Corporate%20Governance%20of%20Maori%20Organizations%20in%20Aotearoa/New%20Zealand%20Acknowledgements:%20Professor%20Whatarangi%20Winiata%20FIRST%20Foundation%20Rahera%20Barrett-Douglas%20Kurukuru%20Barrett%20Anthony%20Tawhiwhi%20Barrett

1
Corporate Governance of Maori Organizations in
Aotearoa/New ZealandAcknowledgements
Professor Whatarangi WiniataFIRST Foundation
Rahera Barrett-DouglasKurukuru Barrett
Anthony Tawhiwhi Barrett

• Dr Mereana Barrett
• Department of Accounting and Finance
• Monash University Gippsland Campus
• Switchback Road, Churchill
• Victoria 3842, Australia

2
Structure

• Maori Traditional Notions of Corporate
  Governance and the Impact of the Companies Act
  1860 and 1882
• Dilemma that face Maori/indigenous researchers
  when working within monocultural institutions
  that are founded on a collective denial of
  indigenous peoples history
• Need to develop a Maori accounting and
  accountability framework
• Importance of Implementation

3
Firth, R., Tawney, R. H., Owen, R. E. (1959).
Economics of the New Zealand Maori. Wellington
Govt.Printer. Wellington Govt.Printer.
Te Rangi Hiroa Buck (cited in Firth et al., 1959)
provides his description of the method of netting
inanga/fish from canoes. When the canoes came
ashore with their catch, the women were waiting
with baskets and all received their share. Te
Rangi Hiroa Buck writes that in those communal
days, nobody went away empty, but at the same
time, a distinction was made in favour of the
workers. As was usual, a man was appointed to
portion out the catch and doled out the fish in
double handfuls into the waiting receptacles. It
was necessary that he be an upright person who
would not favour his own relatives and provide
them with an unduly large share.
4
Firth, R., Tawney, R. H., Owen, R. E. (1959).
Economics of the New Zealand Maori. Wellington
Govt.Printer. Wellington Govt.Printer.
Te Rangi Hiroa Buck (cited in Firth et al., 1959)
provides his description of the method of netting
inanga/fish from canoes. When the canoes came
ashore with their catch, the women were waiting
with baskets and all received their share. Te
Rangi Hiroa Buck writes that in those communal
days, nobody went away empty, but at the same
time, a distinction was made in favour of the
workers. As was usual, a man was appointed to
portion out the catch and doled out the fish in
double handfuls into the waiting receptacles. It
was necessary that he be an upright person who
would not favour his own relatives and provide
them with an unduly large share.
5
Firth, R., Tawney, R. H., Owen, R. E. (1959).
Economics of the New Zealand Maori. Wellington
Govt.Printer. Wellington Govt.Printer.
Te Rangi Hiroa Buck (cited in Firth et al., 1959)
provides his description of the method of netting
inanga/fish from canoes. When the canoes came
ashore with their catch, the women were waiting
with baskets and all received their share. Te
Rangi Hiroa Buck writes that in those communal
days, nobody went away empty, but at the same
time, a distinction was made in favour of the
workers. As was usual, a man was appointed to
portion out the catch and doled out the fish in
double handfuls into the waiting receptacles. It
was necessary that he be an upright person who
would not favour his own relatives and provide
them with an unduly large share.
6
Accounting Auditing Process

• The Companies Act 1860 and 1882
• Provided for further legal modernization
• Accounting used as a tool to aid in the further
  confiscation of Maori Land.
• Lack of safeguard for share holders in this case
  hapu (sub tribe) and iwi (tribe) was a weakness
  because of the separation of ownership and
  management.

7
Dilemma for Maori/Indigenous Researchers

• Monocultural Institutions
• Collective denial of indigenous peoples
• Endeavoring to understand the experiences of
  Maori organizations and traditional corporate
  governance within a Maori theory and Maori
  Kaupapa methodology is important.

8
Maori Notions of Accounting and Accountability

• Treaty of Waitangi provided an implied
  constitutional basis for a distinct set of
  institutions and underpins the model of corporate
  governance which is unique to Maori

9
Maori Concepts of Accounting

• Arguably, few attempts have been made to
  implement a Maori accounting and accountability
  framework within a Maori organization. One
  participant commented
• Maori accountability now if youre looking at
  Maori youre really asking the question to what
  extent are those organizations Maori. Where do
  they come from? What purposes do they serve?
  What are the people doing? How is that being
  organized? Then you can start asking the
  questions what kind of accounting and
  accountability.

10
Maori Accounting

• There is a big difference between Maori and
  accounting and Maori accounting. Maori
  accounting is precisely that it would be the
  accounting that Maori would do today and they did
  yesterday and all the years before throughout
  history if our development had been uninterrupted
  to the extent that we had retained our
  repositories of knowledge.
•  

11
What is Maori Accounting?

• if you can say that the kind of accounting that
  Maori do today has a different history from the
  accounting that Maori would have done if they had
  an uninterrupted history a less disturbing and
  devastating history then youve got two different
  things ...

12
Interviews

• you have two different possible pathways so you
  know what the question is the question is How
  are Maori performing in these new accounting? or
  this post or capitalist accounting? and if
  youre looking at that, then its fine

13
Continued..

• there is any amount of literature that we can
  go back as Maori and trace the development of
  Western accountants, there is an uninterrupted
  process in the evolution and development of
  Western thought and material production. Now the
  problem is for Maori, or any other
  disenfranchised body of people, were unable to
  do that because our libraries are empty

14
Continued..

• but if the question is What is Maori
  accounting? What is it about Maori accounting
  from an uninterrupted history? thats a
  different question and unfortunately, I think
  that weve convinced ourselves that the
  accounting we do today, so long as Maori are
  doing it, and giving it a twist and shine here
  and there, then thats been passed off as Maori
  accounting