Maori voters go for partnership

By SIMON COLLINS

Most Maori believe pursuing any form of Maori self-government, or tino rangatiratanga, would be too divisive or impractical.

Herald interviews with 110 Maori, as part of a street survey of more than 600 New Zealanders from the Far North to Invercargill, have found that many Maori do want a greater say in fields such as education, health care and justice.

But most of the sample steered away from constitutional changes advocated by some Maori leaders, such as a separate Maori House of Parliament.

"It's good to have an identity, but we are a multicultural society," said South Auckland process operator W. Matthews, 39. "To let people know that we are here, that's great, but we have to fit in with everyone else."

Calvin Tairua, a Sandringham security guard whose children are half-Tongan, said: "Tino rangatiratanga is an anachronism. I don't think it is a reality, especially when you see the younger people."

Only 43 per cent of the sample supported some form of tino rangatiratanga, and the most popular meaning they gave to it was "partnership".

"There should be a partnership. We are supposed to be working together as partners but you still get that knockback - not every week, it's every day," said Kaitaia schoolteacher Toma Pomare.

His views were echoed by Te Hapua oyster farmers Moekauri and Nutana Wiki: "It's a partnership. You know, decisions being made by Government not just in consultation with Maori, but decisions being made by both Maori and Pakeha."

Many Maori in the sample also had doubts about the process of claiming compensation under the Treaty of Waitangi for the loss of Maori land and resources.

"We should get over that and start again. It was a misunderstanding in the past, but I don't think there should be any more compensation because we are never going to get ahead if we keep doing that," said Hastings merchandiser Tania Mackie.

But three-quarters of Maori in the sample supported continuing the claims process.

National and Act have both said that if they win the July 27 election they would require all treaty claims to be lodged by next year and processed by 2008.

New Zealand First promises to "put an end to the Treaty of Waitangi industry".

The Greens promise increased resources for the Waitangi Tribunal and "a diversity of models for restitution and nationally sustainable compensation". The Alliance proposes a 30 per cent funding boost to settle "the majority of claims" by 2012.

Labour has not proposed any changes in the claims process.

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