The above topic in Maori terms is what we would describe as too "Whakahihi." Too self promoting, too over the top particularly when facing the large numbers of Maori and Pacific Island people seriously disadvantaged in Employment, Education, Health, and Wealth status in New Zealand.

We are acutely aware of how little we have achieved. How small an impact we have made, and yes, what needs to be done, to create employment urgently on a National scale with a National focus.

At the risk of being whakahihi though, I want to say that we were motivated to action after seeing young people expelled from the local college in Te Awamutu then subsequently finding they had been picked up by the police and sent to Waikeria. Now the largest penal institution in New Zealand, just a few minutes from Te Awamutu.

As a new College Board member in 1983, I was astounded at how unresponsive the school authorities were in assisting disaffected students, all to often classed as failures, rather than considering that the College itself may have failed the student? Just as some parents do.

Expulsion of students motivated us to set up a training institution to deal with a local issue, and which we now know is a national issue.

Te Awamutu is a large College with about 80 staff. Today, the organisation I am CEO of, Te Wananga o Aotearoa has substantially more staff than the College with Campuses specifically targeted at high Maori populated areas with a spread from Auckland to Wellington. We have assisted literally hundreds of students into full time employment. We had to deal with racism and intolerable ignorance in our own community particularly in the early eighties when unemployed people were viewed as those people who were too dumb or too lazy to work!

No bank would lend us any money to start up. We organised $80,000 from NZI Finance at 27.5% over two years, based only on short 12-week training contracts.

We set up training models in Building, Construction and Demolition. Our demolition team demolished over about 200,000-sq. ft of buildings. Our building team erected over 100,000-sq. ft of buildings for the community and ourselves.

To balance the budget, we have provided carvings and buildings for some 60 Marae. Built and carved several War Canoes and done many commission contracts throughout New Zealand to pay our way and build the first Maori Tertiary Institution in New Zealand. We achieved Wananga Tertiary Status in 1993 after six years of petitions to the Ministry of Education and Government. We have achieved the same status as a University or Polytechnic but unlike those institutions, no capital funds were provided for setting up our Wananga. Wananga Maori are the only tertiary institutions that have been denied set up capital funding. The Government claims the rules were changed in 1990 and no new tertiary institution would receive capital. The Ministry proposed a capital charge regime in 1994 which over time would somehow level the playing field between asset rich institutions like Massey and asset poor institutions like Te Wananga o Aotearoa and Te Wananga o Raukawa. This has not happened yet?

As many of you know, the Crown has had to financially bail out a number of Polytechnics after having provided their entire establishment funds prior to 1990. When the Hon. Wyatt Creech became Minister of Education in 1996, he approved what was basically a $40 million new campus for Manawatu Polytechnic.

Manawatu Region has done very well. Congratulations. We too were invited by Hon. Wyatt Creech to apply also for Capital Grant late 1996, only to be finally turned down in May 1998. As a result of this, Wananga Maori led a disciplined protest march on Parliament comprising about 650 students and staff. We petitioned for and received a Waitangi Tribunal Hearing October 1998 against the Crown. The findings of this hearing will be released in the next week or two. Problem is, Waitangi Tribunal can only make recommendations. The Crown can ignore them, in which case we may have to seek redress through the High Court or Privy Council in London, if necessary, because the issues surrounding Employment opportunities for Maori are intrinsically tied to Education Achievement and Personal Skill Development.

Our Institution this year will achieve approximately 50% of Manawatu Polytechnic’s enrolments of last year despite lack of capital from the Government. I have to say I am impressed with the organisation of this Employment Summit. The Maori perspective reports by Charles Olsen and Te Keneti Teira have been well put together.

As chair of the METC, I suggest that with Maori unemployment running at around four times higher than non Maori, we need your support, we need your input. Indeed, it is in forums like this that we must concentrate on seeking solutions. This is not just a Maori problem; it is a problem for all New Zealanders.

A recent report by the National Party Justice Committee showed that one out of every two Maori males by age 20 will have a conviction against their names not counting traffic violations! Clear evidence of a people in crisis!

Lack of job opportunities and failure of many young Maori to excel at appropriate levels in schools and colleges of New Zealand and low participation in post compulsory education, must be turned around.

The Maori Employment and Training Commission was set up in April last year. We resisted the obvious desire to make some immediate strong recommendations to Minister Tau Henare and the Government and decided to develop well-reasoned arguments, research and statistics to back our proposals.

Several recommendations have been made which has led to a proposed Maori PTE provider assistance fund of $3.5 million over the next three years, total cost $10.5 million. Pending approval also of a joint Government Maori subsidised Trade Training Scheme which will trial 600 trainees over the next two years. Essentially, Government pays basic wage for the first year. Maoridom funds the second year and the employer funds year three. The rationale and thinking of this recommendation can be seen on our Web site.

When we report on the huge direct cost of unemployment in terms of Government Benefits payments in New Zealand, the hidden but real costs of social disparities particularly for Maori approaching record levels of incarceration for any race of people anywhere in the world. It seems Government in recent years has completely lost the plot.

We have got used to paying huge welfare payments, which somehow alleviates it seems the need to really focus on the necessity to plan for longer-term job creation and economic development.

The stated Government intention to get unemployment down to 6% by Bill Birch, does nothing for Maori unemployment running several times higher.

Frankly, Maoridom has lost patience with policies that serve to maintain the disparities gap between Maori and Non Maori in New Zealand.

Our Commission takes the view that the only solution for New Zealand is to develop a comprehensive employment policy targeted at the creation of 200,000 jobs in the short term.

We must have a well prepared planned strategy to eliminate the disparity gap effectively highlighted in the Te Puni Kokiri report.

If a divided country like Ireland can successfully it seems create some 200,000 jobs, why can’t we?

Japan has what it terms high unemployment figures of 4.4 for the last quarter and their Government has endorsed a business plan to create 770,000 jobs over the next two years.

We have engaged the services of Dr Ian Shirley, of Massey University who says the World Bank does not recommend the free market. Labour policies that successive Government has followed in New Zealand.

There must be direct targeted Government intervention to turn our adverse statistics around. This was a clear recommendation of the Government Employment Task Force in 1994.

We met last week with Don Reisterer, Mayor of Opotiki who has a Dobie earth brick building project for unemployed people. He stated that in some areas of his region, Maori unemployment is as high as 80%.

On Sunday, I read a profile of Mayor Derek Fox; Wairoa 57.9% of the population is Maori yet they make up 80% of the unemployed. In terms of income only, 8% of Maori earned income of $30,000 or more whilst over half had incomes of $10,000 or less.

The Commission has now had extensive feedback on the Community Wage in its present form and concludes it will do nothing to encourage or improve employment prospects for Maori or anyone else for that matter.

It could be substantially improved with adequate resourcing and greater flexibility as provided in the United Kingdom and Wisconsin models.

The METC has tried to be non-critical of WINZ believing they need to be given time to develop and respond positively to their large clientele base. An absolute concern is developing that they are in breach of their purchase agreement with the Crown in their dealings with Maori!

WINZ is clearly seen as a white mono cultural organisation that has little understanding of Maori needs and aspirations. Consequently, the Commission is seeking the appointment of a Maori Commissioner at the same level as the National Commissioner vested with appropriate authority and resources to ensure Maori interests are adequately addressed.

We are also asking that a kaupapa Maori framework model be introduced to all Government Departments, responsible for services to Maori as the first step in reducing disparities gap between Maori and Non Maori.

Maori need to be taken on board to help solve and create their own solutions. As Prof. Tim Hazledine puts it, full employment is essential to the survival of a civil society. Richard Pearce writes, we cannot be satisfied with a society, which marginalised up to 20% of its citizens. He believes full employment is not a dream.

Professor Ian Shirley is putting together a team of eminent individuals to work with the Commission to initiate the development of a pan party Employment Policy for New Zealand as we approached the new millennium and the election of a new Government later this year. Creation of 200,000 jobs is the target. The METC has opened a Web site so that our work is seen to be transparent and open to public scrutiny to stakeholders and Government and wishes to work with all organisations that can help turn around unemployment to full employment in Aotearoa!