Māori and Pākehā 1960-2000: The Justice of Positive Discrimination

Abstract

Towards the close of 2000, it was said by Chris Laidlaw that 'whether consciously or unconsciously, New Zealand is heading for a showdown on the issue of special treatment for Māori'.Laidlaw, C., 'Showdown looms on treatment of Maori' in 'New Zealand Herald', 1st edition, 22 September 2000, p. A13. Although this prediction was made with specific reference to the policies of the Government of the day to 'close the gaps' between Māori and non-Māori, there is a sense in which the showdown has been on the cards since at least 1960.A brief comment on the use of the macron in words such as 'Māori' and 'Pākehā'. In keeping with present practice, I have consistently used the macron where it is required to indicate a long vowel. Although anachronistic, I have also used the macron in places where, at the time, it would not have been used, such as in the name of the department responsible for things Māori in the 1960s. I have not used macrons in quotations if they were not used in the original document. I would note in passing that the adoption of the macron in Māori orthography - a small gesture some might suggest - can be understood as one marker of the changed status of the Māori people in New Zealand. In that year, the Hunn Report advocated special measures for Māori to assist them to 'integrate' into the mainstream of New Zealand. Since that time, governments of various hues have defended and advocated measures directed solely at Māori on the basis that as a particular group, they are in need of or are deserving of particular and special treatment. In the forty year period since the Hunn Report was released, non-Māori New Zealanders have reacted in a variety of ways to the suggestion that, in some manner, Māori ought to be treated differently. A persistent current, however, has been a belief that certain core 'New Zealand' values were being trampled upon by those who claimed a special status for Māori. I first came to consider these issues in the light of the 'Closing the Gaps' policy which stated, in essence, that there was a socio-economic gap between Māori and non-Māori New Zealanders which was untenable and which required that special measures be taken to close this gap. My initial reaction was that this was a sound policy which would address serious social injustices. The effects of colonisation, discrimination, urbanisation and other phenomena have been in many ways quite devastating on Māori, and intuitively I accepted that special measures were justified in remedying these ills. As I began to enquire into these issues, however, more and more uncertainties became apparent, until I was far from confident that the measures being advocated by the Government were in fact justified. This thesis is, in effect, the result of my enquiries into those uncertainties.