Relative to indigenous peers internationally, Auckland’s Māori residents are doing well – but a new report shows disparities still exist compared with other ethnicities at home. 

What is life really like in our biggest city? A new report attempts to answer the question, ranking Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland against international cities on the metrics of connectivity, culture, experience, innovation, knowledge, opportunity, place, prosperity, resilience and sustainability.

Released this morning by Deloitte, the council’s economic development agency Tātaki Auckland Unlimited and the not-for-profit Committee for Auckland, the report, “The state of the city: benchmarking Auckland’s international performance”, measured our biggest city on more than 700 indicators, with information coming from studies, performance plus real-time user data and longitudinal research. Peer cities in the study include Amsterdam, Austin, Brisbane, Copenhagen, Dublin, Fukuoka, Helsinki, Melbourne, Portland, Tel Aviv, San Diego, Singapore, Sydney and Vancouver. 

Compared to those cities, Tāmaki Makaurau ranks particularly highly in sustainability and experience and above average in culture, place, prosperity and resilience. However, Tāmaki ranks below average on connectivity, knowledge and opportunity and especially lags behind on innovation. Although the report provides universal insights, it also specifically explores tangata whenua life in Tāmaki. 

It found that Auckland’s Māori residents face education, home ownership, income and job inequalities. The report clearly outlines that action is necessary to bridge the gap between tangata whenua and non-Māori Aucklanders. Pathways to alleviate those disparities include improving jobs, educational opportunities and connections for Māori. Despite these inequalities, tangata whenua in Tāmaki scored higher across the board compared to most indigenous peoples in other large cities.

Anthony Ruakere (Taranaki, Te Atiawa, Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga-ā-Māhaki), a partner at Deloitte, worked on the report. “Relative to our indigenous peers overseas, we are not too bad off, but compared to our non-indigenous peers in this city, we are not in a great spot,” says Ruakere. He explains the position Māori occupy compared to other ethnicities makes tangata whenua experience the cost of living, home ownership and rental affordability crises more intensely. 

Education

Although Auckland has the slimmest educational disparity between indigenous people and other ethnicities across all peer cities, the report argues that increased educational access is critical to reduce inequalities and facilitate social mobility. In particular, Auckland must improve Māori access to higher education. Compared to peer cities, Tāmaki Makaurau is middle-of-the-pack regarding the share of indigenous residents in tertiary education – ranking behind American cities.

Employment

Improving Māori access to fulfilling, high-paying jobs would also enable social mobility and reduce inequalities. Auckland has made relatively solid progress in getting Māori into high-quality occupations, with Māori Aucklanders experiencing better pathways towards high-paying roles and business ownership than international indigenous peers. The share of indigenous business founders in Tāmaki is also comparatively high. Yet tangata whenua still lag behind Auckland’s Pākehā and Asian residents. 

Indigenous residents of Tāmaki Makaurau are more likely to hold managerial roles than First Peoples in Australian cities. Also, among Australasian cities, Auckland ranks second behind Melbourne in the share of indigenous residents who are professionals.

The percentage of Māori people in Tāmaki Makaurau who can or do work is 3% less than the indigenous population of peer cities, despite more of the city of sail’s Māori residents being working age compared to indigenous residents in other cities. 

Home ownership

Tied with Vancouver, Auckland has the lowest home ownership rate among its indigenous residents relative to the other cities. Only 18% of Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau own a home, whereas the average in the peer cities is nearly double that, at 32%. 

Income

The income gap Auckland between Auckland’s indigenous population and other ethnicities is less pronounced than in other cities. Auckland Māori have the second-smallest gap in median income compared to other ethnicities: -16.9% compared to -18.5% on average. In other words, there is no major city in the report where indigenous people earn the same or more than other ethnicities.

Since Auckland’s ethnic income disparity is slimmer than other cities, its indigenous residents have the second-highest median weekly income among Australasian and Canadian cities. Although Tāmaki Makaurau stacks up well against international cities regarding ethnic income disparity, wages remain low for tangata whenua residents relative to non-Māori. 

Understanding where Māori sit in Auckland compared to other ethnicities is important, Ruakere says, because it allows us to identify what areas need improving. He identifies culture as a necessary area for improvement. Auckland is above average on that metric but doesn’t top the leaderboard. The report suggests Tāmaki Makaurau would rank more highly if it more creatively and proactively engaged with its Māori identity. 

Within the report itself, Ruakere presents Māori culture by including a Ngāti Whātua proverb inside the front cover, saying it “emphasises the centrality of tangata whenua here in Tāmaki Makaurau”. Giving a more tangible example, he discusses Auckland mayor Wayne Brown’s revitalised waterfront proposal. Brown wants to open up the Ports of Auckland site to the public, including apartments, parks and pools alongside retail, commercial and event spaces. Ruakere believes redeveloping Auckland’s waterfront is an excellent opportunity to create a powerful cultural icon. “I am keen on shining a light that there is a greater opportunity to anchor our city in our indigeneity,” he says.