Supporting Safer Communities With Māori Wardens
Hon Tama Potaka
Minister for Māori Development
Hon Casey Costello
Associate Minister of Police
Rt Hon Winston Peters
Deputy Prime Minister
He taonga rongonui te aroha ki te tangata.
The great work Māori Wardens do to support communities and safety gets a boost in this year's Budget, Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka, Associate Police Minister Casey Costello and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, announced today.
'Māori Wardens offer a friendly face when times are tough. They've supported whānau nationwide for more than 150 years, providing training programmes for youth, food to those in need, and help in tough times like COVID-19 lockdowns and recent flooding events,' Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says.
'There are now over 500 wardens supporting New Zealanders every day with everything from engaging with our rangatahi and keeping them in school to de-escalating conflict.
'These services rely heavily on volunteers. Today we are ensuring they receive extra support, including transport and training for volunteers, and greater administrative support for staff to manage service coordination and, in some areas, expanding services to help meet the need.'
Budget 2025 includes $1.5 million per annum of new baseline funding for Māori Wardens, bringing total government funding for Māori Wardens to $2.7 million per annum.
The extra funding reflects a commitment in the National Party & New Zealand First coalition agreement.
'Māori wardens are a huge asset to New Zealand's social cohesion and the prevention of social dislocation before it happens. This funding uplift not only provides critical support to a voluntary organisation but is testament to the valuable work that they do,' says Deputy Prime Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters.
'Māori wardens hold significant mana in our communities and make an important contribution to community safety alongside Police and other groups,' Associate Police Minister Casey Costello says.
'Because they are so closely connected to their communities, they can be a familiar, caring and calming presence in sometimes stressful situations. They are trusted community members who can help whānau, deter crime and allow Police to focus on their core functions.
'Today's announcement will help ensure wardens are supported to continue their important role, including at significant events like Waitangi Day and Poukai.'
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Comment on New NES for Granny Flats (Minor Residential Units) Regulations: 'Similar to the NES for papakāinga, these changes direct territorial authorities to amend their district plans to allow for one minor residential unit per site in residential, rural, mixed-use, and Māori purpose zones across all of New Zealand. Many district plans already provide for minor residential units as a permitted activity, and some are more enabling, however, the NES will ensure that all territorial authorities adopt this standard as a minimum. Outside of papakāinga provisions, this will provide greater opportunities for multigenerational living on a single site, enabling whānau to develop a minor dwelling or granny flat without the need for resource consent.' 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So this proposal will allow as of right up to 10 homes on Māori or Treaty settlement land. You can build on up to 50% of the land and you can also have non-residential activity: 100m2 of commercial, accommodation for eight guests, educational and health facilities, sports and recreation activities, marae, urupā, food gardens and so on. And if you want more housing than 10 homes, that's 'restricted discretionary' meaning you will need to apply for resource consent / planning permission from your council. Just a proposal at the moment, open for consultation. 'I commend this as giving power / opportunity to Māori. A few centuries of Pākehā patronage hasn't really worked out for them so this papakāinga proposal can allow some self-determination. It hasn't got much publicity so I would encourage people to get in there and support it. 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