Is it past time to abolish the Maori Council?

The Maori Community Development Act 1962 is up for review. Although Mana points out that the timing is suspicious, the Act remains more or less the same – 51 years later. The review is seeking feedback on the future of the Maori Council and options for improving the Maori Wardens and Community Officers.

Sir Graham Latimer (second from the left) after the
Maori Council's historic win in the Lands case. H/T Te Ara

I’m stuck on it. Maori society is becoming increasingly iwi-centric. Power is shifting from pan-Maori organisations to iwi. Movements and organisations like the Kingitanga, the Maori Women’s Welfare League and the Maori Council can’t compete culturally, economically or politically. Iwi are pushing the Maori Council out. 

But here’s the qualification: urban Maori. They’re the forgotten tribe. Iwi aren’t a catch-all. Pan-Maori organisations –think of service providers like the Waipereira Trust, the Church and the Welfare League – catch urban Maori. The Maori Council does too. If the Council is abolished urban Maori are deprived of one the few advocates that they have. 

That's a reason to keep the Maori Council. But it must be reformed. It’s a labyrinth: there are Maori Committees, Maori Executive Committees, District Maori Councils and the New Zealand Maori Council. The structure needs to be simplified. Abolishing the regional bodies and maintaining the national body could be an option. The regional bodies are cumbersome. The national body could draw its membership from regional groups - like iwi runanga and urban authorities like the Manukau Urban Maori Authority - rather than regional council's and committees. There's a perception (and maybe a reality) that the Council isn't accountable. Layers of bureaucracy contributes to that perception.

It's 2013 too. The Act's focus on social and economic wellbeing is underinclusive. The Council's focus should be expanded to include the environment and conservation. People, markets and the environment is preferable to people and markets only.

The Mahanui Maori Council in 1902. These regional groups were a precursor
to the 1962 Act. Eagle eyed readers will spot Apirana Ngata in the centre.
H/T Te Ara

In their own words:

The New Zealand Maori Council has achieved a number of gains for Maori including the adoption of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in the State Owned Enterprises Act 1986, the reform of Maori land resulting in Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993, the 1989 Maori Fisheries Act and the 1992 Sealord’s Act. The review of the Maori Community Development Act 1962 should be seen as another opportunity for Maori.

Reasonable people can and will disagree with that. The Maori Council didn't work in isolation. But we might be a decade behind but for the Maori Council's work. Still, that's no reason to oppose reform. The Maori Council needs it and now. It's 2013. If they stay the same, they'll be left behind.  

FTP?

The Police often wonder why people hate them: 

Wellington bar owners say drunk Maori will be specifically targeted during the World Cup, by a 50-year-old law that has been pulled from the archives by police and the city council.

The law allows Maori wardens to enter bars and remove drunk or violent Maori.

Many bar owners say it is a shameful, racist law and the Government now wants to take a look at it.

Firstly, this is racial profiling. Secondly, New Zealand is, supposedly, a liberal democracy. Liberal democracies do not invoke outdated and racist laws for social control. The major laws currently in use, for example the Sale of Liquor Act 1989, do the job. There is no need to drag out such a reprehensible piece of legislation. The particular part of The Maori Community Development Act, i.e. the Act the Police will invoke, is a testament to New Zealand’s ugly past. I expect every Maori MP, in fact every MP, to work to repeal this repugnant legislation. Every Maori MP is obligated to destroy the remnants of historical racism.

I struggle to understand why the Police consider it necessary to drag this law from its coffin. The current framework works well. I tend to think it’s an example of the authoritarianism that permeates the Police force. If a tool is open to them they will use it regardless of the moral implications and the consequences of its use. Make no mistake, if this law is invoked there will be consequences. We know that some activists have pondered the thought of peaceful protests during the RWC, however if this law is used those protests, assuming they occur, will quickly turn violent. Maori don’t take to persecution well, especially on a one on one basis, or on a crowd basis. Is this what the Police want? To inspire a violent uprising against historical racism and its modern application? Do the Police want to highlight what a racist swamp New Zealand is – in front of the world too?   

I expect the Maori Party to lobby the Government furiously. If they do not, or if the law is not repealed before the RWC, then the Maori Party are worthless. I expect Mana and every other Maori MP to swing in behind them as well. If not, then they are worthless too.