Community groups turn out for Kirikiriroa launch of State of the Nation Report
Around 50 people from a range of community services, government organisations and support services gathered in the London St headquarters of the Te Ope Whakaora Kirikiriroa Corps for a presentation of the Salvation Army State of the Nation Report.
Now in it’s 18th year, the report highlights trends across a range of areas that impact the wellbeing of individual and whānau and this year’s report paints an unpleasant picture, with most indicators either remaining stagnant or showing a decline.
Of particular interest for Māori is the reduction in the proportion of Māori who feel it is easy to express their identity, from 84% in 2019 to 75% in 2023, while there has also been a fall in the proportion of Māori able to speak te reo Māori at least fairly well.
While the number of Māori waiting for social housing had declined, and personal incomes kept pace with inflation, “meaningful signs of reduction in the often huge disparities experienced by Māori are largely absent,” the report says.
While there have been numerous clams that Māori are given an unfair advantage simply by identifying as Māori, “this is a complete misrepresentation of the experience of Māori in this land today”.
“What is presented is a stark reminder of the extent of disadvantage experienced.”
The report says that key to improving outcomes and quality of life for Māori and non-Māori is “upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi by enabling Māori to exercise tino rangatiratanga”.
Hamilton Corps Officer Captain Stu Lee opened the presentation with a prayer – in te reo Māori and English – before a report overview was presented by Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit director Bonnie Robinson and report co-author Ana Ika, before answering a range of questions from the floor on different aspects of the report.
Community Waikato chief executive Holly Snape, who has been involved at both a governance and management level in community and social service organisations for 15 years, says the report launch is a good opportunity for those working in the sector to discuss various issues and to access the quality data available in the report.
“It always makes for a bit of grim reading but we have very few opportunities as a sector to get access to well researched data to evidence the type of work that we do,” she says.
“So thank you to the Sallies for pulling together all this research and giving us the opportunity to talk about some of this stuff.”
Many of the issues raised in the report are something the Salvation Army deals with every day, such as an increase in people seeking support and a growing demand for food parcels, but there are fewer resources available to meet those needs.
Bonnie told the audience the report shines a light on people’s struggles and given the number of years it has been running, provides important information about whether things are improving or deteriorating over time.
While there had been some small improvements in a few areas, most indicators painted a bleak picture and “we should be ashamed as a nation by these stats,” she says.
The Kirikiriroa report launch was part of a nationwide series of launches, which began in Wellington on February 12, with other launches held across the motu.
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