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TE PUTATARA
The Newsletter
of The Maori Alliance
P.O.Box 408, Wellington.
Issue No.08/88 22 August 1988
EDITORIAL
"Ki te whai te mana Maori motuhake i runga i te kotahitanga me te tino rangatiratanga i roto i Te Tiriti o Waitangi."
Ki Te Tiriti o Waitangi, tena koe.
Ki te kaupapa o Te Kotahitanga Maori, tena koe.
E nga iwi o te motu, e nga hau e wha
Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.
A week is a long time in politics. The month or so between issues of Te Putatara is like an eternity.
Such is the pace of change in the political life of the nation that by the time this newsletter is posted it could well be out of date. Will David Lange really take over Maori Affairs as part of the Great Long Awaited Cabinet Reshuffle? Rumour is rife in Wellington. That is just one of them.
There is no doubt that infighting in Cabinet has reached new heights for the Fourth Labour Government. So much so that many political commentators are confidently predicting that the Government will not see out the full term. Many who used to support the Lange/Douglas programme have turned from them.
It is not only the pace of reform, and the unreasonably high level of unemployment, that has turned people from the Government. It is also the heavy handed, undemocratic methods of enforcing change; the disregard for the ideas of the voting public; the belief that they and only they are right.
What lies ahead for Maoridom?
We should now set in place our strategies for negotiating with a National Government. Whether National becomes government in 1990 or sooner, we must be prepared for the eventuality. Governments come and go, political parties wax and wane, Maoridom is forever.
Iwi Authorities should prepare their cases for funding and be prepared to present them, remembering that National is essentially a pragmatic party, not given to philosophical or even moral persuasion. They will want to be convinced of our commitment to sound management and accountability.
They will want to be convinced that we will not embarrass them.
For the good of Maoridom we should try to influence their policies now, rather than be fed bitter medicine when the time comes.
At the same time we must keep trying with Labour. One never knows what miracles they might pull out of the political hat.
- Ross Himona
DEVOLUTION
As we have all come to expect, politicians and public servants are still not telling us much about what is really going on with Maori Affairs policy.
Secrecy is still the order of the day, with little bits of information being drip fed through infrequent news releases. However it would seem that the public service is still trying to force its grand plan upon Maoridom, but the politicians may have backed down a little (or perhaps just slowed down) and are probably bringing in their real plan.
The SSC quietly formed a committee to set up the mainstreaming of Maori Affairs functions, and appears set upon that course. Mr Wetere however seems to be saying something else. Once again we must ask just who is running Maori Affairs policy.
The "Synopsis of Submissions on He Tirohanga Rangapu" released by Mr Wetere on 27 July clearly showed that Maoridom was not at all impressed with the first effort. Rauru Kirikiri has been appointed to chair a new inter-departmental committee which has to report back to the Cabinet Social Equity Committee, chaired by Mr Palmer, within about a month.
Mr Wetere has committed himself to a second round of consultations in September/October. This time he might have more detail to back up the claims made in He Tirohanga Rangapu.
I would expect a big Public Relations effort to sell the new or revamped proposals, with perhaps an attempt to pre-empt, or even discredit, anticipated opposition.
It would seem that the Maori Trust Boards are now fairly secure. The Maori Trust Boards Amendment Bill just introduced to Parliament allows Trust Boards to enter into contracts with, or accept grants and loans from Government departments and agencies. On the other hand just what contracts, grants, and loans will be available to them is still a mystery.
In a paper presented to Te Hui Whakawa Taumata in February Bob Mahuta said, "Government does not control tribal development; it never did and it never will. Tribal development belongs to the people. Government can only facilitate or obstruct it."
He said of Departments of State, "...they cannot prevent Maori groups from presenting themselves for funding. They cannot prevent you from laying siege to their bastions and their treasuries. Each time they reject or refuse you they are morally weakened. If you politely and firmly continue to press and reapply, sooner or later they will attempt to buy you off - and then they will have lost whatever advantage they had."
And he concluded that "We have no alternative but to now take charge of the process ourselves and realise that in doing so, we are evolving structures that suit us and not someone else."
And, "The genie that flew out of the bottle when Government uncorked the devolution process has become our guiding genius. It will sweep us past ....."
The People have blunted the first attempt to force change upon us. Now let us force our change upon them. In the second round of hui and submissions, do not ask - tell. We have the power. Let us take charge.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Since the Loans Affair of December 1986 Maoridom has regularly been accused of a lack of accountability.
Mr Brian Tyler, the Controller and Auditor General, in a speech to the NZ Institute of Public Administration in 1986, started by saying, "In recent years accountability has become very much an over-used word, so over-used that it has tended to lose some of its sharpness of meaning."
When Maori programmes became more successful than the Pakeha was willing to admit, accountability took on an entirely new meaning and became a blunt instrument used by politician and public servant alike to slay Maori progress.
Which is not to say that Mr Tyler himself has been involved in the attacks on Maori people. The Audit Office has often been used to attempt to prove the racially inspired allegations and accusations, but has been scrupulously fair in its many investigations. More often than not favourable comments by the Audit Office have been ignored by the politicians and media.
In his 1986 speech Mr Tyler explained the elements of accountability clearly and concisely. The Controller and Auditor General reports direct to Parliament. What he had to say is important for Maoridom as we gear up to wrest control of resources, and our own destiny, from the dominant Pakeha institutions.
To win the war, we will need to win the accountability battle. 2500 years ago Sun Tzu, the master strategist, said, "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."
Let us study accountability.
According to Mr Tyler there are six elements in an accountability relationship. The four essential elements are:
* that the Government grant some right or power;
* that the user of that right or power is responsible to the Government for the way that authority is exercised;
* a clear understanding by both parties of what is expected of each other; and
* an environment that allows each party to perform its part of the contract.
Two other elements are necessary:
* adequate and reliable information; and
* that there be an ability to recognise good performance and to impose some credible sanctions for poor performance.
Mr Tyler summed it all up by saying that effective accountability requires an environment that:
* allows people to do their job;
* permits the measurement of their performance in an unambiguous, but equitable, fashion; and
* rewards or penalises them, as appropriate, for their performance.
There they are. That is what the Audit Office wants. We may not entirely like the rules but if we know them we can use them.
In the many battles ahead - good negotiating.
THE PURSUIT OF POWER
The new public service structures being introduced as part of the reform programme make an interesting study in power.
In brief, the top layer of the public service will consist of small control ministries such as The Prime Ministers Department, Treasury, State Services, Commerce, External Relations & Trade, Health, Education, Womens Affairs, and Maori Policy.
The next layer of service delivery is either being decentralised or devolved to the regions. At the same time commercial activities are being corporatised and privatised.
All this activity is being undertaken for the declared reasons of efficiency and effectiveness in Government administration, and in order to return power from Government to the people. Or is it just to balance the books? Theoretically the reform of Government will make the system more democratic.
With so much restructuring going on it is difficult to follow the power shifts that must also be occurring.
It is easy to see that the State Sector unions are being cut to pieces after enjoying a period of enormous power. Likewise the public service as a whole has had its power drastically slashed along with its staff and budgets.
Theoretically at least, Parliament, Government, and the Executive are also losing power as their control over the economy is loosened by the selling off of State monopolies. They will still have the ultimate power to make law, to enforce the law, to govern, and to tax. Theyre not losing as much as they might pretend.
Where is all this power going? Power does not disappear. It is rearranged and redistributed, but it doesn't disappear.
Some of it is being devolved to communities, whether it be to the new Regional Authorities that are being set up, or to parents, under the new Education structures.
At this stage it is all being redistributed to the Pakeha. Even if Maori people were to join in and become represented on all the local bodies that receive this power, we will still be outvoted and outcast (but never outclassed).
Power is being shifted from the Pakeha to the Pakeha.
At the central Government level enormous power is being concentrated in the central control ministries. Effectively we now have a new class of super-bureaucrat, the Mandarins. Treasury, the State Services Commission, and the Prime Ministers Department have seized power from most of their opposition within the public service.
The SSC now has the ability to hire and fire Chief Executive Officers, and so they can control the detailed operations of State Departments. By gaining far more control over financial accountability, Treasury has also increased its power over other Departments.
The new super-ministries of Commerce, and External Relations & International Trade look as though they might also be dominated by academics and economists in the Treasury mold.
And Treasury has also advocated the creation of more super-ministries to replace the wide range of present Departments.
Other control ministries, advocating policy in the traditionally soft areas of Health, Education, Welfare, Women's Affairs, and Maori Affairs, wont get much of a look in, because the real power-brokers will have firmly entrenched themselves in the economics and finance areas, and the SSC and PMs Department.
This whole strategy started with a 1984 Treasury paper to Government. Who are the real winners? Maoridom certainly isn't. Is New Zealand?
POLITICAL REFORM
One of the first areas investigated when Labour came to power was the political system itself.
The Royal Commission on the Electoral System produced its report, "Towards a Better Democracy", in December 1986.
The Commission was established to look into whether any changes to the law and practice governing the conduct of Parliamentary elections are necessary or desirable. It also had a number of other detailed terms of reference including "the nature and basis of Maori representation in Parliament".
The recommendations of the Commission were wide ranging. Firstly it recommended the adoption of a Proportional Voting System, and it recommended that a referendum on this be held at or before the 1987 general election. This was not done, although the Prime Minister was reported as promising a referendum in this term of office.
Effective Maori representation was to be achieved through Proportional Representation, but if this was not adopted, the Maori seats should be retained, and the number of seats determined on a more equitable basis.
For the reason that greater Maori representation would be possible under what is called a Mixed Member Proportional System, the Maori Alliance has decided to call for that recommendation of the Royal Commission to be implemented. The Maori Alliance executive believes that Maoridom stands its best chance of equitable power sharing through such a system.
However, this proposal will need to be debated throughout Maoridom to obtain the general view.
Most of the governmental structure is being reviewed, reformed, restructured, and retrenched, and there are enormous shifts in power balances within the machinery of Government (see The Pursuit of Power). We therefore need to look closely at the political system to ensure that democracy is not actually being eroded, even though the aim of reform might be the opposite.
There are few checks and balances in our political and bureaucratic system. At least with the old ponderous, inefficient, and apolitical public service, we had an effective balance to the sometimes overzealous methods of politicians.
We need to make sure that reform in the political area restores balance to the democratic system. The nation is certainly now in need of proportional representation in order to curb the possible excesses of one party government, influenced or helped by a small and powerful elite group of public servants.
Maoridom already suffers under the present system. Any erosion of democracy can only be bad for us. We need proper political representation.
THE DEPARTMENT OF MAORI AFFAIRS
Dr Reedy now seems to be securely installed as Secretary of Maori Affairs, having received his contract under the State Sector Act 1988, which guarantees him and the Deputy Secretaries a minimum of two years further employment.
Te Putatara received a friendly letter from Senior Deputy Secretary and Maori Trustee, Tom Parore, to say that he was not about to transfer to the State Services Commission to become a Commissioner. The kumara vine still insists that he was approached and that he turned it down.
The last issue also reported that Wilson Bailey's job, Deputy Secretary Corporate Services, had been advertised, and that Wilson was off to Tourism. It was advertised but was mysteriously withdrawn at about the same time as Dr Reedy signed his own employment contract. The kumara vine says that it was withdrawn by a "higher authority". Could Bailey's staying at Maori Affairs have some secret significance?
Bailey certainly works hard. He was spied coming out of the State Services Commission on a Sunday morning!
Graham Weir is still floating around although no-one seems to know what he does. He sits on at least one inter-departmental committee on behalf of Maori Affairs, and apparently the committee is aghast at the opinion he offers, supposedly from a Maori viewpoint.
The transfer of Christine Matangi and Di Williams to the SSC was also nipped in the bud. The unfortunate Bruce Barrett not only doesn't get Christine's job, but his own job has just been disestablished! However he has found another.
Kim Workman has moved from Rotorua and has been appointed Regional Manager for Auckland, overseeing Kai Hui at Ponsonby, Ray Cooper at Wiri, and the Pacific Islands unit. I bet that proposal didn't emanate from Auckland. Apparently Kim has now moved into Deputy Secretary territory.
It seems strange to appoint yet another person to the top heavy ranks of the corporate management team, when there are already five deputy secretaries, two assistant secretaries, and an assistant to a deputy secretary. Now a Regional Manager. Makes you wonder, when it has just been announced that Head Office is to be slashed by sixty jobs. That means about one half of the staff will get the chop.
There will probably be about another fifty put off in the districts by the end of the financial year too, if my calculations are correct.
After about two months of to-ing and fro-ing Mr Wetere has finally taken MANA Enterprises and Maori ACCESS from Board of Maori Affairs control and given them to the Department. They finally got them after two years of in-fighting, with a bit of political help.
Apparently some Board members will still be involved on a joint Department/Board Committee. I hope the kaupapa remains the same.
CORPORATE MEMBERSHIP?
The seventh floor kumara vine reports that the Corporate Management Team are avid readers of Te Putatara. Be fair. Pay your subs!
DISPATCHES FROM THE DUNGEON BAR
The one thing that intellectuals share with us all is curiosity.
The week after we were visited by a northern academic, one of our local Professors popped in for (quite a few) beers and to pick up the gossip. Well he found out that one of his own academic staff is a solid member of the Dungeon Drinkers. Its OK though Whata. He never knows anything to leak to us! A sleepy kumara.
Along with Whatarangi Winiata we had Derek Fox and Piripi Whaanga (another ex-editor - remember "Tu Tangata" the magazine that Maori Affairs chopped last year?). Also a group led by Wishie Jaram that turned out to be the team which was doing the study on the Tirohanga Rangapu submissions. No doubt they got some good opinion from the Dungeon.
Tom Parore has been in a few times too. A most welcome addition to the deep dark Dungeon. He doesn't seem to get drunk enough to spill any secrets.
John Gill and Pete Little also sometimes grace the place. Very close mouthed though. I hear John has gone to Education. Now there's a man who would know a thing or two about where the money has been going.
Occasionally on a Friday night the Dungeon gets a bit of competition from the Maori Affairs Social Club Happy Hour. Well, Yours Truly decided to join them and received a tumultuous welcome. Even social outcasts have whanaunga in Maori Affairs eh! Thank you for your hospitality. Pay your subs though. Some of you are late.
The Maori Affairs Happy Hours seem to be held more frequently these days. It could be a deliberate ploy to keep them out of the Dungeon, and to keep the kumara vine in the dark. In any case it's about time they started looking after the staff.
I hope you will all join with me in sending commiserations to Jake, or the Fat Man. Whichever of you has the gout anyway. Get well soon.
Ka kite ano.
LESSONS FROM THE MASTER
Sun Tzu said:
"...to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."
He also said:
"Thus, what enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is foreknowledge."
"Now this foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits; it cannot be obtained inductively from experience, nor by any deductive calculation."
"Knowledge of the enemy's dispositions can only be obtained from other men."
"Hence the use of spies, of whom there are five classes: (1) Local spies; (2) inward spies; (3) converted spies; (4) doomed spies; (5) surviving spies."
"When these five kinds of spy are at work, none can discover the secret system. This is called the "divine manipulation of the threads." It is the sovereign's most precious faculty."
- Sun Tzu (? to 496BC)
NEWS FROM THE MAORI ALLIANCE
At a meeting of The Maori Alliance in Auckland on 2 August 1988 Bert McLean was elected Chairman of the National Executive, and Ross Himona was appointed Chief Executive. The positions are to be reviewed at the end of the financial year.
The National Executive is to comprise all financial members until a formal structure is established, and a National Executive elected at a national hui to be held in April 1989. Until then the building of the Alliance's support base will continue to be the main priority.
Delegates were also told that brochures on The Maori Alliance were in preparation, and would be widely circulated.
Until a full-time Wellington office is established, The Maori Alliance can be contacted via the Auckland office of Tamaki Corporation on Telephone (09)503472 and Facsimile (09)549998. Ms Lu Scanlon is the contact person.
MANA ENTERPRISES
Wira Gardiner, Ripeka Evans, Tata Parata, Ross Himona, Eru Manuera, Brian Dixon, Gerry Fouhy, (Alan Haronga - just pretending), Helen Anderson (just acting), Wayne Taurima, next?
The fastest growing whakapapa of them all. We understand that Wayne took over on 15 August 1988.
What will happen in MANA Enterprises now that the Department has taken it over? Well this is only conjecture, but they could possibly decide to make all the MANA Managers part of the Department, or even appoint new ones from the Department. They could also decide to declare the loan repayments and interest earned to be Public Funds and demand its return to the Public Account, or perhaps to a centralised revolving fund operated by the Department.
Te Putatara does not know but will certainly be consulting the kumara vine.
There are reports that a contract between the iwi and the Department is being drawn up. This should contain all the surprises.
Whatever they do, the Tribal & Regional Authorities would be well advised to combine forces to negotiate the contract. Seek your own legal advice too. The Department's legal opinion is not necessarily the last word.
PARANOIA
Walk into Head Office of Maori Affairs and see the paranoia for yourselves.
The whanau atmosphere of two years ago has been replaced by intimidation. There are signs all over the place warning the staff's whanaunga (that's us - the public) that the stairwell, the third floor, and a variety of other areas are off limits except to the staff.
Don't take any notice though! There aren't enough staff in the place to guard all the off-limits areas. The Maori staff still like to see their friends and whanaunga too. They still need our support.
NEWSLETTER CIRCULATION
The kumara vine has now stretched its tentacles into Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales.
THE MAORI ALLIANCE
Who May Join? How Much?
Anyone may join The Maori Alliance. There are two classes of membership; Ordinary Membership for Maori people and organisations, and Associate Membership for non-Maori. Associate Members do not have a vote, and pay an extra 50% over and above Ordinary Members. There are three grades of membership; Individual, Group, and Corporate.
Ordinary Membership fees for the year ending 31 March 1989 are:
- Individual
Full Rate..................$100
Beneficiaries...............$50Groups......................$150 Whanau
Hapu
Families
Family Trusts
438 Trusts
Charitable Trusts
Marae
Welfare League Branches
Maori Committees
Other similar groupsCorporations....................$1000 Maori Incorporations
Maori Trust Boards
Tribal Runanga(nui)
Other Maori Authorities
Incorporated Companies
Incorporated Societies
Government Departments
The Kaupapa:
Ki te whai te mana Maori motuhake i runga i te kotahitanga me te tino rangatiratanga i roto i te Tiriti o Waitangi.
[To pursue Maori self-determination, unity, and rangatiratanga consistent with the Treaty of Waitangi].
What are the Objectives?
The objectives cover a wide range. First and foremost is the installation of the Treaty of Waitangi in the statutes of Aotearoa. They cover the need for kotahitanga, the empowerment of the iwi, the promotion of Maori development, research and recommendation of policies, and lobbying and advocacy on behalf of members when requested.
The major activity at the moment is the provision of information to members on a range of issues facing Maoridom. This will be extended to the publication of papers and essays from time to time. It is hoped that the Alliance will be able to commission research on such things as government policies and their effect on Maoridom.
This service is to be provided to stimulate informed debate, and to prompt members to participate in the process of government.
Service:
The distinguishing feature of the Maori Alliance is that the sole aim is to serve the membership. It does not claim to represent Maoridom, but offers to work with all Maori people and organisations for the benefit of Maoridom.
Communications:
Eventually the Alliance hopes to set up a nationwide system of rapid electronic communications to enable the network of members to react swiftly to events as they occur, and also to promote communication and unity within Maoridom. For the moment a monthly newsletter, Te Putatara, is published.
Commercial Activities:
The Alliance has been investigating ways and means of building a firm financial base, and the establishment of a commercial arm is an aim. The acquisition of offshore funds is a possibility. This and other commercial activity will be undertaken carefully and the best available advice will be sought.
Politics:
The Maori Alliance is not a political party, nor does it support any political party at the moment. The whole matter of political allegiance (or non-allegiance) is one that will have to be decided by the Membership in due course.
Women and Youth:
Each member organisation or individual commits to fully involving Maori women and Rangatahi in the decision making processes of the Alliance, and to ensuring that Maori women and Maori youth have an equal opportunity with men to become office holders of the Alliance. This does not require members to dispense with established marae kawa.
What are the Benefits?
Kotahitanga has been attempted many times in the past, but for various reasons complete unity in Maoridom has never been achieved. The need for unity, and the need to combine the power of Maoridom to achieve our common goals is as important today as it ever was.
We must unite. The Maori Alliance is an organisation of allies, which also believes in remaining completely independent of Government. It offers to act as a catalyst to bring the iwi together, and to bring the many and various Maori networks together. The Alliance does not seek to usurp the mana of the iwi, or any other organisation, but it does seek to combine the kaha of Maoridom for our common good.
The first priority of the Alliance is to act as an information broker to assist in the sharing of ideas and knowledge. Information is the key resource of our time.
APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP
To: The Coordinator
The Maori Alliance
P.O.Box 408
Wellington.I/We wish to apply for membership of The Maori Alliance. Enclosed is a cheque for (tick one):
$100 (Individual Membership)
$50 (I am a beneficiary or student or trainee)
$150 (Group Membership)
$1000 (Corporate Membership)
My name/the name of my organisation is:
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My Occupation is:....................
My Street Address is:
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My Postal Address is (if different from street address):
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Telephone:Home :..................
Business:..................
Facsimile Number :..................
My Iwi is:
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My Hapu is/are:
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I am also:
Iwi:................................
Hapu:...............................