Manaakitanga — Independent Māori Statutory Board

Improve quality of life: Satisfaction with our environments and standard of living

Manaakitanga is a powerful way of expressing how Māori communities care about each other’s wellbeing, nurture relationships, and engage with one another. Manaakitanga also extends to the whenua that needs care in order to ensure sustainability for future generations.

The value of Manaakitanga is often expressed through the responsibility to provide hospitality and protection. Manaakitanga derives from two words - ‘mana’ and ‘aki’. Mana is a condition that holds everything in the highest regard. Aki means to uphold or support. Extending Manaakitanga requires respect, humility, kindness and honesty.

At a glance: Manaakitanga in Tāmaki Makaurau

Having healthy housing and a healthy environment is key to Māori practices of Manaakitanga. The indicators show that there is much to do – Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau perceive their health and life satisfaction to be poorer than others across Aotearoa, and water quality grades are a particular area of concern. Also, the maintenance and revival of te reo Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau remains a challenge.

Low levels of home ownership and lack of housing affordability continue to disproportionately affect Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau. Levels of home ownership by Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau are much lower than by Māori across Aotearoa. Encouragingly, higher relative household income can mean improved wellbeing and enable whānau and families to extend Manaakitanga.

Take a look at headline Manaakitanga indicators for Tāmaki Makaurau across the four cultural, social, economic and environmental pou below. You can also download the full Manaakitanga report and read about this value in more detail.

Manaakitanga and the cultural pou

The outcome from Manaakitanga within the cultural pou of the Māori Plan for Tāmaki Makaurau is that Māori communities are culturally strong and healthy.

The ability to converse in te reo Māori, the number of Māori involved in immersion schools and institutes, and the number of people who are registered with their Iwi and visit their ancestral marae are all indicators of the extent to which Māori communities in Tāmaki Makaurau are culturally strong and healthy.

Less Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau can kōrero in conversational te reo Māori than Māori across Aotearoa

Source: Stats NZ, Census (customised). By descent

Te reo Māori plays a central role in Te Ao Māori and is crucial to building culturally strong communities in Tāmaki Makaurau.

While the proportion of te reo Māori speakers in Tāmaki Makaurau has been declining, the absolute number of speakers in Tāmaki Makaurau has grown. More Māori in southern parts of Tāmaki Makaurau are skilled in conversational te reo Māori.

Manaakitanga and the social pou

The overall outcome from Manaakitanga within the social pou of the Māori Plan for Tāmaki Makaurau is that Māori are enjoying a high quality of life. A high quality of life can be measured in a variety of ways. Here, the focus is on overall life satisfaction and physical health.

Less Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau indicate that they are satisfied or very satisfied with their life, compared to Māori in most other regions

Source: Stats NZ, NZ General Social Survey (customised). By descent

People who experience high life satisfaction generally also experience positive health and wellbeing.

Compared with other regions, less Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau are satisfied or very satisfied with their life.

There is a lot of variability within Tāmaki Makaurau’s wards. All Māori in Orakei and Rodney indicated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with their life in 2018, while only half thought the same in Maungakiekie-Tāmaki.

Less Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau rate their health as excellent, very good or good over time - this trend is similar for almost all other regions

Source: Ministry of Health, New Zealand Health Survey. By ethnicity

Self-rated health is well-established as a predictor of mortality and morbidity and is widely used as a tool in inequality studies. Having ‘fair’ or ‘poor’ self-rated health is a strong predictor of future use of health services, and of mortality.

Self-rated health in Tāmaki Makaurau is lower than almost all other regions.

Manaakitanga and the economic pou

Economic indicators are commonly used as indicators of standard of living and quality of life. While wellbeing is now measured beyond economic indicators, these are still important measures for tracking changes in outcomes for Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Māori households in Tāmaki Makaurau have the highest median income compared to all other regions

Source: Stats NZ, Census (customised). By descent

Household income reflects the role of the household as a fundamental economic unit and is often used as an economic indicator of standard of living and quality of life.

In 2018, the median household income for Māori households in Tāmaki Makaurau was $99,700, which is higher than the national median for Māori of $77,100.

Household incomes have risen across all Local Board areas. Incomes are highest in Orakei and Upper Harbour and lowest on Great Barrier and Ōtara-Papatoetoe.

In 2018, close to half of Māori households in Tāmaki Makaurau had income of more than $100,000

Source: Stats NZ, Census (customised). By descent

Manaakitanga and the environment pou

The environment is intrinsically connected to Māori as a people. If the environment is cared for and is in a healthy state, then so too is the wellbeing of people.

It is important to maintain the integrity of the land and waterways, of seeing cultural histories reflected in the urban environment, thus restoring a sense of place for Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau.

The quality of Tāmaki Makaurau’s rivers has declined over time

Source: Auckland Council, Auckland river water quality: Annual report 2018

There is a strong relationship between the health of Tāmaki Makaurau rivers and the type of land cover in the surrounding catchment. Rivers that drain through forested catchments (particularly native forests) typically have excellent water quality and ecology, while rivers that drain from urban catchments typically have poor water quality and ecology.

Efforts by local communities and businesses to improve water quality are fundamental to enhancing particular environments, and the mauri of te taiao.

Urban sites had the lowest ranked water quality

Source: Auckland Council, Auckland river water quality: Annual report 2018

Most rivers in Tāmaki Makaurau have been rated “poor’, ‘marginal’ or ‘fair’, and in many cases quality fell over the last few years. Cascades Stream was the only site classed as having ‘excellent’ water quality between 2014 and 2018.

Manaakitanga Value Report

In the Manaakitanga Report, we discuss how affordability of living costs and transport costs affects options for housing, employment, education and health for Māori.

Download and read the Manaakitanga Report below: