Minister for Māori Development

The Minister for Māori Development is the minister in the New Zealand Government with broad responsibility for government policy towards Māori, the first inhabitants of New Zealand. The Minister heads the Te Puni Kōkiri (TPK, or the Ministry of Māori Development). Between 1947 and 2014 the position was called Minister of Māori Affairs; before that it was known as Minister of Native Affairs. The current Minister for Māori Development is Tama Potaka.^[2]

Minister for Māori Development
Coat of arms of New Zealand
Flag of New Zealand
Incumbent Tama Potaka since 27 November 2023
Ministry of Maori Development
Style	The Honourable
Member of	Executive Council
Reports to	Prime Minister of New Zealand
Appointer	Governor-General of New Zealand
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation	27 August 1858
First holder	William Richmond
Salary	$243,841[1]
Website	Ministry of Māori Development

Role

The role of the Minister for Māori Development differs from those of other ministers. While the Minister for Māori Development does have a government department to supervise (Te Puni Kōkiri, TPK for short, or the Ministry of Māori Development), he or she also has input into other portfolios to the extent that they affect Māori. For example, the Minister for Māori Development would expect to be involved in the development of Māori language policy in the education portfolio, even though education is normally the sole responsibility of the Minister of Education.^[3][4]

History

The office was originally called Minister of Native Affairs, or simply Native Minister. Most early Ministers of Native Affairs were not Māori, although a convention existed that there should be Māori in Cabinet (albeit without portfolio). Prior to the implementation of responsible government, Māori affairs (specifically the purchase of land from Māori by the Crown) had been handled by the Governor.^[5]

Attitudes of early Ministers were varied. The first Minister, William Richmond, considered Māori to be savages, and believed that his task was to "reform" Māori by making them more like Europeans. He was particularly hostile to Māori tradition of shared land ownership, considering it "beastly communism".^[6] Other Ministers were more friendly to Māori interests — James FitzGerald, the sixth Minister, believed that peaceful co-existence with Māori was vital, and considered the confiscation of Māori land to be an "enormous crime".^[7] Other Ministers have varied between these positions.^[8]

The first Minister of Native Affairs to be ethnically Māori was James Carroll, appointed by the Liberal Party in the late 19th century.^[9] Another prominent Minister of Native Affairs was Āpirana Ngata, also of the Liberals. For the most part, however, early Ministers were Pākehā, although were frequently advised by Māori colleagues.^[10] Maui Pomare^[11] of the Reform Party and Eruera Tirikatene of the Labour Party were examples of politicians who played a major role in the portfolio without actually holding office.^[12] After Carroll and Ngata, it was not until Matiu Rata (1972–1975) that there was another ethnically Māori Minister of Māori Affairs.^{[13] [citation needed]}

Under the Maori Purposes Act 1947, the Ministerial title and all other government usage was changed from 'Native' to 'Maori'.^[14]

1972 to present

Matiu Rata, appointed as the Minister of Māori Affairs in 1972, the first Maori since Ngata was Minister of Native Affairs in 1928.^[15]

After the 2014 general election cabinet reshuffle, the title was changed from Minister of Māori Affairs to Minister for Māori Development. While Prime Minister John Key said that there was not really any difference in what the portfolio would involve, "it gives you a sense of where the minister [Flavell] will want to shape the portfolio".^[16] During the 2014–2017 term of the Fifth National Government, Te Ururoa Flavell served as the Minister for Māori Development.^[17]

Following the formation of the Sixth Labour Government, Nanaia Mahuta was appointed as Minister for Māori Development.^[18]

List of ministers

The table below lists ministers who have held responsibility for Māori issues. Initially, the title used was Minister of Native Affairs, but the title was changed to Minister of Maori Affairs on 17 December 1947 and then to Minister of Māori Affairs with the insertion of the macron in modern orthography under the Māori Language Commission. In 2014, the title was changed for a fourth time to Minister for Māori Development.

Key

  Independent   Liberal   Reform   United   Labour   National   NZ First   Mauri Pacific   Māori Party

No.		Name	Portrait	Was Māori?	Term of office		Prime Minister
As Minister of Native Affairs
	1	William Richmond		No	27 August 1858	10 November 1860		Stafford
	2	Frederick Weld		No	10 November 1860	12 July 1861
	3	Walter Mantell		No	12 July 1861	18 December 1861		Fox
	4	Dillon Bell		No	6 August 1862	30 October 1863		Domett
	5	William Fox		No	18 December 1861	30 October 1863		Whitaker
	(3)	Walter Mantell		No	30 October 1863	27 July 1865		Weld
	6	James FitzGerald		No	27 July 1865	16 October 1865
	7	Andrew Russell		No	16 October 1865	24 August 1866		Stafford
	8	James Crowe Richmond		No	24 August 1866	28 June 1869
	9	Donald McLean		No	28 June 1869	7 December 1876		Fox
								Waterhouse
								Fox
								Vogel
								Pollen
								Vogel
								Atkinson
	10	Daniel Pollen		No	18 December 1876	13 October 1877
	11	John Sheehan		No	15 October 1877	8 October 1879		Grey
	12	John Bryce		No	8 October 1879	21 January 1881		Hall
	13	William Rolleston		No	4 February 1881	19 October 1881
	(12)	John Bryce		No	19 October 1881	16 August 1884
								Whitaker
								Atkinson
	14	John Ballance		No	16 August 1884 3 September 1884	28 August 1884 8 October 1887		Stout
	15	Edwin Mitchelson		No	8 October 1887	24 January 1891		Atkinson
	(14)	John Ballance		No	24 January 1891	4 February 1891		Ballance
	16	Alfred Cadman		No	4 February 1891	29 June 1893
								Seddon
	17	Richard Seddon		No	29 June 1893	21 December 1899
	18	James Carroll		Yes	21 December 1899	28 March 1912
								Hall-Jones
								Ward
	19	William MacDonald		No	28 March 1912	10 July 1912		Mackenzie
	20	William Herries		No	10 July 1912	7 February 1921		Massey
	21	Gordon Coates		No	7 February 1921	10 December 1928
								Bell
								Coates
	22	Āpirana Ngata		Yes	10 December 1928	1 November 1934		Ward
								Forbes
	23	George Forbes		No	1 November 1934	6 December 1935
	24	Michael Joseph Savage		No	6 December 1935	27 March 1940		Savage
	25	Frank Langstone		No	1 April 1940	21 December 1942		Fraser
	26	Rex Mason		No	7 July 1943	19 December 1946
	27	Peter Fraser		No	19 December 1946	17 December 1947
As Minister of Maori Affairs
	(27)	Peter Fraser		No	17 December 1947	13 December 1949		Fraser
	28	Ernest Corbett		No	13 December 1949	26 September 1957		Holland
								Holyoake
	29	Keith Holyoake		No	26 September 1957	12 December 1957
	30	Walter Nash		No	12 December 1957	12 December 1960		Nash
	31	Ralph Hanan		No	12 December 1960	24 July 1969		Holyoake
	32	Duncan MacIntyre		No	22 December 1969	8 December 1972
								Marshall
	33	Matiu Rata		Yes	8 December 1972	12 December 1975		Kirk
								Rowling
	(32)	Duncan MacIntyre		No	12 December 1975	13 December 1978		Muldoon
	34	Ben Couch		Yes	13 December 1978	26 July 1984
	35	Koro Wētere		Yes	26 July 1984	2 November 1990		Lange
								Palmer
								Moore
	36	Winston Peters		Yes	2 November 1990	2 October 1991		Bolger
	37	Doug Kidd		No	2 October 1991	6 November 1993
	38	John Luxton		No	6 November 1993	12 October 1996
	39	Tau Henare		Yes	12 October 1996	10 December 1999
								Shipley
	40	Dover Samuels		Yes	10 December 1999	28 June 2000		Clark
	41	Parekura Horomia		Yes	26 July 2000	19 November 2008
As Minister for Māori Affairs
	42	Pita Sharples		Yes	19 November 2008	8 October 2014		Key
As Minister for Māori Development
	43	Te Ururoa Flavell		Yes	8 October 2014	21 October 2017		Key
								English
	44	Nanaia Mahuta		Yes	26 October 2017	6 November 2020		Ardern
	45	Willie Jackson		Yes	6 November 2020	27 November 2023
								Hipkins
	46	Tama Potaka		Yes	27 November 2023	present		Luxon