Kia hanga te whai rawa, kia puāwai te whai ora

We believe a nation should build an economy for tomorrow to support a better society than today. Aotearoa New Zealand has one economic imperative for shaping a more socially cohesive future that stands above all others – economic equality for Māori.

Aotearoa New Zealand stands at a crossroads in economic history. The future of our society is being shaped by great changes in the underlying factors that drive the economies of every nation. 

We are engaged in many races to build our economic future: the race to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources; the race to make our businesses digital entities; and the race to innovate in science, manufacturing and primary production so we can compete in global markets.

With change comes opportunities, but also choices. Times of change demand that we set priorities to guide these choices. To do that we must remind ourselves of why we generate wealth as a nation.

A nation builds an economy for tomorrow to support a better society than today. If we want our society to be more socially cohesive than it is today, we must build a prosperous future for Māori. Without economic equality, Māori will never achieve social equity.

That makes the rise of Māori businesses and Māori business people the single most important social transformation occurring now in our economy. More than any other single factor, it is mastery of business that has the potential to help Māori create the economically-equal future we need to remove the Māori-Pākehā inequities that are so stark in so many areas of Aotearoa New Zealand.

As Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest bank, we acknowledge that our role in supporting Māori to achieve economic equality through business is greater than any other private sector organisation in our economy. We also acknowledge that economic equality will not be achieved in the short term. This is an intergenerational project for our country.

In 2022 we made a commitment to Māori and to all the people of Aotearoa New Zealand through the launch of Tākiri-ā-Rangi, our first Te Ao Māori strategy.

Tākiri-ā-Rangi lays out our strategy and the work plan to implement it for the next 17 years. This is not the usual company two-to-five-year strategy. Our commitment extends further.

We will work for generations and beyond to advance Māori business and Māori personal financial well-being. We will change our organisation to embrace Te Ao Māori, the Māori world view. We will make ANZ New Zealand a place more Māori want to do business with, to plan and achieve financial goals for themselves and their whānau, and to work as members of our team.