Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka has launched the ‘Tōnui Māori’ strategy to drive Māori economic growth.
The plan focuses on infrastructure investment, export growth, and unlocking whenua Māori potential.
Potaka says the Māori economy has nearly doubled in five years but still faces barriers like poor infrastructure and land restrictions.
With strong Māori interest in geothermal energy, the strategy could help tap into whenua-based opportunities for future growth.
“A lot of Māori-owned land in the central North Island, whether or not that’s in Tūwharetoa and around Taupō or up around Rotorua, even maybe in Northland, there’s a lot of Maori land that has geothermal on it already. And if we can find supercritical there or anywhere else, we’d be enthusiastic about it,” says Potaka.
Recently, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones held a conference with central North Island iwi and Māori land trusts to discuss this potential.
