We are just too slow in “embracing it”
In my Growing Auckland post I had pointed out a situation about Maori Enterprise and them wanting to invest in Auckland but struggle to do so.
From that particular post
Support Improved Performance of Maori Businesses
This one caused me to raise an eyebrow. Our Maori Business especially those as part of Iwi units are doing well and in some cases better than others in New Zealand. Time and time again at Auckland Council I have heard the Independent Maori Statutory Board ask people and Council how they plan to link in with Maori enterprise. The answer is often a blank look on people’s faces. Here we have growing Maori enterprise cashed up and actively willing and wanting to invest but can’t simply because we have not adapted ourselves for this investment. I think we might want to be a bit more proactive here folks if we having enterprise willing and actively wanting to invest. The obvious and immediate benefit of this investment is not only further growth but also the best available “weapon” in tacking our youth problems in the south. Investment means more opportunities, more opportunities means growth, growth means training and work, training and work mean income, income means more investment. You will also find if you go back to earlier New Zealand history that when the settlers, missionaries and whalers came to New Zealand (so effectively prior to Land Wars) that the Maori people were very quick and adapting in establish commerce and becoming quite fine merchants. Yes we had a sordid moment in our history from the Land Wars to around 1984 with the treatment of the Maori (and it often makes me ashamed being a Pakeha knowing what “we did” in that period) but Maori never have lost the skills for commerce and being merchants. Often in statistics Maori Enterprise outshines the rest in New Zealand which does bring a smile to my face. To bring this part to a close it shows Maori enterprise does well and has presented a unique opportunity through them willingly and actively wanting to invest. The catch is the rest of us are very slow in coming realisation in giving our support (that is allowing Maori enterprise to invest) to help improve Maori enterprise even more.
The Disconnect Using Manukau as an Example
I am going to repaste my CBD/Waterfront post below for your ease of reading. What is pointed out in that post illustrates the disconnect that is facing Auckland, Auckland Council and this new forum. The Super Metropolitan Centre concept as I see it as our best shot in establishing two sub-regional (well at this rate they will become regional with Manukau as the portal for the Waikato and Bay of Plenty, and Albany as the portal for Northland) hubs that will provide major boosts for our export and/or industrial sector thus giving the currency of greater influence for Auckland on the international stage that this forum is wanting to seek. Further commentary on Auckland and the Super Metropolitan Centres can be seen in the Entering the City Building Phase – Well the Actual City Phase post
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I also brought in the Manukau piece as I firmly believe that Maori Enterprise is best suited in developing the Manukau Super Metropolitan Centre and turning the area in a Maori and Pacific super hub/city centre – especially as the largest proportion of urban Maori and Pacific Peoples are found in Southern Auckland. Build hubs and centres to reflect the cultures and the Peoples of the region rather than enforcing a Euro-Centric model that will not simply work.
Today I notice in the Herald a piece about Maori Enterprise that is investing in Auckland and want to invest more.
From the NZ Herald
Tribes out to influence look of city
By Simon Collins5:30 AM Tuesday Feb 4, 2014
Paul Majurey, chairman of the Tamaki Collective. Photo / Natalie Slade
Auckland’s 13 Maori tribes say they want to “change the face of Auckland” through infrastructure and housing developments, starting with a scheme for 282 affordable homes at Weymouth.
The Tamaki Collective, which negotiated a historic deal with the Government in 2012 to make redress for the loss of tribal land in the region over the 172 years since the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840, plan to use a “right of first refusal” over all Crown land sold in Auckland in the next 172 years to promote projects benefiting traditionally low-income Maori and Pacific people.
The Weymouth project, their first, will provide a mix of homes for sale on the open market, subsidised social rental housing, and rent-to-buy and shared-equity homes with partners such as Habitat for Humanity and the NZ Housing Foundation.
The collective has also signalled interest in the former teachers’ college in Epsom, which Auckland University wants to sell to fund its new campus on the former Lion brewery site in Newmarket.
Lawyer Paul Majurey, who chairs the collective, said the Epsom site would be suited to “some form of mixed development”, but the collective had not yet received formal notice of the land being available because a bill implementing the settlement is still with Parliament.
He said the $120 million Weymouth project would keep houses cheaper, and keep more land in open space, than a purely commercial developer would have chosen.
“That is the blueprint we want for the future.”
Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11196250
—ends—
Good on them being so active in investing into Auckland as I have heard the Independent Maori Statutory Board countless times saying the Maori Tribes are ready to go – and from the article they are.
Talking Southern Auckland 