Grievance culture must go says Jones

Maoridom must move on from "the grievances of the 19th century" if it is to continue to progress, says the head of the Waitangi fisheries commission.

Speaking at the opening of Hui Taumata in Te Papa Wellington, Te Ohu Kaimoana chairman Shane Jones told Maoridom's cultural, political and commercial elite that it was time to look to the future not the past.

"Our best is before us, not back in the aureretanga [groaning] or the grievances of the 19th century.

"We must ensure our children learn that our identity is as much about adaptability, risk taking and innovation rather than foreign diseases, land dispossession and Native Land Court hearings."

Mr Jones said it was important to continue the momentum begun when around 200 gathered at the first Hui Taumata called in 1984 by then Minister of Maori Affairs, Koro Wetere, to stem Maori social and economic decline.

"Our focus in the 21st century must be on the world stage. For three decades ... we have been examining our place in Aotearoa. That phase is over."

The Labour Party list candidate said adaptation were the keys to Maori development and growth from the cultural renaissance spawned over the past 20 years.

"Our population has grown by over a third since the last hui. We are far more visible, our culture and heritage is intact and seen as a source of pride by more than ourselves."

However, Mr Jones said it was important that historic injustices against Maori were acknowledged and compensation made.

"The challenge is for the Government and for Maori. Progress cannot happen unless the Government makes [Treaty] claims a higher priority. Closure of grievances will remove this mentality embedded in our dialogue that says we can not move forward because we have been hard done by.

"We have appeased the demigods of history, our identity is secure and embedded in public consciousness. Over the next 20 years, creativity, trade and youth will be the score cards."

Mr Jones said Maori must take control of how they are perceived both nationally and internationally in order for a growing self confidence to be maintained. "The image of economic savviness and cultural vitality means setting the agenda. Make no mistake, there are alternative images being regularly burnished which would have us seen as bearers of victim ideology, obsessed with the past and avoiding responsibility for non-performance."

Maori development was also reliant on iwi working together, and it was time that inter-iwi rivalry was relegated to the past. "Wealth creation in the 20th century has no place for the tiresome rehash of iwi spats from the 19th century."