Lindsay Mitchell
lindsaymitchell.blogspot.com
Lindsay Mitchell has been researching and commenting on welfare since 2001. Many of her articles have been published in mainstream media and she has appeared on radio, tv and before select committees discussing issues relating to welfare. Lindsay is also an artist who works under commission and exhibits at Wellington, New Zealand, galleries.
The rates of partnering between Maori and non-Maori are high and always have been.
“Intermarriage with non-Maori contributed to the rapid growth of the Maori population in the post-war period. As at 2003, almost one-quarter of Maori children were born to non-Maori mothers, (Statistics New Zealand 2005).”
In 2013 fewer than half of Maori men had a Maori partner:
The corresponding figure for Maori females is 52 per cent.
Furthermore, trend-wise:
“There has been a small but important decline in the proportion of partnered Maori who have a Maori partner. In 2001, 53% of partnered Maori men had a Maori partner. In 2013 this declined to 48%. For Maori women the decline was from 52% to 47%.”
These realities pose vital questions:
1/ Is there a pervasive appetite for separatism among people who have long been attracted to those outside their own race and culture?
2/ With institutions and services increasingly split along racial lines, where will individuals of mixed ethnicity fall? This is particularly pertinent in the case of Oranga Tamariki which is pursuing a policy of keeping ‘Maori’ children with ‘Maori’ relatives as a priority. When all aspects of the child’s well-being are considered, this may be the best course of action; equally, it might not.
John Tamihere famously said New Zealand’s future, “… is being decided in our bedrooms, not our boardrooms.” He also identifies as Maori more strongly than any other ethnicity, as is his right.
Since making that proclamation as Maori Affairs Minister in 2004, Tamihere has become a strong advocate for separate systems. As Maori Party president he appears more radical in his views than when a Labour MP.
Is he now in danger of forcing those of mixed ethnicity – even children – to make difficult, possibly unbearable decisions to meet the demands for tino rangitiratanga – ‘by Maori, for Maori?’
At the risk of sounding overly dramatic the phrase ‘Let no man put asunder’ might be a reminder to those who want to divide New Zealand that ultimately, individuals make their own life choices, and those choices are sacrosanct.