Waitangi Day has once again been hijacked by political grandstanding.
David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill dominated the headlines, but while Māori leaders, Te Pāti Māori, the Greens, and Labour obsessed over that, they ignored the real existential threat: mass immigration.
The one bloke calling it out? Shane Jones. And he’s standing alone in the storm.
The numbers don’t lie
According to Stats NZ, as of June 2024, the estimated Māori ethnic population was 914,400, while the Asian population was 861,576. Auckland’s demographic shift is staggering - Asians already outnumber Māori by more than two to one.
In 2023 alone, New Zealand saw a net migration gain of 127,000, with 60,000 arriving from India, making Indians the largest incoming migrant group for the first time. In just two years, we’ve gained nearly a quarter of a million migrants. Auckland alone absorbed 104,000 new arrivals - no wonder the city’s infrastructure is heaving.
Jones is worried. And why wouldn’t he be? Māori, already struggling at the bottom of socio-economic stats, are now battling even more competition for resources, jobs, housing, and opportunities.
From bicultural to multicultural – and no one noticed?
For 30 years, governments have banked on mass immigration as an economic growth crutch. Auckland’s Asian population nearly doubled from 200,000 to over 500,000 in two decades.
By 2050, Auckland’s residents could be 50% Asian. That’s the track we’re on.
Yet, New Zealand still clings to this romanticised notion of biculturalism. The reality? We’re a fully-fledged multicultural society.
Jim Bolger was laughed at in the 90s when he said New Zealand was an Asian country. Turns out, he was onto something.
The impact on Māori
This isn’t just a numbers game - it’s about survival. Māori homeownership is a pitiful 35%, compared to a national average of 65%. While wealthy migrants snap up properties, Māori are locked out of the housing market.
And the four largest private landholdings in New Zealand? Foreign-owned forestry companies, not iwi.
Auckland’s schools now cater to kids from 50 different countries, each bringing their own languages and customs. That’s diversity in action, but let’s be real - it puts heaps of pressure on an already stretched education system.
Then there’s the job market. The immigrant workforce is younger and more active - 71% of Asian migrants are in the workforce, compared to 67% of Māori.
More competition, fewer opportunities, tougher times ahead.
Shane Jones has been hammering this issue for years. He says: “If iwi are concerned about marginalization, how come no iwi leader is standing with me and challenging mass immigration? Not one single iwi leader.”
But no, they carry on about Treaty principles while another 100,000 migrants arrive. To me, that’s the real threat.
Is he out of line? Or just saying what no one else dares to?
Māori need to speak up - now
Māori leaders have been disturbingly quiet. The focus remains on Treaty disputes, but let’s be blunt - what good is that if, in 50 years, Māori are a minority fighting for scraps in their own country?
No one is saying immigration is bad. But unregulated, rapid, poorly planned immigration? That’s a slow-moving disaster.
We threw open the doors, barely asked who was coming, and failed to prepare for the consequences. And Māori - already struggling - will cop the worst of it.
While Te Pāti Māori obsesses over abolishing prisons and “decolonisation,” real-world problems are snowballing. Economic sovereignty is slipping away, and Māori are being left in the dust.
Immigrants are hardworking, ambitious, and hungry for success. Good on them. But Māori need to ask: ‘Are we ready to compete in this new landscape?’
The numbers don’t lie. The shift is happening now.
Shane Jones sees it. Do Māori leaders?
It’s about the long-term survival of Māori
Forget the distractions. The demographic reality of New Zealand is shifting fast. Māori need to stop focusing on symbolic battles and start addressing their long-term survival in an increasingly competitive and multicultural country.
Because if they don’t, in another 180 years, Māori might not even be part of the conversation at all.
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