Right now most academics, politicians, public servants, pundits and media maintain that the colonisation of New Zealand was a coercive and negative process for
Maori. Moreover, that colonisation is an ongoing process.
I differ. I think much of the colonisation occurred with consent.
Take just one aspect of our shared history - social security.
While Maori were not wholly locked out of earliest social
security provision, they were disadvantaged. It was harder to secure the Old Age Pension due to difficulty in
procuring proof of birth. Then, authorities vested with the
power of granting shied from issuing pensions to elderly Maori
ensconced in communal living lest younger members
misappropriated the funds. There was also debate about how much money an elderly Maori person living communally needed to live versus a retired European living independently. Neither of these considerations would be brooked today. And these discriminations quickly fell by the wayside.
Post 1938 Maori increasingly enjoyed the fruits of social security.
They were moving to the cities for work and wanted the same
unemployment safety net. They were having large families
and wanted the same family assistance. They aspired to own homes
and wanted the same family benefit capitalization opportunity
and access to state-advanced mortgages.
Colonisation provided a population large enough to supply the funds required for a universal safety net. Maori contributed and benefited willingly - or as willingly as non-Maori. (Willingness wasn't unamimous. I'm still no fan but recognise I am in a tiny minority. There are downsides to social security and they have disproportionately harmed Maori.)
Readers can doubtless think of other examples of how colonisation has been a positive process not least, the hundreds of thousands of life-long intimate individual unions between Maori and non-Maori.
I believe the term 'consentual colonisation' could be very powerful. Right now those who would angrily reject the idea are winning the debate and driving division.
Next time someone raises the matter of colonisation perhaps I'll ask, "Do you mean consentual colonisation?"