Sautet recipe puts individual before iwi

A report done for the Business Roundtable has challenged the notion that iwi and treaty settlements will play a major role in Maori economic development.

The report, by former Treasury analyst Frederic Sautet, says while iwi in the 19th century had economic as well as social and cultural roles, in the 21st century individual entrepreneurship will be the engine of Maori development.

Roger Kerr, the Roundtable's executive director, says its an antidote to claims by politicians that treaty settlements will provide a Maori economic base.

“I mean even settlements amounting to $1 billion all up is not a lot in terms of the general economy, nothing like the resources Maori bring through their human capital, their education, their potential in the workforce, their own savings and their involvement with business. That’s the big picture as far as economic welfare is concerned,” Mr Kerr says.

The report is part of a series on Maori economic issues commissioned by the Roundtable's chair, Rob McLeod from Ngati Porou.

WEATHERMAN TRIES OUT EAST COAST WINDS

A former television weather man has decided to find out which way the political wind is blowing.

Brendan Horan, who affiliates to Tauranga Moana, is standing in East Coast for New Zealand First.

He says the party still has strong support among senior citizens, and it's repaid that support by pushing initiatives like the Goldcard.

“This is a Maori mark of respect – you’ve done your service to New Zealand, you’ve paid your taxes, here’s your card, all I ask is that you share your knowledge with me. Because National, when they got into power, they said old people cost too much and they slashed superannuation overnight, impoverished many New Zealanders,” Mr Horan says.

He's hoping for a high place on the New Zealand First list.

TE REO NEEDS A PUBLIC PROFILE

A Maori language commissioner wants to find out why more people aren't speaking Maori in public.

Ruakere Hond is doing doctoral research on te reo Maori-speaking communities.

He says large numbers of people have learned Maori over the past couple of decades through groups such as Te Reo o Taranaki and Te Ataarangi, but that doesn't mean they're using their new skills.

There may be a need for reallocation of resources.

“A lot of the attention goes into language acquisition. A lot of the attention goes into language between parents and children. There’s not doubt that is a very important part, but I think the process by which we develop communities of speakers is largely misunderstood in New Zealand's context,” Mr Hond says.

His PhD will be written in English.

SAMULES URGES MAORI TO LOOK FORWARD, NOT BACK

Retiring Labour MP Dover Samuels says Maori need to focus on education and economic development, rather than continue to blame colonialism for their woes.

The Northland-based MP says last Friday's Waitangi Tribunal judicial conference in the Bay of Islands, at which Ngapuhi asked for its hearings to start with an examination of the 1835 declaration of Independence and its relationship to the Maori language Te Tiriti o Waitangi, was an example of his iwi getting its priorities wrong.

He says it's the opposite of what he's spent his political career fighting for.

“I've always been confident we can stand beside anybody, and if you have a look and this is some of the academic humbug, the loony tunes humbug, the culturally correct claptrap I hear coming out of Maori academics, you know they think colonisation was responsible for us not performing as well as some of our Pakeha counterparts. That’s all humbug. At the end of the day if you educate your children, if you give them aspirations, you give them a vision to move forward and progress, we’re as good as anybody else,” Mr Samuels says.

He says dissatisfaction with treaty protests is the reason many Maori leave for Australia -- and that's where he'll be spending a lot of time once he's out of Parliament.

TANIWHA KEEPS PLACE IN PREMIERS FOR NOW

New Zealand Maori rugby is welcoming news Northland will stay in the sport's first division.

Paul Quinn, the Maori rep on the NZRFU, says dropping the Taniwha from the Air New Zealand Cup competition would have been detrimental to Maori player numbers and retention rates.

He says 14 of the 29 Northland players who have made the All Blacks had Maori whakapapa.

“You know there's obviously over 50 percent of registered players in Northland are Maori so from that point of view yes it’s an important decision for them. Now I guess it’s up to the leaders up there to take the opportunity to strengthen and rebuild even stronger,” Mr Quinn says.

He says the raruraru about its status should be a wake-up call for the Northland union to improve its governance.

And Northland-based labour list MP Shane Jones says now the province's place in the first division has been secured, iwi leaders should contribute to a fund to bring rugby convert Sonny Bill Williams back from France to play for the Taniwha.

MAORI REGGAE STORY TAKES CREW TO TRENCHTOWN

A Maori documentary team is off to Jamaica to shoot footage on the impact of reggae on Maori music.

Te Kauhoe Wano from Toa TV says his crew includes musician Ruia Aperehama, who has recorded two albums of Bob Marley songs totally in te reo Maori.

He says reggae's messages about standing up for rights struck a chord when Maori first heard the songs in the 1970s, and the form has continued to be popular with musicians in Aotearoa.

“And I reckon Bob Marley would be really stoked with it. You listen to Katchafire songs, you listen to Kora songs, they’ve got that reggae feel but they’re talking about the stories to do with us as Maori. I reckon that’s exactly what I reckon he would have expected,” Mr Wano says.

His team will give the Bob Marley museum copies of Ruia's te reo Maori cds and other taonga Maori.