July 30, 2013
Bean counters weigh up culture
Māori accountants have been reminded of the importance of culture in what they do for Māori clients.
The Māori accountants’ society Ngā Kaitatau Māori ō Aotearoa held its annual hui in Wellington over the weekend, with guests including Finance Minister Bill English and Terry Goodtrack from the Aboriginal Financial Officers Association of Canada.
Ngā Kaitatau Chair Wiwini Hakaraia says Mr Goodtrack showed how the experience of Canadian First Nations people under colonialism was similar to Māori.
That means their economic development must take into account the needs of the group, which means they behave differently than other businesses.
"What that does is it increases wealth for our people but what is the point of increasing wealth if you are not increasing the daily well being of most of our people, so in his opinion successful economies are culturally grounded," Mr Hakaraia says.
He finds his Māori clients are often motivated by factors such as job creation rather than just focusing on profit.
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