Hon Te Ururoa Flavell

Te Minita Whanaketanga Māori

Minister for Māori Development

18 May 2017
Media Statement

Malaysian audience gains Māori insights

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell has wrapped up his business and cultural mission to Malaysia with a public lecture on the Māori experience at the Universiti Teknologi (UiTM) MARA in Sabah, Malaysia.

“The people of Malaysia and New Zealand are already bound by culture, language, history and trade. Our kinship to one another stretches back 5,000 years. It can be found in our shared languages, our shared cultures and our shared DNA,” says Mr Flavell.

“Our shared ancestors explored and settled a third of the surface of the planet – a millennium before anyone else. Their courage, audacity and genius marked them as the ultimate explorers, leaders and innovators of their time.”

New Zealand’s treaty settlements process has been of great interest in Malaysia and in 2015 the Sarawak Land Minister visited Aotearoa New Zealand to learn about it and the incorporation of treaty principles into the Resource Management Act. During his visit he also met with representatives from Tainui and Ngāi Tahu.

“The lecture was a great opportunity to elaborate on the complex nature of the Crown-Māori relationship.

“Some of our Crown-Māori engagements are cutting-edge, for example there are a growing number of forums where Ministers and Iwi can work through issues together like the Iwi Leaders Forum,” says Mr Flavell.

ends

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