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Who or what is/are Maori?

There is a lot of talk going on about "Maori" in the media.

We have stories like this one in which the Greens are demanding that government use the Public Works Act to seize privately held land and return it to Maori.

Today's column isn't an attempt to discuss the rights or wrongs of returning land to Maori, nor is it about whether such claims should be involved in a seemingly endless cycle of compensation and relitigation for more compensation.

I doubt we'll ever see the parties involved ever reach total agreement over such matters.

No, today I have a much more important question: just who are "Maori" in the context of these negotiations and claims?

It's pretty easy to identify "a Maori" but that's not what I'm talking about.

Most of these claims want to either recover Maori land that is in non-Maori ownership or receive fair compensation for that land.

The premise is that the land or money will then be given (back) to Maori.

Sounds great and wonderful... but who decides which Maori get the land or the money?

How is it fairly distributed amongst the many in New Zealand who identify as being of Maori origin?

Well from what I can see, it hasn't been fairly distributed in the past and it's unlikely to be fairly distributed in future.

There seems to be a thriving industry for the prosecution of claims and the handling of the compensation or hand-backs arising from successful ones but I don't see that providing much (if any) benefit for those Maori who are very much in need of assistance.

Given that around $2.2 billion has already been paid out in successful claims, why are so many of Maori still living on or below the poverty line? Where has all this money gone?

Why are their so many very well-to-do Maori making a fortune out of the "treaty industry" whilst so many of their fellow Maori barely have enough money to feed themselves and their kids?

One can't help but get the impression that, on more than a few occasions, far too much of the compensation has been consumed by the industry and that the compensations are simply not reaching those who have every bit as much right to those benefits as the well groomed lawyers in their Armani suits and silk boxers.

Given that the government has recently embarked on reviewes of the electricity and transport fuel sectors, maybe it's time that The Treaty Industry faced a bit of scrutiny. Of course I'd expect the same outcome: "The situation is bad but we are not going to do anything about it".

You can bet that if there was an actual investigation into The Treaty Industry that certain well-connected parties would scream that it was racially motivated and yet another case of "brown bashing". Meanwhile, the least privileged Maori in our society will continue to be disadvantaged by racists on all sides.

I call on The Treaty Industry to focus more on the plight of all Maori, not just those with the right connections and friends.

Or maybe I've got this entirely wrong and there are no Maori families living in garages or cars. Perhaps a number of Maori prefer to go hungry and cold out of choice.

What do readers think? Should Maori be doing a better job looking after other Maori or are some of them too busy picking their next Armani suit and new car from their substantial salaries and other treaty-related earnings?

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