Steven Gaskell: When “Identity” Becomes a Funding Strategy: The Magically Expanding Population

For decades we’ve been told that the rapidly expanding Māori population is a triumph of cultural revival a demographic renaissance driven by pride, resilience, and whakapapa. A neat story, certainly, but one that becomes a little less poetic the moment you look at how the numbers are actually assembled. Because the “doubling” of the Māori population since 1991 isn’t the result of a baby boom or sudden historic revelation. It’s the product of an increasingly flexible, politically convenient definition of ethnicity one that can expand or contract depending on who’s filling out the census and what benefits are attached to ticking the right box.

Stats NZ openly admits that ethnicity is not racial, biological, ancestral, or genetic. It is simply “the group or groups a person feels they belong to.” Perfect. The ultimate policy tool: identity by mood. And when government funding, public contracts, scholarships, and political leverage all start flowing along ethnic lines, it’s amazing how many people suddenly feel a cultural pull they never quite felt before. If identity is currency, the modern census has become an ATM.

This leads to the great political magic trick of our time: turning a self selected label into a measure of entitlement. Māori organisations frequently argue for increased funding with the line, “We represent X percent of the population.” Conveniently, that X has been climbing at a rate no genuine biological population could ever hope to match. Not because twice as many Māori were born, but because twice as many New Zealanders now choose to identify as Māori sometimes with only a sliver of ancestry, sometimes with none at all but a sense of cultural affinity, and sometimes purely because it opens doors that aren’t open to everyone else.

Government institutions have helped this along by designing policy around what they call “priority ethnic groups.” Health? Prioritised by ethnicity. Education initiatives? Ethnicity-based. Housing support? Ethnicity plays a role. Public contracts and agencies? A growing number are reserved for “by Māori, for Māori” providers. And since self-identification cannot legally be questioned, the incentive structure is obvious: the more people who tick the box, the more political leverage that group wields. Identity becomes influence, and influence becomes money.

Of course, pointing this out is heresy. You’ll be told you’re “minimising indigenous identity” or “denying lived experience.” In today’s New Zealand, feelings are no longer just personal they are statistical, political, and financial instruments. The entire system rewards expanding ethnic categories while punishing anyone who dares notice.

So yes, the Māori numbers are rising. But not because history has repeated itself or because nature has sped up. It’s because identity has become a strategic choice, a pathway to political power, and a ticket to targeted funding. The population isn’t growing the definition is. And in a country where feelings now shape public policy, that definition can grow forever.

Steven is an entrepreneur and an ex RNZN diver who likes travelling, renovating houses, Swiss Watches, history, chocolate art and art deco.