July 23, 2021
Waipareira challenge forces council concession
Waipareira chief executive John Tamihere says a last minute concession from Auckland Council property development arm Panuku has exposed that its social housing policies had no legal justification.
Waipareira has been fighting a Panuku policy that would limit social housing to just 30 percent of the Tavern Lane development in Papatoetoe, rather than the 67 percent Waipareira and Ngāi Tai were seeking.
With just weeks to go before the High Court is set to hear Waipareira’s claim the policy breaches the Human Rights Act, Panuku boss David Rankin says Panuku would not fight to enforce the cap and it’s now open to further discussions, including court costs.
Mr Tamihere says over the past decade the policy has denied homes to hundreds of elders, single parents and beneficiaries, especially Māori and Pacific Islanders.
He says the unelected bureaucrat has wielded extraordinary power for years, backed up by politicians like mayor Phil Goff.
"Goff says to me, 'I don't want to see another Māngere or Ōtara.' Well I do. Poor communities aren't bad communities. They just need better services. So he says: 'we're going to cap social housing to 30 percent on all our land.' We knew that breached the Human Rights Act because it was a policy that penalised you for being poor, brown or old," Mr Tamihere says.
Waipareira has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to prepare for court, but it doesn’t want to deal with white bureaucrats who treat Māori as second class citizens.
Copyright © 2021, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com