Editorial: Hui gives a glimpse of bright future

Opinion

In terms of exchange of ideas, few at this week's Hui Taumata were more telling than one involving Maoridom's embrace of globalisation. To Northland elder Titewhai Harawira, globalisation involved a look to the past. It had, she said, been the harbinger of "the theft of our land and our intellectual property". But to 38-year-old consultant Willie Te Aho it represented the future - an opportunity for Maori to capitalise on a cultural brand now being enjoyed throughout the world. Therein lay the grist of the summit as those voices that would continue to focus on historical grievances made way for those envisaging a confident, outward-looking future.

Achieving that transformation involves a balance. There was no suggestion that Maori should turn their back on the Treaty of Waitangi settlement process, or that an identity honed since the first Hui Taumata in 1984 should be diluted. But there was a recognition of the shortcomings of that strategy in terms of economic development. As Massey University's assistant vice-chancellor, Professor Mason Durie, observed, the focus on treaty grievances had "trapped Maori energies into the past at the expense of the future". It had also tended to reinforce an adversarial colonial relationship between Maori and the Crown. A new emphasis was called for.

That direction will, of course, be charted by young Maori. An early criticism of this hui was that while half the Maori population is under 23, that group seemed barely represented. Stung by that, a group of about 70 Maori youth took the stage on the summit's final day to affirm their presence and their commitment to a genuine leadership role. The success of this hui, as with all such talkfests, will be determined by whether, and how, that commitment is translated into action.

Many of the proposals to build on the past two decades of Maori development were uncontroversial. The need, for example, for an emphasis on quality education and vocational skills - although the issues presented by the embattled Te Wananga o Aotearoa were skirted around. And who would quarrel with a continuing need also to get more Maori into decision-making positions, and an emphasis on entrepreneurship?

Professor Durie, however, struck a more novel, and particularly encouraging, note when he urged Maori not to depend on entering partnerships solely with the Government. They should look instead, he said, to private enterprise, overseas partners or other Maori organisations. That approach implies the taking of greater risks. But it also provides a broader canvas for enterprise, innovation, creativity and adaptability - and greater rewards and recognition. It appeals as a key to the process that will, in the words of Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia, "unlock, unleash and realise our potential".

Looking past a paternalistic Government for partnerships will involve a change of mindset as thorough as that placing less emphasis on the past. The wish to look forward must be matched by a desire to look outwards. Shane Jones, chairman of the Waitangi Fisheries Commission, noted, for example, that Maori would need to seek help when their organisations lacked expertise. Such adaptability will be necessary if Maori are to break away from a concentration on low-risk investments based around the land and governed by inappropriate trust structures.

Economic empowerment was the theme of this hui. That process, if successful, will embrace social and cultural wellbeing. Those strands never function in isolation. The emphasis, as Professor Durie said, must now switch from Maori participation and access in the likes of education, business and film and television to best outcomes and high achievement. There must be a higher sense of expectation. The second Hui Taumata will, it is to be hoped, be a catalyst. At the very least it has confirmed new thinking for a new generation.