Te Arawa can no longer stand by and watch the issues with Rotorua's emergency housing unfold, an iwi leader says.
Te Arawa, along with Ngāti Whakaue, is now calling for the Government to end the emergency housing crisis in Rotorua and is setting up an iwi-led operational group to help make it happen.
Spokesman Monty Morrison said iwi leaders met after a TVNZ programme further highlighted the crisis.
This followed extensive reporting from the Rotorua Daily Post.
They are partnering with Ngāti Whakaue to gather information from iwi service providers working in the space and will develop a proposed collective response to take to ministry officials.
Morrison said homelessness was not a new local issue.
"When Covid happened, there was an opportunity to use motels to help our locals and help those in our community. That's not what it is today.
"Te Arawa can no longer stand at the side and watch things happening.
"Te Arawa and Ngāti Whakaue want to help, we're in a position to help and a lot of them are our own whānau."
Morrison said some iwi service providers involved in emergency housing were concerned about what they were seeing on the ground.
"We have an issue that needs to be dealt with. Te Arawa is saying we're here and want to assist. We need to restore the mana of our city."
In an earlier statement, Morrison said Te Arawa had long held concerns about the safety of whānau and tamariki in emergency housing and about the impact it was having on neighbouring homes and businesses.
"Our iwi experts in this field say while emergency housing is providing short-term relief for the Government, the health, wellbeing and social needs of our whānau in these facilities are not being met.
"Te Arawa is willing to work with ministers to ensure policy settings are correct and aligned to end the current crisis."
Morrison said Ngāti Whakaue, which owns most of the land the facilities are on, was looking to offer its operational expertise and knowledge of local conditions to create an iwi-led operational group to work with government ministries and entities to oversee and monitor all operational interventions.
The Te Arawa group will meet again on Thursday at Te Papaīōuru Marae to confirm the proposed co-ordinated approach, then it will be in a position to meet with government ministers.In response, Housing Minister Megan Woods said partnering with iwi and getting a Māori perspective on the Government's work in Rotorua was "at the heart of what we do".
She said the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and Kāinga Ora were partnering with Ngāti Uenukukōpako and Ngāti Whakaue and 11 Māori housing providers to help solve the city's acute housing shortage and had added 210 public homes to Rotorua with 300 more under construction or in the planning stage.
The Te Pokapū housing hub, established by the ministry, takes a kaupapa Māori approach to assessing people's needs and includes iwi staff members.
Woods said the ministry was reviewing the emergency housing system and had started work with the Rotorua taskforce, a forum for central government to work with the Rotorua Lakes Council and Te Arawa iwi.
Woods expected the use of motels to "become minimal within five years".
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick said it was great to have Te Arawa support.
"[The] council is doing all that it can but as we have always said, [the] council can't do it alone. This issue requires the collective efforts of all parties working together to achieve the change and outcomes our community needs.
"The need for change to the current unacceptable situation is something I reinforced with Ministers Woods and [Carmel] Sepuloni when I met with them last week and I'm confident progress is being made."
Rotorua mayoral hopeful Reynold Macpherson says Rotorua's emergency housing will need to be "downscaled and dismantled" if Rotorua's tourism industry is to recover.
In a statement, the Rotorua District Residents and Ratepayers Association candidate called for an end to what in his view was the ''homeless industry''.
Macpherson claimed MSD brought homeless people in "by the busload," some were given vouchers to self-manage their emergency accommodation and some were still mixed-use without support or supervision.
In response, Ministry of Social Development Bay of Plenty regional commissioner Mike Bryant said while it could not get involved in political debate with candidates, MSD did not proactively move clients around New Zealand or move them to Rotorua.
"We ask for a valid and clear reason before any emergency housing support is provided for people to relocate from outside of their region."
He said emergency housing special needs grants were paid directly to the accommodation supplier not issued as vouchers to clients.
Bryant said people in emergency housing had a dedicated case manager to support them and connect them with appropriate services and could be referred to a housing navigator for additional support.
"Emergency housing isn't our first option. It's a last resort."
Macpherson said proposals to "consolidate the industry in 13 large motels" and for tiny houses on land near the city's airport, proposed by fellow mayoral candidate Fletcher Tabuteau would, in his opinion, "change Rotorua's character and economy fundamentally".
Fellow candidate Tapsell has also pledged to end homeless motels in a statement released yesterday. She said it had caused "immeasurable social and economic damage to Rotorua" and residents near the motels had suffered.
"It's time to take back our town."
She said those who had lived in another district before entering Rotorua motels needed to be returned to the districts and regions they came from and had connections with.
"I've always said Rotorua should look after our own, but it has been impossible to do that when [the] Government dumped others here.
"There has clearly been a lack of transparency and due diligence by the Government. They must front up to the damage they have caused to Rotorua and our reputation and end homeless motels immediately."
Tapsell called on all candidates to state their position on the matter.
"Rotorua residents deserve to know who else will stop this."
The Rotorua Daily Post previously reported where mayoral candidates stood on the issue.
Rania Sears called for an urgent independent review and said she would call an urgent hui with the council, government officials, service providers, iwi and community leaders. Raj Kumar said he wanted to see the Government cancel all motel contracts, Fletcher Tabuteau said he wanted the Government to "work with Rotorua homeless only" and would work to "provide real housing alternatives".
Ben Sandford said MSD should not pay for mixed-use motels and if elected he would "advocate and present solutions". Kalaadevi Ananda wanted the Government and the council to "dismantle each motel, one at a time".
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