Māori in Australia

Māori Australians

Total population
140,000-170,000
Regions with significant populations
Sydney, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth
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.

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.

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Wikipedia