In 1953 Maori voted to affirm the setting the blood quantum for enrolment on the Maori electoral roll to be set at 50 percent Maori or more, in the mid-seventies when, as a result of the rapid rate of intermarriage in this country, the number of legally defined ‘Maori’ with 50 percent or more of Maori blood, was in serious decline. this led to demands for a change in the legal definition and, as a result, the 1974 Maori Affairs Amendment Act replaced the blood quantum classification with one based on self-identification and ethnic affiliation—in other words, having a Maori descendent.

This arbitrary political manoeuvre, is just that, an arbitrary definition based on a consensus of opinion which guaranteed an on-going rise in the number of people categorised as ‘Maori’, thereby fulfilling the tribal leaders’ ambitions for consolidating and increasing power and resources.

Over the years, the Maori rights movement has also successfully persuaded successive governments to allocate increasing levels of funding to race-based initiatives – all in the name of reducing so-called ‘Maori’ disadvantage, rather than reducing disadvantage based on need. The problem is that such programmes are based on a false premise—it is not being Maori that causes disadvantage, instead, it is such culturally influenced things as a lack of education, long term welfare dependency, sole parenthood, relational, family and community cultures of violence and criminality, substance abuse, or living in an area where there are no jobs.

Many New Zealanders are becoming increasingly alarmed about the long-term impact of the government’s continued dangerously divisive promotion of ‘race’ within our society. it is being used by corporate iwi as a ruse to progress their increasingly radical demands...

https://www.nzcpr.com/reflecting-on-our-past-and-future/