New breed speaks out in support of tribal elders

A new breed of Maori leaders say they have emerged with the support of tribal elders rather than being stifled by them as claimed by outspoken minister John Tamihere.

Mr Tamihere, the associate minister of Maori Affairs, said this week "tribal aristocrats" were preventing younger successors taking a leading role as Maori change from treaty grievances to making the settlements work.

He has named Crown Forestry Rental Trust chairman Sir Graham Latimer, Maori Council member Maanu Paul, Ngati Porou leader Api Mahuika and Hauraki Trust Board chairman Toko Renata as examples of leaders not stepping aside.

All the leaders - in their 60s or 70s - reject Mr Tamihere's claims, saying younger leaders are encouraged, but need to progress through the ranks.

Younger Maori leaders told the Weekend Herald the leaders singled out could be overpowering at times, but most had identified and encouraged leaders in their areas.

Sir Graham had supported Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission chairman Shane Jones; Mr Mahuika had credited Ngati Porou chief executive Amohaere Houkamau and economic development manager Mike Ransley as sharing the power.

Elsewhere, the management heads of tribal organisations in Northland and the South Island said they had experienced the opposite of Mr Tamihere's view.

Te Runanga O Ngai Tahu chief executive Tahu Potiki, appointed 18 months ago when aged 35, said he had been identified and encouraged by the iwi leadership, particularly former chairman Sir Tipene O'Regan.

He said there would always be some tension between more conservative elderly people and younger people with "brave new ideas, but that's what growth is about and it's by no means unique to Maori politics".

In his own rise through the iwi ranks he had been knocked back, including three attempts to make it to the development board, but it had taught him valuable lessons. Leaders had to find a way to work with everyone they represented.

Mr Potiki said Mr Tamihere's comments assumed there was a concerted clamour from young Maori wanting leadership roles.

"The reality is it's a bugger of a thing to do sometimes, and not many want to do it. If you had dozens of people knocking on Graham Latimer's door saying I'm here for the people wanting to make it happen, these people would have taken a back seat many years ago."

The chief executive of Te Runanga A Iwi O Ngapuhi, Alison Thom, 42, said she moved north from Auckland 2 1/2 years ago with trepidation.

After 20 years in social work and as director of a sex-offender treatment programme, she worried she might meet resistance to a "city-raised, university qualified woman" but, in fact, had "every support and co-operation".

The average age of the elected runanga board was late 40s, and she had just appointed four highly qualified managers in their 30s and 40s to run the tribe's expanding assets.

However, the experience and wisdom of the iwi's kaumatua and kuia were highly valued, and the iwi's constitution included an obligation to hold regular meetings with them.

"In my experience, the older people are incredibly supportive of new blood."

Fisheries commissioner Shane Jones, who includes Sir Graham in the elders who have helped him progress, says some of Mr Tamihere's strongest supporters have been kaumatua who established the Waipareira Trust.

In some respects the minister's frustrations were understandable, he said.

"In a number of our runanga and trust boards there is a blurring between the role of the chairman and the role of the CEO and I think that on occasions we have had problems with overbearing chairmen who possibly have delayed the younger executives. I think that is just a matter of where we are up to in this journey."

But it was too much of a leap to suggest young Maori leaders were being throttled, Mr Jones said.

Mr Tamihere's comments are part of the larger debate over the distribution of treaty assets to Maori.

He believes the iwi structure is not delivering enough benefits to many urban Maori without tribal affiliations.

At the Young Maori Leaders Conference debate this week, the minister said Maori society had moved away from an exclusively traditional, iwi-based structure.

Urban Maori authorities represented the modern reality of Maori who were "multi-tribal and multi-cultural, progressive and forward-looking", he said.

"They are proud of their Maoritanga, but will not follow a separatist path because of it."

Iwi authorities argue that increasing numbers of urban Maori are finding their roots, using modern tools like websites, and that iwi have programmes to benefit all Maori, not just members.