Record-breaking Cabinet, but will they be able to deliver for Māori?

Nanaia Mahuta is the country's first female Minister of Foreign Affairs. Photo / Mark Mitchell

ANALYSIS:

As Labour unveiled its ministerial appointments on Monday the headlines were full of "firsts" and "record number of", and particularly for Māori.

And quite rightly so.

Nanaia Mahuta became the first female Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the second of Māori heritage, after Winston Peters. She is though, the first to bear a moko kauae.

As others have pointed out, it is akin to a First Nations woman being appointed as the United States Secretary of State.

It is hugely deserved recognition for one of the Party's most-experienced MPs and most knowledgeable around tikanga Māori.

The symbolism of the appointment in our current global climate also cannot be denied, blindingly evident in the thirst of overseas publications to cover it, and even more so when factoring in Mahuta's ties to the Kingitanga movement, one which challenged the very Crown she now represents overseas.

"It's a signal of just how far we've come as a country," political commentator Morgan Godfery said, also noting the "irony" of Peeni Henare, who also has links to the Kingitanga, being appointed Minister of Defence.

Labour also appointed an equal record number of Māori ministers inside Cabinet: five - the same as the last Labour-led Government, which included three from NZ First.

Along with Mahuta and Henare, party deputy leader Kelvin Davis gained the portfolios of Minister for Children, Corrections and Te Arawhiti/Māori Crown Relations; Willie Jackson Minister for Māori Development; and Kiri Allan Minister of Conservation.

Labour Party deputy leader Kelvin Davis gained the portfolios of Minister for Children, Corrections and Te Arawhiti/Māori Crown Relations. Photo / Supplied

Māori Ministers outside Cabinet include Minister of Customs Meka Whaitiri and Green Party co-leader, and Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, Marama Davidson.

Rino Tirikatene is the Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries, and Adrian Rurawhe deputy speaker.

There will be a lot expected from this historically-high representation for Māori, but numbers aside, political commentator and academic Dr Rawiri Taonui is cautious about what they will be able to achieve.

"The appointments are good recognition of the contributions they made during the election. They have earned it, and it is overdue.

"There is going to be a lot of pressure from Māoridom, and from their colleagues and the Māori Party to deliver, but the weakness is they have not been given any of the major portfolios where they can really drive the change needed.

"While there is equality in numbers, there is not necessarily equality in positions."

Davis turned down the Deputy Prime Minister role, and Peeni Henare missed out on his desired role of Health Minister to Andrew Little (he is one of four Associate Health Ministers).

Aside from Mahuta, Māori missed out on the major mainstream portfolios of health, finance and education – all also key areas particularly as the country recovers from the impacts of Covid-19.

Despite being outside of those key roles, Taonui said it was vital the Māori caucus worked closely with their colleagues to ensure the recovery not only did not repeat the inequities that existed across the board, but used it as a tool to fix it.

There will be disappointment Davis turned down the Deputy Prime Minister position, but Taonui said it likely reflected Davis' own view of himself as a "worker not a talker".

He commended his appointment as Minister for Children, with responsibility for the embattled Oranga Tamariki that has been a major thorn in the Government's side.

Māori have long been calling for greater autonomy in this space, for new partnership models, and surely with Davis' role with Te Arawhiti, designed to be the "bridge" between Pākehā and Māori, he has the tools to lead the major reform sorely needed.

In his other roles with Corrections and in Education he'd be able to continue his work to reduce the prison populations, which is vastly disproportionately Māori, and address systemic racism and inequality.

Taonui said Mahuta's was a "brilliant" appointment.

"I can really see her shining on the international stage, and also with the cultural capital of Kingitanga behind her, it is we have something never had."

He also commended the promotions of Allan and Henare into Cabinet.

"They are ones to watch for the future."

Allan also has the benefit of representing the East Coast electorate, where the Raukūmara Forest Park has just received a $34 million funding boost, championed and signed off by her predecessor Eugenie Sage, earning major kudos in the rohe in doing so.

The Raukūmara Pae Maunga Restoration Project is a partnership with iwi Te Whānau a Apanui and Ngāti Porou and the Department of Conservation, and having Allan in the role could be a perfect fit for continuing to foster good relations between iwi and DoC across the board.

With various partnership models evolving, calls for a Māori Health Authority, and now Ngāi Tahu taking legal action against the Crown over rights to freshwater and calling for more engagement – the time could be ripe to pull the strands together into a constitutional framework with Te Tiriti o Waitangi at its core that recognised tino rangatiratanga, or Māori sovereignty.

The groundwork has been done back in 2016, when Professor Margaret Mutu and Dr Moana Jackson produced the Matike Mai report, based on hundreds of hui across the motu, which outlined a vision for constitutional transformation in Aotearoa.

Taonui said while he'd like to see politicians "be more brave" and take this topic on, he doubted Labour would "have the guts" to do it this term – or even the next.

"There is still residue from the Helen Clark era," he said.

He's referring to how her government pulled out of the Closing the Gaps reforms, designed to address systemic inequality plaguing the country, and obviously the Seabed and Foreshore debacle in 2004.

"There was this paranoia then of a Pākehā backlash, and it is still lingering around when it comes to addressing these big issues."

Easy wins though would be with Ihumātao, which now the block of NZ First was out of the way would likely be addressed by the end of the year, or potentially saved to be announced at Ratana or Waitangi Day.

This term could also see Māori seats entrenched, after Rino Tirikatene's bill last term was opposed by NZ First.

There will also likely be a continuing transformation when it comes to settling historical grievances of breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi.

Little, who is again Minister of Treaty Negotiations, impressed at Waitangi Day this year when he spoke - in te reo - the need for a different approach, one that was focused more on hapū and future relations.

But there would always be difficulties in a majority Pākehā party, Taonui said.

"You can bet the Māori MPs would have wanted more influential positions, but would have accepted what they've got as steps in the right direction.

"At the end of the day, they have got to appease the majority."