By Richard Knight
Maori should employ the tactics used by Mao Zedong and Ho Chi Minh to ensure economic development in the new century, says the Minister of Maori Affairs, Tau Henare.
He told a Maori Businesses Into the Future hui in Auckland that Maori had to arm themselves with weapons suited for today's business world.
"We have to destroy the enemy, which is poverty, a lack of education, poor health, bad housing and those who are in a position to help but do nothing."
Mr Henare said Maori still had to ask the Government to support their initiatives financially.
The chairman of the Maori Council, Sir Graham Latimer, said few gains had been made since a 1984 hui.
"The concerns of Maori then were the same as now: the gap between those that have and those that don't."
The chairman of the Poutama Trust, Shane Jones, said Maori had to shed the baggage of victimhood and replace it with a fresh kit of skills.
"The world does not owe us a living. Our future success in the enterprise economy will require our leadership to turn away from the modern-day equivalent of the Maori land courts."
Henare calls Maori to business arms at hui
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