- Minister of Māori Affairs
-
New Zealand 
This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
New ZealandConstitution 
General
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 Dr. Pita Sharples.
Contents
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 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 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.
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 Pita Sharples, a member of the Maori Party. The National Party's spokesperson on Māori Affairs is Georgina Te Heuheu, she received the position of Associate Minister of Maori Affairs in the creation of the fifth National government as of November 2008.
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
served1 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[1] 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, Atkinson10 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 Herbert 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 Wetere 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 1996 1998 NZ First Bolger, Shipley Tau Henare, continued Yes 1998 1998 Independent Shipley Tau Henare, continued Yes 1998 1999 Mauri Pacific Shipley 40 Dover Samuels Yes 1999 2002 Labour Clark 41 Parekura Horomia Yes 2002 19 December 2008 Labour Clark 42 Pita Sharples Yes 19 December 2008 Incumbent Māori Key References
External links
Categories:- Lists of government ministers of New Zealand
- Politics of New Zealand
- Race relations in New Zealand
- Māori politics
- Indigenous affairs ministries
- Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand
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