Croaking Cassandra

Just started following this blog...Croaking Cassandra ... by Michael Reddell. Provides a unique, often trenchant, criticism of Aotearoa NZ's macroeconomy.

Google Alerts: Maori Economy

	Maori economy Weekly update ⋅ 13 December 2015
	NEWS
	Taranaki Daily News Panoho proud to have put Maori economic development on Taranaki map Taranaki Daily News It began in 2008 when she worked alongside Tui Ora to develop and launch the region's first report on the Maori economy and ever since Panoho has ... Flag as irrelevant
	Respected Māori leader becomes ATEED strategic advisor Scoop.co.nz (press release) The “Māori economic powerhouse” is entrenched as a cross-cutting theme in council's Economic Development Strategy 2012-2022. New recent ... Flag as irrelevant
	Tā Pita Sharples appointed strategic advisor for ATEED Māori Television Well respected Māori figure, Tā Pita Sharples has been appointed as a strategic advisor to the board of Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic ... Flag as irrelevant
	Partnership aims to boost Chatham Islands economy Māori Television Iwi Moriori and Ngāti Mutunga have partnered with Aotearoa Fisheries Limited (AFL) to launch a new processing plant on the Chatham Islands with ... Flag as irrelevant
	waateanews.com Careers NZ targeting rangatahi online waateanews.com He says many young Maori and their whanau are looking for ways their ... heritage can open up opportunities, especially within the Maori economy. Flag as irrelevant
	waateanews.com Government record "worst ever" - Davis waateanews.com ... ways to attack Minister Te Ururoa Flavell, given the Government's progress in settling treaty claims and the continued growth of the Maori economy. Flag as irrelevant

Ian Taylor on the 'Maori economic engine'...

Maori businessman Ian Taylor speaks out at Te Tau Ihu O Te Waka A Maui 2015 Economic Summit. Taylor thinks the Maori economic engine isn't doing enough for young Maori.

Our Pakeha friends and whanaunga could say the same about NZ Inc.

The so-called Maori economy referred to in this article stems from a model by BERL published n 2011 (based on 2010 data), updated in 2015 (based on 2013 data). The majority of this $42,573 billion 'economy' is made of Maori employers ($23,433b). $6,647b is self-employed Maori. The raw data are culled from Stats NZ census data (ie if an employer or self-employed person identifies as Maori, then their business is added to the BERL Maori economy). Trusts and Incorporations make up $12,493b. This sector is the one that most of us have a dog in the fight for, that is it is based on Maori land with Maori collective ownership.

Taylor says 'the "economic engine" comprising an estimated $40 billion in Maori-owned tourism, fisheries, agriculture, forestry and other industries was not delivering on the strategy for Maori economic development drawn up in 2012...'

Well since when did capitalist players do anything other than seek profit for their own ends (this 'profit' can include cultural outcomes of course).

I also see Taylor's sector - IT - has received specific Maori funding of $30m over 6 years. I'm not opposed to this - corporate welfare seems to be a necessary but insufficient condition for any successful economy - but why isn't that sector 'self-funding' if it is so great? (Okay, farming is also subsidised through breaks in carbon credits, and fishing had a few golden years of cheap Asian labour, and forestry gets away with, if not murder, then manslaughter...)

Ian Taylor is doing sterling work, no doubt. I guess he sits within the Maori employer bracket? And I absolutely agree with him that we need our rangatahi getting into software and robotics (indeed I wrote a futurist piece on this for a chapter on Maori leadership with my friends and colleagues Jamie Ataria and Melanie Mark-Shadbolt). 

But maybe the 29% of the Maori economy is doing all it can do?! And if each individual Maori employer or self-employed Maori hired one more Maori, and provided them with a living wage and training, well maybe that would lift this entire 'sector' in a way that would solve some of the issues he identifies?

Canterbury Maori Health Stats...

Latest District Health Board Maori profile makes interesting reading.

Using the NZDep2013 index of small area deprivation, the report shows 40% of Canterbury Māori lived in the four most deprived decile areas, compared to 25% of non-Māori.

Maori and non-Maori Deprivation in Canterbury

Maori in Te Waipounamu have less access to marae than our Te Ika a Maui cousins and whanaunga...

Rates of hospitalisation for mental disorders were 38% higher for Māori than for non-Māori, and we know the post-disaster landscape is still negatively impacting on our mental health in Otautahi.

"Among Māori females, the most common cause of admission was mood disorders, with 50 admissions per year on average.  The rates of admission for bipolar disorders and depressive episodes were higher for Māori women than for non-Māori women, as was the admission rate for anxiety or stress related disorders.

Among Māori males, the overall admission rate was 61% higher than the non-Māori rate. Admissions for schizophrenia type disorders were the most common, at a rate 2.6  times that of non-Māori. The second most common cause of admission was for mood disorders, with a rate 48% higher than the non-Māori rate, followed by substance use disorders. Admissions for anxiety or stress-related disorders were 65% higher than the non-Māori admission rate." (p. 26-27).

Full Report:
Robson B, Purdie G, Simmonds S, Waa A, Andrewes J, Rameka R. 2015. Canterbury District Health Board Māori Health Profile 2015. Wellington: Te Rōpū Rangahau Hauora a Eru Pōmare.

Labour Party and the Whakapapa of Neoliberalism in Aotearoa

Had a curious Facebook experience when a Maori MP expressed his intent to challenge the PM over his government's attitude to poverty. My comment was a wee reminder that the whakapapa of neo-liberalism in this country begins with his own party...

My comment was deleted by the end of the day.

It is not advisable to be ashamed of your whakapapa. 'Tis what it is.

Until Labour accepts who and what they are - a neo-liberal attuned political party with a poor track record of helping Maori - they are no good to Maori.

Links:
Bryce Edwards: Identity politics vs class politics - 8: Neoliberalism and identity politics

David Neilson: Making History Beyond Neoliberalism: Response to Roper

Maria Bargh: Maori Development and Neoliberalism