the public - the money we print and circulate ensures new zealanders have a means of exchange, a store of value, and is hard to replicate. providing robust payment and settlement services for new zealand ’ s financial institutions - enabling new zealanders to make safe and efficient payments and to complete day - to - day transactions. we approach this mandate in a holistic manner. this means we look at the full range of challenges and opportunities available to us. we see progressing initiatives such as te ohanga maori, climate risk, and south pacific remittances as key to our purpose and vision. while great team, best central bank remains our vision, we seek to deepen our understanding of its meaning and relevance through the concept of matangirua ki matangireia – working in unison, to fulfil our ultimate purpose. at te putea matua, being a great team means being ‘ fit for purpose ’ – cost effective, risk aware, 1 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches and working collectively in a sustainable way. it also means being unified by our purpose – everyone knowing what to do and moving in sync in the same direction. in te ao maori this concept can be described as ‘ matangirua ’ ( when every function on a sailing vessel is in use and all are in sync – ‘ full steam ahead ’ ). being the best central bank means scaling new heights, striving to achieve our ultimate purpose – in effect ‘ reaching for the sky ’. in te ao maori this concept might be described as ‘ matangireia, ’ the place to which tane ascended so as to bring back the three baskets of knowledge. we have also refreshed our values and reconceptualised these through a te ao maori lens : wananga / innovation : stemming from knowledge gained through our diverse perspectives ; tauira / integrity : sustained through self - reflection and modelling our shared principles ; taura / inclusion : binding our individual strengths together enabling our resilience and collective success. we recently updated our brand, as seen throughout our statement of intent, to better reflect our purpose and the work we do on behalf of all new zealanders. this signals our commitment to being relevant, open and inclusive as your central bank. these changes will support our transformation as we implement the new reserve bank of new zealand6 act due for royal assent later this year. i will now touch on three areas where we are holistically delivering our mandate,

in our te ao maori, climate risk and south pacific remittances initiatives. all of these areas directly impact maximum sustainable employment, financial stability and access to money and cash. te ao maori te putea matua, the reserve bank of new zealand, has a unique position. we are not limited to how we respond to treaty obligations, nor are we under obligation to follow how other parts of the state sector respond to theirs. however, we acknowledge that as a state sector entity that serves all new zealanders, we must recognise a special relationship with maori and the long - term nature of the maori economic eco - system. we recognise te ohanga maori, the maori economy as having a long - term presence. a recent report we commissioned, te ohanga maori 2018, the maori economy report, shows that te ohanga maori has grown in value from $ 42. 6b in 2013, to $ 68. 7b in 2018. 7 maori are an increasing proportion of the new zealand workforce, and we recognise the criticality of maori as key partners in the long term sustainability and stability of the new zealand economy. i would emphasise that te ohanga maori is not a separate, distinct and clearly identifiable segment of the aotearoa economy. it is a closely connected component of numerous pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that together make up the economy of aotearoa. as kaitiaki of the financial ecosystem we must recognise and respond to this important part of the economy. te ohanga maori is key to our legislative objectives and our strategic goals. it is closely linked with our sustainable employment and financial stability mandates by its nature, size and enduring presence. as assistant governor christian hawkesby recently explained in a speech on te waka hourua, our te ao maori strategy8 we are focusing our workplan appropriately. others are also recognising the importance of te ohanga maori. a recent survey found that funding and access to capital were two of the greatest challenges faced by maori businesses. this was supported by the productivity commission ’ s report ‘ new zealand firms : reaching for 2 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches the frontier ’. 9 we want to learn more about how factors like collective land ownership and lower home ownership, and systematic bias might be affecting the rates at which maori businesses access debt and other forms of financing. in response, we have launched a work programme to better understand maori access to capital in the new zealand economy, primarily with a focus on bank