About 900 people attended the awards dinner in Tauranga recently and what mattered was who they were as much as their sheer number.
The Governor-General, leading politicians from various parties, chief executives, senior managers from the private and public sectors, consultants, investors and top media people where there to honour and celebrate the success of Maori agribusiness.
The event was magnificently and professionally run and had a delightful spark of fun and culture that made it special. It was a serious show but a fun and relaxing one with the injection of Maori culture.
The Ahuwhenua Trophy was inaugurated by the great Maori politician Sir Apirana Ngata and the governor-general at the time, Lord Bledisloe, in 1933. The goals set then to encourage Maori to reach new heights as farmers are as relevant today as they were 81 years ago.
The success of Maori seldom makes headlines in the mainstream media. Negative statistics about Maori are more likely to be aired than those about Maori success. But the three finalists in this year’s competition, and others in previous years, are exemplars of what Maori is achieving. Their achievements are magnificent: in summary, Maori farmers produce about 10% of all milk and about 15% of the sheep and beef.
One Maori trust – PKW – in Taranaki, is Fonterra’s largest supplier in that province. Maori have embraced technology and education and the results are showing.
Yes, there are some mediocre Maori farms, but there are some pretty terrible non-Maori ones as well. At the other end of the spectrum some Maori dairy farms compare well with non-Maori.
Maori are fast becoming a large engine in the New Zealand economy and as more of their land is brought up to productive capacity they will be major players in the economic and sustainable growth of the country.
The Ahuwhenua Awards is a very public showing of how successful Maori are, especially in dairying.
