07 Mar 2005

Who is responsible for responding to the Hui Taumata voices? Who is responsible for turning the commitments voiced at the hui into actions? The Hui provided a forum for Maori to chart a future that builds on the economic and cultural renaissance that has been focussed on since 1984. The last 21 years has seen significant gain but its not over yet!

There are still many issues facing Maori including the collective ownership of land, the sale of that land and other traditional economic assets such as forest and fish so there is opportunity to invest in potentially higher value sectors, corporate governance, the appointment of non-Maori as trustees and senior managers and the role of family members in trusts and business.

The areas of emphasis expressed in the hui was quality education, getting Maori into decision-making positions and an emphasis on entrepreneurship whilst not sacrificing Maori culture. A number of proposed outcomes were presented at the close of the hui and they can be summed up into five main areas:

1. The establishment of a stand alone Maori entity to drive the future of Maori economic development rather than focusing it through Te Puni Kokiri
2. Move on from the grievance mode and move forward to proactive innovation
3. To stop relying on the Government to provide the opportunities or assistance
4. To clean up governance issues and political in-fighting; and
5. To seek tribal and international partners.

The Steering Committee will be collating the proceedings and recommendations into a report, which will be sent to the Government for a response. A widely held perception of those who attended the Hui was that Te Puni Kokiri has no kudos within the business community and its public service obligations were tied too closly to different political agendas. Due to this the call was loud and clear, we should be our own navigators when steering the waka towards Maori economic futures. The Government should be in a supportive role only.

It was proposed that an enity like Asia 2000 be charged with implementing the hui resolutions. The entity will also have peripheral responsibilities such as operating as a lobby group, advocating wide-ranging policy changes, especially those that are designed to improve the quality of Maori education and employment opportunities.

Aside from this the Hui Taumata provided an excellent platform for collecting view points from different contributors participating in different enterprise within the Maori economic mould. The website currently provides an abundance of information for any person seeking resources and ideas on how to be proactive in the current reality of the Maori economy.

Click here to get to the Hui Taumata webpage. A simple and clear overview of future opportunities were identified in the key note addresses of: Tahu Potiki (also available his Potiki's PowerPoint presentation) and Professor Mason Durie