Speech by Chief Commissioner Jan Pryor at the launch of the Families Commission's Whānau Strategy

Speech by Dr Jan Pryor, Chief Families Commissioner on the occasion of the launch of the Commission’s Whānau Strategy, 5pm, Thursday 22 April, at Parliament.

E nga mana
E nga waka
E nga reo

Tena kotou, tena kotou, tena kotou katoa.

Today is a highlight of my time at the Families Commission, and I want to thank you, Minister Turia, and your staff, for your support and belief in us as we do this work. We believe our whānau strategy is crucial to the work of the Commission.

We start with ourselves. I have said that if the Commission does not take whānau and whānau ora very seriously then we should pack up our bags and leave. So we are taking care that internally we get it right. We don’t just pay lip service to these concepts; we work hard with our staff to ensure they understand and support all that we do in relation to whānau. We have increased our Māori research and policy capacity and are blessed to have Kathy Irwin, Kahukore Baker, Huia O’Sullivan and Bobby Newson working with us in policy and research.

We have, too, a stellar group as our Whānau Reference Group. They include Meagan Joe, Dame Iritana Tawhiwirangi, Barbara Greer, Moe Milne, Catherine Love, Maxine Rennie, Tim Rochford and Wharehoka Wano. They have joined us relatively recently; I thank our previous Whānau Reference Group for their guidance in getting us to where we are.

As an autonomous Crown entity we have the freedom and the responsibility to take a dispassionate position, and to think carefully about the underpinning of our work with and for whānau. We have started with a rigorous examination and review of concepts and come up with frameworks that we hope will inform others who struggle with them.

And we go well beyond concepts, to action. We co-fund four whānau ora projects with ACC and HRC. We have underway several kaupapa Māori projects that call for Māori perspectives, methodologies, and interpretation. Our ‘mainstream’ work increasingly incorporates a Māori component that is guided by our Māori researchers. In other words, we are committed to working with and for whānau in ways that are truly effective. We recognise whānau as the prime site for intervention and support, as we strive to help whānau to help themselves. We don’t provide fish; we don’t teach people how to fish; we empower them to use their own fishing methods that work.

We also identify exemplars of whānau-based practice, that are role models for others to look to. There are many successful and innovative whānau enterprises whose success is unsung; we are in the process if singing their songs for them.

We look outside ourselves. As the whānau strategy and its documents have been developed we have consulted widely and taken into account the views of iwi, whānau, Government Ministries, NGOs and others who work with and for whānau. What we are doing is work in progress; we don’t think we are ‘there’ and will continue to refine and monitor our progress. We will look for outcomes that show that our work is effective.

In my time engaging and working with families, I have become increasingly of the view that all families in New Zealand have much to learn from the practices of well functioning whānau. Indeed, and perhaps because we have shared 170 years of history, some aspects of whānau values have become part of Pākehā families. I think of genealogy and whakapapa, reciprocity, family identity and open adoption – sadly not everywhere, but glimpses of them are to be seen.

What we must avoid is becoming pleased with ourselves. I believe that enduring work needs to involve sometimes small but very solid and well-founded steps. We can then build on those with care, so that we get it as right as we can. We need to be vigilant and to make sure that we are getting it right as we progress.

This then, is an important milestone for the Commission. Kim tells me that triumphalism is a sin; nonetheless I am quietly immensely proud of what we have achieved so far. I live not far from Kohunui Marae, so will be looking on as Kim sits in the best chair, and cheering loudly as he and others continue to carry on the work of the Commission’s whānau strategy.