This article was first published on RNZ.
The finance minister says the government needs to do a better job making sure young Māori have good skills to find work.
In a wide-ranging interview on the economy with Mata host Mihingarangi Forbes, Nicola Willis said Māori had disproportionately worked in sectors that were affected by the “ups and downs of the business cycle”, such as construction and agriculture.
As of the June quarter of 2025, the country’s unemployment rate sits at 5.2 percent.
For Māori aged between 15-24, it was 21.4 percent - four times the general unemployment rate.
Young people and people with fewer skills and qualifications were always the worst impacted by an economic downturn, Willis said.
“Māori are a young population, and also we know we need to do a much better job for Māori of ensuring that they have the skills that they need for a range of employment choices when they leave school.”
Pushed on what plans she had to turn the fortunes of rangatahi Māori around, Willis said many of them were entering further training or education.
“We know that they are able to access interest-free support to go to tertiary education, heavily subsidised by the taxpayer. They are able to access industry training, a range of different employment programmes, and the government funds those because we want to ensure that even during a period of unemployment, that young people remain attached to their community, that they’re getting social engagement, that they’re upskilling for the future.” she said.
“As our economy recovers, I fully expect that number of unemployed people to drop.”
A recent report showed the Māori economy asset base has grown from $69 billion in 2018 to $126 billion in 2023 - an increase of 83 percent.
Willis said those figures were a “huge tribute” to iwi who had used their Treaty of Waitangi settlements wisely to grow their capital and showed a boom in Māori entrepreneurship.
“When I look at the Māori economy, I see so many success stories, whether that’s in our primary industries, whether that’s in tourism, whether that’s in our gaming sector, and I have every confidence that that will continue to be New Zealand’s story.” she said.
She said it was hard for her to say exactly why Māori entrepreneurship had suddenly taken off, but New Zealanders “as a culture often have pretty good ideas”.
“Perhaps as people’s confidence grows, they’re more willing to take that risk of investing their own money in a business, stepping away from the safety and security of their own job, and certainly when people take that risk to start their own business, that’s what can lead to much bigger things, and I’d love to see more of it happening.”
Willis said the Māori economy was already integrated into the wider economy.
“When the Māori economy succeeds, the economy succeeds, and to me it’s that simple.” she said.
“What you do see is that the distinctive accumulation of capital and the rising role of post-settlement entities has meant that, I think, there is a focus on long-term investments, intergenerational investments, sustainable business approaches, and I think that’s been really healthy and is a really positive input into the economy as a whole - different ways of thinking and partnering with non-Māori.”
The finance minister also revealed she was hoping for an invitation to the Māori Economic Summit hosted by Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po later this year.
Te Arikinui used her first public speech at this year’s Koroneihana celebrations to announce “Ōhanga Ki Te Ao”, a summit to develop economic opportunities for te Iwi Māori, and Tahua Kotahitanga - a capital initiative with seed funding from iwi Māori entities.
Willis said she thought the message from Te Arikinui was a “really positive one” and a kaupapa the government wanted to support.
Asked what she could add to the event if she did go along, Willis said listening was often the “biggest addition” leaders could make.
“I think I could listen... to what it is that those there are aspiring to and what role they think the government can play in accelerating their aspirations and ambitions.” she said.
By Mihingarangi Forbes of RNZ.
