oct 1, 1948 - T T Rophia becomes Under-Secretary of Maori Affairs
Description:
The under-secretary was due to retire in 1948 and the Public Service Commission was worried about Ropiha’s suitability as successor. The secretary of the commission, George Bolt, had interviewed him at Hamilton on 20 February 1947 and his one concern was whether Ropiha had enough drive to be a thoroughly efficient permanent head of the department. He concluded that if government policy dictated that a Maori should hold the position he did not know of any better applicant. On 1 October 1948 Ropiha became under-secretary for Maori Affairs. He was the first Maori to head the department and was to hold the position for nine years.
He inherited a difficult office. His predecessor, Judge G. P. Shepherd, on the eve of his retirement apologised for the many legal problems he was bequeathing Ropiha. Although gentle in manner, Ropiha was vigorous in action. He concluded that work had been tackled over the years without adequate preparation of staff – in defining policy or in procedure – and the result was a great accumulation of organisational, administrative and legal problems. In land development there was an accumulation of arrears of almost 20 years and he was concerned that no work had been done to complete projects and hand the land back to Maori owners. Titles, through fragmentation, had reached a point where it was administratively almost impossible to distribute rents or use land. The legislation the department worked under was out of date and in need of revision.
Source: https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/5r23/ropiha-tipi-tainui
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