nov 30, 1944 - Board of Native Affairs report on Maori living conditions in Panmure
Description:
Most were landless and
had no option but to remain in the city. The majority did not want to return
to the country where housing conditions were just as bad. There was no work
for them there anyway . But the city houses were an eyesore: 'They comprise
tents, galvanised iron shacks, portions of stables and manure sheds, and
dwellings of packing cases, rough timber and rubber. Overcrowding
is prevalent and the sanitary arrangements most primitive .... Cooking is
done ... mostly on open fires and in the majority of cases, they sleep,
cook, store and eat food in the one room. Royal discovered that two previous attempts had been made to deal with
the Panmure problems but nothing had been done. Maoris surveyed were naturally
cynical, as they felt that the survey was so much ' eyewash'. He realised that
the situation he described was 'only a very small part of a greater problem
which will require to be faced and met in the near future'. He estimated
that twelve hundred houses were needed to house Maori families living in
the slum are as of Auckland City, five hundred of them 'immediately '. The
immensity of the task obviously demanded an urgent solution.
Source: https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/handle/2292/6752
Added to timeline:
A chronology of Māori housing in Tāmaki Makaurau - Key events
This timeline charts the changing institutional framework an...
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