
The role of the Minister of Māori Affairs differs somewhat from those of other ministers. While the Minister of Māori Affairs does have a government department to supervise (Te Puni Kokiri, 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 Affairs 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.
[edit] History
The office of Minister of Māori Affairs 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 (1972-75) that there was another ethnically Māori Minister of Māori Affairs.
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 Affairs is Parekura Horomia, a member of the Labour Party. The National Party's spokesperson on Māori Affairs is Gerry Brownlee, who is not Māori — Brownlee took the post after Georgina Te Heuheu, the only MP in the party who identified as Māori, was dismissed for failing to back the party's race relations policy.
[edit] Past Ministers of Māori Affairs
The table below lists previous ministers with responsibility for Māori issues. Initially, the title used was Minister of Native Affairs, but the title was changed to Minister of Māori Affairs on 17 December 1947. The table indicates whether a minister was Māori (that is, predominantly of Māori descent, or with enough Māori heritage as to be seen as Māori).
