Ruth Berry: Wananga shadow falls on hui

He planned to attend the Hui Taumata opening - but at the last minute Rongo Wetere gave it a miss.

Prime Minister Helen Clark and Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia, launching the Government-funded $1 million Maori economic development summit at Te Papa yesterday, must have been relieved. Also missing was the word "wananga" from each of their speeches.

All gaps which only served to underscore the very real presence of Te Wananga o Aotearoa at the three-day hui, including its sponsorship of the event and its T-shirt stall at the lunch venue. Most importantly, it was the subject on the lips of many participants.

Singer Moana Maniapoto drew strong murmurs of agreement from the crowd when she noted when some "poor organisation is in the headlines, the rest of us are holding our breath".

From a Government perspective, the timing of the event, widely seen as its attempt to woo back the Maori vote, could clearly have been better.

The summit's themes are developing Maori enterprise, people and assets.

Labour has repeatedly trumpeted the growth in Maori tertiary enrolments as a key driver for this development and taken the kudos for fostering it.

Delivering a speech on the need for Maori business innovation and educational achievement to a Maori audience which included Dr Wetere, the man who turned his wananga into the country's biggest tertiary institute and whose head the Government now seeks, would have been awkward.

The Rev Napi Waaka, Rongo Wetere's emissary, representing the wananga at the powhiri, described Te Wananga o Aotearoa as a waka.

He said the waka had been blown around by "all four winds", but it would withstand the most powerful wave.

He said if there were any casualties from the wananga furore, they would be in the Beehive.

Sensitivities were still such that when hui convenor Sir Paul Reeves noted the "record high" tertiary participation rates, he dropped the next line in his written speech notes: "We applaud the efforts of all Maori educationalists who have fostered this steady growth."

But if absences are telling, that's not to suggest the Government didn't use the forum to deliver a firm message to the wananga.

It did, but in the form of the broader message which will dominate its election year campaigning to Maori voters.

It was hammered home by Mr Horomia and particularly Shane Jones, a Labour candidate already in contention for a Cabinet position following an election win and now unavoidably perceived as a party mouthpiece.

The 21 years since the last hui had been marked by cultural empowerment and economic empowerment was now the priority.

Advocates of the grievance and victimhood mentality, which Mr Jones suggested might now include those running the historical claims settlement process, have had their time in the limelight.

Maori are achieving, need to seek help when their organisations lack expertise and should take responsibility for stuff-ups.

The underlying message: if they're in the headlines, maybe it's because they deserve the scrutiny.

Mr Horomia reiterated his call that older leaders had to learn to stand aside for young blood, while Mr Jones stressed evolution, not revolution was "in".

It's a message Labour has brought into sharper focus in the wake of the advent of the Maori Party.

While she may have some similar messages, Maori Party leader Tariana Turia phrases them much less bluntly and sniffs something sinister in the new Labourspeak.

So also, it appears from his response to concerns Mr Jones expressed about different rules for Maori land owners, may Maori Land Court Chief Judge Joe Williams.

Is the Government, in its attempt to assuage public concerns, wanting to throw the baby out with the bath water? Dr Wetere arrived in time for the summit's cocktail function last night and will be at the conference today to network on that matter.

Plenty of Government officials will be there monitoring his presence as intensely as they were relieved by his absence yesterday.