10 September 2012

Survey shows Maori unhappy with economy, iwi - point to policy priorities

Horizon Research has released its Maori Viewpoint 2012 report, tracking the views of Maori nationwide on issues ranging from their personal household financial position to their iwis' performance.

Maori are sending clear signals to their iwi and other policy makers on what they think are the most important issues for Maori over the next three years.

The report is based on a Horizon Research Maori Panel survey of 433 adult Maori in August 2012. Some results are also compared with those of a May, 2011, Horizon Research Maori Panel survey of 534 respondents.

Results are weighted by age, gender, personal income, region and employment status to ensure a representative sample of the Maori population aged 18+at the 2006 census. At a 95% confidence level the maximum margin of error is +/- 4.7% (4.2% in the 2011 survey).

Key findings of the 2012 survey include:

Wrong track: An increasing number of Maori feel the country is headed in the wrong direction (71.8% compared with 63.1% in May 2011). This view is held reasonably consistently across all age groups, but rises to nearly 80% among 18-24 and 25-34 year-olds.

Economic management poorly rated: Maori are increasingly dissatisfied with the Governments handling of the economy and more are reporting their household financial positions are worse than a year ago, and more expect them to worsen in the next year. Overall 34.5% of Maori expect their household financial position to worsen.

Iwi involvement and contact: Five per cent more are involved in iwi affairs than in 2011, though a third are still not active in iwi affairs. 51% have little or no contact with their iwi and 24.6% only rate contact with them by their iwi as adequate or better.

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Maori unhappy with economy, iwi - point to policy priorities