Table of Contents
JD
A few thoughts on racial division in NZ from the perspective of a Maori/Pakeha partnership.
Firstly, to establish the background, we have been married for more than fifty years.
One of us, tracing ancestry back through multiple generations, is Maori. Considerably more so in fact than most of the parliamentarians and other commentators who trade on their professed ethnicity to claim the right to speak on behalf of Maori in NZ.
One of us is an incomer of European extraction.
Together we speak from a broad perspective of NZ society, and we both resent any separatist agenda that attempts to drive a wedge between Maori and Pakeha for political and pecuniary advantage.
The political personae, election or re-election chances of the likes of Willie Jackson, Rawiri Waititi, Nanaia Mahuta, and their part-Maori cohort of Kelvin Davis, John Tamihere, and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer et al, depend entirely on presenting themselves as “Maori advocates”, with no question asked of whether “Maori” require them to do so, or not.
These self-appointed opinion leaders make a very good living out of their promotion of the gospel of colonial oppression despite it being to the detriment of those they purport to help. By continually telling Maori that they are second-class citizens, they engender a sense of helplessness and victimhood that destroys ambition among some. Alternatively, their patronising opinions create a deep resentment among others who consider themselves to be successful by their own efforts and already the equal of any other Kiwi.
Further, since Maori, just like non-Maori New Zealanders, are not a homogeneous group, those who purport to advocate “for Maori” can no more speak for all Maori than anyone can speak for all Pakeha. The concept of a pan-tribal Maori nation is a figment of the separatist political imagination.
What then, given that much of the resentment being fomented is based on the claims that “the colonists stole our land”, was the prevailing situation in NZ in 1840 when Te Tiriti o Waitangi came into existence?
At the time, although much as today’s separatists might wish, or claim it to be otherwise, there was no united federation of Maori tribes ruling over NZ.
In terms of land “ownership” Maori occupied only small pockets of the country. Ngapuhi, the largest tribe, numbered less than 10,000 people spread among as many as 150 sub-tribes or hapu, and the other leading tribes, Tainui, Ngati Maniapoto and Ngati Kahunguni were similarly counted in the few thousands at most.
In total, there were fewer than 100,000 Maori across the whole of New Zealand when Te Tiriti was signed in 1840. That is an average land occupation density of one person per three square kilometres, which, to put it in perspective, is less than that of the Sahara desert today.
When the British arrived, the majority of New Zealand was effectively “Terra Nullis”, not occupied by Maori or anyone else, and claims that Maori, as a cohesive nation, were “dispossessed of their lands” by white colonialists are difficult to sustain. Yes, some land was appropriated, some gifted or sold by tribal leaders, and some taken in reparation during the various tribal and colonial wars but, since most of the country was devoid of permanent settlement, it is difficult to justify a claim that the new settlers stole the land, given that so very little of it was lived on when they arrived.
On another front, much is also made of the claims that Maori, suffering, as Te Pati Maori’s Ngarewa Packer has said, from “the longing effects of colonisation, with our ecological system overturned, our communities fragmented”, are victims of systemic racism. This is supposedly proven by the fact that Maori life expectancy is, on average, less than that of Pakeha.
To address these assertions we might initially note the fact that Pakeha Kiwis live shorter lives than those of Asian descent, which raises the question: if there is a clear correlation between systemic racism and life expectancy, then who is racially oppressing Pakeha Kiwis? Alternatively, we might recognise that systemic racism claims have no merit, and look for other factors affecting longevity.
And these are numerous. Firstly obesity levels. With 50.8% of Maori, 31.9% of European/Other and 18.5% of Asian adults obese according to MoH statistics, it is clear to see this key correlation with longevity expectations. Smoking rates similarly show 25% of Maori are smokers, compared to 9% of Pakeha and only 6% of Asian Kiwis.
Then there is the fact that, presumably by choice, Maori are more likely to live in rural or small urban communities with this lifestyle preference traded off against healthcare and other services being less readily available. And finally, Maori have more children which reduces the average age of the total Maori demographic, and a lower average age overall means, pari passu, a lower average age at death
When all of these factors are taken into account the claim of systemic racism as the cause of reduced Maori life expectancy can be seen as the politically motivated falsehood that it is.
Furthermore, perhaps we should point out that even if Maori life expectancy after 183 years of “colonial oppression” still lags, that gap is narrowing by approximately one year per decade. And, although almost never commented on, Maori life expectancy is now two and a half times more than it was before 1840 thanks to the benefits that colonisation has delivered in science, education, healthcare, government and the rule of law across New Zealand.
Finally, to end with a comment on Te Tiriti, and Treaty settlements. In our whanau 47 out of our 50 closest relatives are Maori, and none of them have ever seen one cent of the NZ$ billions paid in Treaty settlements, or from the commercial entities these settlements have funded – which raises the question ‘who benefits?’ – as it certainly doesn’t seem to be grass-roots Maori.
(Not that our relatives have been much concerned about such reparations. They are quite happy to continue with their successful lives in business, health services, education and farming, as citizens within NZ society without recourse to government handouts, or the need to play the race card in pursuit of their advancement.)
