and othersMāori leaders across New Zealand have raised the alarm about government changes to policies that affect Māori after a Guardian analysis highlighted the far-reaching scope of the proposals.
The policy changes proposed by the right-wing coalition have been described by experts as “frightening” and “dangerous”, creating a “serious rift” between Māori and the Crown, the governing authority.
The Guardian reviewed planned changes and policies already underway in six key areas, where the centre-right National Party and its minority coalition partners, the liberal Act Party and the populist New Zealand First Party, are planning more than a dozen policy changes that will either directly affect Māori or affect them more than any other ethnic group. Policy changes and proposed shifts include abolishing the Māori Health Authority, changing language usage and reviewing how New Zealand’s founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi, is interpreted and used.
Margaret Mutu, professor of Māori studies at the University of Auckland, called the attempt to redefine the Treaty’s principles “the worst attack on Māori I have seen in my 40-year career”. Māori Law Association co-chair Natalie Coates said the government was launching a “systematic legislative assault” on Māori that would leave “deep scars”.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon declined a request for an interview from the Guardian. The ACT party referred the Guardian to Māori Affairs Minister Tama Potaka, who was unavailable. NZ First did not respond to a request for comment.
But Luxon and government ministers have repeatedly denied in speeches and media appearances that the service Based on need, not race And the government “Achieving results for everyone” The party believes these gains were undermined during the last Labour government’s six-year term in power.
The Guardian analysed the planned changes and policies that have already been implemented. The information displayed in this interactive provides the first analysis of why the Government is shifting policy in the areas of health, treaty and language, justice, social and housing, environment and education, and how these changes will affect Māori.
“Even if this is a one-term government, it will take a long time to regain the ground lost,” said Dr Rawiri Taonui, an author and former Indigenous studies lecturer.
Unequal society
Māori have a higher mortality rate and a lower life expectancy than non-Māori, but younger Māori The highest level of emotional distress Compared to any other group, Māori are over-represented at all levels of the criminal justice system, making up more than half of prison inmates despite being 20% of the total population. Māori have lower average incomes and are less likely to own their own homes than non-Māori.
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, co-leader of the Māori Party, which has six seats in parliament, said it was “clearly a priority” for the government to “ensure that Māori remain at the bottom of the social order”.
Coats They argue that these changes will further entrench existing inequalities.
“Most of the programs that have been put in place for Māori are attempts to remedy negative statistics,” she said.
“These apparent attacks on Māori undermine the trust Māori have in the monarchy or that the monarchy will not repeat the same mistakes again and again,” Coates said, adding that relations between Māori and the monarchy have been “deeply divided” since the government came to power.
Taonui said great progress had been made between Māori and the Crown over the past few decades, mainly because Māori were given the resources to lead the changes “necessary to return to equality with other people”.
But he said it was not a priority for the current government, which is focused on “re-mainstreaming” Māori programs.
The government’s first budget, released in May, allocated new funding to Māori early childhood education and Te Matatini, a Māori cultural festival, while other programs received the same amount of funding as the previous year.
But Māori initiatives across the board were cut or scaled back, including the elimination of Māori initiatives to reduce agricultural emissions, a $60 million cut to Māori housing programs, and a 45% reduction in the Māori New Year holiday.
“This is a budget that benefits Māori because when New Zealanders go to an emergency room or to a school, they don’t come thinking about their ethnicity,” Treasurer Nicola Willis said as she presented the budget, adding that she would prioritise tax cuts and law and order.
Taonui opposed the government’s reforms, saying they could harm Māori health and wellbeing.
“The policy direction, the budget cuts, the job losses, the withdrawal of treaties and the rhetoric of being equal and therefore the same will set us back a generation.”
Convention rights under threat
Since the government came to power nine months ago, there has been growing concern that Maori rights would be stripped away and resistance to what they see as attacks. Tensions between Maori and the crown have risen over the summer, with a rare national conference called by the Maori king, mass protests and the most heated nation day celebrations at Waitangi in decades.
Few policies have angered Māori more than those relating to the Treaty of Waitangi, which was signed by Māori chiefs and the Crown in 1840 and protects Māori rights. As part of its coalition deal with National, Act wants to introduce legislation to redefine the principles that emerged from the treaty.
Formulated in the 1980s after decades of protests and legal challenges, the principles – defined primarily as partnership, protection and participation – have heavily influenced reconciliation processes over the past three decades.
Acto believes the current principle gives people different rights based on birth and wants the principle to cover all New Zealanders. Many Maori leaders say such a change would amount to a modern-day confiscation of treaty rights and would favour those already in power.
“What this redefinition means is that Māori will assimilate – that we will give up being Māori altogether – and it’s a return to the white New Zealand policy that was official government policy until the 1960s,” Mutu said.
On the health front, experts have criticised some policy shifts, including the repeal of world-leading smoking bans, arguing they will harm indigenous communities.
Bridget Robson, associate dean of Māori public health at the University of Otago, said abolishing the Māori Health Authority without a plan to ensure equitable health outcomes “will increase scepticism among Māori and have a chilling effect, along with all other anti-Māori policies”.
But some experts say some policies, including the Coalition government’s move to make most key public service names in English, could undermine Maori language revival.
The coalition’s “tough on crime” stance has alarmed many in the justice system, who worry the policy will increase the number of Māori in prison. Kylie Quince, dean of the Auckland University School of Law, said plans to expand prison capacity and increase sentencing tougher will have a disproportionate impact on Māori and described the policy as “regressive.”
Abolishing policies that ensured Māori children could maintain connections to their ancestry while in state care. More than half are Maori – Involved in non-governmental social services.
Zoe Hawke, chief executive of Māori social services agency E Tipu e Rea, fears a shift in government efforts to keep Māori children connected to their families will create a new “stolen generation”.
Last week the government confirmed plans to make it harder for Maori to relocate. Customary claims It has expanded to coastal and marine areas, Reduce the number of Māori Representatives of local governments.
“It’s not just the number of Māori rights that are being eliminated that is of concern, but the speed at which this government is eliminating them,” Māori Party MP Ngarewa Packer said.
Putting the future at risk
In June, Māori celebrated a major milestone, fuelled by a government policy shift: New Zealand’s Māori population reached one million. Census data shows the population is also younger on average and growing faster, a change that could transform New Zealand society in just a few decades.
Prominent Māori businessman Sir Ian Taylor sees great hope in the new generations embracing Māori language, culture and identity, and is particularly encouraged by the growing interest in protecting the environment among young people.
The Maori are strong Affinity with the natural worldTraditional concepts, spirituality and knowledge still shape their relationship with and protection of the environment, and food gathering is considered an important cultural practice.
But Sir Ian fears some of the Coalition’s policies, such as the controversial Fast Track Bill which ignores environmental protections, aims to build big infrastructure and roll back climate change promises, will damage the land on which his grandchildren will grow up.
“It’s all for our moko – our grandchildren – and we need to be able to look them in the eye and say, ‘It’s OK.'”
Referring to Papatuanuku – a symbol of Mother Earth, the origin and interconnectedness of all living things – he said the Coalition’s approach to the environment was contrary to Māori values and concepts.
Sir Ian said the changes, which go against Indigenous values, and the risk they posed to New Zealand’s global reputation were “dangerous”.
“We now have a great reputation [but] If we continue on the path we are on with this coalition… we will destroy it.”
