Maori after Brash: Help is there, but most in need are still missing out

By DIANA McCURDY

Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu chief executive Tahu Potiki is his own harshest critic when it comes to his iwi's distribution of resources to its members. Without hesitation, he awards his iwi a C- for achievement.

The grade does not represent lack of effort or good intention. Nor does Potiki particularly enjoy self-flagellation. He's simply a realist. In an ideal world, he would like to see all Ngai Tahu people accessing their iwi's resources.

In reality, those who need the most help are the least likely to go looking for it - and are the most expensive to target.

The iwi distributes at least 50 per cent of its profits to members every year, but it still faces the old conundrum of governments and service agencies everywhere: how do you get resources to the poorest, least educated, most at-risk members of your community?

Financially, Ngai Tahu is doing extremely well for its members. In the past financial year, it boasted an equity of $300 million, assets of $396 million and a surplus of $22.7 million. In turn, Ngai Tahu Development supplied scholarships worth $277,750 to students, spent $10.8 million on tribal programmes and runanga development and more than $13,000 in achievement and sports grants.

It looks great on paper, but there's a catch, Potiki says. "There is a good chance that it will be middle-class Maori that will benefit. We have to think outside of the box."

In the late 1990s, the iwi established a programme at Christchurch Polytechnic and began investigating how it could target young, uneducated, at-risk Maori. Traditional advertising routes didn't work, so it called on family networks and school teachers, spoke to access programmes and even knocked on doors. "It's hard work to actually go out there and round them up," Potiki says.

Since then, about 100 young people - including some non-Maori - have gone through the programme. At times, progress has been frustratingly slow: in the first year, three women students got pregnant and pulled out. Organisers have had to take an unusually strong hands-on approach to keep students on track and to deflect strong criticism from family members cynical about the merits of education.

Two years ago, some of the programme's first graduates gained degrees. Potiki acknowledges he will never know whether those students would eventually have sought out an education for themselves, but "these kids were dead sitters to have completely screwed-up social lives".

Waikato Raupatu Trustee Company chief executive officer Hemi Rau says Tainui - which settled with the Crown for $170 million in 1995 - has 50,000 registered members. Last year, the iwi distributed approximately $500,000 to marae, $250,000 in tertiary education grants and $200,000 in cultural and sporting grants.

Tainui relies primarily on marae to reach its members, but also holds 30 tribal hui a year, and sends out a newsletter.

"We have quarterly mail-outs to 12,500 homes. The cost of democracy is very expensive."

Tainui members who have lost touch with their marae need to register if they want to access the iwi's resources. "At the end of the day it's their responsibility to find out their connections. All they need to do is come to us."

From there, the application process for resources is simple, Rau says. Applicants merely need to fill out a form giving their name, the course they want to do and the cost.

But the battle to raise the level of education among Maori isn't just about funding them to enter tertiary institutions, Potiki says. It's also about keeping them there.

In the past, Ngai Tahu has found that those who entered university under quotas often felt isolated and struggled to compete against other students with better academic records. "Not every student is going to be successful."

Canterbury University's Maori liaison officer, Hemi Inia, says university can be a confusing, foreign environment for students unaccustomed to the ways of academia.

"I actually think it's more of a challenge for Maori students because of the cultural differences."

Though Inia could not provide retention figures in time for publication, he believes Maori performance has improved since the university implemented greater support systems and services for Maori students.

Auckland University, which claims a Maori roll of almost 2000 and has 50 Maori teaching staff, also has a Maori equity adviser whose role is to ensure Maori students are informed of any assistance they may be entitled to. This ranges from visiting schools, to acting as a support for Maori students with problems or questions about university life.

At Victoria University, Maori students make up almost 10 per cent of enrolments. The university has a Maori liaison officer and a Maori student services adviser. Both universities have a marae, a Maori students' association, a separate orientation programme for Maori and a kohanga reo or Maori early-childcare centre.


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