Improving Māori
Access to Capital
A speech delivered to MyFiduciary Conference
in Taupō
On 14 October 2024
By Adrian Orr, Governor
Introduction
Kia orana tatou katoatoa, tēnā tātou katoa
Ngāti Tūwharetoa, te whare tapu o Te Heuheu, tēnā koutou
Ko Tongariro te maunga
Ko Taupo te moana
Ko Taupo te whenua tipu
Heoi, nō Atiu ōku tīpuna
Nō reira tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tatou katoa
I would like to acknowledge Tā Tumu Te Heuheu and the iwi of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, whose
leadership continues to inspire and guide us.
Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou.
All of you will be familiar with the kaupapa kōrero today, Māori access to capital.
Kiingi Tawhiao established Te Pēke o Aotearoa in around 1885 to support a growing Māori
economy. At that time the financial system was excluding Māori.1 Te Pēke o Aotearoa was a
response. It was a vehicle for Māori to participate in this new system.
Te Peeke o Aotearoa was a pioneer for financial inclusion that was for all New Zealanders.
Historians point to an inscription on each of the banknotes saying 'e whaimana ana tenei moni ki
ngā tāngata katoa', meaning 'this money is valid for all people'.2
This highlights the inclusive goal that was pursued, a mindset we can all learn from.
Why Māori access to capital matters
Financial inclusion means that people have access to financial products and services that meet
their needs. All New Zealanders should be able to benefit from inclusion in the financial system. At
the Reserve Bank, we would be at a loss if we did all the hard work to promote a financial system
that was strong, stable, and efficient, only for people to tell us that they are unnecessarily excluded.
Financial exclusion is a serious issue for some New Zealanders, impacting their lives and
livelihoods. In 2021, the World Bank estimate that around 1.25 percent of adults in New Zealand
(circa 50,000 people) did not have a bank account.3 In 2022, the New Zealand Financial Markets
Authority estimated that around 6 percent of New Zealanders had no banking products.4
As you can see, it's hard to get precise numbers on financial exclusion, but it is significant. We are
working to source data, and engage with community groups, banking staff, and customer groups,
to understand the barriers to participation.
Māori are too often in the category of being under-served by the financial system, in both access
and relevant financial products. This should disappoint all New Zealanders, in part given that the
Māori economy remains one of the largest potential sources of economic growth.
BERL's most recent report on the Māori economy calculated that it grew at nearly twice the rate of
5
the total economy over the 2013-2018 period. The Māori population is also young and will make
up a significant proportion of the labour force in the coming years - circa 20 per cent by 2040.6
Meanwhile, Māori land titles make up approximately 5 percent of the total land area in Aotearoa,
but around 80 percent of this land is deemed as being underused.7 And, at present, only 8 percent
of New Zealand businesses are deemed to have Māori owners, despite being circa 17 percent of
the total population.8
Improving Māori access to capital has been, and remains, a powerful enabler for prosperity,
sustainability, cohesion, and inclusion. We should collectively prioritise this goal.
In 1931, Sir Apirana Ngata, the Native Minister (and the person featured on our $50 note),
addressed Parliament outlining challenges Māori faced in accessing capital for Māori land
(whenua). These challenges included multiple landowners and an inability to put a mortgage on
the land. That is almost 100 years ago.
At Te Pūtea Matua, in 2022 we released our Māori Access to Capital Issues Paper. In making that
report, we interviewed 42 capital seekers from a cross-section of the Māori economy and financial
sector.9 They all shared similar experiences. The key themes raised from the discussions were a
shortage of data on Māori businesses, the complexity and opaqueness of the funding landscape,
difficulties lending on Māori land, and a lack of leadership across the ecosystem to address access
barriers.
From the financial sector engagements, it was clear that there was a lack of understanding of
Māori business values and models. There was also a general agreement that New Zealand's capital
market falls well short of meeting the capital needs of Māori business.
At the Reserve Bank we take these issues seriously. Under our Act, our core purpose is to enable
the prosperity and wellbeing of all New Zealanders. In part response, we have developed a
strategy to incorporate Te Ao Māori values and perspectives into how we work.10
This includes publicly releasing our Te Tiriti statement.11 Our commitment recognises our legislated
purpose, and the constitutional and legal significance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Our approach
reinforces the importance of ensuring that Māori are enabled by New Zealand's financial system,
as are all New Zealanders.
Beyond getting our own house in order, we have broader work streams underway, both under the
umbrella of "Financial Inclusion", and our strategic themes outlined in our Statement of Intent. Our
strategic themes are trust, resilience, competition and efficiency, inclusion, leveraging data and
technology, and people front and centre.12
Financial Inclusion
Māori access to capital is a significant part of our broader work on Financial Inclusion so that the
financial system is fit for all New Zealanders.13 We are working collaboratively with the Council of
Financial Regulators to identify and address any barriers to accessing banking services from two
perspectives:14
 From a service delivery lens, we have a research project with a third party on what an
inclusive process of opening a bank account looks like, and what are the best practices. There
is a strand looking specifically at issues for Māori Trusts, Rangatahi (youth) Māori, and Māori
businesses.

From a product lens, we are collaborating with the Council of Financial Regulators to look at
the concept of a basic bank account, with fewer features but is easier to open and manage.
Our findings will be public later this year and should have flow on impacts for Māori access to
capital. For example, it is complicated for a small Māori landowning trust to open an account given
it is a collective entity with multiple owners. Short-term work arounds to this problem can lead
further financial access challenges in the years ahead. Our work on Māori access to capital and
broader financial inclusion efforts go hand in hand.
We are also currently creating, with a view to publishing, a dashboard that measures progress on
Māori financial inclusion across the banking system. What gets measured gets managed, and
lessons learnt should be shared.
Progress is positive. As part of our recent Financial Inclusion Thematic Review, we spoke with a
significant number of deposit-taking entities to understand their internal policies and practices on
inclusion, and how they measure and report progress.15 Lessons from this work will guide us on
what banking data infrastructure and indicators are useful.
We are also working on a pilot with some retail banks on a Māori data project, again related to the
dashboard. The data pilot will include Māori data governance principles, including sharing with iwi,
hapū and Māori organisations where appropriate. We are working with the Stats NZ Māori
Business Definition Standard where possible - to overcome a long existing inertia to bank data
collection.16
Earlier this year Te Kooti Whenua Māori, the Māori Land Court, released a practice note regarding
lending on whenua Māori.17 Their aim is to help landowners, lawyers, and the banking sector
understand the mortgage process on whenua Māori. Shared knowledge will reduce transaction
costs and broaden finance options.18
Alongside the Māori Land Court, we are presenting the document to Tāwhia Māori Bankers Rōpū
and the Council of Financial Regulators before the end of year, with the option of running more
intensive workshops with individual organisations later.
We are also working with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to get an updated
Māori economy report, which, with the help of BERL, is coming out next year. The 2018 Māori
economy report has been foundational in our understanding.19
We are streamlining our engagements with Māori more broadly. No two projects are the same,
and we want to make sure Māori voices are heard when our work impacts Māori communities. For
example, our Central Bank Digital Currency and cash monitoring consultations are coming up in
2025,20 and our Exchange Settlement Account System (ESAS) access review is already underway.21
Finally, our membership in the Central Bank Network for Indigenous Inclusion is an invaluable
platform for us to hear from indigenous communities internationally - including here in
Aotearoa.22 The central banks of Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand are
involved, as well as indigenous networks across these countries.
Improving Māori access needs collaboration and capability
Te Pūtea Matua has the mandate to help address Māori access to capital, but we will not succeed
alone. Success requires the whole system to work towards improving the current situation, which
involves the government, private sector financial institutions, iwi and Māori decision makers being
in the same waka paddling together.
There are signs this is occurring, but it remains early day. We have seen some great work
happening in recent years across the ecosystem:
Iwi Chairs, Pou Tahua,23 have been working to get an iwi-led financial intermediary, Rauawa,
running. It would be a Māori intermediary that would act as a conduit between capital seekers and
providers, supporting effective capital allocation and risk management. The tasks include
identifying opportunities and matching them with capital, while providing investment support and
capability to drive success.
Some retail banks are also taking positive steps. Policies to enable lending on whenua Māori are
progressing, alongside building internal capability and capacity to work with Māori businesses. It is
this type of progress we want to showcase in the dashboard discussed. We have the already
mentioned Tāwhia Māori Bankers Rōpū - a brave group of bankers who are championing the
cause collectively, and within their organisations, on improving Māori financial inclusion.24
Government agencies - including The Treasury, The Ministry of Business Innovation and
Employment, and Te Puni Kōkiri, - are working on streamlining funding and support systems for
Māori business, with the goal to reshape their offerings to be most effective and measurable in
outcomes. I believe that the Pou Tahua proposed Rauawa will support this picture.
Access, Capability and Capital makes an Opportunity
I have outlined many workstreams, much collaboration, and a great will to improve Māori access
to capital. I have also highlighted why it is important for all New Zealanders, and the Reserve Bank.
If we can improve access to resources, and then apply the appropriate capability to the resource -
including capital, then opportunities arise for prosperity, cultural inclusion, social cohesion, and
environmental sustainability.
Despite the great work that is already happening, there is much left to be done. A clear signal of
the task is highlighted in the recent Commerce Commission's market study into personal banking
services,25and the agenda for the forthcoming Parliamentary inquiry into banking.26 Both have a
specific focus on lending on whenua, access to bank accounts, and experiences accessing banking
products and services.
At Te Pūtea Matua we will continue to highlight the importance of collaboration, and the need to
focus on solutions to improve Māori access to capital. My hope is that bank leaders retain their
commitment to this effort. I also encourage a broader group of equity providers to improve their
capability to provide Māori access to capital. We have yet to see the collaboration and investment
scale that will unleash New Zealand's full economic potential.
Thank you for listening today.
Meitaki ma'ata
Tēnā koutou katoa.
References
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BERL (2019)
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Comyn, C. (2022) The financial colonisation of Aotearoa. Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa
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(rbnz.govt.nz)
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financial inclusion - Reserve Bank of New Zealand - Te Pūtea Matua (rbnz.govt.nz)
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