State Houses Opened, Takou Bay, Northland

Kia ora, talofa lava and welcome. I acknowledge in particular my colleague Tai Tokerau MP Dover Samuels, Far North District Council Mayor Yvonne Sharp and Minita …(name to come). Greetings also to the kaumatua and kuia of Onga Hapu O Ngapuhi Nui Tonu, trustees of the Takou Trust and representatives of Kia Ora Ngapuhi Housing.

Today in several ways marks a special event. These four new homes that we are opening today are the first State rental homes to be completed on Mâori land since 1992.

This Government is committed to providing more State houses in areas in need. Northland is one of those areas.

Our goal is to eliminate substandard housing in Northland. We currently have a project underway to identify the extent of the problem and what can be done about it - not just now, and not just in terms of housing, but longer term.

The immediate emphasis of the assessments is on unsafe houses – where people could come to physical harm, for example by relying on open flames for light, heat and cooking.

Working with Maori iwi groups and social and housing agencies, the housing needs of some 540 families have been assessed to date in Northland to gather information on their housing situation.

Where families have been living in circumstances that pose an extreme risk, urgent repairs have been undertaken or the family relocated. Urgent repairs are being carried out on 27 properties in the North.

The government is currently considering a number of funding proposals to enable further essential repairs to be carried out, and to increase the supply of new rental housing in Northland.

But doing repair work and providing new rental houses is not the total answer. We are also working on longer term responses to the issue of inadequate housing and the associated health and education problems. We recognise that a solution to housing issues cannot be determined in isolation from the other challenges faced by those living in impoverished communities – including access to employment, quality schooling, health and other social services.

Longer-term communities need to be able to look ahead and see a path that they can follow for their own development.

That is what is so important about the rental houses we are opening today.

They are not just one small step towards that housing solution. They are also a symbol of a community here in Takou Bay that is working to manage land on behalf of its approximately 300 shareholders.

These properties are part of a larger housing subdivision where other Trust shareholders can build their own homes. Trust shareholders can qualify for loans from Housing new Zealand through its Low Deposit Rural Lending (LDRL) scheme administered by Kia Ora Ngapuhi Housing.

These four rental homes are intended to be transition homes for people while they attend the LDRL course, save their deposit and get themselves into a position where they can build their own home and develop their own futures.

My colleague, and your local MP, Dover Samuels drove the first peg for this project in May this year. The government has committed approximately $435,000 into this project and the Far North District Council has also assisted with the roading. I believe that this represents an excellent investment in the future of the people of Takou Bay.

The Takou Trust Board is to be congratulated in its efforts to develop this area. I understand that prior to 1985 this land had been virtually abandoned. It was gorse infested and without access to electricity. Thanks to the Trust significant progress has been made since then, with roading to open up residential areas, clearing of land for stock and horticulture, planting of more than 200 acres of pine, the development of a camping ground and the reconstruction of the ancient marae on the other side of the Takou River.

These four new rental homes demonstrate a partnership between the Takou Trust and the government to address housing issues in the Far North. We are keen to develop similar partnerships, not only here in the Far North but throughout New Zealand.

I am proud to be associated with this project. Thank you for inviting me here today and I wish you all the best on the road ahead. I now declare these four homes officially opened.

ends