Monitor Economics Q&A – Matthew Tūkākī, Chairman of the Maori National Authority

Every week Thing asks New Zealand business and community leaders how they think the economy is doing and what they think are the biggest challenges.

Matthew Tūkākī, is Chairman of the Maori National Authority and Ministerial Advisory Council of the Ministry of Children, Oranga Tamariki.

Tūkākī says he is optimistic about the economy just because we have been able to weather “a major storm”.

However, the storm made it clear that some industries, such as tourism, hospitality and international education, need to think about their future. And it has also highlighted shortages of teachers, nurses, tech specialists and more that need to be addressed.

How do you think New Zealand’s economy is doing right now?

Compared to other OECD economies, and given the pandemic, tracking is pretty strong. The Maori economy itself is strong, with the Reserve Bank estimating its value at the start of the year at $ 68.7 billion, but in reality that doesn’t necessarily take into account the health and social services side of the Maori economy that could easily exceed $ 1 billion. per year given both the investment in these sectors but also the demand side.

The other open question is what is happening on the housing and supply side of the economy and what our overall asset base looks like. But, overall, we are doing better than expected as we entered the pandemic

What are you most concerned about at the moment?

I am concerned about the challenge of global supply, logistics and transportation lines returning to some kind of normalcy in the second half of this year. This is both for importing goods given that we are seeing shortages of materials and building materials and given that we still have a lot of fresh and primary products that need to be relocated.

Another area is ensuring that our business community readjusts to adapt to the changing nature of work, which includes working from home, but also working from home and maintaining important relationships offshore.

I am deeply concerned about the growing tension between Australia and China and New Zealand that is being drawn into it given our position in the region and also with Australia. This tells me that we need to do more to diversify and avoid relying on China to avoid what happened in the 1970s when market access was restricted in Europe. By this I mean we need the MFAT to work at a steady pace not only to finalize free trade agreements with the UK and the EU, but also to expand the opening of new markets in places such as South America and Southeast Asia.

We also need to redouble our efforts to spread the risk of reliance on just a handful of industries such as the primary sector – investing more in high-performance manufacturing, technology and services.

My concern about Maori affairs is not as visible as trade deals are being negotiated or new markets are being developed.

What did the last year teach us about the New Zealand economy?

The past year has taught us that we need to adapt and quickly learn from the lessons we have learned about the meaning of a pandemic. There will be another as certain as death and taxes – so we have to look at how we reacted and incorporate some of those systems that have allowed wage subsidies to flow.

Another lesson is to make sure our small businesses get the investment and support they need to work online, sell online, meet online, and do business online.

The other lesson learned was the establishment of programs on the social economy side that saw Maori communities and organizations scale up even in the absence of funding. So knowing what we know now, what more can we invest in to avoid obstacles being put up along the way.

Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the economy this year? Why?

I’m optimistic about the economy for the sole reason that we were able to weather a major storm – but this storm has highlighted industries that need to work harder and sit back and think about their futures – which includes tourism, hospitality and international education.

But even more, we need a national workforce plan – we have shortages in major industries that have been known for many years, such as teachers, nurses, tech specialists and more. . We are responding to it by importing skills – we need to tackle the engine room of the economy.

What’s the biggest challenge New Zealand faces?

We have to think big again. We risk relapsing into isolation at the bottom of the world. We need to be bold and courageous in our outlook and once again strike above our weight both regionally and internationally – and that often means stopping fighting with each other over the little things. Ultimately we all agree on the great kaupapa but we all end up trying to be a chef. Therefore; our challenge is not to seize the opportunity that comes with a pandemic, not just to press a reset button, but to grow and lead.

– The Monitor is Stuff’s unique set of information to help the business community better understand the economic landscape and maximize their success. Next to the quarterly snapshot is a economic index showing the speed of growth in different parts of the economy.