Tui Vaeau: The Industry of Perpetual Grievance......

The Industry of Perpetual Grievance: How Modern Maori Politics Became a Parasite on the Nation

A dismantling of cultural excuse-making, tribal corporatism, and the political infantilisation of Maori in modern New Zealand

"Grow up and cease to be children. Do not become mere appendages to the Pākehā." – Sir Apirana Ngata

I. Introduction: A Familiar Pattern

At a modest gathering last night in Tokoroa, I found myself engaged in conversation with a Pakeha businessman. The topic quickly turned, as it so often does these days, to the latest local crime - yet another ram-raid, another stabbing, another incident of senseless vandalism. He posed a question that was both uncomfortable and undeniably true.

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“Why is it,” he asked, “that whenever there's a crime in this country, my father used to say, 'It's probably Maori' - and more often than not, he was right?”

As a Maori myself, I had to admit it - he was.

We live in a nation where Maori make up 16 percent of the population, yet over 50 percent of the prison population. Maori children comprise over 60 percent of those in state care. Maori are disproportionately represented in homelessness, gang affiliation, drug dependency, youth unemployment and violent crime. These are not allegations. These are facts - publicly available, statistically indisputable.

And yet, when these truths are spoken aloud, one is accused not of honesty, but of racism. It is the ultimate irony of modern New Zealand - the people who see the problem most clearly are vilified for daring to speak of it.

II. Cultural Excuse-Making: A Coward's Crutch

We have, in the last two decades, constructed a national mythology in which Maori dysfunction is never the result of Maori choices, Maori actions or Maori culture. No - it is invariably the result of colonisation, white supremacy, or some vague inherited trauma that apparently absolves individuals of all responsibility.

This is the narrative peddled by the activist class, by university bureaucrats, by politicians terrified of being called names. It is a narrative that infantilises Maori, turning them into political pets rather than citizens. Every crime is reframed as a cry for help. Every failure becomes a form of cultural expression. Every outrage is blamed on Captain Cook.

We are told that a young Maori who ram-raids a shop at 2 a.m. is not a criminal but a victim. The solution, naturally, is tikanga-based rehabilitation, cultural mentors and restorative justice hui. The result is predictable - reoffending, community contempt and a justice system stripped of deterrent power.

Meanwhile, the Maori who does the right thing - who works, studies, raises a family, follows the law - is completely ignored. Why? Because he does not fit the narrative.

III. Tribal Corporatism: A Rort Masquerading as Redress

Let us now turn to the grandest con of them all - the iwi settlement regime. The standard government propaganda figure is that just over $2.7 billion has been paid out in Treaty settlements since the process began in the 1990s. This is the figure often repeated by ministers and public officials, as though to suggest finality or modesty. But it is manifestly untrue.

In fact, the true figure exceeds $4.6 billion. Independent researchers such as Mike Butler have documented this thoroughly, outlining not only the settlements themselves but the hidden entitlements, tax exemptions, accumulated interest, and commercial advantages lavished upon tribal entities. His full breakdown may be found here, alongside a full treaty settlement list here 

What has this deluge of taxpayer money achieved for the average Maori? Precisely nothing.

The money has been captured by a small, insular, self-serving class of tribal elites who run their affairs like private corporations. The so-called Maori renaissance has created a brown aristocracy - trust board executives, investment managers, professional agitators - while leaving the majority of Maori just as impoverished, illiterate and alienated as they were before the first cheque cleared.

These iwi conglomerates buy luxury office space, fly to international indigenous summits, and reward their mates with cushy appointments. And yet they contribute next to nothing to the Maori in Glen Innes, in Kaikohe, in Tokoroa. The gap between the tribal elite and the ordinary Maori is now wider than it was under colonial rule.

This is not tino rangatiratanga. It is a racket.

IV. Race-Based Law: The New Apartheid

The next great con is co-governance - the idea that democracy must make way for dual sovereignty based on race. He Puapua, the government’s blueprint for so-called Treaty partnership, proposes a nation split in two. Two health systems. Two legal systems. Two governments.

This is apartheid in drag.

There is no democratic mandate for this. The public has never voted for it. It has been introduced by stealth, hidden in departmental jargon, and enforced through cowardice and fear.

Let us be perfectly clear - democracy is not a tribal arrangement. It is not founded on whakapapa, but on citizenship. One person, one vote. One law, one people. There can be no compromise on this point. Those who push for “Treaty partnership” are not seeking justice. They are seeking permanent racial power.

V. The Cowardice of the Liberal Enablers

Equally responsible are the well-heeled Pakeha liberals who prop this farce up. They nod solemnly about colonisation from behind the walls of their Remuera villas. They preach cultural understanding while ensuring their children never attend schools where 70 percent of the roll is Maori. They support co-governance in theory - but never in their own communities, never where it might inconvenience them.

Their cowardice is not benign. It is corrosive. By refusing to hold Maori to the same standards as everyone else, they entrench the very disparities they pretend to care about. They do not empower. They pacify.

VI. Conclusion: The Case for Standards

New Zealand does not need more Treaty workshops, more cultural consultants, or more “healing initiatives.” It needs standards. It needs expectation. It needs a government prepared to say that Maori, like every other citizen, are responsible for their own lives.

The truth is this - culture does not excuse crime. Grievance is not a policy. And the future of this country will not be secured by pandering to tribal elites or indulging in racial romanticism.

It will be secured by returning to the principle that built every successful nation in history - one law for all, and one standard for all.

Until we do, we will remain a country divided not by race, but by cowardice.

Tui Vaeau is a digital marketer with a background in real estate and security. Unmoved by the fashionable absurdities of modern politics, he stands for national cohesion and the principle that all New Zealanders should be treated as equals. His views are forthright, unswayed by ideological theatrics, and firmly grounded in reality. Tui blogs on his site The Sovereign Verdict - where this article was sourced.