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 Nanaia Mahuta, while The Greens and New Zealand First have David Clendon and Winston Peters.

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".

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. 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).

	Name	Was Māori?	Took Office	Left Office	Party	PM served
1	William Richmond		27 August 1858	10 November 1860	None	Stafford
2	Frederick Weld		10 November 1860	12 July 1861	None	Stafford
3	Walter Mantell		12 July 1861	18 December 1861	None	Fox
4	Dillon Bell		6 August 1862	30 October 1863	None	Domett
5	William Fox		30 October 1863	24 November 1864	None	Whitaker
	Walter Mantell, 2nd time		16 December 1864	27 July 1865	None	Weld
6	James FitzGerald		12 August 1865	16 October 1865	None	Weld
7	Andrew Russell		31 October 1865	24 August 1866	None	Stafford
8	James Crowe Richmond		August 1866	June 1869	None	Stafford
9	Donald McLean		28 June 1869	10 September 1872	None	Fox
	Donald McLean, 2nd time		11 October 1872	7 December 1876	None	Waterhouse, Fox, Vogel Pollen, Vogel, Atkinson
10	Daniel Pollen		18 December 1876	13 October 1877	None	Atkinson
11	John Sheehan		15 October 1877	8 October 1879	None	Grey
12	John Bryce		8 October 1879	21 January 1881	None	Hall
13	William Rolleston		4 February 1881	19 October 1881	None	Hall
	John Bryce, 2nd time		19 October 1881	16 August 1884	None	Hall, Whitaker, Atkinson
14	John Ballance		16 August 1884	28 August 1884	None	Stout
	John Ballance, 2nd time		3 September 1884	8 October 1887	None	Stout
15	Edwin Mitchelson		11 October 1887	24 January 1891	None	Atkinson
	John Ballance, 3rd time		24 January 1891	4 February 1891	Liberal	(himself)
16	Alfred Cadman		4 February 1891	29 June 1893	Liberal	Ballance, Seddon
17	Richard Seddon		6 September 1893	21 December 1899	Liberal	(himself)
18	James Carroll	Yes	21 December 1899	28 March 1912	Liberal	Seddon, Hall-Jones, Ward
19	William MacDonald		28 March 1912	10 July 1912	Liberal	Mackenzie
20	William Herries		10 July 1912	7 February 1921	Reform	Massey
21	Gordon Coates		9 March 1921	10 December 1928	Reform	Massey, Bell, (himself)
22	Apirana Ngata	Yes	10 December 1928	1 November 1934	United (Liberal)	Ward, Forbes
23	George Forbes		1 November 1934	6 December 1935	United (Liberal)	(himself)
24	Michael Joseph Savage		6 December 1935	27 March 1940	Labour	(himself)
25	Frank Langstone		1 April 1940	21 December 1942	Labour	Fraser
26	Rex Mason		7 July 1943	19 December 1946	Labour	Fraser
27	Peter Fraser		19 December 1946	13 December 1949	Labour	(himself)
28	Ernest Corbett		13 December 1949	26 September 1957	National	Holland, Holyoake
29	Keith Holyoake		26 September 1957	12 December 1957	National	(himself)
30	Walter Nash		12 December 1957	12 December 1960	Labour	(himself)
31	Ralph Hanan		12 December 1960	24 July 1969	National	Holyoake
32	Duncan MacIntyre		22 December 1969	8 December 1972	National	Holyoake, Marshall
33	Matiu Rata	Yes	8 December 1972	12 December 1975	Labour	Kirk, Rowling
	Duncan MacIntyre, 2nd time		12 December 1975	13 December 1978	National	Muldoon
34	Ben Couch	Yes	13 December 1978	26 July 1984	National	Muldoon
35	Koro Wētere	Yes	26 July 1984	2 November 1990	Labour	Lange, Palmer, Moore
36	Winston Peters	Yes	1990	1991	National	Bolger
37	Doug Kidd		1991	1993	National	Bolger
38	John Luxton		1993	1996	National	Bolger
39	Tau Henare	Yes	16 December 1996	1998	NZ First	Bolger, Shipley
	Tau Henare, continued	Yes	1998	1998	Independent	Shipley
	Tau Henare, continued	Yes	1998	10 December 1999	Mauri Pacific	Shipley
40	Dover Samuels	Yes	10 December 1999	28 June 2000	Labour	Clark
41	Parekura Horomia	Yes	26 July 2000	19 December 2008	Labour	Clark
42	Pita Sharples	Yes	19 December 2008	8 October 2014	Māori	Key
43	Te Ururoa Flavell	Yes	8 October 2014	Incumbent	Māori	Key

External links

• Te Puni Kokiri
• Minister of Māori Affairs at beehive.govt.nz
• Minister for Whānau Ora at beehive.govt.nz