Māori ‘pushed into a corner’ by Govt seek new way out

2026-01-25 - 21:08

While it may have been a surprise to hear Kīngitanga spokesperson, Tainui leader and frequent Government critic Tuku Morgan speak of “the beauty of this Government”, what came next made it all make sense. In comments to reporters after the pōwhiri for Māori Queen Ngā wai hono i te po at Rātana Pā on Friday, Morgan said the Government had marginalised Māori and pushed them into a corner. However, it was under this pressure that Māori had come together to carve their own path. “The beauty about this Government, as tough as they are, it has enabled us to rally together, to find creative ways like building our own investment fund, being able to work with multi-billion-dollar companies,” he said. “That’s where our focus is, not here in this country but actually globally. That’s where we’re going to get real pace, real rapidity, real growth. You can’t get it here.” Morgan was specifically speaking of the Kotahitanga Fund, a $100 million investment platform launched by Ngā wai hono i te po at her Māori economic summit in November. Tuku Morgan at Rātana Pā. Photo: Marc Daalder At first blush, the discussion of greater Māori economic self-sufficiency, attracting overseas investment and growing the Māori economy aligns nicely with the Government’s priorities. It’s possible to image the Prime Minister making similar comments. Indeed, speaking about the fund on Friday after a meeting with Ngā wai hono i te po, Finance Minister Nicola Willis welcomed it. “I’m very supportive of that. In fact, we spoke about that this afternoon,” she told reporters. “Māori have shown great success in building assets and in investment. Often post-settlement, iwi have developed significant funds that are not only developing the New Zealand economy and growing fast to create jobs and incomes, but have also allowed the distributions back to Māori people and Māori communities. And I think the vision that the Queen has of further accelerating that growth in the Maori economy and making powerful investments is a really positive one.” That’s not necessarily how Morgan framed it, however. Asked whether the fund was a direct response to Government policy and lack of support, he confirmed it was. “It is, actually. When you’re pushed into a corner and when you are marginalised and minimised the way we have been for all of the pieces of legislation that have been demolished by this Government, it makes us much more united, in our view, to find innovative ways so that we can survive in the long term.” A year after iwi leaders at Waitangi discussed the need for embedding pan-Māori unity and mana motuhake in actions going forward (including mooting constitutional change in the form of a Māori Parliament), that desire has not faded. If anything, it is only going stronger as the controversy of the Treaty Principles Bill has given way to a more mundane approach to Treaty and Māori policy reform. Adrian Rurawhe, the retiring Labour MP and former Te Tai Hauāuru MP, said Māori leaders had spent Thursday evening discussing their approach to what they viewed as an onslaught of anti-Māori policy. It has ranged from what he described as “almost petty” issues, like the removal of te reo from school readers, to “more serious policy areas” like changes to the Marine and Coastal Areas Act. Willis said she was unbothered by Morgan’s characterisation, insisting the drive for resilience and self-sufficiency in the Māori economy was a good move regardless of who was in Government. “Look, I think that spirit of mana motuhake, in which Māori obviously will want to do some things independent of government, is not one that the Government should be fearful of. And Māori have a long history of independently developing their own wealth, their own people,” she said. “And yes, there’s also a very strong place for partnership in areas where they work together with Government, but Government is not required to have a seat at every table which Māori are developing initiatives at now.” Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka highlighted examples of close Māori-Government collaboration, including the Hapai property coalition which co-invests in housing. Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Te Pāti Māori co-leader, said mana motuhake was important but similarly pointed to ways a future government which she was a part of could work with Māori. “We heard about the empathy for recognising that, as tough as this Government has been on the communities, the communities prevailed, our whānau prevailed, our iwi prevailed. Tuku specifically spoke about the wellbeing of us economically and what it is that we could be doing together as well,” she said. Even if there were a change in government, however, it seems unlikely that Māori will return to the old ways of doing things. The potential for progress through unity within Māoridom – with or without the Government – is plain for all to see, iwi leaders have concluded.