August 02, 2022
Name game distraction from Māori development
Former MP Shane Jones giving new Māori names to state agencies and programmes is a waste of effort while larger social and economic concerns for Māori go unaddressed.
Mr Jones says the big challenge for Māori is developing their young men and women.
Too many are trapped on the Jobseeker benefit, while political energy is squandered giving things Māori names that most people can’t pronounce.
“It’s unrelated in many cases to the kaupapa whilst we have all this wasted potential and the Māori MPs need to redouble their efforts on the right thing and that is the development of our people and less daubing every new report or project that never gets delivered anyway with a yet more romantic Māori name,” Mr Jones says.