Iwi economic assets growing

Yesterday, Phil Barry and his colleague Zachary George-Neich of TDB Advisory Limited of Wellington, released their latest (2018) report on the investment performance of the eight largest iwi measured by the size of their respective balance sheets (which are impressive).

The report was picked up this morning by Liam Dann of New Zealand Herald and covered this afternoon on RNZ’s The Panel hosted by Wallace Chapman. I had the chance to offer a few comments on The Panel, and I add to that here. The eight iwi have demonstrated good stewardship of hard-won treaty settlements, and in some cases, achieved remarkable growth.

The TDB report measures the relatively straight forward matter of financial performance based on published sets of iwi financial accounts. Measuring nonfinancial outcomes such as iwi collective wellbeing and their sustainability is still evolving. Research we are doing at Te Au Rangahau in conjunction with colleagues at Massey and other institutions into sustainable enterprise development in the Māori marine economy and Māori agribusiness, incorporating both Māori and Pākehā knowledge, is contributing to this.

While the TDB report offers a great snapshot of the top 8 iwi, there at least another 116 other iwi of varying scale that are outside the ambit of their research. This is a shame because it implies monetary worth is an appropriate way of comparing iwi. That said, analysing the balance sheets of all iwi would provide a more up to date, ground estimate of the iwi economic asset base than is presently possible using central government data lone. We are likely to see that iwi wealth is unevenly distributed.

As iwi wealth goes up, iwi wellbeing may be static, declining or rising less slowly. Improving the link between shared capital (iwi assets) and shared wellbeing (iwi benefits) is something all iwi are likely to be pursuing. However, as one of the panelists points out, treaty settlements do not absolve the Crown from its ongoing responsibilities for the wellbeing of its Māori citizens. This is because settlements offer only limited compensation the Crown considers fair and reasonable. They are unlikely on their own to meet the development needs of all iwi members. Rather it is the Māori small and medium enterprises, and Māori entrepreneurs and business owners, who together comprise around 70 percent of the Māori economic asset base of $42.6 billion that will sustain whānau day-to-day. How many of those (Māori SMEs) are there? Neither Stats NZ nor iwi know this, but it’s something worth knowing.

What is also clear is that iwi are now principal economic units of Māori society; 179 years ago, when the treaty was signed, it was hapū and whānau who were the economic engines of Māori society. Settling treaty claims with iwi rather than hapū has changed that. Importantly, iwi asset growth is likely to be producing the welcome spinoff of growing Māori managerial and governance capabilities, which are much needed across the Māori economy.

Ngā mihi ki ngā kaituhi.