Labour’s proposed New Zealand Future Fund is being welcomed – cautiously – by Māori economist Matt Roskruge.
Labour’s first 2026 election policy announcement, proposes a Crown-owned fund, governed by the Guardians of the Super Fund, with the Finance Minister as sole shareholder – a structure Roskruge warns keeps the status quo and Māori outside the decision room.
He says the fund could lift Māori wealth and participation, but only if Māori are written into its design as decision-makers, not just advisers.
He’s calling for a Māori Economic Council to co-manage the fund, moving beyond the usual consultative partnerships.
“If you really want to go down the ‘how do we do this as a partnership under Te Tiriti’ way of addressing this then having that equal say, a Māori Council and the Guardians both working together on the fund,” says Roskruge.
Roskruge says the fund’s success won’t be measured in billions – but in how much mana it retains and how many whānau tables it fills.
