To Live in the City

I don't like having to use the kids to help out on the farm. When they grow up, I'd rather have them leave than depend on them all the time.

– Okaihau farmer Tapua Hipere

There are only half a dozen shops in Te Araroa, nothing much for school leavers. Perhaps they could do some scrub cutting, fencing or shepherding out in the farms. There's not much right here in town. The young people just have to go to the cities to get work.

– Te Araroa accountant Len Ngata

Many Māori boys and girls are coming in from country districts to the cities... and finding all manner of problems when they arrive. We decided if they could be brought in together, in a group, if they could be given help with accommodation for a year... then this would be not only better for themselves but better for the community.

– Noel Harrison, from the Ministry of Māori Affairs