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Hei tā tēnei paku kōrero, me tūpato tātou i te āhua o
te tikanga rua kua ara mai i Aotearoa nei, arā, te noho
taupatupatu me te noho wehewehe o te tōrangapū Māori
me te tōrangapū Pākehā. Heoti, me kimi huarahi kē e āta
wetewete ai ngā āhuatanga maha o te noho tahi o te Māori
me te Pākehā, o tātou ritenga, o tātou rerekētanga, o tātou
āhuatanga katoa i tēnei ao pāhekeheke.
Ka āta tirohia ngā ariā o Homi Bhabha, arā, ko te
'hybridity' me te 'third space'. Ka whārikitia hoki he
tīmatanga whakaaro mō te pānga mai o ēnei ariā ki tētahi
kaupapa e tirotiro ana ki ā tātou ture me ā tātou
whakahaere, kia hāngai tōtika ai ki te tikanga rua o
Aotearoa.

This brief paper questions the nature of biculturalism
that has developed in Aotearoa/New Zealand, namely that
contested around a dualistic and antagonistic politics of
either Māori or Pākehā. This paper joins a growing call
for a reconceptualisation of bicultural politics in Aotearoa/
New Zealand that draws on an inclusionary and
multifaceted identity politics (Reilly, 1996; McClean,
1997; Spoonley, 1997). What is required is a revised
approach that accounts for Māori/Pākehā relations where
there are multiple subject-positions, affinities and
differences continually at play through ongoing
interaction and exchange. The paper argues the need for
this conceptualisation to take place in an alternative space
that blurs the limitations of boundaries and engenders new
possibilities.
I examine Homi Bhabha's notions of hybridity and
the third space. I offer some introductory comment as to
what these concepts might offer for a project concerned
with the redesign of laws and institutions for a bicultural
Aotearoa/New Zealand.