Maori sharebondwith Asians
I WASsurprised earlier this month to read a story about a recent survey showing 44 per cent of Maori felt New Zealanders were “less warm” towards Asian people compared to 12 months ago.
The conclusion was made that “Maori dislike Asians”. This is completely at odds with reality.
Maori have a natural cultural affinity with Asian societies which makes us natural business partners. Weshare many values with our Asian whanau, including whakapapa, importance of family, respect for kaumatua, manaaki and reciprocity.
These shared values have enabled Maori to build strong relationships throughout the Asian region, including China, Indonesia and, more recently, Malaysia.
Across the country, hundreds of Maori organisations — from large iwi to grassroots community and urban groups — are engaging deeply with Asia in multiple ways. This has resulted in productive business partnerships and investment with New Zealand businesses.
One example is Miraka, a joint venture between Maori dairy farmers from the Central North Island and Shanghai Pengxin Group. The venture is worth more than $300 million and has created more than 160 jobs in a region where more employment is greatly needed.
Another Chinese dairy firm, Yili Group, is now looking at investment with Maori via a $200 million processing plant located in the East Coast or Bay of Plenty. This will boost skilled employment in the region by 300 to 400, raising living standards and creating further growth.
In the small business and SME space, relations between Maori and China are also stepping up with fisheries, honey and wool producers all setting up direct supply relationships into the Chinese consumer market.
People-to-people connections are also strong, vibrant and growing. They go against the idea that Maori are mistrustful of Asian people, whether living in New Zealand or not.
They’re also well established. Many marae around the country have Chinese blood in them, a result of interaction between Chinese market gardeners and the Maori communities that hosted them. Some of the best lands were around the marae so there were strong relationships being forged more than a century ago. Even further back, we can trace our whakapapa into Asia, through Taiwan and directly back to China. People I take up to China have seen their grandmothers and grandfathers in the faces of elderly Chinese, so there’s an immediate empathy at first sight.
Last year, we had the Taniwha Dragon Festival in Auckland where more than 2000 Chinese people were welcomed officially by Maori as New Zealanders and as part of the wider fabric of Aotearoa. Since then, there have been powhiri around the country which represent a reconnection between Maori and new immigrants from Asia.
Minister Pita Sharples exemplified the warm bonds Maori have with Asian peoples. The camaraderie he shared with the Chinese Premier and ambassador to New Zealand spoke volumes about how Maori view and treat people from Asia. That cross-cultural statesmanship goes both ways — it’s not surprising the only mayor of New Zealand fluent in te reo is the mayor of Gisborne, ChineseNew Zealander Meng Foon.
I have every reason to be optimistic about the future of relations between Maori and our Asian neighbours. The region is hugely important to New Zealand’s future prosperity and well-being, and understanding how we feel towards Asian
"People I take up to China have seen their grandmothers and grandfathers in the faces of elderly Chinese . . ."