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Economic calamity makes time right for Maori and Crown to forge lasting collaboration
While the National-led Government is tackling economic challenges of unparalleled magnitude, there is no better time for it to forge new territory in our country's history: a sustainable way forward for Maori and the Crown.
The recent Maori Economic Summit provided a clear demonstration that Maori are willing to work together, and with the Government, to fully contribute to the nation's economic recovery. It also provided further evidence that the time is near to bring greater clarity to the constitutional relationships between Maori and the Crown.
There is no silver taiaha to meeting both economic and governance challenges but there is a genuine will at the highest of levels, as was clear from the positive atmosphere and the calibre of attendees at the summit.
On the economic front, a live issue for the Government is how to balance the Maori call for smarter investment in initiatives either involving Maori or led by Maori while at the same time supporting industries in which the Maori workforce is heavily represented. Importantly, the summit feedback did not assume greater Government spending, but focussed instead on how the Government and Maori could achieve long term economic success together within current fiscal constraints. Education, employment, and enterprise all featured in resolving how Maori communities and organisations could add even greater value to the country's economy, while suggestions of more integration of various primary sector players provide commonsense action points for governors throughout Aotearoa New Zealand.
Real solutions for the Government's ongoing role in accelerating Maori social and economic growth could initially be three-fold: first with more focussed spending in health, education, research and science. Secondly by fostering Maori economic growth, through simplifying infrastructure projects on Maori-owned land – energy generation, housing, carbon farming, for example and in public-private partnerships between the Crown and Maori for initiatives such as roading projects which use Maori debt/equity investment. Finally, the rapid settlement of many (already budgeted for) outstanding historical Treaty claims would support greater Maori participation in economic recovery, in the regional economies in particular.
The second challenge is in the constitutional relationship between the Crown and Maori and presents Government with an even greater opportunity to facilitate change. Flag raising on the Auckland Harbour Bridge, consultation of Maori on natural resource policies, and the pending review of the foreshore and seabed legislation, are ad hoc junctures in the development of a more defined set of principles under which the Government and Maori could work together. With the Maori Party confidence and supply arrangements, there appears to be a willingness to involve Maori more in the role of government.
At a higher level, the constitutional relationship between the Crown and Maori remains uncertain. Constitutional ambiguity is evident in diverse references to Maori and the Treaty of Waitangi in legislation, and differing practices as to how Maori interact as iwi/Maori for policy purposes. Formal acknowledgement in constitutional terms of Maori as tangata whenua and Treaty partner with the Crown would be a defining step toward an autochthonous constitution suitable for our nation. Such acknowledgement would also be independent of the operational level of government which the Maori Party and the National Party (along with ACT and the United Party) currently share and at which many interest/lobby groups operate.
A collaborative approach between the Government as Crown representative and Maori is the only durable way to establish a process whereby the constitutional relationships can be explored. One possible mechanism for moving this forward might be through a Royal Commission of Inquiry but this is likely to have reduced credibility among Maori because its terms of reference are set by government and formalised by the Crown. A process where the terms of reference are set by Maori and the Crown, and formalised and mandated by those two key players, is preferable and likely to be more long-lasting. Who represents Maori and how Maori are represented needs to be decided by Maori - perhaps a more difficult issue than the process of engagement between the Crown and Maori.
Both the social-economic and constitutional challenges require multi-partisan collaboration and long term dedication to the country's future. If the Government can confront these with an open mind and honest commitment to changing attitudes among all New Zealanders, our nation will be set for the upswing in world markets. It may even be that satisfaction of the constitutional challenge will give the extra ballast needed for social and economic growth in Aotearoa New Zealand, and simultaneously open up some of the country's hidden assets – like water, schools and conservation resources - for more productive Crown-Maori kotahitanga (unity).
Tama Potaka is a senior solicitor with Bell Gully. He attended the Maori Economic Summit and is a member of the Committee of Management for Parininihi Ki Waitotara Incorporation and has roles with several Maori trusts. He is from Ngati Hauiti, Whanganui, Ngaruahine, Taranaki, Ngati Raukawa and Ngati Tuwharetoa.
