Māori Australians

Māori Australians

Total population
140,000-170,000
Languages
mostly English, also Māori
Religion
Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Other Māori people and Polynesian people

Māori Australians are Australians of Māori heritage. In 2013, there were approximately 140,000-170,000 people with Māori ancestry living in Australia. Māori Australians constitute Australia's largest Polynesian ethnic group

History

People with Maori ancestry as a percentage of the population in Australia divided geographically by statistical local area, as of the 2011 census

Overview

There was no known prehistoric contact between Australian Aboriginal people and New Zealand Māori, although the Māori's Polynesian ancestors were accomplished navigators. The first Māori known to have visited Australia travelled to Sydney in European trading ships from 1795 onwards. Māori chiefs traded with Europeans in Australia, bringing back rare goods to New Zealand. An 1823 image of Sydney depicts the presence of Māori.

Māori generally benefited from the same immigration and voting rights as white New Zealanders in Australia, making them a notable exception to the White Australia policy. In 1902, with the Commonwealth Franchise Act, Māori residents in Australia were granted the right to vote, a right denied to Indigenous Australians. During that same period, their right to settle in Australia was facilitated by their shared status as British subjects.

In 1948, however, Australia's federal Minister of Immigration attempted to ban Māori from settling in Australia, in accordance with the White Australia policy. Invoking existing immigration law which excluded Polynesians from Australia, the minister argued that Māori were Polynesians, and could therefore be excluded on racial grounds. The attempt reportedly created a minor diplomatic incident with New Zealand, and the minister involved apologised. Further attempts to restrict Māori immigration in the 1950s were overturned as they violated Māori's rights as British subjects and as New Zealand citizens.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Māori hit by a downturn in their home country's economy emigrated to Australia in search of work.

Demographics

In 1933, a census indicated there were 197 Māori living in Australia. That number increased to 449 in 1961, 862 in 1966, 26,000 in 1986 and 84 000 in 2001

Significant Māori communities may be found in certain suburbs of Sydney (Penrith, Parramatta, Bankstown, Minto) as well as Brisbane (Woodridge, Forest Lake, Wynnum, Redbank), Darwin, Melbourne and Perth. In 2001, there were 19,000 Māori living in Brisbane.

In 2007, the co-leader of New Zealand's Māori Party, Pita Sharples proposed the creation of an additional overseas seat in the Parliament of New Zealand, for Māori living in Australia.

Culture

Language use

In 1986, it was found that only 22% of Māori Australians spoke Māori at home, and that very few children spoke the language. At present, Māori languages classes exist in Australia, in an attempt to preserve the Māori language there, and there is a Māori-language radio in Sydney.

Notable Māori Australians

Sports

• Tonie Carroll
• Ted Goodwin
• Wayne Schwass
• Danny Dickfos
• Jeremy Paul
• Nathan Cayless
• Timana Tahu
• Jai Taurima
• Paul Bower
• Morgan Turinui
• Leroy Houston
• Alicia Poto
• Quade Cooper
• Carl Webb
• Dustin Martin
• James Te Huna
• Benji Marshall
• James Tamou
• Bodene Thompson

Celebrities

• Calum Hood
• Jodi Gordon
• Megan Gale
• Pania Rose
• Simone Kessell
• Russell Crowe
• Deborah Mailman
• Ricky May
• Callan Mulvey
• Manu Bennett
• Stan Walker
• Keisha Castle-Hughes

Other notable Māori Australians

• Sian Kingi

See also

• New Zealander Australians

External links

• Te Arohanui Māori Culture Club, founded in Perth, Western Australia, in 1977
• Māori in Australia survey and report by Te Puni Kōkiri, published 2007
• (History of Maori in Sydney)