Fostering Māori Chinese partnerships
E kī ana te whakatauki
‘Waiho i te toipoto, kaua i te toiroa’
‘Let us keep close together, not far apart’
This whakatauki represents a desire to weave people, whakaaro, and actions together for the benefit of our mokopuna – future generations, and a guiding kaupapa to the following kōrero that follows.
The parallels between Māori and Chinese cultures have long been known and it is this connection, along with te ao Māori values and principles of ‘whanaungatanga’ and ‘manaakitanga’, that has formed the foundation from which our relationship has grown.
As we start to reconnect with the world post-COVID, Te Taumata recognises the importance of building on this partnership and opening new opportunities that will benefit both countries.
The Chinese delegation being welcomed with a pōhiri at Te Puia. Photo/Victoria Lu
The Chinese delegation being welcomed with a pōhiri at Te Puia. Photo/Victoria Lu
Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand, Wang Xiaolong, along with a prestigious Chinese delegation, met with Te Taumata and other Māori business leaders at Te Puia, in Rotorua, to discuss the Māori economy, Māori exports and ways to continue fostering the relationship between our two nations.
The meeting comes ahead of the next Te Taumata trade hui, which will be held in Tāmaki Makaurau in March and will focus on making trade outcomes a reality for Māori.
Reconnecting culture to culture
TE TARU WHITE, TE TAUMATA
Māori and Chinese are connected by a deep line that runs back 20,000 years when our tūpuna migrated from Southeast Asia to the Polynesian triangle.
This ancient connection makes today’s Māori and Chinese people whanaunga, and explains how our two cultures share many similar values, particularly in cultural respect, building and maintaining relationships and valuing our kaumātua.
As we look to reconnect our markets, it will be important to both cultures that we develop a reciprocal relationship that fosters resilient and sustainable trade.
Māori culture is not a ‘clip on’ but a foundational principle and a portal to successful trade. It is not for anyone but Māori to share our stories and culture through our taonga.
This started with the 1984-87 world exhibition and has continued through various trade missions since.
Most notably, our relationship with China was cemented when, in 2010, we gifted a 10m high waharoa, in the shape of a waka maumahara, that was carved from a 3500-year-old swamp kauri.
This extraordinary gift, carved by the hands of students and master carvers at New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute, encapsulated the spirit of ‘manaakitanga’ and ‘koha’, both of which combined to create a lasting bond between our two nations.
Twelve years later, we have continued to grow our relationship and are confident there is a future of genuine cultural connection between us.
Māori and Chinese connect on many levels. Photo / Victoria Lu
Māori and Chinese connect on many levels. Photo / Victoria Lu
The value of the Māori economy
CHRIS KARAMEA INSLEY, TE TAUMATA
Māori are not driven by short-term cycles; we play the long game. Our businesses and economy are a reflection of this intergenerational outlook.
Today, the Māori economy is worth about $80 billion, and its rate of growth significantly outstrips the New Zealand economy, even in times of economic downturn, and the global COVID pandemic.
While the Māori economy has not always been accepted as a ‘real' economy, it has become clear to New Zealand’s government, agencies and banks that it is legitimate, quantifiable and thriving.
One of the reasons the Māori economy has been able to fare so well, particularly in the last couple of years, is because Māori businesses do not have a lot of debt on our balance sheets.
We are also not driven by money. While it undeniably has a role to play in helping our people prosper, we as Māori are focused on doing business in a way that creates jobs for our whānau, protects the environment and leaves the world better off for our mokopuna.
These differences are our strength and give us a point of difference on the global stage.
Our hope is that from today, we can start conversations about how China can work in partnership with Māori to achieve our shared goals, particularly around climate change.
We are a people of action, so in the next three months, I would like to have at least two agreements on trade in place between our countries.
From there, we can only grow.
A time for reflection and next steps
DR. WANG XIAOLONG, CHINESE AMBASSADOR TO NEW ZEALAND
Chinese and Māori representatives coming together in te rohe ō Te Arawa (Rotorua), is particularly special as it is one of the leading Māori and cultural hubs in the world.
For any relationship to grow and endure, it must start with people. That’s one of the values shared between Māori and Chinese and highlights a fundamental strength of our partnership.
The Māori economy plays an important role within the broader New Zealand economy, but it must also be recognised for its significance in its own right.
Now is a time to review and reflect on the progress Māori and Chinese have made together, but to also look ahead, and plan for the future so we can continue to build a strong, enduring relationship.
Chinese Ambassador, Dr Wang Xiaolong addresses Māori business leaders at Te Puia. Photo / Victoria Lu
Chinese Ambassador, Dr Wang Xiaolong addresses Māori business leaders at Te Puia. Photo / Victoria Lu
This long-term relationship between our people will benefit both sides and present new opportunities for collaboration, investment and partnerships.
Fifty years ago, the trade between New Zealand and China was worth about $7m. We have seen trade grow exponentially since then, reaching $37.7b last year.
We believe that in the next few years, we will be able to reach $50b in trade. It is within reach as we build on what we already have.
We already enjoy a strong trade agenda within the meat, dairy and horticulture sectors but there is room to diversify into new growth areas – renewable energies and building a green economy.
We also have the capability to set up a unique e-commerce platform for Māori products, to help reach the enormous community of Chinese consumers.
Ours will be a rich, multi-faceted relationship and holds precious opportunities to innovate, support our people and build intergenerational wealth.
"As with any mutually-beneficial partnership, we should aim high, start small and keep going."
- Dr Wang Xiaolong
Developing a Māori bank
PETER RICE, TE ARAWA FOMA
Te Arawa Federation of Māori Authorities (FOMA) has teamed up with Unity Credit Union, Inez White and Peter Rice to provide home lending banking services for Te Arawa whānau.
Historically, Māori have faced barriers to accessing capital and this has had an intergenerational impact on our communities.
The development of an iwi bank has long been floated as a way to provide the holistic support whānau need to gain access to capital.
A pilot programme to create an iwi banking operation will provide Te Arawa whānau with wrap-around, pastoral care, including financial literacy, understanding the home loan banking process and retraining in financial behaviours.
This development is part of the Te Arawa 30-year plan and is not just financially driven, but will help to create resilient, thriving communities.
While this is just the beginning of this journey, there are significant growth opportunities and a chance to support this kaupapa from the ground level.
A spotlight on Māori business – agriculture, forestry, geothermal, commercial development
Who better to explain how Māori do business than Māori businesses. The following is a snapshot of the organisations that met with the Chinese delegation and provided an insight into what Māori are doing on the ground for our people, environment and economy.
FORESTRY
TE KAPUNGA DEWES, NGA POU A TANE-NATIONAL MĀORI FORESTRY ASSOCIATION
Forestry is preparing for significant change in the next couple of decades, which will redefine how the industry operates in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Currently, New Zealand has 7.8m ha of natural forest and 1.7m ha of plantation forest. We harvest about 34m cubic metres of logs annually, worth $5.65b in earnings.
Māori own about 40 per cent of the plantation forests, but only control about 10 per cent, with the remainder being managed offshore.
This is set to change, with Māori projected to own about 60 per cent of the forests and control about 50 per cent by 2050.
We are already starting to see change in the annual harvest reducing and an increase in annual planting.
Climate change and a focus on the circular bioeconomy also present unique challenges and opportunities and we anticipate a huge growth in demand for fibre.
As we transition to Māori ownership and control, we will want to have conversations about vertical integration and will be looking for joint venture partners who can bring technical and expert capability and money.
With Māori focused on the long-term, there will be changes made now, that will affect several generations down the line.
While we cannot know for sure what those changes will be, we know Māori will adapt over time and be looking for relationship-based opportunities with people who share our values.
Relationships formed now with an evergreen outlook will be well worth the time and energy. We are looking for partnerships of choice to allow us to leverage opportunities that will benefit us both.
GEOTHERMAL
NGAHIHI BIDOIS and MANA NEWTON, TAUHARA NORTH NO.2 TRUST
One of the foundational values for Māori is looking after Mother Earth and geothermal is a key part of this.
As a Māori land trust, our focus is always on looking 100 years ahead. We are planting trees now that we will never sit under, but that our children and grandchildren will sit under.
This does not just apply in the literal sense – we are ‘planting trees’ in geothermal, ‘planting trees’ in housing, ‘planting trees’ in horticulture.
The philosophy behind Tauhara North No.2 Trust’s commercial investments, centres around the Trust’s vision – “Kia mau ki te whenua” (hold fast to the land), “Whakamahia te whenua” (make use of the land), “Hei painga mo nga uri whakatipuranga” (for future generations).
Our journey with geothermal has been a long journey but we are now at the stage where we are researching various projects to take our next steps.
The Rotokawa geothermal reservoir is located about 15kms north of Taupō and has been in operation since 1997. Up until January 2010, the reservoir had been exclusively supplying geothermal fluid to the 34MW binary plant facility at Rotokawa.
In 2010, the Nga Awa Purua (NAP) Power Station was developed and is currently the largest single turbine geothermal power station in the world.
In 2013, Ngatamariki, a binary plant, was commissioned and is operated by Mercury Energy. It is connected by a 220,000-volt power line to Nga Awa Purua power station, where electricity from both stations is injected into the national grid.
For us, the taonga is the reservoir itself and we want to ensure we safeguard the natural resource so it is not overused and depleted.
Where the journey will take us now is understanding the multi-faceted role geothermal will play in reducing our carbon footprint, including identifying and extracting the mineral content, and identifying the natural microbiology and how it could be used for other applications.
AGRICULTURE
TINA NGATAI, ONUKU MĀORI LANDS TRUST
Kaitiakitanga is a founding principle of te ao Māori and is the driving force for many Māori organisations that are innovating and championing a more sustainable approach to business.
Onuku Māori Lands Trust is just one example of a Māori agriculture business making simple changes to reduce its carbon footprint.
A 2022 finalist and former winner of the coveted Ahuwhenua Trophy, Onuku Māori Lands Trust has converted a portion of its dairy farm to ovine (sheep milk) in an effort to lower carbon emissions.
Entering its third season, the conversion has already seen a third of its nitrates reduced and the farm halve its water use.
The change has also allowed the Trust to triple its employment, creating more opportunities for whānau in the region.
These changes are not just about the bottom line but improving all aspects of business.
Onuku has been operating for more than 40 years and for at least 15 of those years, there has been a conversation within the agriculture sector about how to better look after the environment.
That aspiration goes even deeper for Māori because the whenua is so closely connected to us through our tūpuna.
For us, we want to leave a legacy that’s better than what we received. That can only be achieved if we are devoted to making the small changes that will have a big impact.
Onuku Māori Lands Trust has also converted 800ha of land to riparian reserves and corridors and is currently investigating how to move from electricity to solar panels and other energy sources to reduce reliance on the national grid.
The future is in technology as that will be what supports us to become a carbon neutral place.
COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT
TINA NGATAI, PUKEROA ORUAWHATA - WAI ARIKI
Set to open in mid-2023, the 4453m2 luxury spa development, Wai Ariki, sits proudly on the shores of Lake Rotorua and will be a truly unique cultural wellness offering, unlike any other spa in the world.
Wai Ariki combines the region’s healing geothermal waters with the centuries-old legacy of Ngāti Whakaue culture, healing practices and manaakitanga to offer an authentic wellness and spa experience for manuhiri.
The site has two main spa areas: Te Puna Kaukau Koruhuhū and Te Ahuru Mōwai l The Sanctuary – a premium space for bathing and spa treatments. There is also a café and gift shop.
Within Te Puna Kaukau Koruhuhū, manuhiri will experience Haumanu Haerenga, a restorative journey made up of a series of hot and cold experiences designed to maximise therapeutic benefit.
The journey includes unique features such as a herb pool, which combines mineral water with the aromatherapy properties of native plants to support calmness and relaxation; a mud experience, and a frigidarium, historically the cold room in an ancient Roman bathhouse.
Wai Ariki is Aotearoa New Zealand’s only spa and bathing facility developed and owned by mana whenua.
This is the first in a three-stage development, which will include apartments and a hotel.
HORTICULTURE
TE PAORI NEWTON and GEOFF RICE, WHENUA FRUITS
Māori are constantly innovating, pivoting and finding ways to support the wellbeing of our people.
Our bottom line is not financial, it’s about our people and how we can make their lives better.
During COVID, Whenua Fruits built five tunnels in preparation to grow several varieties of berries.
The first crop of berries was harvested over 2020-21 and included 28 new varieties, some of which are in the process of being sold.
This kaupapa was about utilising what Ranginui and Papatuanuku gave us, creating jobs for our whānau, and exploring new commercial opportunities in a practical, low-risk way.
Part of our mahi includes analysing the crops to identify any varieties that have health and healing properties not available in the current commercial varieties.
The real world application of a berry operation like Whenua Fruits is that it can be easily implemented on underutilised whenua land, is gentle on the environment, and creates more work for whānau in small communities.
This holistic approach is common across many Māori businesses and is indicative of how intrinsically linked our values are to the way we practice business.
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