March 26, 2014
Maori critical for future of regions
The development of the Maori economy and in particular fishing is being cited as critical to the future health of New Zealand’s regions.
In a presentation to this week’s annual Maori Fisheries Conference, BERL economist Ganesh Nana looked at last year’s census to see where New Zealand might be in 10 years time.
He says fact the non-Maori population is ageing while the bulk of Maori are young means that in many parts of the country Maori in the critical 40 to 65 age group will increase as a proportion of the population.
Dr Nana says the dispersed nature of the fishing industry means jobs for Maori in the sector will be outside Auckland.
"The two pieces of the jigsaw puzzle around the fishing industry and the development of the regional economies outside Auckland are intertwined and you put that on top of the reality the Maori in those older age groups where we see the managers and the drivers of local business, of iwi and of whanau the nature and dimension and flavour of those regional economies are going to be visibly different. Maori are in a great position to shape that development," he says.
Ganesh Nana says the investment needs to be made now in training and infrastructure to ensure that Maori in the regions can meet their potential.
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