Category Archives: Maori

The Public Domain: Who Will ”Own” the Foreshore?

This entry was posted in Environment & Resources, Listener, Maori on 1st May 2004 by Brian Easton.

Listener: 1 May 2004.

Keywords: Environment & Resources; Maori;

Property rights – the rights to use, transform and transfer (sell) a resource – is a better term than “ownership” because there are so many aspects to them and different groups can share the rights. An effective market needs a clear and comprehensive definition of those property rights. The economic reforms of the 1980s clarified many. Sometimes the outcomes were paradoxical. The largest ever nationalisation in dollar terms was by Rogernomes, for the government first had to own State Insurance before it could privatise it. But property rights continue to trouble us.

Culture Matters

This entry was posted in Health, Listener, Maori on 20th March 2004 by Brian Easton.

Don Brash says, “I can’t think of anything in health which is specifically Maori.” So why treat Maori differently?

Listener: 20 March, 2004.

Keywords: Health; Maori;

Sadly, the proportion of Maori who smoke, and as a consequence suffer the diseases from smoking and die early, is higher than that of Pakeha. Moreover, although there has been some success from the campaign to reduce smoking, it seems to have had little impact on Maori rates. So it makes sense to have a specifically Maori anti-smoking campaign, administered by Maori. One of its successes has been that most marae now ban smoking. No Pakeha-dominated organisation could have achieved such an outcome.

Closing the Credibility Gap

This entry was posted in Maori, Statistics on 7th February 2004 by Brian Easton.

Why Act’s race-based welfare statistics are worthless

Listener: 7 February, 2004.

Keywords: Maori; Statistics;

Early in January the Act Party released a paper that calculated the tax collected from Maori was $2.3 billion a year, while government spending on Maori was $7.3 billion a year. Whatever the factual situation –– below I suggest that the figures are misleading –– different political flavours will draw different conclusions.

An Affidavit About Reporting Surveys to the Courts

This entry was posted in Maori on 18th October 2003 by Brian Easton.

Affidiavits are usually too specific to be of interest outside a particular court case. However, this one may be of wider interest, because it sets down some issues about reporting surveys to a court. The specific references to the person whose affidavit is being rebutted are removed, because it is the general principles which of interest here. Also removed are the cross references to the earlier affidavit. Otherwise there are no changes. The full affidavit is filed in the High Court, and its identifying details can be obtained from me. Brian Easton.

Rightful Owners

This entry was posted in Listener, Maori on 23rd August 2003 by Brian Easton.

Extended families, who happen to have a common Maori ancestor, have as much right to their family inheritance as do Europeans.
Listener: 23 August, 2003.

A fundamental principle of the political right has been to support private-property rights as a bulwark against the power of the state. Economists have added that economies with well-protected private-property rights tend to have higher standards of living, because economic actors are able to plan with more security. The 1980s Labour government thought this so important that it strengthened private-property rights by such policies as privatisation, leading many to assume that it had shifted to the political right.

Two Great Economists: Raymond Firth (1901-2002) & James Tobin (1918-2002)

This entry was posted in History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy, Listener, Macroeconomics & Money, Maori on 25th January 2003 by Brian Easton.

Listener 25 January, 2003.

Keywords:
History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy; Macroeconomics & Money; Maori;

I would start a beginning course in economics with Economics of the New Zealand Maori by Raymond Firth, who died last year. Not only is the book a part of our heritage but it confronts students with the classical Maori economy which answered the central economic problems of ‘what, how, for whom, where and when’ in quite different ways from today. Starting with an alternative to the narrow idealised version of the US economy which they are usually taught, would help students realise how special it is. It might even suggest that every economy is particular, and such general economic principles there are, need not result in the policies which slavishly follow from the idealised US one.

Maori Index

This entry was posted in Index, Maori on 12th January 2003 by Brian Easton.

Items with a substantial discussion on the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi marked *

Keywords: Maori;

Riches without Wealth (November 1979)
For Whom the Treaty Tolls (February 1990)*
The Green Maori (May 1990)*
The Maori Broadcasting Claim: A Pakeha Economist’s Perspective (September 1990)*
Evidence of Brian Easton with Respect to Te Oneroa-O-Tohe (March 1991)*
Tikanga and Te Oneroa-O-Tohe (May 1991)*
Te Whakapakari Paapori, Ohanga o Muriwhenua (June 1993)
Fishing and the Chatham Islands (September 1993)
The Maori Geothermal Claim: A Pakeha Economist’s Perspective (September 1993)*
The Maori Electoral Enrolment Option Campaign (February 1994)
Contract, Covenant, Compact: the Social Foundations of New Zealand Governance (April 1994)*
The Maori in the Labour Force (November 1994)
A Quiet Revolutionary: Eru Woodbine Pomare: 1942-1995 (February 1995)
A Data Base for Iwi (May 1995)
Divided Issues: The Myth of the Unified Maori (June 1995)
Working with the Maori: Consultancy, Research, Friendship (August 1995)
The Economic and Social Impact of the Raupatu (October 1995)*
Maori Melting Pot (November 1996)
Was There a Treaty of Waitangi: Was it a Social Contract? (April 1997)*
Notes for a Presentation on Maori Exporting (October 1998)
Closing the Gaps: Policy or Slogan? (November 2000)
Two Great Economists: Raymond Firth (1901-2002) & James Tobin (1918-2002) (January 2003)
Rightful Owners (August 2003)*
Closing the Credibility Gap: Why Act’s Race-based Welfare Statistics Are Worthless. (February 2004)
Public Policy and the Maori. (February 2004)
Public Policy and the Maori. (March 2004)

This consists items only in the public domain, and excludes other work for iwi and government agencies.

Notes for a Presentation on Maori Exporting

This entry was posted in Business & Finance, Globalisation & Trade, Growth & Innovation, Maori on 10th June 1998 by Brian Easton.

Presentation to a TPK seminar. June 1998.

Keywords: Business & Finance; Globalisation & Trade; Growth & Innovation; Maori;

The Maori economy has made exceptional progress in recent years. Preliminary figures from the 1996 Population Census show that the numbers of Maori employed have grown considerably faster than the Maori adult population, and that additional employment has tended to be in the better quality jobs: more at the managerial level, more involving greater skills. Job growth has also been strong in those industries to which the Maori has given priority: agriculture, forestry, fishing, and tourism. (See the attached table.) In summary the Maori Development Strategy of upgrading Maori skills, increasing Maori work experience, and emphasising Maori business in key growth industries has been extremely successful.

Was There a Treaty Of Waitangi?: Was It a Social Contract?

This entry was posted in History of Ideas, Methodology, Philosophy, Maori, Political Economy & History on 1st April 1997 by Brian Easton.

A revised version of ‘Was There a Treaty of Waitangi, and was it a Social Contract?’ Archifacts, April 1997, p.21-49.

Keywords: History of Ideas, Methodology & Philosophy; Maori; Political Economy & History;

This paper arose out of consideration of what at first seemed to be a very straightforward problem.[1] In 1989 I was working with the Maori claims in regard to the broadcasting reforms.[2] I have told much of that elsewhere,[3] but the matter led to an investigation of the origins of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, in order to understand the entitlements to the property rights of the radio frequency spectrum by the Maori and by the Crown.

Maori Melting Pot

This entry was posted in Listener, Maori on 16th November 1996 by Brian Easton.

Wira Gardiner’s Return to Sender and some other books about the Maori
Listener 16 November, 1996.

Keywords: Maori

Hey, Pakeha. Ever been to a hui? You probably walked onto the marae at the back of the manuhiri. You were welcome, the Maori always make you very welcome on their marae, and they will feed you well. Later you sat quietly at the back.

THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL IMPACT ON NGATI IRAPUAIA OF THE RAUPATU.

This entry was posted in Maori on 25th May 1996 by Brian Easton.

Report prepared for Te Rununga o Ngati Irapuaia.[1] 1, Introduction 1.1 Ngati Irapuaia, also know as Ngati Ira, is a hapu of Whakatohea, in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. Along with many other hapu and iwi, Ngati Ira suffered grievous and wrongful confiscation of their land and other assets in the 1860s (the “Raupatu”). While…
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The Economic and Social Impact Of the Raupatu

This entry was posted in Maori, Political Economy & History on 10th October 1995 by Brian Easton.

Evidence to the Waitangi Tribunal Claims to the Eastern Bay of Plenty Region (WAI 146) October 1995.

Keywords: Maori; Political Economy & History;

1. Introduction

1.1 My name is Brian Henry Easton. My profession is an economist and social statistician. In my 30 odd professional years I have held positions at the University of Sussex, the University of Canterbury, the University of Melbourne, and the NZ. Institute of Economic Research (which at one stage I directed). I currently hold various academic positions at the University of Auckland, Massey University, Otago University, and the Research Project on Economic Planning. I have written and edited 27 books and monographs, and over 200 published articles on a wide variety of economic and social issues. (Some of my many relevant publications are mentioned in references in this submission.) Over the last nine years I have worked as an independent consultant, and appeared before the Tribunal on other occasions including WAI 26/150, 45, 153, and 413.

1.2 I have been asked by Counsel for the Ngati Awa to assist the Waitangi Tribunal by providing expert opinion on the economic and social impact on the Ngati Awa of the Raupatu (confiscation) of their lands.

Divided Issues: the Myth Of the Unified Maori.

This entry was posted in Maori on 10th June 1995 by Brian Easton.

Listener 10 June 1995.

Keywords: Maori

Our race relations are troubled by the Pakeha myth of the unified Maori. “Maori” did not exist before the arrival of the European. Since as far as they knew those that lived here were all the people in the world, they did not need a collective name for themselves. (Similarly “Earthling” arose with possibility of others out in space).

A Data Base Of Iwi

This entry was posted in Maori, Statistics on 10th May 1995 by Brian Easton.

Report for The Waitangi Tribunal (May 1995)

keywords: Maori; Statistics

The Data Base

Every individual living in New Zealand on the night of 5 March 1991, filled in a census form, which included a question about iwi membership.[1] Some 511,278 respondents (15.2 percent of the national total) gave a positive answer, of some form, to this question.[2] In addition 165,913 households (14.1 percent of the national total) were classified as Maori dwelling households with an iwi identification.

This computer program provides socioeconomic information about those respondents, and their households grouped together by iwi. (It does not hold unit data records.) The following is a description of the contents of the program, and the means of accession to the data. It should be emphasized that the access protocols are not simple, because as explained below, there are some restrictions on access. In addition there are numerous caveats which should be taken into consideration when obtaining and interpreting the data.

Smoking in New Zealand: a Census Investigation

This entry was posted in Health, Maori, Statistics on 16th April 1995 by Brian Easton.

Australian Journal of Public Health, Vol 19, No 2, April 1995, p.125-129. Abstract: New Zealand may well be unique in that in the 1976 and the 1981 Census of Population and Dwellings each person over the age of 15 was asked about their cigarette smoking habits. The data is available on the basis of…
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A Quiet Revolutionary: Eru Woodbine Pomare: 1942-1995

This entry was posted in Health, Maori on 18th February 1995 by Brian Easton.

He Worked for the Health of all New Zealanders
Listener: 18 February, 1995.

Keywords: Health; Maori;

Eru Pomare, who died suddenly in January, had an impressive whakapapa. A great-great grandmother, Kahe Te Rau O Te Rangi, was one of the few women to sign the Treaty of Waitangi; another, Maora Pani, saw a Captain Cook arrive; his grandfather, Sir Maui Pomare, a doctor and MP, was central to the first Maori health revolution at the turn of the century, which saw a dying race recover in vigour and numbers; his grandmother, Lady Miria Woodbine Pomare, who had a major influence on his life, deserved her own entry in The Book of New Zealand Women, the entry being written by her most eminent grandchild.