Whānau Ora, foreign policy, frozen school lunches; Nanaia Mahuta and Tau Henare discuss.
Iwi Māori need to be wary of wading into infrastructure deals willy-nilly, but for some the opportunities will be huge, a former Minister of Māori Affairs says.
The government's investment summit was held last week, at the hui, Waikato Tainui told investors that iwi investors were the only constant in this nation.
Tukoroirangi Morgan suggested to the manuhiri, who represented 16 trillion dollars in wealth, that they didn't need to go through the Crown, they could come straight to iwi instead.
Tau Henare, a former minister of Māori Affairs says the possibilities are huge. "I think the world is your oyster, if you've got the wherewithal, if you've got the money …"
Nanaia Mahuta, a former Minister of Local Government told Mata with Mihingarangi Forbes that there are opportunities that might make sense for Māori in things such as renewable energy.
"Each iwi will be making their determination not so much on infrastructure alone, but what that will unleash in terms of further growth potential in their rohe. Or in partnership with other iwi in other rohe."
Photo: Te Māngai Pāho
Mahuta, from Waikato, says while investing is about a return on investment, for iwi it's also about safeguarding the public interest.
"If you think about public-iwi partnerships, iwi can hold the space of the public interest to ensure that our investment in our own infrastructure in Aotearoa is not exporting the value of that investment to other international companies.
"So that is where the real opportunity is for a different conversation."
Tau Henare agreed that iwi had a role to play, but argued it wasn't necessary to bypass the government entirely.
"The Crown is a constant as well … the Crown in its various hues will be here as well.
Photo: NZ On Air
There's a need for iwi and the Crown to come closer together to work on stuff that will benefit the whole nation.
That's anything from roads, from waterways, you name it, they'll be into it, because it's about a return on investment and the investment is in our people."
