Stories by Leigh-Marama McLachlan

A plan to give Māori tendering rights is widely supported by Māori leaders, but there is frustration that New Zealand First may be blocking it.

There are calls to expand a family support programme that has stopped 116 children from going into state care.

Thousands of whānau are living through winter in poor housing - statistics show more than one in three Māori live in cold, damp and sometimes mouldy homes.

Oranga Tamariki says there has been a major drop in the number of Māori children entering state care in the past year.

A researcher says the maternity and infant healthcare system is failing Māori women and their babies, who suffer poorer outcomes than non-Māori.

The Māori Party has launched its national campaign to reduce racism and inequity as it fights for a return to Parliament in 2020.

Māori health experts say major plans to overhaul the health system and create a Māori health authority don't go far enough.

There needs to be intense ongoing support and training focused on tikanga and Māori models of practice, a social work expert says.

The future of the flagship Māori news show Te Karere is on the line as the government proposes to create a single Māori news service.

Police Armed Response Teams are being criticised for attending call outs to deal with children as young as 12 while they were in action.

The Crown has failed to protect King Country Māori against the severe and lasting impacts of settlement, the Waitangi Tribunal says.

Former Māori Party leader Dame Tariana Turia is calling for Oranga Tamariki's chief executive Grainne Moss and Minister for Children Tracey Martin to resign.

Māori mothers of newborns involved with Oranga Tamariki say the child welfare system is dangerous, brutal and racist. Audio

Māori health providers are hoping to cement gains in healthcare but avoid inequity as they scale back targeted Covid-19 testing of Māori.

A Christchurch art gallery has apologised and pulled down controversial art after complaints the works appropriated Māori culture. Audio

Māori business advisors are concerned the government has given no clear direction for the future of the Māori economy.

When the Census was taken in March 2018, 35.5 percent of Māori and 37.3 percent of Pacific people were living in damp houses.

The Employment Minister says the Budget's $900 million Māori package is unprecedented but some say the long-term gains for Māori employment and development fall outside of that package.

Māori unified to confront the government over alarming Covid-19 rules for tangi and marae, the Māori Council says.

The government will spend $900 million in Budget 2020 to support whānau, hapū and iwi to deal with the fall-out of Covid-19.

Māori communities are deeply concerned that police may be able to search marae and homes without a warrant when the alert levels drop.

Rolling tangihanga will be allowed under alert level 2, enabling groups of 10 to view bodies at separate times.

There has been a surge in the rate of Māori being tested for Covid-19, but several districts are still lagging behind.

A digital contact tracing system poses the risk of discrimination against Māori, a technologist says.

While some Māori and Pacific Island small business owners are cautiously optimistic they can weather the Covid-19 storm, others aren't so confident.