Te Whāriki Manawāhine o Hauraki Women's refuge has hosted the 1st Hauraki Housing Solutions and Actions Hui at Tirohia marae, to identify the potential for public and private partnerships to fund the development and ongoing operation of safe, secure, and sustainable housing solutions for wāhine and their whānau where they can get support when required to heal and restore their mental, emotional, cultural, and economic wellbeing.
Te Whāriki has housed 81 wāhine and 185 tamariki in the past two years in their safe house Te Whare Aniwaniwa, their emergency housing facility. Whānau referred to the safe house are homeless as in most cases they cannot return home because it is not safe to do so.
Te Whāriki Manawāhine o Hauraki Women's refuge chairperson Josie Anderson says, "The Government's housing initiatives seem to have an urban focus, which, in our view is short-sighted"
The disconnection process from whenua, whānau, and other cultural assets has had a significant negative impact on the lives of whānau within Hauraki. This is compounded by urban areas being the prime focus of the Government for supporting new builds and local councils taking a hands-off approach to community housing.
The housing crisis and the lack of any current or proposed local or regional solutions led Te Whāriki to secure funding from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development Taupua fund. This funding is to strengthen Te Whāriki’s capability to develop housing solutions for wāhine and their whānau.
Josie says it's time rural New Zealanders started to advocate for themselves. "Today marks the start of our efforts, to highlight that housing shortage is not just an urban issue. It is an issue across all of our regions"
"We know the current system needs an overhaul, and initiatives are taking place to address this"
Green Party co-leader, and Associate Housing Minister, Marama Davidson, attended the hui with her moko in tow. She says there is a simple solution - the wider community need to be the decision-makers.
"What is necessary is to devolve power, authority, and resource back to local communities"
"Making sure that our whānau have stability and security. A whare to put down their roots"