heard. Not only because it is their human right to be heard. Not only because they have good insights and ideas. Not only because we want to live in a fair and egalitarian society. But because if this generation feels silenced, there are real risks to the country’s social fabric.33 For Māori, the experience of alienation from housing and housing security is intergenerational and systemic, stemming from colonisation. Mainstream systems continue to fail Māori, particularly taitamariki Māori, who have even less chance of achieving meaningful housing security or home ownership. The Māori dream of housing security may not involve standard European economic models, but requires agency and control of land and resources, whānau and hapū-led initiatives to develop papakāinga and whenua, and assertion of rangatiratanga over mana whenua.34 If Māori are to be heard, and Māori experiences and perspectives given space and weight, then Te Ao Māori concepts of housing must be equally understood and valued, both at the constitutional partnership level and in local public participation and democratic engagement. Communities are calling for more public participation and democratic engagement in the housing system. Te Matapihi He Tirohanga Mō Te Iwi Trust, the peak body for Māori housing organisations, submitted in its recent claim to the Waitangi Tribunal:35 The view of Te Matapihi having engaged in the evidence from claimants and the Crown is that there does need to be improvements to how the Crown engage with Māori, seek their views and take on board their input. Te Matapihi are already a part of that, but their involvement and input is not sufficient to be Treaty compliant, the tino rangatiratanga whānau, hapū and iwi Many disadvantaged communities are not heard despite being most affected by, and concerned about, the housing crisis. As the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing noted in her recent report on New Zealand, particular groups are experiencing the crisis most acutely, including Māori, Pacific Peoples and other ethnic communities, disabled people, youth and children, single parents, and those living in poverty.36 Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) has 2,600 trained volunteers in more than 80 locations around Aotearoa: they have their finger on the public pulse. In their recent submission to HUD, CAB explicitly recognises quality housing as a basic human right and emphasises: We need to ensure that those who are most impacted by the housing crisis (being those who are at most risk of not having access to a home that is affordable, healthy, accessible, secure) have a strong voice in shaping our housing and urban development system into the future. We would like to see this reflected in the formal structures that guide housing and urban development policies, planning, and implementation.37 There is considerable published evidence that community participation in the health system results in beneficial health and social outcomes.38 It is logical to infer that community participation in the housing system results in beneficial housing and social outcomes. The Office of the Auditor-General’s recent report on public accountability systems discusses the role of the public sector in building trust and confidence.39 Increasing gaps between the public and the public sector can create an environment where people feel disempowered and unheard.40 entitles them to engage in a partnership with the Crown and that requires the Crown to seek and take on board all those views provided. 21