Improving skills and education vital to Maori says Horomia

Maori Affairs MP Horomia Parekura during welcoming speeches at the Te Papa marae for the Hui Taumata in Wellington. Picture / Fotopress

Improving skill levels and education standards is vital to ensuring Maori meet their economic potential, says Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia.

Speaking in Wellington today at the opening of Hui Taumata, the Maori economic summit, Mr Horomia said Maoridom had come a long way since the first Hui Taumata in 1984 but more work was still needed.

"Staggering as it sounds, it's estimated that our untapped employment potential is around $45 billion," Mr Horomia told the hui.

"That's about five times the value of our tangible assets. The task is to move to the next level. To unlock, unleash and realise our potential. This is what the next 20 years of Maori policy is about."

Mr Horomia said the involvement of Maori people in business ownership and management had increased substantially since the first hui but the biggest contribution Maori made to the economy was the $4.3 billion earned in the labour market.

He said the memory of Maori unemployment levels inflating after the economic reforms and stock market crash of the 1980s was a reminder of the need to further improve education and skill levels.

"The reason we suffered so greatly from the economic reforms in the 1980s was that our workforce was concentrated in low and semi-skilled jobs," he said.

"If there was one single factor that motivated me to take the journey into politics, it had to be the memory of that event."

Mr Horomia was one of three people to speak at the opening of the hui, along with Prime Minister Helen Clark and Hui Taumata convenor Sir Paul Reeves.

More than 400 people are gathering at Te Papa in Wellington for three days to discuss ways forward for Maori business.

The three-day summit will concentrate on three main areas: developing people, developing enterprise and developing assets. Discussion papers have been presented on all three areas.

Workshop sessions will also be held regarding the creative sector, entrepreneurship, globalisation, young people, cultural capital, learning for life, exporting and governance.

Speakers and workshop panellists include former Waitangi Fisheries Commission chairman Shane Jones, actor Cliff Curtis, entertainer Moana Maniapoto, former Fonterra chief executive Craig Norgate, academic Whatarangi Winiata, Professor Mason Durie, Ngai Tahu chief executive Tahu Potiki and the 1984 Hui Taumata chairman, Ngatata Love.

- NZPA