The head of a panel that selects
Auckland Council's Maori advisers threatened councillors with
personal legal action over a vote to release ratepayer money.
Tame Te Rangi, the chairman of the
Independent Maori Statutory Board's selection panel, made the threat
in a letter to Auckland Council's chief executive, Stephen Town, on
July 24.
Legal threat ahead of council funding vote
The head of a panel that selects Auckland Council's Maori advisers threatened councillors with personal legal action over a vote to release ratepayer money.
Tame Te Rangi, the chairman of the Independent Maori Statutory Board's selection panel, made the threat in a letter to Auckland Council's chief executive, Stephen Town, on July 24.
The Herald on Sunday obtained a copy of the letter, which states if Auckland Council didn't release the funding, he would initiate "legal proceedings against Auckland Council and each member of the Governing Body in their personal capacity".
The vote went ahead and the money —
which the selection panel wants to use for a High Court case — was
approved.
But some of the councillors have lodged
a formal complaint with the Auditor-General calling for an
investigation. "In essence this amounted to the individual who
had written a letter threatening councillors with legal action
against them personally," they wrote.
"No legal advice was forthcoming
as to the personal liability of councillors and the vote
proceeded."...
See full article HERE
Māori nurse educators: sustaining a
Maori worldview
The future direction of nursing
workforce development is a key area of discussion for College of
Nurses Aotearoa (NZ) Inc board members.
As one of three Māori board members,
my worldview always navigates me towards the current state of Māori
nursing workforce development. Are we on track to support growth and
sustainability for Māori? Current evidence suggests there are major
issues impacting Māori nursing workforce growth that need to be
addressed1.
We pride ourselves as global leaders in
cultural safety and indigenous ways of knowing.
Ensuring students have the opportunity
to engage and grow knowledge from within a Māori worldview is
essential in the delivery of undergraduate education in our
country....
See full article HERE
Sonny Tau withdraws hapū leadership
bid
Embattled
iwi leader Sonny Tau has withdrawn from the competition to be the new
hapū kaikōrero (representative) for Ngai Tāwake on the Tūhoronuku
Independent Mandated Authority.......
See full article HERE
Taranaki iwi sign Treaty deed
A
$70 million Treaty Deed of Settlement between the Crown and Taranaki
iwi has been signed at Pukeiti on the slopes of Mount Taranaki today.
Today's settlement also includes the
rights to 29 culturally significant sites, including the Nga Motu
Islands off the New Plymouth coast, and a similar number of Crown
properties.
The iwi would also have the right of
first refusal to surplus Crown land in its rohe.....
See full article HERE
Former MP Dover Samuels is calling for
a formal apology to a generation of children who were beaten - in
some cases until they bled - for speaking Maori at school.
No less than an apology from the Prime
Minister, on behalf of the government, would suffice.
Mr Samuels said taking away the
language was part of a wider disempowerment of whanau and hapu. Later
Maori also lost their land, their fisheries, and the rest of their
culture.....
See full article HERE
ECE children speak many languages
Samoan,
Sign Language and Chinese are the most widely-spoken languages in
early childhood centres after English and Maori, official figures
show.
Education Ministry statistics showed
there were 4299 licensed early childhood education (ECE) services
last year, and 4101 of them used English to some extent.
Maori was spoken in 3666 centres,
although most said they did so only between 1 percent and 11 of the
time. In only 468 centres was Maori spoken more than 81 percent of
the time.....
See full article HERE
5 September 2015
No consent for new $10 bill image,
Trust claims
A Maori Trust claims the re-designed
$10 bank note, due to be released next month, has used their pattern
without permission.
The tukutuku panelling features on the
background of the note and was taken from the Te Hau ki Turanga
meeting house in Te Papa Museum.
But the Rongowhakaata Trust, which
legally owns the whare, says it wasn't consulted and has called in
the lawyers.
Spokesperson Robyn Rauna says the
Reserve Bank didn't ask for permission.
"We think it's an honour to have
people want to use our things, but first – just basic courtesy –
ask."
She wants an apology and for the
Reserve Bank to admit its mistake.....
See full article HERE
Marae nationwide feeling their age
The
demand for repairs for marae nationwide is growing as many hit the
century-old mark.
But there are fears the loss of
knowledge of traditional Maori art work means some marae are missing
out on their own tribal touch.
But there are fears the loss of
knowledge of traditional Maori art work means some marae are missing
out on their own tribal touch.....
See full article HERE
Great South Basin oil and gas
exploration up for grabs
Meanwhile, Bridges has also instructed
officials to begin engagement and information-sharing with iwi, hapu
and local authorities in Southland so he can then consider including
parts of onshore and offshore Southland in future block offers beyond
2016.....
See full article HERE
Agreement means Maori can be part of
housing solution
An agreement with the Government over
developing surplus land in Auckland helps cement the commitment to
housing for its people, says the chair of the Tamaki Collective.
Ngati Whatua, which belongs to the
collective, has dropped legal action over who gets first right to the
land.
Chair of the Collective Paul Majurey
said the details of the agreement and process had now been confirmed.
He said amongst other things, it meant
private developers will not get better access to land than iwi.....
See full article HERE
Water NZ wants more iwi-council cooperation
Water
New Zealand is encouraging local governments to form partnerships
with iwi to co-manage natural resources.
It comes as Ngati Porou and the
Gisborne District Council form an agreement
for joint management of the land and Waiapu River under the Resource
Management Act (RMA).
Mr Pfahlert said, in conjunction with
officials, the iwi would be involved in applications for taking water
and setting limits on pollution or nutrient levels in the river.....
See full article HERE
Govt and iwi resolve stand-off over
Crown land
The
Government and Auckland iwi have resolved their stand-off over
developing surplus Crown land for housing.
The agreement gives three main iwi the
first right to develop housing on the land.
One of the iwi, Ngati Whatua, filed
legal action in June, after the Government
unveiled the first sites it would offer for development but said iwi
had no right of first refusal.
As part of the agreement, 20 percent of
homes in any development would be made available to the community
housing sector, and a further 20 percent would be affordable, likely
to cost less than $550,000.....
See full article HERE
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Welcome
New Housing Agreement
“The agreement outlines our shared
commitment to 40% of new houses built under the programme being
made available for social and affordable housing.
At the same time, it clarifies how
the Government and iwi will engage with one another in relation to
surplus Crown land....
See full article HERE
|
$5m for Massey University ecological
health researchers
Professor Murray Patterson, from the
School of People, Environment and Planning, leads a project that
focuses on empowering iwi and hapū to be strong partners in the
co-management of estuaries in the harbour.
It will involve collecting an oral
history of local iwi and hapū knowledge, gathering ecological
knowledge including indicators of estuarine ecosystem health,
resilience and functioning and developing a new hybrid geographic
information systems model that integrates environmental, economic,
cultural, land use and estuarine ecology information......
See full article HERE
Ruapehu iwi Ngati Rangi is the first to
begin negotiating its Treaty of Waitangi land claim in the Whanganui
District Inquiry.
Ngati Rangi aims to reach an Agreement
In Principle (AIP) next year. This will be a broad outline of what
will be in the settlement, with fine details negotiated after that.
An AIP usually includes an agreed historical account of interaction
between the iwi (tribe) and the Crown, Crown acknowledgments and
apology, cultural redress and commercial redress, including Crown
Forest Licensed land.
Ngati Rangi Trust chairman Kemp Dryden
said the iwi's settlement aims align with the four focus areas of its
strategic plan - environment, wellbeing, cultural revitalisation and
prosperity - as well as reconciliation with the Crown....
See full article HERE
Māori Tourism wants government
funding boost
Māori Tourism is the fastest growing
sector in New Zealand, which is being promoted and lead by New
Zealand Māori Tourism, but despite that the industry only gets 1% of
the government's annual budget.
A Māori promoter says it's time
Government invested more in its biggest attraction.
Māori Culture – it’s the
uniqueness that sets New Zealand a part from the rest of the world,
and it's one of the main reasons our visitors come here.
New Zealand Māori Tourism was
established in 2004, to provide an overarching direction and focus
for Māori tourism, and is endorsed by the Minister of Māori
Development.
Te Ururoa Flavell says, “Māori
Tourism is under my portfolio, they have their own autonomy, and they
receive government funding through Te Puni Kōkiri to grow Māori
Tourism.”
And it seems their request maybe
met, the Māori Development Minister, Te Ururoa Flavell is open
to assessing their needs, and finding a way to help them achieve
their goals....
See full article HERE
Land is close to being secured for a
proposed charter school project between Ngai Tahu and a wealthy
American businessman.
Marc Holtzman planned to lean on
acquaintances, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates, to raise $10
million to $15 million for a new charter school.
The development comes as the Maori
Party took a swipe at Labour over its unsuccessful attempt to stop
two of its Maori MPs attending a charter school fundraiser.....
See full article HERE
Why the tino rangatiratanga flag
should be our national choice (Opinion)
There's a house not far from here that
flies the tino rangatiratanga flag. Every day, rain or shine, its
flutters bravely atop its slender flagpole.
A statement? Certainly. But isn't every
flag? The tino rangatiratanga flag stands for Maori sovereignty. It's
about the proper relationship between those who came to these islands
first and those who came later.
In other words, it's a flag that
speaks directly to this country's past, present and future. For that
reason, alone, it makes the strongest case for being chosen as the
present flag's replacement. That it is also a superb design merely
strengthens its claim.
It may require a revolution to do it,
but, one day, the tino rangatiratanga flag will replace the silver
fern, the Southern Cross and the Union Jack.....
See full article HERE
New
Plymouth mayor Andrew Judd wants his council to adopt city wards as a
way to increase the chances of Maori getting on the council.
He's called a hui at Owae Marae in
Waitara on Thursday to discuss the current representation review.
A referendum rejected the notion of
Maori wards, and the council has resolved to support the status quo,
which is 10 councillors elected at large to represent the city and
two to cover rural areas.
Mr Judd says there are other options
available under the Local Electoral Act.
"Out at Owae I want to speak about
one that I favour which is a ward structure in the city itself
because it carves up the city so there is greater chance of Maori
getting on because there are areas of the city where there are more
populations of Maori so if I can carve the city up into those voting
mesh blocks then I stand a better chance of getting Maori on
council," he says.....
See full article HERE
Auckland
councillors have been kept in the dark about a Maori word being added
to the name of a new development agency for the Super City.
The city's 19 iwi were consulted,
council chief executive Stephen Town and Mayor Len Brown's office
were in the loop - but the city's 20 elected councillors only learned
about the Maori element on Monday.
The renaming of Development Auckland to
Panuku Development Auckland sparked a debate today about who is
running the Super City - the city's elected representatives or the
unelected directors of council-controlled organisations(CCOs) and
officers.
"This is not about the name or a
Maori issue," said councillor Dick Quax, "but an issue of
who ultimately runs this city because everybody else knew about it
but us."......
See full article HERE
Iwi back claim over Maori in prison
Two
Hawke's Bay iwi entities are backing a retired probation officer's
urgent claim in the Waitangi Tribunal alleging the Crown has failed
to cut the high number of Māori in prison and their reoffending.
Mr Hemopo said Māori in prison needed
to be able to reconnect with the Māori world and while that happened
to some extent, the system fell down when they got out.
"I know that tikanga Māori works
because over the years I've worked with many Māori offenders and
once they realised who they were, where they came, from the penny
dropped, and the reoffending stopped."
Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi chair Ngahiwi
Tomoana said Māori wanted to reverse the snowballing negative prison
statistics.
Corrections' current policies did not
recognise Māori rehabilitation processes and there was no trust in
engaging with a Māori approach to finding solutions in the justice
system, he said.
Mr Tomoana warned bringing in managers
from overseas, who had no understanding of the Treaty of Waitangi or
tikanga, was harming Māori......
See full article HERE
Encourage traditional medicine says
researcher
Researchers
studying traditional rongoā Māori say there is an urgent need to
increase the number of healers to stop the knowledge from being lost
forever.
Rongoā Māori is a holistic system of
healing derived from Māori philosophy and customs.....
See full article HERE
Customary claim to whitebait won't restrict access for everyone else
More needs to be done to preserve the
whitebait stocks, according to a South Taranaki woman fronting
a claim to have customary rights to the native fish officially
recognised by the Crown.
In 2005, three Ngaruahine hapu - Kanihi
Umutahi, Okahu-Inuawai and Ngati Manuhiakai - filed an application
for customary rights orders in the Maori Land Court under the
Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004. The applications were then transferred
to the High Court under the Marine and Coastal (Takutai Moana) Act
2011.
Now the group are about to enter into
talks with the Crown to advance the claim, which relates to South
Taranaki waterways, including the Waihi Creek to the Ngaere Stream
and the mouth of the Waingongoro River.
Noble said whitebait has cultural
significance to tangata whenua as it was not only a common food
source but it had been part of the Maori economy over the years too.
"Whitebait is something that Maori
have traded for generations," she said......
See full article HERE
Minister sidelines Kohanga Reo board
In
an unprecedented move, Education Minister Hekia Parata has dealt
directly with Kohanga learning centres, sidelining the National Trust
board.
The Trust board has governed Kohanga
Reo since 1983.
Two years ago she called a number of
inquiries into spending and financial management at the Trust.
An audit and later a Serious Fraud
Office investigation found a series of wrongdoings amounting to gross
mismanagement.
Ms Parata said she was dissatisfied
with changes at the Trust since then.
Now she has written directly to the 460
Kohanga Reo, saying she expected a new governance that was truly
representative and auditable.
Ms Parata said that was a pre-requisite
for resuming discussions on the Treaty of Waitangi claim and said
there had been a lot of misinformation and half truths....
See full article HERE
Northland iwi looks at peat mining
proposal
A
Northland iwi is looking at a proposal for a new peat extraction
industry for former wetlands in the Far North.
Ngai Takoto has been in discussions
with private company Resin and Wax Holdings Ltd and economic
development agency Northland Inc.....
See full article HERE
CYF private sector moves worry
social work expert
"From a Māori perspective the
risks are enormous. Unless all the Māori children were to be
channelled into a service that was developed in partnership with iwi
they risk being lost in systems where their whānau, hapū, iwi
connections will not be maintained.
"I would be very worried about
further alienation."
"Māori are over-presented as CYF
clients, more than half the children in care are Māori, if you were
to look at the contracting out of care, that potentially increases
the risk of them not being in culturally appropriate
placements."......
See full article HERE
Second iwi threatening court action
A
second iwi is threatening court action following the Māori King's
announcement that Tainui Waikato has treaty claims in Auckland.
Last week Auckland iwi Ngāti Whātua
Ōrākei announced it was heading to court to get clarification of
the Crown's policy on overlapping claims.
Ngāti Pāoa negotiator Mo-rehu Wilson
said it was disappointing iwi who had already settled were resorting
to the High Court to attempt to renegotiate with the Crown......
See full article HERE
High Court instructs Tribunal to
reconsider Ngāti Kahu claim
The High Court has ruled in favour of
Archdeacon Timoti Flavell's judicial review application on behalf of
Ngāti Kahu iwi, one of five iwi of the Far North requesting to have
their binding recommendations claim heard again by the Waitangi
Tribunal who declined their request in 2013.
Ngāti Kahu chair Professor Margaret
Mutu says, although their claims are a long way away from reaching a
treaty settlement, the decision is promising.
The chair of Ngāti Kahu Rūnanga
acknowledges that there is a long process ahead of them......
See full article HERE
Dover Samuels on being beaten for
speaking te reo Māori at school
Māori
political veteran Dover Samuels is expected to give evidence to the
Waitangi Tribunal today about a subject he has never spoken of before
in public - the brutal punishment of young Māori children in the
1940s for speaking te reo Māori at school.
The tribunal is sitting in Mr Samuels'
home community of Matauri Bay in Northland this week to hear the
claims of locals and Whangaroa hapu in its long-running
inquiry into the historical grievances of Ngāpuhi and other northern
iwi.
Mr Samuels - a former Labour minister
and the chair of the Northland Regional Council's Māori advisory
committee - told Radio New Zealand's Northland reporter, Lois
Williams, about the beatings he endured as a small boy who had only
ever spoken Māori at home.
"You'd be hauled out in front of
the rest of the class, in front of your own whanau, and told to bend
over. The teacher would have - he had this container, which had a
number of vines of supplejack out of the bush not far from the
school... You'd bend over and he'd stand back and give you, what they
called it then, six of the best," he said.
Mr Samuels said he would like to see an
apology made to the nation, and suggested a scholarship fund could be
set up for the descendants of those who were beaten.
"I think that would go some way -
along with a really genuine apology - to a generation of Māori
children that, really, many people have tried to actually cover up
and forget about, simply because it was something of the past."
....
See full article HERE
Water New Zealand applauds council
and iwi for first
Water New Zealandis applauding Gisborne
District Council and Ngati Porou for working together in forming an
agreement, the first of its kind, in relation to the co-management of
the Waiapu River under the Resource Management Act.
“This agreement shows a willingness
of council to work with the Maori community on river management
issues that are of interest to the local community, says Water New
Zealand CEO, John Pfahlert.
“Up until now the only other
co-management arrangements have been ones based on specific changes –
Whanganui and Waikato rivers as part of Treaty settlements.
“The Resource Management Act provides
for the establishment of joint management agreements under section 36
– this doesn’t apply just to just rivers but the management of
any resources with another party.
The agreement provides for the
development of a catchment management plan and joint decision making
on how water is used: quality, quantity, limits and targets.
Mr Pfahlert says he hopes to see more
collaboration between iwi and councils in the future....
See full article HERE
Carpentry course for Maori students
comes to Timaru
Budding Maori and Pacific carpenters in
the region now have the chance to learn a trade through a Maori
trades training programme.
The He Toki ki te Rika programme
starts on Wednesday and will be the first of its kind offered in
Timaru.
The course takes up to 16 Maori
and Pasifika students, who will train in carpentry free of
charge.....
See full article HERE
Sir Edmund Hillary's daughter
applauds 'beautiful' new NZ banknotes
While the notes have similar themes to
the existing issue, they are noticeably brighter and will include
more Maori design.
They will also have Te Putea Matua -
the Maori name for the central bank - printed on them for the first
time.....
See full article HERE
Waitangi Tribunal Claim Filed Against
Corrections Alleges Too Many Māori in Prison And Reoffending
Tom Hemopo, a retired probation
officer, has today filed an urgent claim to the Waitangi Tribunal on
behalf of himself and his iwi alleging Crown failures to reduce the
number of Maori in prison and high reoffending rates.
The ‘Corrections Claim’ targets the
Department of Corrections which has failed to reduce high rates of
reoffending by Māori and has the support of two Hawkes Bay iwi
entities - Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated and Ngāti Pāhauwera
Development Trust.
Māori comprise 15% of the population,
but make up the highest percentage of all convictions. Half of all
men and 63% of all women in prison are Māori. Despite Corrections
dealing with high numbers of Māori offenders, the reoffending rates
for the group are significantly higher than for any other ethnicity.
A 2009 Corrections report found that five years after release from
prison, 77% of Māori offenders were reconvicted, and 58% were back
in prison.
“I am asking the Tribunal to consider
this claim urgently because too many Māori are suffering right now
while the Crown ignores its failure to reduce the numbers of Māori
in prison and reoffending on release,” Tom Hemopo says.
“I hope by hearing this claim
urgently, the Tribunal will hold the Crown to account.....
See full article HERE
The
Maori sovereignty flag was seen flying high over Victoria St this
morning in the bronze hand of Gallipoli soldier and artist Horace
"Sapper" Moore-Jones.
Councillor Andrew King was on the scene
to monitor the flag's removal, and said he suspected it had gone up
overnight.....
See full article HERE
Action urged to improve water
quality and aquatic life
The Conference in Christchurch Friday
28-Sunday 30 August on Dialogues on Freshwater - Navigating impasses
& new approaches was organised by Environment and Conservation
Organisations of New Zealand (ECO).
Vowing to join together to tackle
declining water quality, and losses of our native animals and life in
water ways, conference attendees heard from Maori and Pakeha
specialists and reprentatives.
Eminent Maori jurist Sir Edward
Taihakurei Durie gave the opening address. He presented new proposals
for water allocation. These are founded on the principle of public
good and restoration of cultural relationships and knowledge.
That proposal would give priority
provision of water for ecosystems, and domestic uses over commercial
uses. Commercial users of water should pay for their use and
recognise the special customary use rights of hapu or iwi.
Funds from these payments would then be
used to protect and restore the water quallity and life in the lakes,
rivers and wetlands and to help Maori youth and others to reconnect
with their ancestral waters and management and cultural connections.
Dr Linda Te Aho, University of the
Waikato, applauded the advances that were occurring through Treaty
Settlements with the Waikato and Whanganui River. She said the
Whanganui River will have its own legal personality recognised and
protected by legally appointed advocates but more needs to be done to
redress the legacy of harm and to adopt the principle of
responsibility.
More than 100 iwi representatives,
specialists, members of the public and ECO member organisation
delegates from around New Zealand attended the meeting.
See full article HERE
Govt encourages Maori to get
involved in IT
The New Zealand Government has launched
a Maori Technology Scholarship to encourage more Maori into the
Information Technology sector.
Flavell also acknowledged Ngai Tahu,
which is the first iwi to invest in the programme, its committed
$25,000 towards placing tribal members in the programme.
See full article HERE
Owners among opponents of Lake
Horowhenua work
Three
members of the Lake Horowhenua Trust are among those opposed to the
latest steps to improve the health of the lake.
Horizons Regional Council received 27
submissions on resourse consents for a suite of cleanup activities at
Lake Horowhenua. Among the 11 submitters in opposition were Lake
Horowhenua trustees Eugene Henare, Vivian Taueki and Charles Rudd.
The trust represents the interests of
the approximately 1600 Maori owners of the lake and is elected by
them. The trust also has three seats on the Lake Domain Board and is
a member of the Lake Horowhenua Accord.
The trust was among the 15 submissions
in favour of the cleanup work, and the submissions from three members
against the work is a sign of the division within the trust over the
accord process.
Horisons Regional Council had sought
resource consent from itself, and from Horowhenua District Council to
operate a weed harvester on the lake, to build a fish pass between
the lake and the Hokio Stream and to build a sediment trap where the
Arawhata Stream flows into the lake.
Henare, a former chairman of the trust,
said in his submission he opposed all parts of consents applied for.
He said the council should "go
back to the beginning" and restart the application process by
holding a series of hui with lake owners and wider consultation with
the community.
Taueki submitted on behalf of the
Muaupoko Co-operative Society and said the work planned would have
serious impacts on taonga and wahi tapu sites at the lake. She also
wrote there had been a lack of consultation.
Rudd said Horizons did not have
jurisdiction over the area; this was instead held by the Maori Land
Court. He said the application was a form of "alienation of
Maori land by stealth" as well as a form of "institutional
racism".
The trust submission said the cleanup
work planned would meet its aspirations for the lake and would have a
positive effect on the environment.....
See full article HERE
Former All Black's rugby pub 'an insult to Maori culture'
Former
All Black Byron Kelleher has been slammed for cultural insensitivity
over the launch of his new pub Haka
Corner.
The 57-test star is preparing to open
the sports bar in his home city of Toulouse, and there are also plans
to extend to other French cities.
But Maori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell and his predecessor Sir Pita Sharples have criticised its linking of the traditional Maori war cry with a booze outlet.
"This is blatant piggy-backing off
Maori culture and is out of order," Flavell said.
"To make money from associating
drinking alcohol with Maori people is completely unacceptable and
shows no credibility or integrity.....
See full article HERE
Justice system needs overhaul to
reduce Maori crime - expert
Statistics show Maori are more likely
to be arrested and get a prison term and less likely to get home
detention or a fine.
They also make up more than 50 percent
of New Zealand’s prison population.
Auckland University senior law lecturer
Khylee Quince told TV ONE’s Q&A programme it's time for a new
way of dealing with crime and punishment.
Ms Quince says she’s also advocating
for a separate justice system to be introduced for Maori in the long
term.
“People tend to act more favourably
towards people that look like them and speak the same language and so
when you translate that into the decisions of judges, of police
officers, of people in the system, than that negatively impacts on
people that aren’t represented.” She said.....
See full article HERE
A
UNANIMOUS vote by Gisborne District Council has given the go-ahead
for a joint management agreement between the council and Te
Runanganui o Ngati Porou to manage the Waiapu River catchment, a
first of its kind in New Zealand.
After
listening to a presentation from the runanganui, the council
instructed staff to develop the agreement, which will come back to
the council’s October meeting for final adoption.
A packed public auditorium heard runanganui presenters Amo Houkamo and Tina Porou describe a historic “win-win” agreement that will allow the iwi to be involved in resource consent applications in the catchment. The sky would not fall because of the agreement, they told the council.....
See
full article HERE
Ngati Whatua Orakei seek clarity on
overlapping claims
Ngati Whatua has today filed papers in
the Auckland High Court to seek clarification of the Crown’s
process in negotiating Treaty of Waitangi settlements in Auckland.
Ngati Whatua Deputy Chair, Ngarimu
Blair, says the hapÅ« aims to get clarity on the Crown’s policy
regarding ‘overlapping claims’.
"This is about protecting our
settlements, not stopping anyone else’s.
"Ngati Whatua has been very
accommodating, constructive and flexible in its approach to achieve a
settlement for wider Auckland.
"We want all iwi in TÄmaki to
settle with the Crown. However, the Crown has a responsibility to
settle grievances honourably, without undermining existing
settlements.
"We have attempted to work through
this matter face to face, but as a Trust, we have a duty to protect
the interests of our members, and our mana. Our disagreement is with
the Crown, not other iwi."
Ngati Whatua says litigation was its
last option but it believes this action will ultimately benefit all
iwi who have settled, or will settle, with the Crown.....
See full article HERE
Maori Party Accuses Govt of
being Slum-Landlord
The
co-leader of the Maori Party has delivered a stinging attack on the
National-led Government, criticising it as a “slum landlord”.
Marama Fox – whose political party
actually props up the Government with a confidence and supply
agreement – said Thursday that until the Government brings its
state housing stock up to liveable standards it is “the biggest
slumlords of this country”....
See full article HERE
Bay of Plenty place names corrected
Land Information Minister Louise Upston
has today announced her decision to correct the spelling of 12 place
and feature names in the Opotiki District.
The names include such places as the
Waiotahi River, Waiotahi Forest and Waiotahi Knoll, which will be
corrected to the original Māori name ‘Waiotahe.’...
See full article HERE
Ngati Whatua will fight King's land-grab
For
generations, Ngati Whatua have been forced to defend our mana and
people when neighbouring iwi have come to claim our land and separate
us from the generations of our ancestors buried here.
The
speech by King Tuheitia Paki at the weekend was a fresh attempt to
take our lands and another surprising incursion into politics and
other matters unbecoming of the paramount chief of Tainui. An event
that should have brought Maori together was instead used for a poorly
timed land-grab by the poorly advised King.
The
distinctive and delicate nature of claims to Tamaki is the result of
a thousand years of migration and settlement by myriad hapu and iwi.
Over 400 years of migration, wars and
conquest saw hapu and iwi such as Ngaoho, Ngati Huarere, Ngati Awa,
Ngaiwi and Ngariki come and go.
Eventually they were displaced by the
large tribal group known as Waiohua around the early 1600s. Waiohua,
too, would be forced to move to another part of Tamaki as invaders
from the Kaipara took control of the main isthmus, including the
largest fortress at Maungakiekie, One Tree Hill.
The descendants of those Kaipara
invaders, who came to Tamaki to right a wrong, continue to live and
flourish upon the lands of their ancestors. Their headquarters are no
longer on that prominent summit, where a large obelisk now stands
above the remains of Sir John Logan Campbell bearing words of
farewell to the Maori race......
See full article HERE
Incarceration rate for Maori
children a stands out in Children’s Commissioner’s report of CYF
Two Maori child advocates say that the
high incarceration rate for Maori children is one of the most
shocking aspects of the Children’s Commissioner’s report of
Child, Youth and Family released today.
“58% of Child, Youth and Family’s
care and protection clients are Maori,” says Child Advocate Anton
Blank, “which confirms what we already know about tamariki Maori,
who experience more child abuse than other groups.
“Once they are part of the Child,
Youth and Family system, however, they are more likely to be taken
into care and spend time in Child, Youth and Family institutions. A
whopping 68% of children in these institutions are Maori.”
“Maori kids in CYF care talk about
the importance of cultural activities. Immersing tamariki Maori in
Maori culture generates tangible and positive change.
“This is something we experience with
the prevention of SUDI. Our research tells us that young Maori want
to experience a Maori narrative of parenting. They want to see Maori
imagery and words on our resources because these are things that
affirm their identity.”.....
See full article HERE
Treaty
settlements have led to co-management regimes for all sorts of
things, Waikato River, etc. Uncle Api was a pretty tough negotiator,
so Ngati Porou have a Treaty deal that guarantees them a fair bit of
say in what goes on along the Coast.
Most
New Zealanders don’t yet realise that the Government has negotiated
away the democratic control of land and resources, but even when they
wake up it will be too late.
And no good grumbling. When the TMO
makes a decision, that’s it, moaning doesn’t help.....
See
full article HERE
Funding crisis forces Far North iwi
to shut down services
A
Far North iwi has shut down its social services and ordered a special
audit to probe into its "challenging financial circumstances".
The Te Aupouri Trust Board announced
this morning that it has laid off 12 staff on the advice of its
financial advisers.
The board is funded through property
investments and holds government contracts for social work.
Mr Ihaka said he could not comment on
reports the board had an unexplained funding shortfall of several
hundred thousand dollars until auditors have investigated......
See full article HERE
Iwi protest over wastewater plans
The
Horowhenua District Council will continue with plans to pump
wastewater into land near Poutū Marae, despite iwi opposition.
Members of Ngāti Whakatere have been
protesting the plans outside the Shannon Wastewater Treatment plant
since Monday.
But Mr Clapperton said the plans would
eventually go ahead, saying the Environment Court had given it the
all-clear to discharge treated wastewater onto the land.
Local Māori claim the whenua was the
scene of an ancestral battle site, kainga (homes) and said there had
been an urupā (Māori cemetery) there too....
See full article HERE
Claim to rewrite Auckland history
The chief negotiator for
Waikato-Tainui, Tukoroirangi Morgan, says the tribe’s claim for
Auckland will rewrite the city’s historical narrative.
Mr Morgan says what was originally
known as the Huakina claim was initially lodged in 1987, shortly
after the Waitangi Tribunal’s scope was extended to include
historical claims.
It was revised in 1993 to cover issues
which would not be captured by the tribe’s Raupatu Claim
settlement, which covered the areas confiscated by the Crown after
its invasion in 1863.
He says it’s separate to the claims
of the Tainui hapu that are being dealt with as part of the Tamaki
Makaurau Collective.
Material gathered to back the claim
includes Governor Sir George Grey’s reports to the Colonial Office
about asking Te Wherowhero to protect Auckland from threatened
Ngapuhi raids.
Mr Morgan says Treaty Negotiations
Minister Christopher Finlayson has agreed the claim could go to
direct negotiation, and terms of negotiation are being prepared....
See full article HERE
Tukoroirangi Morgan threatens legal
action over Govt's land sell off
Tainui spokesperson Tukoroirangi Morgan
has threatened legal action over the government's surplus land sell
off in Auckland.
Morgan spoke to Waatea Radio this
morning and said the Huakina claim, lodged by Tainui in 1987
regarding their interests in the Auckland region had not been
resolved, and any land sell off would trigger court action.
The Prime Minister was surprised to
hear that Tainui could be heading to court if land pertaining to
their claim in Auckland is sold off...
See full article HERE
Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris
Finlayson has one message for Waikato-Tainui if it wants to begin
negotiating a claim over parts of Auckland - get a mandate and
specify your claims.
He said he had given Tukoroirangi
Morgan the same message about five times in the past.
"He nods and then nothing
happens," Mr Finlayson told the Herald.
"Mandates don't last forever."
Mr Finlayson said he had also formally
written to Waikato-Tainui two years ago setting out what needed to be
done if it had a claim to parts of Auckland.....
See full article HERE
Minister accused of holding up
treaty talks
The
Hauraki District's mayor says it is hugely disappointing that the
Hauraki Collective's treaty settlement negotiations have been stalled
since last December.
Mayor John Tregidga is urging Treaty
Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson to get on with settling the
claims in the Hauraki-Coromandel region.
The mayor said the negotiations were
around 99 percent complete, but the minister had refused to negotiate
since some Hauraki iwi went to the Waitangi Tribunal over a separate
issue of representation on a pan-iwi governance forum in Bay of
Plenty.
Mr Tregidga said the delay was a missed
opportunity for the region, as he understands the Hauraki iwi would
have a balance sheet of about $200 million once the settlement was
complete.
"That would make them the biggest
business people within the Hauraki District, the Hauraki region, so
it is significant," he said....
See full article HERE
Iwi claim consultation was just 'lip
service'
A Shannon iwi plan to picket outside
the town's wastewater treatment plant until they feel their concerns
have been heard by Horowhenua District Council.
Ngati Whakatere are protesting what
they say is a lack of consultation over plans to discharge Shannon's
wastewater on to a neighbouring farm, which is owned by the council.
Spokesman Robert Ketu told
the Manawatu Standard on Monday morning the iwi felt like
it had only received "lip service" from the council and
that its concerns over the disturbance of wahi tapu and other sites
of significance on the farm were not being taken seriously.
Council chief executive David
Clapperton met with iwi members on Monday afternoon and said he was
confident their concerns could be resolved.
Clapperton says that over the past two
years the consultation with the iwi and all other affected parties
had been thorough, transparent and meaningful.
Ketu said any work on implementing
the land-based discharge system, which received resource consent from
the Environment Court in 2014, should be halted until the iwi and
council had met.
"We want them to sit down with us
and understand the tikanga and the kawa that connects us to this
land," Ketu said.
Clapperton said that the resource
consent conditions were developed in consultation with Ngati
Whakatere and other parties.....
See full article HERE
Usually universities are competing to
recruit school leavers but the exact opposite will be happening in
Northland.
Rather than each university
individually visiting schools encouraging students to choose them as
a study option, four universities will be visiting 11 Northland
schools together as a way of reaching out to Maori students.
Senior future student adviser Maori at
The University of Waikato, Alonzo Mason, said it was an approach that
best aligned with Maori culture and practice.....
See full article HERE
25 August 2015
Key: Auckland claim appears to have missed deadline
Key: Auckland claim appears to have missed deadline
Prime Minister John Key says it appears
the Kingitanga movement did not lodge a claim for parts of Auckland
by the 2008 deadline.
Waikato-based Maori King Tuheitia told
those gathered at Ngaruawahia's Turangawaewae Marae on Friday,
including Mr Key, he has launched a claim for much of the Auckland
region.
"To actually make a claim you had
to register by 2008 and we can't see anything at this point where
they have registered," Mr Key told the Paul Henry
programme......
See full article HERE
Iwi may buy more state houses
Ngāti
Ranginui is considering whether it can purchase a larger cut of the
state housing stock earmarked for sale in Tauranga.
Of the 1140 Tauranga state houses to be
sold off by the Government, 115 of them have been set aside for Ngāti
Ranginui to buy through its Treaty of Waitangi negotiations.
Mr Kawe said as with most iwi, the
financial compensation from settlement wasn't enough to cover
everything.....
See full article HERE
A HISTORIC agreement that would give
Ngati Porou the power to become involved in the management of the
Waiapu catchment — a first for Maori and the local authority in
this district — will be considered by Gisborne District Council on
Thursday.
Staff are recommending the council prepare a joint management agreement for the Waiapu catchment that would allow iwi to be involved in Resource Management Act processes within the catchment.
The agreement would see the runanganui involved in a number of planning processes.
A delegation from Te Runanganui o Ngati Porou will be present at the meeting. It will also include notification of the freshwater plan for the district, another process on which the runanganui wants to have an active role.....
Staff are recommending the council prepare a joint management agreement for the Waiapu catchment that would allow iwi to be involved in Resource Management Act processes within the catchment.
The agreement would see the runanganui involved in a number of planning processes.
A delegation from Te Runanganui o Ngati Porou will be present at the meeting. It will also include notification of the freshwater plan for the district, another process on which the runanganui wants to have an active role.....
See full article HERE
Taranaki Iwi Trust to finalise $70m
settlement with Crown
Taranaki Iwi Trust will formally sign
its $70m treaty settlement on September 5.
During July's initialling hearing,
Minister for Treaty of Negotiations Chris Finlayson said some of the
injustices suffered by the Taranaki Iwi Trust were the most
"significant and grave" injustices suffered by tangata
whenua in New Zealand.
In particular, the invasion of Parihaka
and the unfair imprisonment of prophets Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu
Kakahi were events which had left a legacy of hurt, he said......
See full article HERE
24 August 2015
Maori Land
Property rights come about in one of
two ways:
1. What in a pre-legal society might be referred to as “Customary Title.” This is not ownership at all, merely a temporary right of use or occupation, lasting only until extinguished by superior force.
1. What in a pre-legal society might be referred to as “Customary Title.” This is not ownership at all, merely a temporary right of use or occupation, lasting only until extinguished by superior force.
2. Legal ownership. This means the ability to exclude others by the force of law. The underlying requirement is a universally recognised, settled form of civil government that protects property owners against violent dispossession, and provides for ongoing security of tenure, i.e. “time without end in the land.”
Former Auckland University Professor of Maori Studies, Dr Ranginui Walker, has stated: “On the eve of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, there was not one inch of land in New Zealand without its Maori owners.”
Such an assertion, while politically
useful, is factually vacuous.
Prior to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in February 1840, there was no such thing as a collective “Maori.” Nor was there any settled form of civil government. The functional social unit of pre-European Maori society was the hapu, or sub-tribe. Each hapu was in a Hobbesian state of nature (“War of every man against every man”) with every other hapu, rendering life “nasty, brutish and short.”
In his book Maori Land Tenure: Studies of a Changing Institution (1977), Sir Hugh Kawharu sets out to fabricate a universally recognised body of Maori property rights pre-dating the Treaty of Waitangi. By implication, these were rudely subsumed by white-settler governments, who substituted their own Eurocentric notions of property ownership. This now widely accepted thesis is arrant nonsense designed to fudge or remove the fact that “Customary Title” is in practical terms no title at all.
Within the hapu-controlled estate, whanau groups sometimes enjoyed the exclusive rights of occupancy or usufruct that Kawharu has identified, but the only universally accepted concept of land ownership BETWEEN hapu was "Te rau o te patu" or "The Law of the Club."
This means that before 1840, though various Maori tribes were effectively the sole occupants of New Zealand, they were never owners. In the absence of a settled form of civil government, hapu merely used or occupied land only until someone else came along and took it off them.
Article I of the Treaty of Waitangi (the assumption of national sovereignty by the Crown) modified this position; also Article II, which purported to convert this ephemeral “Customary Title” into permanent legal ownership.
However, the Treaty was never meant to convey to Maori ownership of the entire land area of New Zealand. It was intended to secure the various hapu in a legal (as opposed to “Customary Title”) ownership of land that they actually used or occupied as at February 1840.
In practice, this meant ownership of land identifiably occupied and cultivated. It is ludicrous to propose that someone would expend more energy foraging for food than it would provide once found. So at a most generous assessment, such ownership might stretch to include perhaps one day’s hunting and gathering range around a Maori settlement.
Prior to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in February 1840, there was no such thing as a collective “Maori.” Nor was there any settled form of civil government. The functional social unit of pre-European Maori society was the hapu, or sub-tribe. Each hapu was in a Hobbesian state of nature (“War of every man against every man”) with every other hapu, rendering life “nasty, brutish and short.”
In his book Maori Land Tenure: Studies of a Changing Institution (1977), Sir Hugh Kawharu sets out to fabricate a universally recognised body of Maori property rights pre-dating the Treaty of Waitangi. By implication, these were rudely subsumed by white-settler governments, who substituted their own Eurocentric notions of property ownership. This now widely accepted thesis is arrant nonsense designed to fudge or remove the fact that “Customary Title” is in practical terms no title at all.
Within the hapu-controlled estate, whanau groups sometimes enjoyed the exclusive rights of occupancy or usufruct that Kawharu has identified, but the only universally accepted concept of land ownership BETWEEN hapu was "Te rau o te patu" or "The Law of the Club."
This means that before 1840, though various Maori tribes were effectively the sole occupants of New Zealand, they were never owners. In the absence of a settled form of civil government, hapu merely used or occupied land only until someone else came along and took it off them.
Article I of the Treaty of Waitangi (the assumption of national sovereignty by the Crown) modified this position; also Article II, which purported to convert this ephemeral “Customary Title” into permanent legal ownership.
However, the Treaty was never meant to convey to Maori ownership of the entire land area of New Zealand. It was intended to secure the various hapu in a legal (as opposed to “Customary Title”) ownership of land that they actually used or occupied as at February 1840.
In practice, this meant ownership of land identifiably occupied and cultivated. It is ludicrous to propose that someone would expend more energy foraging for food than it would provide once found. So at a most generous assessment, such ownership might stretch to include perhaps one day’s hunting and gathering range around a Maori settlement.
At the time the Treaty was signed, even
in the vastly more populous North Island, such settlements were
typically few and far between.
The North Island in 1840 was home to an estimated 100, 000 Maori. Ernest Dieffenbach, a German-born naturalist who travelled throughout the North Island in 1844, reported that "even in the areas of greatest Maori habitation, there are huge tracts of land, even up to hundreds of miles, between the various tribes [hapu]."
The South Island lay practically deserted. Edward Shortland's 1846 census found some 2, 500 Ngai Tahu, resident at several coastal locations. To suggest that 2, 500 people [a] lived on; [b] cultivated; or [c] hunted and gathered over more than 13 million hectares of land is arrant nonsense.
Even in the North Island, aside from the immediate areas around a Maori settlement, the "waste lands" were uninhabited, unimproved, uncultivated, and untrod by human feet, other than those of an occasional war party or traveller. Since the forcible exclusion of other groups was in practical terms impossible, the “waste lands” had no “Customary Title” owners to become legal owners under Article II of the Treaty.
The mischievous notion that Maori “owned” land and associated resources they neither used nor occupied was a fiction propounded in the 1840s and 1850s by the missionaries. They were well aware that the Crown had little money for land purchasing. The missionary agenda was to keep secular, worldly Pakeha confined to areas already settled, thus ensuring missionaries remained the only European influence in the all-Maori hinterlands they sought to Christianise.
The Crown was obliged to accept this misinformation because it had a mere handful of troops available to enforce its edicts against 100, 000 well-armed and potentially warlike Maori. Once Maori learned that the Treaty supposedly gave them title to the entire land area of New Zealand, each hapu became an instant "owner" of huge tracts of "waste land" adjoining its settlement(s). Naturally, this created multiple competing “ownership” claims.
To convey a clear title to subsequent purchasers and ensure incoming settlers went unmolested, the Crown was obliged to extinguish this Maori "ownership" by paying all purported claimants. In many early land purchases the Crown paid out anyone asserting a right to be paid.
The Native [now Maori] Land Court was originally set up to deal with these competing claims to the “waste lands.” "Ownership" was typically awarded to whoever could spin the most convincing whakapapa about how his remote ancestor had travelled over the land 500 years before naming natural features after parts of his body.
Had the missionaries not queered the pitch for the Crown, the "waste lands" and appurtenant rights would have simply been assumed by all to be vested in the Crown, to be held, managed, onsold, or otherwise used for the benefit of ALL New Zealanders, irrespective of race.
"Appurtenant rights" of course include those associated with the foreshore and seabed, which in any event fall outside the scope of any rights purportedly reserved to "Maori" under the Treaty.
The English Treaty version at Article II refers to "fisheries." This is simply the right for Maori to go fishing and gather shellfish. Since Article III conveys to individual Maori “all the rights and privileges of British Subjects,” the Crown holding the seabed and foreshore in public ownership clearly fulfils these requirements.
Correctly interpreted, the Treaty establishes no exclusive rights for today’s mixed-blooded New Zealanders whose Maori ancestors signed the Treaty to control any of New Zealand's foreshore and seabed, let alone clip the ticket for activities not in contemplation at the time that the Treaty was signed.
Corporate Iwi claims to seabed and foreshore are already being mounted on the basis of maps such as those accessed via the links below below:
http://www.takoa.co.nz/iwi_maps_north.htm
http://www.takoa.co.nz/iwi_maps_south.htm
As the foregoing discussion demonstrates, this “Map of Europe” approach with its arbitrarily drawn “frontiers” is yet another trougher-fabricated nonsense.
Since Maori owned nothing in 1840, the foreshore and seabed are resources that should rightly remain vested in public ownership for the benefit of ALL New Zealanders, not passed to self-identified, self-interested, minority groups.
The North Island in 1840 was home to an estimated 100, 000 Maori. Ernest Dieffenbach, a German-born naturalist who travelled throughout the North Island in 1844, reported that "even in the areas of greatest Maori habitation, there are huge tracts of land, even up to hundreds of miles, between the various tribes [hapu]."
The South Island lay practically deserted. Edward Shortland's 1846 census found some 2, 500 Ngai Tahu, resident at several coastal locations. To suggest that 2, 500 people [a] lived on; [b] cultivated; or [c] hunted and gathered over more than 13 million hectares of land is arrant nonsense.
Even in the North Island, aside from the immediate areas around a Maori settlement, the "waste lands" were uninhabited, unimproved, uncultivated, and untrod by human feet, other than those of an occasional war party or traveller. Since the forcible exclusion of other groups was in practical terms impossible, the “waste lands” had no “Customary Title” owners to become legal owners under Article II of the Treaty.
The mischievous notion that Maori “owned” land and associated resources they neither used nor occupied was a fiction propounded in the 1840s and 1850s by the missionaries. They were well aware that the Crown had little money for land purchasing. The missionary agenda was to keep secular, worldly Pakeha confined to areas already settled, thus ensuring missionaries remained the only European influence in the all-Maori hinterlands they sought to Christianise.
The Crown was obliged to accept this misinformation because it had a mere handful of troops available to enforce its edicts against 100, 000 well-armed and potentially warlike Maori. Once Maori learned that the Treaty supposedly gave them title to the entire land area of New Zealand, each hapu became an instant "owner" of huge tracts of "waste land" adjoining its settlement(s). Naturally, this created multiple competing “ownership” claims.
To convey a clear title to subsequent purchasers and ensure incoming settlers went unmolested, the Crown was obliged to extinguish this Maori "ownership" by paying all purported claimants. In many early land purchases the Crown paid out anyone asserting a right to be paid.
The Native [now Maori] Land Court was originally set up to deal with these competing claims to the “waste lands.” "Ownership" was typically awarded to whoever could spin the most convincing whakapapa about how his remote ancestor had travelled over the land 500 years before naming natural features after parts of his body.
Had the missionaries not queered the pitch for the Crown, the "waste lands" and appurtenant rights would have simply been assumed by all to be vested in the Crown, to be held, managed, onsold, or otherwise used for the benefit of ALL New Zealanders, irrespective of race.
"Appurtenant rights" of course include those associated with the foreshore and seabed, which in any event fall outside the scope of any rights purportedly reserved to "Maori" under the Treaty.
The English Treaty version at Article II refers to "fisheries." This is simply the right for Maori to go fishing and gather shellfish. Since Article III conveys to individual Maori “all the rights and privileges of British Subjects,” the Crown holding the seabed and foreshore in public ownership clearly fulfils these requirements.
Correctly interpreted, the Treaty establishes no exclusive rights for today’s mixed-blooded New Zealanders whose Maori ancestors signed the Treaty to control any of New Zealand's foreshore and seabed, let alone clip the ticket for activities not in contemplation at the time that the Treaty was signed.
Corporate Iwi claims to seabed and foreshore are already being mounted on the basis of maps such as those accessed via the links below below:
http://www.takoa.co.nz/iwi_maps_north.htm
http://www.takoa.co.nz/iwi_maps_south.htm
As the foregoing discussion demonstrates, this “Map of Europe” approach with its arbitrarily drawn “frontiers” is yet another trougher-fabricated nonsense.
Since Maori owned nothing in 1840, the foreshore and seabed are resources that should rightly remain vested in public ownership for the benefit of ALL New Zealanders, not passed to self-identified, self-interested, minority groups.
January 10, 2015
23 August 2015
National’s
indulgence for Maori separatism is leading to ever more ludicrous
claims, this time Tainui for Auckland, which was announced by the
Prime Minister himself, says New Zealand First Leader and Member of
Parliament for Northland Rt Hon Winston Peters.
“Imagine how much taxpayer cash Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Chris Finlayson will need to stump up the costs for a Crown negotiator for a settlement like this.
“In all seriousness National is keen
to put iwi before Kiwi and that’s not something people voted for.
“Only last month Environment Minister
Nick Smith confirmed National was negotiating with many iwi over
demands for water ownership. This hitherto had been denied by
National.
“And when the Auditor-General found
absolutely no evidence of value for money from the $140 million spent
on Whānau Ora, National didn’t scrap it. Instead they massively
increased the budget.
“You know this is not the National
Party of old when Whangarei MP, Dr Shane Reti, supposedly a medical
doctor, stands up in Parliament to bemoan how little is being spent
on ‘Maori spiritual health’.
“As New Zealand First warned, these
claims set iwi against iwi and iwi against the rest of New Zealand
“National has indulged Maori
separatism and is now attracting patently absurd claims like Tainui’s
for Auckland,” says Mr Peters.....
See full article HERE
Auckland iwi closely watch Maori
King's claim
Ngati Whatua Orakei say any new Treaty
of Waitangi settlements in the Auckland region must not undermine
existing settlements.
The Auckland-based hapu issued a
statement today after Waikato-based Maori King Tuheitia launched a
claim for much of the Auckland region.
King Tuheitia told those gathered at
Turangawaewae Marae on Friday, including Prime Minister John Key, he
wanted to see the claim through.
The king's spokesman Tukoroirangi
Morgan acknowledged the claim would challenge with Auckland-based
iwi.
Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris
Finlayson had agreed to hear the claim, he said.
Ngati Whatua Orakei deputy chair,
Ngarimu Blair, says the hapu has a long-standing relationship with
Tainui and the Kingitanga.
"In fact we gifted land to them
within Tamaki in the 1830s," he said.
Ngati Whatua Orakei had lived in
central Auckland for centuries and would be watching this claim and
others very closely, he said.
Meanwhile Ngapuhi leader David Rankin
announced plans are underway for Ngapuhi to make a Treaty claim on
the greater Auckland area.
Mr Rankin says there are many sites in
Auckland that are sacred, and Ngapuhi's presence there, the single
biggest Maori population in Auckland, dates back centuries.
"Historically, and because of
current occupation, Auckland is a Ngapuhi city first and foremost."
Ngapuhi will claim a breach of the
Treaty occurred because the Crown ignored Ngapuhi when settling the
Auckland claim with Ngati Whatua.
Mr Rankin says he decided to make
Ngaipuhi's claim public after Tuheitia's announcement, but plans to
lay a claim go back five years.
"The King of Huntly is being a bit
cheeky. His ancestors didn't even sign the Treaty and now he wants a
piece of the action. But Ngapuhi's message to him is clear: keep out
of Auckland until we've finished with it!"
See full article HERE
Iwi could make joint claim, says
historian
The new claim covers the area from the
Mahurangi Peninsula in the north down to the Firth of Thames, across
to the Manukau Harbour and up to Piha on the west coast.
History professor at Auckland
University of Technology Paul Moon said Tainui and Ngāti Whātua
jointly opposed the Government's recent move to open up land in
Auckland for housing, which showed the iwi have been co-operating
closely on the issue.
He said it was likely the two iwi had
been negotiating for some time and the new claim was part of a joint
effort to get their historical rights recognised.
Professor Moon said while new
historical treaty claims are not possible, the iwi could claim the
Crown failed to recognise Tainui's historical links to Auckland when
it negotiated a settlement with Ngāti Whātua.....
See full article HERE
Ngapuhi claim on Auckland “now
almost certain
The Ngapuhi leader David Rankin has
announced that plans are already well under way for Ngaphui to make a
Treaty claim on the greater Auckland area. It comes just a day after
the Maori King Tuheitia said that Tainui were also planning to make a
claim on Auckland.
Mr Rankin says that Ngapuhi’s history
in Auckland extends back for several centuries, and that there are
numerous sites in the city that are sacred to the iwi. He also points
out that Ngapuhi make up the single biggest Maori population in
Auckland, “so historically, and because of current occupation,
Auckland is a Ngapuhi city first and foremost.”
The basis of the claim will be that
because the Crown ignored Ngapuhgi when settling the Auckland claim
with Ngati Whatua, a breach of the Treaty occurred.
Mr Rankin says Ngapuhi’s plans for a
claim go back five years, and he decided to make them public after
Tuheitia’s announcement. “In a way”, he says, “the King of
Huntly is being a bit cheeky. His ancestors didn’t even sign the
Treaty and now he wants a piece of the action. But Ngapuhi’s
message to him is clear: keep out of Auckland until we’ve finished
with it!”.....
See full article HERE
Climate change warning for
marae
A
Maori environmental campaigner says Maori need to factor in climate
change when considering treaty settlement and development options.
Mike Smith says a new report by former
NASA climate scientist saying there is increased likelihood of a
three metre sea level rise within 35 years has major consequences for
low lying areas like Awanui in the Far North.
It will be made worse by the increasing
number of extreme weather events such as tropical cyclones, and storm
surges could turn the Aupouri Peninsula into an island.
That has consequences for the way
settlement money is spent.....
See full article HERE
King Tuheitia delivers his address
at Koroneihana 2015
In addressing matters of the nation,
King Tuheitia outlined he was pleased with the progress that has been
made with Treaty Settlements and congratulated Ngāti Kahungunu on
their achievements, while offering them and other iwi the support of
Tainui.
He also outlined his strong support for
Māori sovereignty while promising to ensure the relevance of the
Kīngitanga is maintained.....
See full article HERE
22 August 2015
Maori
King Tuheitia has launched a claim for Auckland extending to the
Mahurangi Peninsula and down the Firth of Thames and across to the
Manukau Harbour and Piha.
He told more than 500 people gathered
at Turangawaewae Marae in Ngaruawahia, including Prime Minister John
Key, he was determined to see the claim through.
"It must be done," Tuheitia
said on Friday. "I am determined to do it with the start of the
Kingitanga Claim in Tamaki."...
See full article HERE
Taniwha Springs returned to Ngāti
Rangiwewehi
After almost half a century Ngāti
Rangiwewehi can now celebrate the return of Pekehaua Springs, more
commonly known as Taniwha Springs.
Last night a unanimous vote from the
Rotorua Lakes council was reached for the ownership to be transferred
from the council to the iwi.
In 1966 the springs were taken under
the Public Works Act for public water supply purposes and vested in
the Rotorua County Council at the time.
Ngāti Rangiwewehi has always mourned
the loss of their taonga saying the taking was morally wrong.
It holds strong historic cultural
significance to Ngāti Rangiwewehi and are regarded as precious
taonga. They are regarded as the traditional home of the taniwha
Pekehaua - a central figure of local traditions - and the place where
the tribe's life springs from.
In 2012 Ngāti Rangiwewehi Settlement
couldn't get the land back under current council jurisdiction. But
now a new agreement between the iwi and council puts Ngāti
Rangiwewehi at the negotiating table.....
See full article HERE
Tangata whenua chapter approved
despite concerns
Concerns
raised by an experienced lawyer did not stop Queenstown Lakes
councillors from approving a tangata whenua chapter for its district
plan yesterday.
The chapter will go out for public
consultation.
Some adjustments were made by
councillors yesterday, but Anderson Lloyd consultant Warwick
Goldsmith, a planning specialist in Queenstown for 20 years,
confirmed afterwards he still had concerns.
Before yesterday's extraordinary
council meeting to consider the chapter, Mr Goldsmith warned
councillors over certain sections.
One part said that when the council was
making resource management decisions, it ''gives effect to'' iwi
management plans.
Several councillors shared Mr
Goldsmith's concerns and those words were changed to ''takes into
account''.
Another section on managing wahi tupuna
(ancestral landscapes) stipulated it would ''protect them from the
adverse effects of subdivision, use and development.''
Mr Goldsmith - who endorsed Ngai Tahu's
involvement in the planning process - suggested the council wait
until those areas were identified before approval.
''If the wahi tupuna end up being very
broad then that policy to protect them from subdivision and
development is a lot stronger than the landscape policy.''
While councillors made other
adjustments, the wahi tupuna section was unchanged.
Mr Goldsmith said after the meeting he
expected it to be challenged.
''We don't know what the wahi tupuna
are - yet there's a policy to protect them.''
A council analysis of the chapter said
consent applicants may face increased costs because of additional
consultation and iwi involvement. .....
See full article HERE
21 August 2015
The
Kohanga Reo National Trust says the Ministry of Education is still
marginalising the movement by promoting other early learning options.
It has been nearly three years since
the Waitangi Tribunal found the Crown prejudiced kohanga reo by
imposing a funding regime that incentivises centres led by teachers.
Kohanga Reo National Trust co-chair
Tina Olsen-Ratana said the funding regime clearly showed the
government's intent to marginalise kohanga reo and discount it, and
incentivise groups and people to puna reo.
"It was clearly found by the
Waitangi Tribunal, and they are still doing it today.".....
See full article HERE
Ambulance patients to benefit from
new initiative
Ambulance patients in the Nelson Tasman
region are the first in the country to benefit from a initiative to
better connect people with appropriate health services before they
require urgent care.
The pathway included referrals to the
maori health provider Te Piki Oranga as St John had identified the
disproportionate impact of health issues for Maori and the need to
ensure Maori were being referred and linked to appropriate health
services.......
See full article HERE
Maori screen workers asked to work
cheap
Maori screen industry organisation Nga
Aho Whakaari says workers are paying for systemic under-funding of
Maori broadcasting.
The roopu is surveying members who make
up 20 percent of Maori in the sector.
Preliminary results show that two
thirds of respondents have been asked to work more than 10-hours a
day and they are increasingly being asked to work for less pay or
nothing because the kaupapa is Maori.
Acting executive director Hineani
Melbourne says the online survey, which closes this week is putting
some hard data behind the anecdotes.
She says when National became the
Government they froze funding for Maori Television and other
broadcasters, but demand continues to grow with more programmes being
produced.....
See full article HERE
20 August 2015
The
recently appointed chief executive of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori
Ngahiwi Apanui says its his aim to have everyone in the country
speaking Maori.
He says by 2050 the majority of New
Zealanders will be Maori, Pasifika and Asian with Pakeha a minority
of largely superannuitants.
Ngahiwi Apanui says his job is to put
the building blocks in place to ensure te reo Maori is in very good
heart not just for Maori but the country.
"Our people will be the engine
room of this country and our people will be leading it. So it's
important that we at Te Taura Whiri our long term goal is that the
whole of the country speaks Maori. We are not going to achieve that
probably in my time but I tell you what mate while I'm at Te Taura
Whiri I'll going to give it a damn good job trying to make it happen"
he says.
Ngahiwi Apanui says Maori language and
culture are essential for the leadership the country requires....
See full article HERE
TPP opponents head back to Waitangi
Tribunal
Trans
Pacific Partnership (TPP) opponents are set to go back to the
Waitangi Tribunal to ask it to consider what the Crown needs to do to
meet its Treaty obligations to Māori during trade negotiations.
Ms Ertel said the claimants will also
ask the tribunal to consider what input Māori should have had into
the TPP negotiations and its final text.
Moana Jackson, one of the claimants,
said the Crown had obligations to consult with its Māori Treaty
partner, and ensure that Māori views were taken into account.....
See full article HERE
Shake-up for Māori language funding
The
Māori Language Commission has changed its registration and
application process for this year's round of Mā Te Reo funding.
The changes mean that any individual,
group, marae, hapū or whānau seeking funding must now use the new
online system, Pūnaha Pūtea, which is available on the commission's
website.
Mā Te Reo funding opened at the start
of Māori language week on July the 27th and is for anyone wanting to
deliver Te Reo revitalisation programmes.
Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori will be
giving out between $1.8 and $2.5 million worth of funding this
year......
See full article HERE
TPK spending millions on contractors
The
Ministry of Maori Development, Te Puni Kokiri, has spent nearly $3
million on contractors already this year.
The numbers have risen sharply despite
the chief executive's pledge in 2013 to reduce spending on
consultants.
Last month the organisation, which
employs about 250 people, spent $669,000 on contractors and in June
it was $487,000, bringing the total already this year to nearly $3
million.
Twenty-one staff members have left Te
Puni Kokiri during the past 10 months, including one of its deputy
chief executives.
Documents handed to Radio New Zealand
show that as permanent staff left the bill for contractors rose
swiftly......
See full article HERE
19 August 2015
Raniera Tau has appeared in the
Invercargill District Court this morning charged with unlawful
possession of kererū and another charge of hunting kererū.
Te Kāea reporter Harata Brown was in
court and says he had with him a support group of around 4 Kaumatua
and Kuia.
Mr Tau pleaded guilty to unlawful
possession of kererū, however he has pled not guilty to hunting or
killing protected wildlife.
The case will again be heard before the
Invercargill District Court on the 28th of September for a review
hearing.....
See full article HERE
Māori Party push for WoF for rental
homes to help alleviate poverty
The Māori Party is putting Warrant of
Fitness (WoF) for rental houses back on their agenda to help
alleviate poverty in our communities.
The Child Poverty Action Group is
calling on the government to enforce a WoF on rental housing, and the
Māori Party are backing them all the way....
See full article HERE
Waikato Iwi against Landcorp
conversions
A
Waikato River iwi says Landcorp's conversion of forestry to dairy
farms in its rohe goes against the purpose of its Treaty Settlement.
The state-owned enterprise plans to add
more than 29,000 cows to upper Waikato farms it is converting from
forestry.
The Green Party wants it to stop,
saying the effluent from the cows will pollute the Waikato River.
Ngāti Koroki Kahukura spokesperson
Linda Te Aho agreed, and said the plans did not align with the Māori
world view......
See full article HERE
A
popular beachfront restaurant at Long Bay Regional Park is facing its
third summer of closure as owner Auckland Council tries to meet
concerns of iwi and archaeologists over ancient human bones found on
the site.
The restaurant closed in May 2013 after
12 years of operation so that the council could refurbish it.
However work has stopped twice when
koiwi or pre-European bones were uncovered.
When koiwi are found, the Police
contact the iwi to ensure protocol for removal and decisions for
reinterment are culturally appropriate.
Long Bay, in the urban north-eastern
bays has a million visitors a year and at its peak, the restaurant
employed 25 people.
"It's a million-dollar amenity.
Very few places equal this one, right on the beach." ....
See full article HERE
Rakiura Maori Lands Trust and Real
Journeys team up
Kiwi-spotting on Stewart Island could
be the first venture between Rakiura Maori Lands Trust and Real
Journeys after they signed a partnership agreement this month.
The two parties said they were looking
for new tourism opportunities to help grow world-class visitor
experiences on Rakiura-Stewart Island.
The trust is the largest private
landowner on New Zealand's third largest island, while Real Journeys
operates the ferries to the island, Stewart Island Lodge and various
tours....
See full article HERE
Top Energy bid to use Treaty land
'hugely offensive'
The Parahirahi C1 Trust, which
represents local hapū in the rohe, is angry the company wants to
expand its activities while its claim over ownership is still before
the Waitangi Tribunal.
The company is seeking a Notice of
Requirement at a Resource Consent Hearing in Kerikeri to use land
called the Four Acres for an access road.
But that land is currently leased to
the Parahirahi C1 Trust as an interim settlement while efforts to
return it to Māori ownership continue.....
See full article HERE
Many Māori feel disenfranchised
says Davis
Mr Davis said there was not enough
Māori representation in local government given that tāngata whenua
were a Treaty partner.
He said the current government system
was not ideal.
"Māori just seem disenfranchised
and feel disenfranchised by this whole system, we feel to an extent
that it is rigged against us....
See full article HERE
Te Aka Puaho calls on Māori to
support Turakina as 'Taonga'
Te Aka Puaho has called on Māori
politicians, Iwi leaders, the New Zealand Māori Council, the Māori
Womens Welfare League, Māori organisations, Māori Boarding Schools,
School Boards and whanau to advocate for the protection of Māori
Boarding Schools as Taonga......
See full article HERE
Much could be done to make people of
other cultures more comfortable in New Zealand, but the Treaty of
Waitangi should still be the basis for it, a new report says.
Participants endorsed the
recommendations on the Treaty of Waitangi made by the Constitutional
Advisory Panel in December 2013. Some were concerned multiculturalism
might overtake biculturalism. They wanted Maori rights and
responsibilities under the treaty carried forward. .....
See full article HERE
Iwi input is embedded in environmental
planning decisions, with the Hawke's Bay Regional Planning Committee
Bill about to become law.
Hawke's Bay Regional Council chairman
Fenton Wilson was at the final reading of the bill in Parliament last
week, with "a large contingent of our treaty partners".
He said the committee worked well,
involving iwi in the early stages of consent applications.
In the past, iwi were an "interested
bystander" until proposals were made public.
"Iwi now has a table right at the
start."
Hastings mayor and president of Local
Government New Zealand Lawrence Yule said the bill explicitly
future-proofed the committee should council amalgamation take effect
in Hawke's Bay.....
See full article HERE
Govt to go ahead with state homes
sale
The Government is going ahead with the
next stage of selling up to 1500 state houses in Tauranga and
Invercargill, despite polls showing the policy is deeply unpopular.
"Consultation confirmed Ngati
Ranginui has 115 right of first refusal (RFR) properties within the
Tauranga proposed transaction area and Ngai Tahu has three RFR
properties within the Invercargill proposed transaction area.
"These properties will be excluded
from the open and competitive commercial process. We are working
directly with Ngati Ranginui and Ngai Tahu on how to include the
properties within the SHRP [social housing reform programme]. The
discussions will focus on realising both the Government's RFR
obligations as well as the objectives of the SHRP.".....
See full article HERE
A veteran guide has been kicked off
operating on Mt Taranaki because iwi are unhappy with his disregard
of Maori culture.
Ian McAlpine, owner/operator of Mt
Taranaki Guided Tours, has been denied a 10 year concession by
the Department of Conservation (DOC) which would allow him to take
guided tours and tramps in areas such as the Egmont National Park.
In a report supplied to Fairfax Media
by McAlpine, the reasons DOC declined his application were related to
the Stratford man's lack of support from iwi in the region.
The report stated the strongest
opposition came from the Taranaki Iwi Trust but Te Atiawa and Ngati
Ruanui also did not approve.
Taranaki Iwi Trust chairman Toka Walden
said Mt Taranaki was "extremely sacred and significant" and
needed to be treated with respect. More than 70 per cent of the
tracks McAlpine intended to use fell within its rohe or tribal area.
Walden said McAlpine's application was
not supported by them due to his past criticism of tikanga, or
protocol, connected to the mountain, including comments to the media
which undermined the importance Maori values played in the
guardianship of the maunga.
This was still an option for McAlpine,
according to Ngarewa-Packer, but she said he needed to get up to
speed with the fact that Maori culture and values played an important
part in how business in Taranaki was done.
The only iwi to give support to
McAlpine's application was Te Korowai o Ngaruahine Trust, but they
only agreed if conditions were issued, including attendance at
cultural training and annual hui with iwi and DOC staff......
See full article HERE
A multi-million-dollar electricity
project straddling properties in the Far North has already attracted
more than $100,000 in compensation payments to owners of Maori land.
The Maori Land Court has ordered lines
operator Top Energy to pay $105,000 for easement on four blocks of
multiple-owned Maori land on which a 110,000-volt electricity
transmission line and power pylons from Kaikohe to Kaitaia will run
to improve consistency of power supply in the Far North.
Judge David Ambler said the easements
would not be detrimental to the landowners' use of their land. Top
Energy has not ruled out further compensation payout to owners of
Maori and non-Maori land in future.....
See full article HERE
Three
Māori activists enter a palatial-looking building in Stavanger,
Norway. Inside, in a high-tech auditorium, on a broad, sleek stage,
sit the chief executives of one of the world's largest oil and gas
companies.
Addressing
the auditorium, Mike Smith (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu) speaks calmly and
clearly. He announces that he has been sent as a representative of
Māori tribes, and tells the board in no uncertain terms: "You
don't have permission to be in our tribal waters." He warns that
the tribes will go to the United Nations to seek protection.
When
Sami leaders saw the activists' letters of introduction from Māori
tribal leaders, "That caused them to lean forward," Smith
recalls. "They told us that in meetings Statoil had told them
the opposition was from 'fringe groups.' Statoil had been minimising
what was going on."
Sami leaders have voiced their support
for Māori rights, and have accepted a Māori invitation to visit New
Zealand on a fact-finding mission.
Meanwhile, Statoil managers have
responded to Māori resistance with a strong dose of wishful
thinking.
In reality, "It's been anything
but successful," says Mike Smith. "The first meeting they
came to, they were thrown off the marae after 15 minutes and were
told to leave. It's very unusual for Māori to do that." Later,
in Kaitaia, attendees literally upended the tables where oil
executives were sitting.
Smith faults the Norwegians less than
he faults the New Zealand government for selling off drilling rights
in the first place. "The government's been telling them, 'It's
all good; we're welcoming you with open arms,'" he says. Yet
local Māori arms are closed......
See full article HERE
From the NZCPR Breaking Views archives - (5 part Sovereignty series by David Round)
No Validity to Sovereignty Claims
As we all know, the
Northland Nga Puhi tribe, whose traditional territory includes the
Bay of Islands, are having their day before the Waitangi Tribunal at
present. Included in their claim is the argument that when they
signed the treaty they never ceded their ‘sovereignty’, and
that, presumably, they still retain it.
For a hundred reasons this is an absurd argument, but that is not to say that it will not be solemnly swallowed by the Waitangi Tribunal. As a matter of strict logic ~ not that logic has much to do with these issues ~ the Tribunal would be cutting its own throat to find that Nga Puhi still had ‘sovereignty’. Even leaving aside the well-known point that the Treaty itself is of no legal validity ~ a point which we should always bear in mind ~ but even leaving that aside, the Tribunal itself is created by the New Zealand Parliament, an institution which by its very existence proclaims the sovereignty of the Queen and the end of any other possible sovereignty. For the Tribunal to find sovereignty still in Nga Puhi would be to find that the Tribunal itself does not or ought not to exist, because the sovereignty of the Queen and her Parliament, which created it, is of no effect.....
Continue reading HERE
May 30, 2010
Claims of Maori Sovereignty Absurd
Last week I
offered some arguments as to why any claim to ‘Maori sovereignty’
was absurd. Those arguments had a legal flavour to them; they
centred on the actual words of the Treaty and their meaning, and the
understandings and intentions of the signatories at the time. I did
add, of course, that the Treaty was not the vehicle or instrument by
which British sovereignty was acquired over New Zealand. The
generally-accepted day when sovereignty was acquired was, until
recently anyway ~ it is not impossible that fashionable cutting-edge
revisionists have decided to question it ~ the generally-accepted
day was the 21st of May 1840, when British sovereignty was formally
proclaimed, and New Zealand became one country instead of a divided
land of warring tribes. The Treaty was no more than a preliminary
political proceeding, and in recent years the High Court has
dismissed any claim that the Crown might not have sovereignty over
part of New Zealand because a particular tribe did not sign the
Treaty.
In terms of ceding sovereignty, then, the Treaty is still a legal nullity. It does not matter what precisely it said. As I say, the words of the Treaty, considered last week, in fact meant and must be taken to mean that sovereignty was intended to be ceded. But even if that were not the case, we would have to answer ~ so what?........
In terms of ceding sovereignty, then, the Treaty is still a legal nullity. It does not matter what precisely it said. As I say, the words of the Treaty, considered last week, in fact meant and must be taken to mean that sovereignty was intended to be ceded. But even if that were not the case, we would have to answer ~ so what?........
Continue reading HERE
June 7, 2010
Meaning of Maori Sovereignty
What might
Maori sovereignty mean in practice? We will have to
speculate, of course, but we will be assisted in our speculations by
glancing at the possibilities raised in a very informative little
book, Maori Sovereignty, The Maori Perspective (ed. Hineani
Melbourne, Hodder Moa Beckett, Auckland 1995), from which I shall
next week offer liberal quotations. We should not expect to find
therein any coherent consistent guide as to the implications of
Maori sovereignty; there is a jumble of many different views. All of
them, however, point in the same general direction, which is the
disintegration of our country. Those arguing for Maori sovereignty
are not just wanting a little more local involvement in the delivery
of ‘services’. Some of them might perhaps be satisfied by more
genuine local self-government, and we might well hesitate to
criticise that in principle. The general idea of ‘subsidiarity’
requires that decisions should as a matter of principle always be
made at the lowest level possible in any hierarchy of
decision-making, and that is not unreasonable. Subsidiarity might of
course even mean decisions not being made by anyone at all, or at
least leaving them to be made actually by the concerned individuals
and communities themselves. When we hear people speaking of
sovereignty we should listen carefully to what they say, for if they
are only talking about a little more local self-determination we
might have little cause to worry. Our state was not always as
centralised and bureaucratised as it is now, and a good case can be
made for some decentralisation and dismantling of expensive and
cumbersome bureaucracy.
But most of those wanting ‘sovereignty’ want far more than local self-government. What they want, if their statements are any guide, is nothing less than the dismemberment and destruction of our country as we know it. Arguments over sovereignty are not like arguments over other items of property, or even ones over the foreshore and seabed. This person or that person may own this or that piece of property, but nevertheless the general legal and constitutional arrangements can remain exactly the same. But a change in sovereignty is more fundamental. Sovereignty is the question of who is actually in charge. Who, in the last resort, makes the decisions? Remember always that once sovereignty has changed, there is no going back. Once someone else is in charge, we will never be in charge again. A change in sovereignty is the first step down a slippery slope up which there is no returning.........
But most of those wanting ‘sovereignty’ want far more than local self-government. What they want, if their statements are any guide, is nothing less than the dismemberment and destruction of our country as we know it. Arguments over sovereignty are not like arguments over other items of property, or even ones over the foreshore and seabed. This person or that person may own this or that piece of property, but nevertheless the general legal and constitutional arrangements can remain exactly the same. But a change in sovereignty is more fundamental. Sovereignty is the question of who is actually in charge. Who, in the last resort, makes the decisions? Remember always that once sovereignty has changed, there is no going back. Once someone else is in charge, we will never be in charge again. A change in sovereignty is the first step down a slippery slope up which there is no returning.........
Continue reading HERE
June 13, 2010
The Insidious Creep to Maori
Sovereignty
For several weeks now I have been writing about current claims to ‘Maori sovereignty’. A generation ago anyone of education and good sense confronted with such a proposition would have burst out laughing. This does not happen now. The Waitangi Tribunal has not indicated to Nga Puhi that their claim to sovereignty is one which the Tribunal is not prepared to countenance. Sundry ‘scholars’ argue learnedly in its favour, and I do not hear laughter echoing through Wellington’s corridors of power. As far as our politicians and public servants are concerned, it may happen or it may not, but nothing is completely out of the question.
How did it come about that we are now even prepared to consider such preposterous possibilities? It did not happen overnight, but one step at a time. Ask for one thing ~ the righting of historical injustice, real or alleged, even if previously settled ~ then, if you succeed with that, ask for something more ~ and then more ~ and eventually we find ourselves in the situation we are now in, where already our government flies the Maori sovereignty flag, recognises special rights in indigenous peoples declared in a United Nations charter, and where, in the words of the Otago Daily Times speaking of foreshore and seabed, it ‘seems a new class of property owner is to be created with superior rights, as well as unlimited opportunities for the courts to create precedent exclusive to one ethnicity. ‘One law for all’ has thus been abandoned on the cusp of indigeneity.’
And now Maori want sovereignty as well. As no more than the absolutely logical and inevitable next step, the key to our entire country, everything your ancestors and mine and we ourselves have laboured to create over a century and a half is at least on the table and liable to be given away by our enlightened governors. It is the old story of the frog sitting in the pot of gradually warming water, not noticing the heat and eventually being boiled to death. It is Hitler making one last, and then another last, and then another absolutely last territorial claim in Europe. The first claims may be reasonable, the last are anything but. And all our leaders do is wave pieces of paper and promise us peace in our time.......
For several weeks now I have been writing about current claims to ‘Maori sovereignty’. A generation ago anyone of education and good sense confronted with such a proposition would have burst out laughing. This does not happen now. The Waitangi Tribunal has not indicated to Nga Puhi that their claim to sovereignty is one which the Tribunal is not prepared to countenance. Sundry ‘scholars’ argue learnedly in its favour, and I do not hear laughter echoing through Wellington’s corridors of power. As far as our politicians and public servants are concerned, it may happen or it may not, but nothing is completely out of the question.
How did it come about that we are now even prepared to consider such preposterous possibilities? It did not happen overnight, but one step at a time. Ask for one thing ~ the righting of historical injustice, real or alleged, even if previously settled ~ then, if you succeed with that, ask for something more ~ and then more ~ and eventually we find ourselves in the situation we are now in, where already our government flies the Maori sovereignty flag, recognises special rights in indigenous peoples declared in a United Nations charter, and where, in the words of the Otago Daily Times speaking of foreshore and seabed, it ‘seems a new class of property owner is to be created with superior rights, as well as unlimited opportunities for the courts to create precedent exclusive to one ethnicity. ‘One law for all’ has thus been abandoned on the cusp of indigeneity.’
And now Maori want sovereignty as well. As no more than the absolutely logical and inevitable next step, the key to our entire country, everything your ancestors and mine and we ourselves have laboured to create over a century and a half is at least on the table and liable to be given away by our enlightened governors. It is the old story of the frog sitting in the pot of gradually warming water, not noticing the heat and eventually being boiled to death. It is Hitler making one last, and then another last, and then another absolutely last territorial claim in Europe. The first claims may be reasonable, the last are anything but. And all our leaders do is wave pieces of paper and promise us peace in our time.......
Continue reading HERE
June 21, 2010
Here are some of
the ideas about Maori sovereignty as expressed by various Maori
leaders in Maori Sovereignty, The Maori Perspective (ed. Hineani
Elder, Hodder Moa Becket, Auckland 1995). I mention many of these
people in the chapter on sovereignty in my 1998 Truth Or Treaty? Do
not think that in the years since then the talk has become moderate
or reasonable. It may sometimes now be expressed a little less
angrily ~ the ideas are placed before the Waitangi Tribunal now, and
are supported by a Maori academic ~ but the policy is still exactly
the same. It is just that because now they seem to be making a
little headway, there is, for the moment anyway, no need for the
aggro. It will still be applied now and then when it looks as though
the victim shows any signs of reluctance.
Note several things. This agenda has been around for quite a while. It has been the setting in which all other negotiations so far have been conducted. Other settlements have not been the end of the Maori agenda, but just steps on the way, just softening us up one step at a time. Note that many of the speakers are familiar to us; some are very prominent within Maoridom, and although we may dismiss some others as rabble-rousers, we cannot deny that they do have a following. Note also that some of the real firebrands in this movement ~ Moana Jackson, Annette Sykes, Titewhai Harawira, Tama Iti and Ken Mair are conspicuously absent. Would that have been because their views were even more terrifying?
Just to mention several of those last five, if I may, for a moment. Moana Jackson maintains that by the Treaty ‘Maori allowed for a house of Pakeha culture to be built alongside their house.’ It is not enough to have bicultural room for Maori in the Pakeha house. The Treaty guarantees both peoples the right to house their cultures adequately, and Maori people therefore need an entirely separate independent house. The Maori race ~ whatever that is these days ~ must be entirely independent of Pakeha. In advocating dual sovereignty Jackson observes that ‘at the very least there are more than twenty different sovereignties in the land area of Europe and they seem to operate without too much bitterness or debate’. Does he know the first thing about European history, which, like the history of the rest of the world, is full of bloodshed? The Maori Battalion went to Europe ~ has he never heard of them? Is he actually unaware of Maori history’s dreadful record of war? I find that hard to believe. So why does he say what he does?
At other times Jackson has gone beyond this ‘separate but equal’ view and maintained that ’the Treaty says that people are permitted to live in peace in this country under the mentor of Maori rule’. His English is not perfect, but we understand his message.......
Note several things. This agenda has been around for quite a while. It has been the setting in which all other negotiations so far have been conducted. Other settlements have not been the end of the Maori agenda, but just steps on the way, just softening us up one step at a time. Note that many of the speakers are familiar to us; some are very prominent within Maoridom, and although we may dismiss some others as rabble-rousers, we cannot deny that they do have a following. Note also that some of the real firebrands in this movement ~ Moana Jackson, Annette Sykes, Titewhai Harawira, Tama Iti and Ken Mair are conspicuously absent. Would that have been because their views were even more terrifying?
Just to mention several of those last five, if I may, for a moment. Moana Jackson maintains that by the Treaty ‘Maori allowed for a house of Pakeha culture to be built alongside their house.’ It is not enough to have bicultural room for Maori in the Pakeha house. The Treaty guarantees both peoples the right to house their cultures adequately, and Maori people therefore need an entirely separate independent house. The Maori race ~ whatever that is these days ~ must be entirely independent of Pakeha. In advocating dual sovereignty Jackson observes that ‘at the very least there are more than twenty different sovereignties in the land area of Europe and they seem to operate without too much bitterness or debate’. Does he know the first thing about European history, which, like the history of the rest of the world, is full of bloodshed? The Maori Battalion went to Europe ~ has he never heard of them? Is he actually unaware of Maori history’s dreadful record of war? I find that hard to believe. So why does he say what he does?
At other times Jackson has gone beyond this ‘separate but equal’ view and maintained that ’the Treaty says that people are permitted to live in peace in this country under the mentor of Maori rule’. His English is not perfect, but we understand his message.......
Continue reading HERE
June 28, 2010
Labour
MP Kelvin Davis says Māori need more of a voice in local government
than just token consultation.
Mr Davis said Māori were sometimes
considered a minority, but as a Treaty partner they should be given
the representation that they deserve.
He said Māori under-representation was
a long-standing issue.
"Māori haven't been listened to.
Māori needs haven't been seen to since the Treaty has been signed.
He said there needed to be a genuine
discussion around Māori involvement in local government.....
Human Rights Commission
congratulates Multicultural NZ
We are immensely proud to see
Multicultural New Zealand place the Treaty of Waitangi as the
foundation upon which our shared futures will be built upon.....
Local iwi need more say in merger
Local iwi need space to have a say in
Waiariki and Bay of Plenty polytechnics’ merger plans before they
are approved says TEU’s Te Pou Tuarā Lee Cooper.
Cooper says the merger is not making
enough space to hear the views of Te Mana Mātauranga, which
represents the eight hapū in Te Arawa together with other
neighbouring hapū and iwi – Whakatōhea, Ngāti Manawa, Ngāti
Whare to mention a few.
Te Mana Mātauranga is a trust which
advises the Council and the chief executive of Waiariki, and ensures
Waiariki fulfils its treaty obligations.....
Worries over the warrior image
An
Otago University academic says the image of Māori as a warrior race
is misplaced and a colonial construct.
Richard Jackson says historically
tāngata whenua were cast in that role which was then used against
them.
Professor Jackson is the acting
director of the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies.
He is using a $600,000 Marsden Fund
grant to study pacifism and non-violence and analyse the way
societies tend to look down on non-violent practices.
"One of the pieces of this puzzle
is to try and understand how it came to be that, in particular
indigenous Maori peace traditions, were sort of suppressed and
ignored and treated as if they were ineffectual and didn't really
count."
Professor Jackson said Maori culture
was instead viewed as being violent and based on the notion of the
warrior.
"What I'm interested in here is to
try and understand a little bit better not just what the peace
traditions were in Aotearoa when the colonialists came along, but the
interaction between colonialism and those peace traditions.
"How they were suppressed, but
also how they have been revived and brought back to life again in
places like Parihaka."
As part of the three-year project
Professor Jackson is also funding two doctorate students: one is
studying peace traditions at Parihaka while the other is
investigating theories of war and pacifism in the field of
international relations.
Professor Jackson hopes the project
will form the groundwork for a growing field of research into
indigenous peace traditions......
Maori, advisory committee
have much to offer; Samuels
More
than a year after its formation, the chairman of Te Tai Tokerau Maori
Advisory Committee (TTMAC) says he’s thrilled at the way Northland
Maori have embraced the concept.
It now boasts more than two dozen permanent members from across Northland and as well as formal meetings in Whangarei every two months, has also held hapu hui at a variety of locations around the region. The latter have included Otiria (near Moerewa), Oruawharo (near Wellsford), Ngataki (south of Te Kao) and most recently at Rawhiti (in the eastern Bay of Islands).
Councillor Samuels says Maoridom has leapt at the chance to engage with council in local settings through TTMAC.
It now boasts more than two dozen permanent members from across Northland and as well as formal meetings in Whangarei every two months, has also held hapu hui at a variety of locations around the region. The latter have included Otiria (near Moerewa), Oruawharo (near Wellsford), Ngataki (south of Te Kao) and most recently at Rawhiti (in the eastern Bay of Islands).
Councillor Samuels says Maoridom has leapt at the chance to engage with council in local settings through TTMAC.
The Te Oneroa-a-Tohe Board will jointly
manage Ninety Mile Beach as part of a looming Treaty of Waitangi
settlement and includes members of several iwi as well as the
regional and Far North District Councils.
“It’s now well-acknowledged that
Maoridom is poised to become an increasingly major contributor to our
regional economy as a result of treaty settlement processes,” Cr
Samuels says. “This is well overdue and it’s pleasing to see
councils and other organisations increasingly keen to work positively
with Maori to advance the economic aspirations of whanau and
hapu.”........
New Maori legal resource
launched
Victoria
University’s Law Faculty marked Māori Language Week (27 July to 2
August) with the launch of a new bilingual legal tool.
The Legal Māori Resource Hub (at
www.legalmaori.net)
allows online users to browse contemporary and historical Māori
language texts, look up word meanings, and test new or old Māori
words against an enormous document bank. The hub is home to three
main resources:
- an online version of He Papakupu Reo Ture – a Dictionary of Māori Legal Terms;
- the legal Māori corpus comprising thousands of pages of Māori language text dating as far back as the 1830s; and
- a corpus browser which allows the user to conduct in-depth and tailored searches of the corpus texts.
This kind of co-ordinated and
comprehensive search tool has not been publicly and easily available
in New Zealand before........
The
Hawke’s Bay Regional Planning Committee Bill passed its third
reading in the House today, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi
Negotiations Christopher Finlayson announced.
"When enacted, this bill will give
effect to the Crown’s commitment, made in the NgÄti PÄhauwera
Deed of Settlement and recorded in the Maungaharuru-Tangitū Deed
of Settlement, to work with iwi and hapu to establish a joint
Maori-Council body in the Hawke’s Bay," Mr Finlayson said.
"This legislation will ensure that
relevant iwi entities and the Regional Council can appoint
representatives to the Hawke’s Bay Regional Planning Committee.
This is consistent with the government’s overarching position on
natural resource management in the settlement of historical Treaty of
Waitangi claims."
"The bill has received unanimous
support from iwi and from the Regional Council. It will form the
basis of a new, constructive, on-going relationship between the
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and the iwi of the Hawke’s Bay
region," Mr Finlayson said.....
Maori Party welcomes greater Iwi input into local councils
The Māori Party is pleased to see that
iwi in the Taranaki and Hawkes Bay regions will have greater input in
to their local regional councils.
“While Māori representation on local
government authorities is still abysmally low, we are pleased to see
that some iwi and councils are making a commitment to try different
ways of ensuring tangata whenua views are heard,” says Māori Party
Co-leader Marama Fox.
“It’s heartening to see iwi take up
the opportunity during their Treaty of Waitangi settlement
negotiations to ensure they do have a greater say in local
government. It’s critical that iwi and Māori have influence both
in local and central government if we are going to continue to move
forward as Treaty partners.” ....
Northland iwi challenge geothermal
expansion
Efforts
by Top Energy to expand its geothermal power generation in Northland
are being challenged by local iwi.
"We want conditions to be set
around changes to the hotspring's chemistry. We want to ensure that
we have a full participation role on the peer-review panel. We want
improved monitoring. We want a precautionary approach taken to the
staging, and we want material community benefits to compensate for
Top Energy's use of something we believe belongs to us." ....
Maori
Nation and New Zealand Sign Aquaculture Agreements to Give 20% of
Approved Area Sites to Maori
THREE
new Māori aquaculture agreements have been signed in the
New Zealand Parliament which will give the people improved fish
farming opportunities.
The Iwi people from the Auckland,
Tasman, and Marlborough regions have reached the deal as
a result of the Māori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Act
2004. The Iwi form the largest social unit in Māori culture and
translated the word means ‘peoples’ or ‘nations’....
The Elliot family hope to sell most of
their large Elliot Bay property based in the Bay of Islands, which
stretches to pristine coastline, and has served as a popular tourist
attraction for many years. Local Māori however are urging the
Crown to buy back the land in question and to have it land banked as
part of a future Treaty Settlement package.
A property that is an oasis worth
millions.
Marara Hook (Ngāti Kuta, Ngāpuhi)
says, "The proper name for this whenua is Te Akau not Elliot's
Farm and those other foreign names."
Willoughby says many factions of land
in the area were confiscated by the Crown including Te Akau, also
known as Elliot's Bay which is said to be part of a former Māori
land block called Te Pahi.
In a written statement, the Minister of
Treaty Negotiations Chris Finlayson office said he has asked his
officials to consider options relating to the use of the Elliot Bay
property in Treaty settlements....
The legacy of colonisation has
predisposed Maori to having much higher rates of obesity than the
total New Zealand population and the Government must do much more to
address this inequity, a group of Otago University researchers say.
"Since European settlement and the
signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, Maori have been
disadvantaged as a consequence of colonisation and repeated breaches
of the Treaty ...," the researchers, Drs Reremoana Theodore,
Rachael McLean and Lisa Te Morenga, say today in an commentary piece
in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.
"Loss of land resulted in high
levels of poverty and loss of access to traditional food sources for
many Maori. The Maori experience, which has been mirrored by many
other indigenous groups, has resulted in: wide-scale migration into
urban centres; increased consumption of cheap processed foods high in
fat and sugar; reduced physical activity levels; and rising rates of
obesity and cardiovascular diseases.".....
Maori have natural affinity with
math.
Minister of Education Hekia Parata says
Maori have a natural affinity with maths which she wants to see
encouraged.
Hekia Parata says this being Math Week
in schools it is an ideal time to reflect on what is a challenging
area not just for Maori children but New Zealand children in
general.
She says the way ancestors navigated across the oceans involved a mathematical feat of great proportions....
Minister must engage community in
school closure decision
The Education Minister must sincerely
engage with the local school community before deciding whether she
will close Turakina Māori Girls’ College, Labour’s local MP for
Te Tai Hauāuru Adrian Rurawhe says
Labour’s Māori Development
spokesperson Nanaia Mahuta says the decision to look at closing
Turakina shows a growing trend for Māori boarding schools.
“Hekia Parata is closing these schools which have a long legacy of
generating Māori leaders while she is choosing to keep open her
experimental charter schools which get up to five times as much
funding as the state schools down the road,” Nanaia Mahuta says...
See
full article HERE
|
House
sold over unpaid rates bill
Auckland Council has contacted police
over claims a Manurewa homeowner whose house was sold by mortgagee
sale today has been paying rates to an unregistered Maori authority.
Charlotte Hareta Marsh lost her home in
a court-ordered sale after failing to pay rates since August 2006.
She has refused to recognise the authority of Auckland Council and
claims to have paid her rates instead to the "rightful land
owner" - Arikinui o Tuhoe.....
Otago Regional Council welcomes
strengthened relationship
Otago Regional Council chairman Stephen
Woodhead has welcomed the signing of a national agreement between
local government and iwi which is designed to strengthen and
formalise their working relationship.
Mr Woodhead said there were already
strong linkages between Kai Tahu in Otago and Southland with councils
in both regions which were working well.
ORC also has an established
relationship with Kai Tahu based around the Treaty of Waitangi.
The Kai Tahu resource management
company KTKO Ltd and ORC collaborate on a regular basis with Otago
councils, which helps ensure iwi participation in resource
management, and also helps the councils fulfil their statutory
obligations to iwi.
Mr Woodhead said the Otago partnerships
embody the treaty principles in decision-making and local
environmental management, and would be supported by the LGNZ
memorandum.....
Winston Peters says inexperienced
Treaty negotiators are being overpaid.
The Government has spent nearly $8
million on negotiators for Treaty of Waitangi settlements since it
took office, which NZ First leader Winston Peters says is "colossal"
and unjustified.
Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris
Finlayson provided a breakdown of the amounts paid to
Government-appointed Crown negotiators for each year since 2008, in
response to a Parliamentary written question from Peters.
Details released by Finlayson showed
$7.8m was given to 13 individual negotiators, with several former
ministers and MPs paid large sums for work on Treaty settlements.
Former Labour Cabinet ministers Paul
Swain and Rick Barker were on the list, with Swain paid $611,084 and
Barker paid $361,277.
Sir Douglas Graham, who negotiated the
Ngai Tahu settlement as Treaty Negotiations Minister in the Bolger
government, earned $166,135 since 2008.
Fran Wilde, a former Labour minister
and mayor of Wellington, collected $87,000 for work in 2009 and 2010.
The top earner on the list was Michael
Dreaver who earned more than $2.2m for his work on treaty settlements
in the Auckland and Hauraki regions.
The second highest earner was former
director of the Office of Treaty Settlements Ross Philipson, who was
paid more than $1.6m.
Former Auckland District Health Board
chair Pat Snedden, former diplomat John Wood and Dame Patsy Reddy all
collected large six-figure sums for their work on Treaty
negotiations.
Peters said the payment amounts were
"colossal" and "not in any way justified".....
Native Affairs - Lost In
Translation
According
to the Ministry of Education, Māori students do much better when
their education reflects and values their identity, language and
culture. Yet in the King Country town of Taumarunui Te Reo
Māori is only offered as a six-week optional subject at the High
School.
Local kaumātua and whānau are calling
for Māori language to be offered again as a core subject at
Taumarunui High School. But as Iulia Leilua reports, the
school's priority is on numeracy and literacy.
Mr Rautenbach replied:
"Our core curriculum at Years 9
and 10 focuses on literacy and numeracy, which are the national
priorities."
"Students were offered a really wide range of interesting study options by staff…. two of the six-week Te Reo Māori courses found favour with students, as did the year-long Japanese project."
He also said: "Over recent years
we have noticed fewer students opting to study Te Reo Māori."
....
Māori nurses 'paid significantly
less'
A
nurses' conference has heard how the pay gap suffered by Māori
nurses is forcing them to take on second jobs to make ends meet.
The Nurses Organisation said nurses who
worked for Whānau Ora agencies may earn up to 25 percent less than
their district health board colleagues.
The organisation's kaiwhakahaere, Kerri
Nuku, said the issue was raised repeatedly throughout the conference.
"What we have at the moment is a
lot of nurses, Māori nurses working within Māori and iwi providers
that get paid significantly less and those nurses definitely go that
extra mile, support and work within the communities but don't get
recognised for that extra work they do.
"Not necessarily getting a bonus
or anything but getting paid comparative rates with their same
colleagues within district health boards."...
East Coast hapū oppose Forestry NES
Hapū groups with kaiteki
responsibilities under the RMA covering more than 60,000 hectares of
land on the East Coast are joining Gisborne District Council in
opposing proposed changes to national rules for plantation forestry,
and suggesting Treaty of Waitangi breaches could result if the
proposed National Environmental Standard (NES) is adopted by the
government.
“We are advising the Crown that
should the NES progress and these issues not be addressed, we reserve
the right to seek remedy and protect ecological taonga (treasures)
and wahi tapu (culturally significant sites) through the range of
legal instruments available to us as Treaty of Waitangi partners with
the Crown.” .....
Driver licence invalid ID for iwi elections
Te
Rūnanganui o Ngāti Porou (TRONPnui) is no longer accepting iwi
members' driver licences for personal identification purposes for the
upcoming rūnanga elections.
Nominations
for the 14 elected representative positions on Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti
Porou opened on 15 July and close on Wednesday 12 August.
The TRONPnui's decision came to light
when it informed Te Taurahere o Ngāti Porou ki Pōneke chairman, Sir
Tamati Reedy.
It prompted him to write a letter of
concern to Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti Porou chair Selwyn Parata, to
rethink the decision.....
What to do with Rena wreck? Iwi in
favour of leaving cargo ship on Astrolabe Reef
However, Te Arawa is in favour of the
removal following advice by one of their own, Joe Te Kowhai.
Mr Te Kowhai, an experienced diver, had
first agreed with the iwi about removing the Rena from the seabed,
but after numerous dives to the wreck has changed his mind.
"The remnants of the wreck have
integrated themselves really well into the structure of the reef
because there is a lot of fauna," Mr Te Kowhai told ONE News.
He says bringing in huge structures and
machinery to lift the ship out of the water would "literall tear
away at the reef".
Presenting his research to Te Arawa, Mr
Te Kowhai has convinced them to support the owners bid to leave the
remnants of the Rena where it lies.
But, the change of direction and Te
Arawa's million dollar settlement has upset other iwi who say they
don't want to leave the legacy of the wreck to their grandchildren.
The fight over the wreck will be heard
at a resource consent hearing next month......
Young Nats: Maori folk should pay
for their own coins
The Māori Party have called for more
Te Reo Māori to be used on our currency. So the young Nats decided
to ask their supporters opinion on this suggestion. In a
smorgasbord of racism referring to their fellow countrymen as “Towel
head, Maori Folk”. ....
Water next cash grab for iwi?
At
a Rotorua Lakes Council subcommittee meeting last week, the council
broke convention in taking an item from the confidential section of
its agenda to formally announce it had agreed to return Taniwha
Springs at Awahou to Ngati Rangiwewehi, suggesting ratepayers will be
charged for water use to which the council has had access for some 30
years. A senior Rotorua councillor Mike McVicker anticipates
ratepayers may be hit again......
Mole News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Council moves on Coromandel Harbour Facilities Project
"At
the Sugarloaf we need to resolve land ownership title for reclaimed
land and that will need iwi input and consultation," says
Council Chief Executive David Hammond, who is also the project
sponsor.
In terms of ownership interests, both
our Council and iwi have stated positions to the reclaimed land which
is currently vested in the Crown as a result of the passing of the
Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act in 2011.
Our Council owns infrastructure upon the reclamation while iwi have signalled their proprietary interests in the foreshore and seabed, and therein the footprint upon which the reclamation sits, via various Treaty settlement-related processes including the current Hauraki Claims......
See
full article HERE
Prominent New Zealanders launch
"Talk Treaty" exhibition
Going
forward, Gareth Morgan hopes to draft a constitution by looking at
what New Zealanders value, while honouring the Treaty at the same
time.....
See
full article HERE
PM John Key supports Maori Kiwifruit
Growers in Singapore
Key says he fully supports Maori in
growing business opportunities in the Asian region and believes Maori
culture can contribute highly to future success.....
See
full article HERE
At a meeting of the council's Strategy,
Policy and Finance Committee this morning (5 August) councillors
voted unanimously to support a recommendation that ownership of the
springs be returned to Ngati Rangiwewehi. The recommendation is
expected to be formally endorsed at a council meeting on 26 August.
Taniwha Springs are of major cultural
significance to Ngati Rangiwewehi and are regarded as precious
taonga. They are believed to be the traditional home of the taniwha
Pekehaua - a central figure of local traditions - and the place where
the tribe's life springs from.
The springs were taken under the Public
Works Act in 1966 for public water purposes, and vested in the
then-Rotorua County Council. However Ngati Rangiwewehi have always
mourned their loss and regard their taking as morally wrong....
See
full article HERE
Attempts to put the principles of a new
partnership agreement between Rotorua Lakes Council and Te Arawa into
action for the first time have stalled.
Yesterday, district councillors voted
to delay any decision on sweeping changes to how resource
applications are treated....
See
full article HERE
Northland marae energised by
geothermal deal
A
Northland marae says an agreement it has signed with an electricity
generator will provide positive benefits for the whole community and
see Ngāwhā become the geothermal hub of the north.
The Ngāwhā marae komiti has signed a
deal with Top Energy that it hopes will lead to development at and
around the geothermal field near Kaikohe.
The company is applying for consent to
expand its geothermal power plant at Ngāwhā and the agreement
addresses concerns the komiti had about the project....
See
full article HERE
The latest
meeting of the South Wairarapa Whanau Advisory Group (SWAG) was held
at Greytown School on Tuesday.
The group comprises principals,
teachers, school trustees and family members of pupils at Kuranui
College and South Wairarapa school and early childhood centres.
Educator Lynette Bradnam is
co-ordinating the group after a career teaching in the school and
tertiary sectors and working as an assistant principal.
Mrs Bradnam spent five years developing
university programmes and lecturing at the Wellington College of
Education, where she became head of school, Te Kura Maori, when the
college merged with Victoria University.
Greytown School has developed a Maori
Support Group through the SWAG initiative and principal Ken Mackay
said the meetings had yielded "something positive" for his
school and its Maori pupils.
SWAG was established through the
Kahungnunu ki Wairarapa Education Strategy, He Heke Tuna, He Heke
Rangatira, which launched in the region a year ago.
The $788,000 scheme was funded by the
Ministry of Education and sets out to boost Maori achievement from
early childhood to tertiary level.....
See
full article HERE
Defusing the demographic time bomb
Treaty
settlements in Taranaki have been described as a potential game
changer in the battle to defuse a demographic time bomb ticking in
the province.
Speaking at a New Zealand Forum in New
Plymouth last week, Professor Spoonley said Māori, who make up 17.4
percent of the Taranaki population, could play a significant role in
stemming the tide.
"If you look at the median ages of
the population, for the New Zealand Pākehā the average age is in
their 40s - for Maori, it is just a little over 20.
"That tells me when you look at
the younger cohort more and more of them are going to be Māori, and
it is going to be very very important that they be engaged,
particularly in education and that they are successful in
education."..
See
full article HERE
Taking the temperature of Te Reo
Māori
The
health of the Māori language is about to be put under the
microscope.
The Māori Language Commission has
contracted the New Zealand Council for Educational Research to carry
out a major project.
Twenty-three researchers will be sent
to eight different rohe across Aotearoa to measure the health of te
reo Māori in homes and communities.
The project, 'Te Ahu o te Reo', is
being led by Te Wāhanga from the New Zealand Council for Educational
Research, which is working for Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori.
The last time the council carried out
the study was in the 1970s, when researchers revealed the language
was in a perilous state and at risk of dying out....
See
full article HERE
Today, the Freshwater Iwi Leaders
Group, on behalf of the Iwi Chairs Forum, signed a Memorandum of
Understanding with Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) to support and
encourage strong relationships and collaboration between councils and
iwi.
Freshwater Iwi Leaders Group chair, Tā
Tumu Te Heuheu said, “this signals our intent to work with all
communities on areas of common strategic significance including
economic development, environment and infrastructure. We believe that
these areas, interests and responsibilities are important for all New
Zealanders, not just iwi.”
Local Government New Zealand President,
Lawrence Yule, said “we are pleased to formalise today the
relationship between the organisations. The Memorandum of
Understanding establishes an engaged and constructive way of working
together on areas of mutual interest into the future.”....
See
full article HERE
Water NZ supports agreements
between Iwi Leaders and LGNZ
“As
central government puts increasing responsibility on local and
regional councils for managing regional assets like freshwater, it
makes perfect sense for councils to be working more closely with
important stakeholders like the Freshwater Iwi Leaders,” says John
Pfahlert, CEO of Water New Zealand.
Iwi
Rights and Interests in Water will be featured at Water New Zealand’s
upcoming annual conference on 16 September in Hamilton with
presentations by representatives from Ngai Tahu and Tainui.....
See
full article HERE
Auckland Maori joint responsibility
- Taipari
Both
iwi and central Government have a responsibility to help improve the
economic situation of Maori in Auckland, a Maori leader says.
Board chair David Taipari said iwi had
worked hard to grow their asset base through Treaty settlements and
other mechanisms so they now had the income to help turn those
figures around.
"I'd like to think there will be a
stronger investment of our own capital and our own resources to
improve the quality of life of our people. That doesn't take away the
fact that the Treaty partner through the central Government has a
responsibility to do that as well."....
See
full article HERE
Iwi still concerned about Rena wreck
The
mauri of the area around the wreck of the Rena will never be fully
restored while the remnants of the wreck remain, an iwi
representative says.
A $2.4 million government-funded plan
to restore the environment damaged by the ship's grounding in October
2011 has now been completed.
The Rena Recovery Plan Group's final
meeting heard that no new oil wash-ups related to the Rena have been
reported since March 2014.
Local dotterel and penguin numbers are
now stable or increasing, and shellfish contamination is no longer at
levels of concern for public health.
Ngāti Ranginui representative and
co-chair Carlton Bidois said great progress had been made.
But he said iwi and hapū still had
concerns about long-term effects and felt the mauri (life force)
would never be fully restored while the wreck's remnants remain on
Ōtaiti......
See
full article HERE
A recent dive on the Rena video shows
many fish and the regeneration of sea vegetation >
See Video HERE
Importance of Māori views
highlighted in review of family violence laws
Whānau, hapū and iwi are being
encouraged to have their say on the review of family violence laws.
The review "Strengthening New
Zealand's Legislative Response to Family Violence" launched
yesterday by Justice Minister Amy Adams aims to reduce New Zealand's
horrific family violence track record.
The Minister has outlined that in order
to achieve this goal the Government must reach out to all sectors of
the community. She also outlined that far too many Māori families
were experiencing family violence and the important role iwi could
play in this process.
Māori Party Co-leader Marama Fox says,
“We know family violence has a devastating impact on our tamariki
and whānau so it’s critical that we ensure our views are
heard.”.....
See
full article HERE
Māori entities and businesses have an
asset base of $23 billion in Auckland, or about 5 per cent of the
city's total economy, according to a report released this morning.
It found 55 per cent of the national
Māori asset base was in Auckland, 27 per cent of the Māori economy
operates in Auckland and Māori contribute $4 billion to the city's
GDP.
Māori authority assets are
concentrated in real estate, financial and insurance services and IT.
Ownership is less in retail, construction, wholesale, hospitality,
manufacturing, logistics and other services.
Māori make up 10 per cent of
Auckland's population, comprising 2 per cent Auckland iwi, 6 per cent
who affiliate with iwi outside the region and 2 per cent who do not
know their iwi.
Nearly half of Māori live in the
Manurewa, Henderson-Massey,Papakura, Otara-Papatoetoe and
Mangere-Otahuhu Local Board areas.
Auckland has a large Māori youth
population - 34 per cent are aged under 15 - which is disengaged, the
report said.
Māori are more likely to be unemployed
at nearly 13 per cent of the workforce - nearly twice the rate of the
Auckland total of 7 per cent. Māori incomes are 17 per cent lower
than the Auckland average.....
See
full article HERE
Māori culture of high value in
Asian market
A delegation of Māori kiwifruit
growers say Māori culture has put them in good stead in the Asian
market as cultural commerce is highly valued.
Anthony Ruakere of Te Awanui Huka Pak
says Māori are often hesitant to put a measurable value on their
culture.....
See
full article HERE
Legal challenge to TPPA secrecy
lodged today
Papers were filed in the High Court in
Wellington today seeking an urgent judicial review of Trade Minister
Tim Groser’s blanket refusal to release any documents sought in a
comprehensive Official Information Act request made by University of
Auckland law Professor Jane Kelsey in January this year.
Those bringing the case are Consumer
NZ, Ngati Kahungunu, the Tertiary Education Union, Oxfam, Greenpeace,
the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists and the New Zealand
Nurses Organisation (NZNO), as well as Professor Kelsey.
Ngati Kahungunu are the third largest
iwi and are also claimants in the Waitangi Tribunal challenge to the
TPPA. The iwi were original claimants on the WAI262 “flora, fauna
and intellectual property” claim to the Waitangi Tribunal which,
amongst other things, was about providing for involvement of Maori in
the development of New Zealand's positions on international
instruments affecting indigenous rights. Ngati Kahungunu continues
that work in their continuing advocacy for substantive engagement
with Maori in relation to the TPPA.....
See
full article HERE
Rāhui in place at Tora, South
Wairarapa
Ngāti Kahungungu ki Wairarapa has
announced a rāhui (traditional restriction) which has
been put in place in the vicinity of Tora, South Wairarapa.
The location for the rāhui is a 1km
square area taking in the Awhea River mouth, Seal Point and the
Southern End of Stony Bay. The rāhui is in response to a
recent death in the water at Tora.
The rāhui pertains to swimming and the
taking of shellfish in the vicinity and will be in place from
3-7 August 2015.....
See
full article HERE
A Maori prison being looked into
The Maori party has got the go ahead
from Correction Minister Peseta Lotu-Iiga to explore what is needed
to set up a full Maori prison in New Zealand.
Party co-leader Marama Fox says the
idea is to apply the concept of the highly successful Maori focus
units which already operate in some prisons to a full prison with
Maori staff and Maori inmates.
Marama Fox say while the Minister
hasn't made a committment at this stage she has got approval to get a
group together to get things moving towards a Maori prison which may
be 5 years away....
See
full article HERE
Masterton
District Council's bid to create 500 new jobs in the district during
the next 12 months has enjoyed a successful start, with employers
registering 19 new positions across a range of industries.
The council has played its part, with
the employment of Hoani Paku as Maori liaison adviser (Kaitakawaenga)
and Nerissa Aramakutu as policy adviser Maori & General
(Kaiwhakarite mahere)....
See
full article HERE
Call to 'nurture' te reo Maori
Prime Minister John Key should be ready
to "nurture" te reo Maori instead of dismissing it as
"boring", a language watchdog says.
The Maori Language Commission, or Te
Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori, said today New Zealand's indigenous
language needed more support - particularly from the Prime Minister.
"For te reo Maori to survive it
must be nurtured at the highest levels. New Zealand has shown it is
ready to nurture te reo Maori and so too should the Prime Minister."
Dr Ngata said it was time Maori
language was promoted more intensively and for longer periods of time
- exactly what the Waiuku student reportedly put to the Prime
Minister at a school assembly last week....
See
full article HERE
Student praised for Māori Language
Week proposal
The
Māori Language Commission is commending a secondary school student
for raising the possibility of extending Māori language week with
the Prime Minister.
Dr Ngata said in order to preserve the
language it needed the support of all New Zealanders, not just Māori.
....
See
full article HERE
NZ on Air funds 5 new Maori
programmes next year
New Zealand on Air is funding five new
Maori programmes next year at a cost of $2 million.....
See
full article HERE
Auckland park blessed
after shooting
Maori elders will bless the Auckland
park where a young Slovakian man wanted over liquor store robberies
was shot dead by police.
The scene will be blessed on Tuesday by
kaumatua and kuia from Auckland District Health Board and Auckland
Council at an ceremony attended by senior police officers.....
See
full article HERE
The Māori Party wants New Zealand
coins to have both Māori and English on them.
New $5 and $10 bank notes are expected
to be distributed in October this year that will have more Te Reo
Māori on them, with $20, $50 and $100 notes to follow suit next
year.
Party co-leaders Marama Fox and Te
Ururoa Flavell want Māori language to be shared with others, and
have reflected this during Maori Language Week.
They encourage The Reserve Bank to
print more Te Reo Māori on upcoming coins, since the bank has
already committed to making changes on bank notes.
"What we're saying is when the
current coins expire, it would be great for the new batch to have the
Māori language on them not just images," says Mr Flavell.
The Māori Party hopes to meet with The
Reserve Bank to discuss the idea.....
See
full article HERE
Greens want more funding for Te Reo
The
Green Party says if the Government is serious about keeping Te Reo
Māori alive then it should allocate more money into researching how
it is used in schools.
"If we're really, really serious
about it then the Government and the Budget every year should put up
more money for strengthening Te Reo and the best use of those
resources needs to be clearly identified. That is why the inquiry is
needed."...
See
full article HERE
A call for prisons to be
managed by Govt, not by Serco or Iwi
As
protesters gathered outside Mount Eden Prison in Auckland to
call out to the Government to end prisons being managed by
private companies like Serco, the debate whether iwi should manage
prisons just went up another notch as Labour's Corrections
Spokesman and others came out strongly opposing the idea.
"Serco's
contract needs to be ripped up and they need to be kick out of New
Zealand. They have no place here in NZ to run our prisons", said
Davis.
The
organiser of the protest John Palethorpe says that prisons need
to be returned to the public so that prisons are accountable and
transparent.
Reporter Harata Brown spoke to many
Māori who were present and said that many believe that prisons
should not be administrated or managed by iwi.
Davis said, "It's the Crown
that prosecutes the offenders and send them to prison, it's the
Crown's role to ensure their safety and look after them".
"The iwi's responsibilities do not
lie with managing prisons, the role of iwi is to provide restorative
justice programs, to empower the communities and health initiatives",
said Davidson.....
See
full article HERE
John Key leaves girl in tears after
calling Maori language month 'boring'
A teenage girl was "upset and
embarrassed" when the Prime Minister said her suggestion of
a Maori language month would be boring.
The 16-year-old asked John Key
whether he would extend Maori language week, when he visited a school
assembly at Waiuku College, on Friday.
Key said he preferred keeping it to a
week of Maori language celebrations and that people would get "bored"
by a month.
Prime Minister John Key speaks to a
Waiuku College assembly about Maori language week, saying people
would be "bored" if it was extended to a month.
A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister
said Key's meaning was that the celebrations may be diluted over a
longer period....
See
full article HERE
Tensions at Auckland's troubled Maori
boarding school have spilled over, with the principal suspended and
three managers handing in their resignations.
Principal at Northcote's Hato Petera
College, John Matthews, was suspended from his role as chief
executive of the school's hostel, Radio New Zealand reported. He
remains principal of the 100-pupil school.
Mr Taylor said there were too many
personalities involved. "There is not a day without argument,"
he said.
A treaty of Waitangi claim made against
the church and Crown by members of the wider school community have
led to further tension......
See
full article HERE
The misinformation in this educational resource is very disturbing, it is a crime that New Zealand students are being indoctrinated with manipulated history.
See Treaty Of Waitangi Questions And Answers
The Mole encourages New Zealanders to
write to the Minister of Education and her Associate Nikki Kaye and
ask whether they approve of the booklet being used as an official
education resource by New Zealand education institutions.
The Minister’s email address is here:
h.parata@ministers.govt.nz
and the Associate’s address here: n.kaye@ministers.govt.nz.
Articles that refute the above (PDF)
propaganda on the links below
With water quality being a serious
topic across the country, the Iwi Leaders Group is pushing for a
solution to ensure that all marae across the country have access to
fresh, clean drinking water.
Fresh water is of the utmost importance
to iwi leaders nation-wide.
Adele Whyte says, “One of the major
objectives of the iwi leaders chair group forum is to ensure that all
marae have access to good quality drinking water and we know this is
a problem for all marae.”
Ngahiwi Tomana says, “The peripheral
land use by people like farmers, vineyards and orchardists, they are
the ones sucking up all the water from marae.”
Tomoana says, “To enable them to use
pure water that is fresh and healthy to nourish whānau and hapū.”
...
See
full article HERE
Māori language expert disagrees
with statistics showing dwindling numbers of Māori speakers
The statistics that show dwindling
numbers of Māori speakers are misleading. This from leading te reo
Māori proponent Tīmoti Kāretu ahead of his State of Te Reo
Māori address at Te Papa tonight.
A concern that was acknowledged by the
Minister of Māori Development, Te Ururoa Flavell and the
Māori Language Commission. But this expert says those statistics
don't show the full picture.
Kāretu says, "According to the
statistics, the numbers are going down, but that is misleading
because it doesn't take into account the increase in numbers of the
up and coming generation.”...
See
full article HERE
"We're Maori, the indigenous
people of a little country down here in the South Pacific called
Aotearoa - you probably know it as New Zealand - and we want you to
know that we don't support the TPPA; in fact we hate the bloody
thing."
The letter goes on to explain how Maori
have been trying to win back their rights under the Treaty of
Waitangi since it was signed in 1840, but explains "it hasn't
been easy".
"In fact, today our people suffer
the same levels of deprivation in housing, justice, employment,
education and health as Native Americans.
"Yeah bro' ? it's that bad.
There's a long, long way to go before we get up to where we should
be, and key to all of that is our Treaty, and our treaty rights.
"We want to be able to look after
our lands, our forests, our rivers and our seas just like the Treaty
said we could, not just for Maori but for everyone in this country,
and we're really scared that the TPPA is going to make our fight an
impossible one.".....
See
full article HERE
Opportunities for Māori in
Manawatū-Whanganui
“The report says there are around
190,000 hectares of Māori freehold land in the Manawatū-Whanganui
region. Finding ways to increase the productivity of this land will
bring significant benefits – the report identifies mānuka honey,
sheep and beef farming and tourism as ways to do this.
“The current reforms to Te Ture
Whenua Māori Act will empower Māori land owners to take more
control of the use of Māori land.
“In addition, the new Te Ture Whenua
Māori Network that I announced recently will assist in finding ways
for Māori land owners to improve the productivity of their land. The
network will be supported by a $12.8 million fund to explore, among
other things, options for dealing with ratings and landlocked land
issues” says Mr Flavell.....
See
full article HERE
Year 2 students at Glenfield's Mānuka
Primary School are still learning to read and write in English - but
they are already learning te reo Māori too. They learn with actions
rather than writing.
"Whaea says ki runga [Aunty says
up]," the teacher says. Hands go up in the air.
"Whaea says ki raro." Hands go down.
Counting is done on fingers. Arms
stretch to named parts of the body. The children are constantly stood
up and sat down.
Schools like Mānuka, where only 12 per
cent of students are Māori and the rest hail from around the globe,
are making a real effort to give every child a basic knowledge of te
reo.
The school uses a programme called Te Reo Tuatahi (First Language).
Te Reo Tuatahi has now spread to 25
North Shore schools and to Blockhouse Bay Intermediate, Kōhia
Terrace (Epsom) and Point View (Dannemora), reaching almost 10,000
pupils. But co-ordinator Raewyn Harrison worries that it remains
precarious because it depends on the schools' operations grants. At
Mānuka, principal Linda Munkowits can afford the programme for only
nine of her 13 classes.
Dr Graham Stoop, the Education
Ministry's head of student achievement, said the programme was "just
the sort of initiative that school operational grants are designed to
cover".
"All schools are expected to
provide their students with opportunities to learn to reo Māori,"
he said. "Schools are required to take all reasonable steps to
provide instruction in te reo Māori for students whose parents ask
for it."
Māori Language Commission acting chief
Tuehu Harris said it had limited funds for community initiatives but
school programmes should be funded by the Education Ministry......
See
full article HERE
On 23 July, the Waitangi Tribunal held
a hearing on whether to grant urgency to Māori claimants seeking to
challenge the Crown's entrance into the TPPA. As discussed in
our previous
article, Māori have raised several concerns in
relation to the proposed TPPA, including a claim that it will
adversely affect Māori intellectual property rights.
In the course of last week's hearing,
claimants proposed that an independent barrister review the Treaty of
Waitangi exception clause.
The Treaty of Waitangi exception clause
is a clause in free trade agreements that allows New Zealand to
provide preferential treatment to Māori, where required to fulfil
its obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi. The other parties to
the free trade agreement cannot challenge this preferential treatment
to Māori.
The Tribunal, while not making an
order, was in favour of an independent barrister being appointed to
review the clause. However, the Crown sought instructions from
ministers, and has declined to accede to the request......
See
full article HERE
More than Ministry Encouragement
Needed for Te Reo
New Zealand First says Education
Minister Hekia Parata needs to do more to ensure te reo Māori is
supported throughout Secondary education so the language is not lost
to all New Zealanders.
“Official information released to New
Zealand First shows that the number of learners participating in
Māori language courses drops from 26 per cent of primary students to
only 7.5 per cent for students within Secondary education,” says
New Zealand First Spokesperson for Māori Affairs Pita Paraone....
See full article HERE
Howie Tamati speaks out about
'embarrassing' Maori ward debate
New Plymouth councillor Howie Tamati
says the furore that erupted over the Maori ward debate was
embarrassing.
The former league star spoke out this
week about the process the New Plymouth District Council went through
to try and get a Maori ward approved for the 2016 local body
elections.
Although the councillors narrowly voted
for the ward to be established, a citizen initiated binding
referendum saw that decision overturned.
"We still have no direction in
terms of how we are going to move forward and meet our statutory
obligations. And I'd like to see something done by this council."
In May it was announced that eighty
three per cent of voters in the binding referendum voted against the
creation of the ward, with only 17 per cent of people in favour of
the idea.
From the 45 per cent voter turnout and
the 25,338 returned votes, 21,053 people were against the creation of
the ward, with only 4285 in favour of it....
See
full article HERE
Local government rules discriminate
against Maori
Maori local government politicians from
around the country who met in Rotorua recently have expressed concern
at discriminatory rules at the local council level.
Rotorua Lakes councillor Merepeka
Raukawa - Tait who chaired the meeting held prior to the Local
Government Conference says the only time a local body needs to hold a
referendum to set up a new ward is when it's for Maori
representation.
She says if the farming community, for
example, wants a new ward to represent their interests the council
can simply set it up without polling the people.
Mrs Raukawa - Tait who was the highest
polling candidate in Rotorua and who heads the Council's powerful
planning committee says her council's recent move to have Maori elect
their own representatives to sit on key council committees is a step
in the right direction but doesn't go far enough.....
See
full article HERE
No legal action against marae over
kereru
The
Department of Conservation is not taking legal action against the
marae that served kereru to Crown ministers.
The protected wood pigeons were served
at a hui of iwi leaders and government ministers at Ohakune's
Maungarongo Marae in 2013.
DoC says what happened was possibly a
misunderstanding, and it had found no evidence any offence took
place.
The department says it has no record of
authorising dead kereru for consumption, and is continuing to talk
with the local iwi Ngati Rangi about the use of kereru for cultural
purposes....
See
full article HERE
The
Māori media funding agency Te Māngai Pāho is boosting funding for
digital media to 1.5 million dollars in this financial year.
That is up from between $400,000 to
600,000, which it has provided for digital media in each of the last
three to four years.
This year funding will go towards the
production of webseries, pilot series by new producers, and apps....
See
full article HERE
Low number of students using te reo
at Manawatu tertiary institutes
The low number of Manawatu tertiary
students choosing to submit assignments in te reo Maori has some
experts saying more needs to be done to encourage students to use the
language.
Massey University, on average, receives
about six assignments in te reo each year.
UCOL has had two assignments submitted
in te reo during the past two years.
Only 10 Massey students have completed
Masters or PhDs in te reo Maori since 1991....
See
full article HERE
Face of new NZ Post ad
shares her Te Reo Māori Journey
To
celebrate Māori Language Week, New Zealand Post have released a
commercial stating the fact that you can address packages in Te Reo
Māori nationwide....
See
full article HERE
City Library adopts te reo
for check-out experience
Palmerston
North City Library's latest technology means a higher profile for te
reo Maori.
The new radio frequency identification
system is equipped with smart serve desks capable of operating in a
variety of languages, and in time for Maori Language Week, Maori is
the first language option to be fully checked and translated so users
can navigate the full menu in Maori.
"The new smart serve desks will
enable lenders with fluency in the Maori language to quickly take out
books, view their account details, and pay any library fines,"
explains city council principal Maori adviser Todd Taiepa.....
See
full article HERE
One
week is too short, it should be a whole month to celebrate te reo
Māori. Those were the sentiments expressed by the new chairman of
the Māori Language Commission, Wayne Ngata at the launch of Māori
Language Week at Waiwhetū Marae this afternoon.
This is the 40th year of Māori
Language Week, which was increased to a week after previously being a
day.
But for the new chairman of the Māori
Language Commission, one week isn't sufficient.....
See
full article HERE
A Northland iwi working towards
introducing Maori culture to a global parenting programme hope the
mahi will shine a light on the importance of whanau and tamariki.
The Ngati Hine Health Trust, in
partnership with parenting researchers of the University of Auckland
and developers of the Triple-P Positive Parenting Programme at the
University of Queensland, is working towards bringing aspects of
Maori culture to the renowned parenting programme.
The aim is to take the adapted scheme
nationwide.
Titled Te Whanau Pou Toru, named in
consultation with Ngati Hine kaumatua and kuia, the programme will
look at the development of a child, whanau roles, and behaviour while
introducing aspects of Maori culture including tikanga and language.
"Some things include talking about
the importance of karakia, the importance of kai time - what do you
want kai time to look like?...
"Creating that environment that
allows korero."
Ms Tepania-Palmer said a parenting
programme with a Maori focus would be beneficial for Maori.....
See
full article HERE
Maori business optimism higher than
rest
Maori businesses are more optimistic
and recording stronger profit growth than non-Maori firms, ANZ Bank's
2015 Maori business report says.
The ANZ Privately-Owned Business
Barometer found 72 percent of Maori businesses surveyed were upbeat
about the next three years, up from a reading of 70 percent last
year, and ahead of 51 percent for non-Maori business.
Over the past 12 months, 54 percent of
Maori businesses in the survey recorded an increase in profit. That
compares to 46 percent for non-Maori firms.
A Te Puni Kokiri report estimates the
Maori economy was worth $42.6 billion in 2013. About $23.4b of that
was made up by Maori employers, while Maori trusts, incorporations
and other entities contributed $12.5b.
Of the 3500 businesses surveyed for the
ANZ barometer series, 336 respondents self-identified as Maori in
business and represented organisations with a combined annual
turnover of more than $1b.
The ANZ report showed that a third of
the Maori respondents were invovled in agriculture, forestry and
fishing.....
See
full article HERE
Greens and NZ First pander to Maori
when Maori themselves clearly don’t care enough
If you want to learn
Maori, you can.
The slump in fluent Maori speakers is
simply due to a lack of interest by… Maori.
Pushing “Te Reo” onto non-Maori via
legislation hasn’t worked. I mean, all the tamariki eat kai
at the kai table in kindies, and they’re told ka pai. They sing ka
kite before going home. And know their whero from their kahurangi,
but none of that ever gets to even the most basic conversational
Maori. It never was going to.
But that doesn’t stop the
idiots of the opposition in demanding an inquiry
that will help no one, much less people wanting to learn Maori......
See
full article HERE
So we get Maori in to bless something so the Taniwha won’t get us, but if an Indian does something, they get deported?
But
here is the thing. We get Maori in to bless something so the
Taniwha won’t get us, in a sense our own indigenous witchcraft, but
if an Indian does something along these lines, they get deported and
all manner of media hit jobs attack them.
Perhaps we should look into Maori
witch-doctors sprinkling a bit of “holy water” around, wailing a
few lines and shaking a branch of a tree for cash at the same time. I
mean if we are going to get upset about witch-doctors then it should
be against all witch-doctors…..
See
full article HERE
Wattle tree removal brings pride to
iwi
Mr Raureti said that for Ngāti
Rangitihi, if their maunga is ailing so too are its people, but that
the project has created a renewed self-respect.
"Their sense of pride, they walk
upright. People are asking them 'how is it going up on the
mountain?'...
See
full article HERE
Te reo Maori is a very special
taonga that must be treasured
I am very proud to be Maori and so te
reo Maori is a very special taonga that must be treasured.
For me, it helps strengthen my identity
and validates who I am. For example I am takatāpui - a word in our
language for Māori who are non-heterosexual, gay, lesbian,
transgender or gender diverse.
Our terminology, in our language, helps
to give me a solid base of identity, immersed in our indigenous
language which supports my existence both in the past, today and in
the future.
My Māori language story is very
similar to many other families’. My father was born in the mid
1940s and grew up in the 50s and 60s when assimilation policies were
the norm. It was a time when they were caned in school for speaking
Māori – the language was beaten out of them.
I was born in 1972 and am the eldest of
four children in our family. Understandably, based on his
experiences, my father was very focused on us getting an education
through the pakeha system and being successful in the pakeha
world.......
See
full article HERE
Iwi angered by lack of consultation
over Westhaven mineral permit
The two Westhaven blocks were vested
with Ngati Tama, Te Ati Awa and Ngati Rarua in April last year
as part of their full and final Treaty of Waitangi settlement after
years of negotiation..
The tribes held the land for an agreed
seven days before handing it back to the people of New Zealand as a
mark of goodwill - as agreed under the settlement.
Iwi spokesman John Mitchell said last
September Ngati Tama were informed by letter from NZ Petroleum and
Minerals that Strategic Elements, a subsidiary of Australian-based
Strategic Minerals, had applied for a new prospecting permit (56791).
When iwi handed back land to the people
of New Zealand it was up to the Crown to respect
the tenure of the settlement and look after the land, he
said.....
See
full article HERE
How treatyist
avoids scrutiny
A government program is the nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth, according to the late United States President Ronald Reagan. One such eternal-life programme in New Zealand concerns treaty settlements. The architect of that programme is Sir Geoffrey Palmer, who tells how he set up the process in his new book titled Reform – A Memoir. Regarding critics as racists, he set the policy in motion when his boss was out of the country, he incorporated a redefined version of the treaty into law, and did all that without any regard to the financial and social impact these policies would have.
A government program is the nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth, according to the late United States President Ronald Reagan. One such eternal-life programme in New Zealand concerns treaty settlements. The architect of that programme is Sir Geoffrey Palmer, who tells how he set up the process in his new book titled Reform – A Memoir. Regarding critics as racists, he set the policy in motion when his boss was out of the country, he incorporated a redefined version of the treaty into law, and did all that without any regard to the financial and social impact these policies would have.
Sir Geoffrey is an aging white liberal
who has spent his entire working life cocooned in a privileged
environment, and whose conscience appears to drive him to improve the
lot of those he deems less fortunate. But his cocoon means he does
not really know much about those he purports to help.
Maori “were subjected to rank injustice in colonial times”, Sir Geoffrey writes without saying what those injustices were, adding “it has taken a long time to remedy those injustices, and the process is not yet complete”.
Sir Geoffrey was Justice Minister in the 1980s Lange Labour government. Since his speciality is law and politics, it is possible he does not know too much about history. But New Zealand has a short history, with the history of white settlement very short. This means you don’t have to go far to find out all there is to know.
Maori “were subjected to rank injustice in colonial times”, Sir Geoffrey writes without saying what those injustices were, adding “it has taken a long time to remedy those injustices, and the process is not yet complete”.
Sir Geoffrey was Justice Minister in the 1980s Lange Labour government. Since his speciality is law and politics, it is possible he does not know too much about history. But New Zealand has a short history, with the history of white settlement very short. This means you don’t have to go far to find out all there is to know.
There is little doubt that the British believed they were proceeding in an enlightened and humane manner in the settlement of New Zealand because not only was the consent of the indigenous people sought and acquired through the Treaty of Waitangi, any land needed for the settlers was bought and paid for. By contrast, earlier British colonisation involved taking land, importing slaves for labour, and gunning down unwilling natives, circumstances the newly humanitarian British wished to avoid.
Therefore, the “rank injustice” that Sir Geoffrey alleges, in the third sentence of his treaty chapter, took place did so within the context of settlement proceeding by consent, with all land used by settlers being purchased. In fact, the British (government and settlers) bought 24.1-million hectares of New Zealand’s total land area of 26.8-million hectares.
In the sixth sentence, Sir Geoffrey presents the corridors-of-power version of the usual retort “you are racist if you disagree” by saying “there is an unpleasant underside to the New Zealand psyche when questions of race are debated.”
The Lange-Douglas-Palmer government of the 1980s, most especially Sir Geoffrey, began looking at extending the jurisdiction of the Waitangi Tribunal back to 1840 “to deal with the manifest injustices that had been visited upon Maori by the settler Parliaments of the nineteenth century”. Sir Geoffrey wrote that he “did some research on the outstanding grievances and while they were substantial I thought they were manageable. It has taken longer than I thought, although the end is in sight”.
Sir Geoffrey announced the policy when Prime Minister David Lange was away in Europe on February 2, 1984.
What Sir Geoffrey does not say is how those claims multiplied once compensation was offered. By the time another Labour government set a deadline for historical claims, that being September 1, 2008, a total of 2034 historical claims were registered. By contrast, in 1882 a delegation took just nine grievances to Queen Victoria. Sir Geoffrey apparently failed to consider that the promise of compensation always acts like a magnet to claims.
Sir Geoffrey mentions “the rediscovery of the Maori language version of the treaty, from which has flowed a new political vocabulary” as striking features of the Motunui report.
He does not mention how the rediscovery of the Maori language version led to a re-interpretation of the treaty. Sir Hugh Kawharu, who was both a Waitangi Tribunal member and Ngati Whatua o Orakei claimant, is credited with re-defining the words “kawanatanga” and “rangatiratanga” to create a treaty that confirms Maori sovereignty over all things Maori while giving to the Crown limited power to control new settlers.
In his re-interpretation that is posted on the Waitangi Tribunal’s website, Sir Hugh avoids the simple fact that the treaty was drafted in English and translated into Maori, which means that the meaning and intent is clear in the English. The word “kawanatanga” that appears in the Maori text was used to translate “sovereignty” in the English, while “rangatiratanga” was used to translate “possession”.
Sir Geoffrey gained Cabinet authority to set up in the Ministry of Justice the Treaty of Waitangi Policy Unit (that later became the Office of Treaty Settlements) to deal with the Crown response to treaty negotiations. That unit created a report later adopted by Cabinet and published on July 4, 1989, as “Principles for Crown Action on the Treaty of Waitangi.”
Those five principles were: Kawanatanga (the principle of government), rangatiratanga (self-government), equality, cooperation, and redress. Notice how the government that Sir Geoffrey was a part of at this point had accepted that “rangatiratanga” meant “self-government” whereas in the original treaty of 1840, “rangatiratanga” translated “possession”.
The treaty policy enabled Sir Geoffrey to include treaty clauses in legislation, including Section 4 of the Conservation Act 1987 which said “this Act shall be interpreted and administered as to give effect to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi”, with a similar reference to treaty principles in the Environment Act 1986. The Resource Management Act spelled out a number of Maori concepts concerning environmental management. The State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986 had section 9 that provides: “Nothing in this Act shall permit the Crown to act in a manner that is inconsistent with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.”
Sir Geoffrey wrote that the settlement process has been insulated “from the ravages of extreme opinion” but he did not specify how this has been achieved.
1. He does not say that the government and claimants agreed upon treaty breaches before, yes before, a Waitangi Tribunal inquiry into the claims has been completed. The public assumes that the tribunal conducts an inquiry to establish the validity of the claim.
2. He does not say that that the Waitangi Tribunal is not an impartial panel of inquiry but has become an advocate for Maori interests to the extent that claimants rely on a sympathetic report as evidence for court action as we have seen in the recent claim about water rights.
3. He does not say that treaty settlements are legally binding when they are signed, which means the select committee process and passage through parliament has no bearing on the already agreed settlement. In this manner, most voters and taxpayers have no input in the process whatsoever.
As justification, Sir Geoffrey writes: “I thought then and I still think now that the most serious challenge New Zealand faces is to avoid having a permanent underclass defined by race”. He seems unaware that Maori social indicators have worsened, yes worsened, while the treaty settlement process has proceeded.
According to information provided by the Ministry of Social Development last year, Maori unemployment in 1981 was 14 percent, in 1993 it was 24 percent, and in 2012, it was 36.5 percent. In 2002, 38 percent of those on the domestic purposes benefit were Maori, and by 2012, it was 42.7 percent. In 2002, 23 percent of those on a sickness benefit were Maori, while in 2012 it was 28 percent. In 2002, 19 percent of those on an invalid’s benefit were Maori, while in 2012 it was 22.4 percent.
In his new book, Sir Geoffrey has confirmed that while in government he behaved like an autocrat, exercising absolute power. He appears convinced that he knows best, and has set up a system to ensure that his view of the universe is imposed regardless of what anyone else may think.
Therefore, if you think the treaty settlements programme has achieved the eternal life that Ronald Reagan attributed to government programmes, you may now understand how Sir Geoffrey Palmer carefully set up policies and processes that operate under the radar and outside of meaningful parliamentary oversight.
Source:
Maori, the Treaty and the Constitution – Rt. Hon. Sir Geoffrey Palmer QC, http://maorilawreview.co.nz/2013/06/maori-the-treaty-and-the-constitution-rt-hon-sir-geoffrey-palmer-qc/
http://breakingviewsnz.blogspot.hk/2014/02/mike-butler-autocrat-and-treaty.html
February 11, 2014
Hemana
Waaka, a Former Cultural Advisor of Mount Eden Prison says that iwi
have the ability to administer public prisons and iwi like Ngāpuhi,
as well as the collective iwi of the Auckland District and Ngāti
Kahungunu, can provide managerial control over prisons within their
districts.
Waaka says that the government now need
to consider expression of interests from Iwi Authorities to
administer public prisons.
“What is the difference between being
able to care for our children in Kohanga, and being able to care for
our people in prisons? The administrational control of prisons
throughout New Zealand need to be returned to iwi,” says Waaka.
Māori Party Co Leader Marama Fox says
she will also table the proposal before the Correction Minister.
“I think that the people of Kahungunu
can do this, because there are many of them within the prison here,
that's a start,” says Fox.
Waaka says that iwi can apply tikanga
Māori to both Māori and non-Māori prisoners and the concept
doesn't necessarily need to be initially implemented nationally.
“It can be left up to iwi to care for
the prisoners under their own customs that also align with the law.”
While the idea is still in its infancy,
the Māori Party say that they are pushing the concept even further
and have already met with Māori who are actively working within
prisons....
See
full article HERE
Charter school decision dismays
Māori principals
Northland
Māori principals say they are amazed Education Minister Hekia Parata
has chosen to prop up a charter school that they say has been a
failure from the start.
Education
Minister Hekia Parata said today that she was allowing
the school to stay open out of concern for its students.
She said the Government would give the
school an extra $129,000 this year to help with its improvement plan,
adding that the school would be audited again in October.
The school already receives $1.5
million per year as part of its contract.
Critics have questioned local support
for the school, its isolated location, a lack of iwi involvement and
the abilities of those running it.....
See
full article HERE
Waikato-Tainui’s
fortunes are steadily increasing as a series of investments
diversifies its interests.
Waikato-Tainui's fortunes are steadily
increasing, its asset base rising by $123.6 million in the past year
to reach $1.2 billion.
The Hamilton-headquartered tribe's
annual report, issued by Waikato Raupatu Lands Trust for the March
31, 2015, year and including the result of subsidiary Tainui Group
Holdings, was out this week and showed wealth rising from a $1
billion asset base to $1.2 billion.
Financial
distributions were also up from last year's $6.1 million to $22.3
million in the latest year....See
full article HERE
Mole News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Historian: Cultural take could help kererū
The
kererū might have a better chance of survival if Māori were
permitted a cultural take of the protected bird, says historian Paul
Moon.
Professor
Moon, who specialises in treaty matters, said the present law which
bans any killing of the bird is at odds with article two of the
treaty - which promises Māori undisturbed possession of their
taonga.
He said kererū were indisputably a
taonga and have always been used in association with specific
traditions and cultural practices.
The AUT professor said the law as it
stands has proven impossible to enforce and, although there was a
wealth of anecdotal evidence that kererū were being hunted, there
had been few prosecutions.
He said if hapū had a co-governance
role with the Department of Conservation (DOC), and could legally
take the odd kererū, they would likely do a better job of protecting
their patch and using their networks than DOC could manage on its
own....
See
full article HERE
Muslim policewoman now living
the dream
Te
Wananga o Aotearoa (TWoA), which runs the 18-week certificate course,
is signing a new memorandum of understanding with police to expand
the programme. Ms Khan said the increasing ethnic diversity of
Auckland's resident population means the city needs an equally
diverse police force.
Of
the 12,000 sworn police officers in New Zealand, 11.6 per cent are
Maori, about 5 per cent are Pacific Islanders and 2.5 per cent are
Asian or "others".
See
full article HERE
A further article on it HERE
Tribal Youth Gatherings leave
Māori students inspired
A
group of Māori students have just returned home from America
where they attended Tribal Youth Gatherings.
The likes of Michelle Obama stood and
presented inspiring speeches and reminded these youngsters that it's
important to continue nurturing their culture.
They're back on home soil, with a
renewed sense of passion for their culture.....
See
full article HERE
MPs asked to make effort with Māori
pronunciation
The
Māori Development Minister is challenging Members of Parliament to
brush up on their Māori language pronunciation in the House next
week to support Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori.
The annual campaign to promote the
language starts on Monday.
Te Ururoa Flavell said he would like to
see MP's making more of an effort at getting their tongue around
Māori words.
He said he would like to see members
who can speak Māori helping others out....
See
full article HERE
Three
regional agreements have been signed with iwi from the Auckland,
Tasman, and Marlborough regions following successful negotiations
between the Crown and regional Iwi aquaculture organisations.
The agreements are the result of the
Māori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Act 2004, which
requires the Crown to provide Iwi aquaculture organisations with 20%
of new commercial aquaculture space consented since October 2011, or
anticipated to occur into the future.
“The agreements in Auckland, Tasman
and Marlborough will deliver four hectares of authorisations for
oyster space in addition to $46 million as cash equivalent for the
remainder of the Crown’s obligations.
Work on agreements in Northland,
Hauraki Waikato-East, Canterbury, and Southland regional agreements
is ongoing....
See
full article HERE
Kererū quota clause for iwi
supported
A
Ngāti Awa cultural advisor in Whakatāne said there could be
individual cases where iwi can include a small kererū quota clause
in their Treaty settlements.
He
said his iwi included a clause in its Treaty settlement in 2005 so it
could harvest tītī, or muttonbirds, from offshore islands in its
rohe.
"It's
also about preserving our methodologies, our ways in terms of our
kai....
See
full article HERE
The Cream of Wahine Māori
Business Leaders Set to Meet
Māori
women business leaders and decision makers from throughout Aotearoa
are set to meet in Auckland onFriday July 24 for the annual Huihuinga
Wahine Māori Women’s Leadership Summit.
The summit, which is in its fourth
year, is hosted by the Federation of Māori Authorities (FOMA).
FOMA chairman Traci Houpapa said the
one day conference brought the country’s top Māori women chairs,
deputy chairs, CEs, GMs, directors, trustees and governors together
to discuss economic and commercial issues important to them and the
entities they represent....
See
full article HERE
Initiative leads to Maori playgroup
The initiative of a new resident has
led to the rapid formation of a te reo Maori playgroup for Queenstown
children.
A core group of about 20 families got
behind the formation of an incorporated society to be the playgroup's
governing body.
Its mission is to deliver quality early
childhood education that encourages children to be active learners of
Maori language and culture, using collaborative rather than
teacher-centred learning, she says.
It is open to Queenstown families with
children aged up to 5, and operates on weekdays from noon to 2pm.
''But there's a lot of people who want
to know more about Maori, and not necessarily just the language, but
customs, traditions and history.
''It's open to anyone - we've got some
Japanese and Thai whanau that come along.''
The playgroup is following the Ministry
of Education Te Whariki early childhood curriculum, and a ministry
official will visit next week to offer advice on its operation.
''Our ultimate goal is reached when
we're open as a fulltime early childhood centre specialising in te
reo and tikanga Maori,'' Ms Paringatai says.
''Where do our children go when they
leave there? We've been having korero with teachers about potential
options for our tamariki after Te Puna.'' ..
See
full article HERE
Viral speech calls for Māori to be
compulsory in NZ primary schools
A YouTube clip posted by a non-Māori
student at Kāpiti College has had over 40,000 views since going up
at 10pm on Monday. It features Finnian Galbraith delivering a
speech he wrote, emphasising to New Zealand the importance of
correctly pronouncing Māori words.
“So I propose this, it is compulsory
for kids to have at least an hour of learning te reo Māori per week,
and all teachers have a basic knowledge of the language as well. To
be honest this isn’t much, but it could just give people enough
knowledge if the language to help preserve it.”....
See
full article HERE
Minister defends Auckland charter
school
Bad
blood with another school is behind complaints about an Auckland
charter school, Education Minister Hekia Parata says.
Angry parents have accused Middle
School West Auckland of doing their children more harm than good.
A leaked letter shows some parents -
whose children moved from a private Maori Christian school, Nga
Kakano, to Middle School West Auckland this year - were not happy.
They said the school had failed to
recognise their children's Maori and Pasifika culture and their
behaviour was suffering.
The Education Ministry said the school
now had a plan in place to address whanau concerns and it was helping
the school improve its cultural awareness.
Ms Parata said complaints about the
school appeared to be the result of a souring relationship between it
and Nga Kakano, with which it shares a site....
See
full article HERE
Controversial Maori drivers policy
rewritten to include all races
Police have finally released the new
wording for the "Turning the Tides" policy, which
controversially gave Maori drivers preferential treatment in South
Auckland.
A rewrite will now apply the same rules
to all drivers on South Auckland streets, after last month's leaked
document stated that Maori drivers without a license were to be given
the chance to avoid a ticket for driving lessons.
The official wording of the amended
guideline now reads that Maori drivers are to be "considered
for" driver training, wording which police said clearly reflects
that any driver who mets the criteria can be offered those options,
regardless of race....
See
full article HERE
Urgent TPPA hearing critical to
honouring Treaty
It is critical that the Waitangi
Tribunal agrees to an urgent hearing into allegations the
Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) breaches the Treaty of
Waitangi, says Council of Trade Unions Vice-President Māori Syd
Keepa.
“Instead the Crown has said it is too
late in the TPPA negotiation process for a Waitangi Tribunal hearing.
This puts a trade treaty ahead of our founding Treaty.”
“The government cannot be allowed to
sign away our tino rangatiratanga,” says Keepa....
See full article HERE
Professor
Paul Moon believes the native wood pigeon were regarded as a delicacy
and eaten at formal occasions - such as feasts hosting visitors and
tangi.
"Ironically, before the
legislation came in to protect the bird, Maori communities by and
large protected those birds anyway through their own cultural
processes," Moon said.
"In a sense they've always had
some protected status, they've never been a bird that anyone can hunt
at any time for any purpose."
Moon believes Dame Tariana's view is
widely held and very fair - as the birds have great cultural
importance.
"To turn the tap off completely
say 'No these can't be touched at all' seems a bit unfair. It also
potentially is a violation of article two of the Treaty which
guarantees hapu and iwi the full, exclusive, and undisturbed
possession of their assets.".......
See
full article HERE
Teachers need to pronounce students'
names correctly - Hekia Parata
Questions have been raised over why
maths and science teachers need to be competent in Te Reo Maori and
whether it's closing the door to quality overseas teachers.
According to the Ministry of Education
all teachers were expected to have an "understanding of the
bi-cultural heritage of New Zealand", but National MP Judith
Collins was baffled it extended to maths and science teachers
working in English-speaking schools.
Her National party colleague Melissa
Lee was equally concerned that overseas teachers were expected to be
competent in Te Reo Maori.
Overseas teachers coming to work in New
Zealand schools should have the same grasp of Maori culture that Kiwi
teachers are expected to, said NZ First education spokeswoman Tracey
Martin.
Labour education spokesman Chris
Hipkins said asking all teachers to be aware of Maori culture was
"perfectly reasonable".
"It's a legitimate debate to be
having and we need to ensure all teachers in the classroom have a
good understanding of Maori."
Delahunty and Martin initiated the
ministry report on Te Reo Maori to find out how much resourcing and
support was provided to English-medium schools to meet Te Reo Maori
requirements....
See
full article HERE
Even MPs can't get Maori place names
right - Flavell
The Maori Affairs Minister is calling
for extra recognition of Te Reo ahead of Maori Language Week.
Te Ururoa Flavell says while it's good
to see public figures make an effort, it should be a year-round
commitment, not just an annual event.
He wants to see all young people in New
Zealand learning the language at school.
"A move to compulsory Maori in
schools would be a great move towards ensuring its survival
forever."...
See
full article HERE
Police: Data shows no race-based
ticketing policy
Most unlicensed south Auckland drivers
who initially had their tickets waived in a controversial policy
which appeared to favour Maori eventually had to pay the fine, police
say.
Police today released the latest annual
figures for the number of drivers who had their $400 tickets waived
in exchange for completing a compliance programme.
In 2014-15 the national figure was 12
percent and in Counties Manukau it was 7.3 percent.
The figures cannot not be broken down
by race, says district commander Superintendent John Tims.
"Police do not offer compliance
based on race... but what it does indicate is that given the small
proportion of people put through compliance overall, police officers
are generally using their discretion appropriately when offering
compliance to those who meet the criteria.....
See
full article HERE
Down dairy cycle an opportunity for
booming Waikato-Tainui iwi
The dairy downturn may have opened the
door for tribal giant Waikato-Tainui to broaden their investment
portfolio and continue to build their empire.
They announced their annual result
today, reporting a $123 million increase in the last financial year
to $1.2 billion at a time when dairy struggled.
Tainui Group Holdings chairman Sir
Henry van der Heyden said it was a "solid result" and any
opportunity in the dairy sector would be looked at.
"When it comes to the agricultural
sector today, we think that we're in a cycle, so what it does for us
is actually create opportunity," said van der Heyden....
See
full article HERE
Playcentre making Te Reo Maori part
of everyday life
Playcentres across the Wellington
region are challenging themselves to create an environment rich in
the use of te reo Māori as part of everyday life. Whānau tupu
ngātahi – families learning together – is the Playcentre
kaupapa, and that means growing our reo together too.....
See
full article HERE
Lack of Māori staff at Mt Eden
Prison
A
former prisoner who has run tikanga programmes for offenders said
there's a lack of Māori staff at Mt Eden Prison.
The privately-run prison has been in
the spotlight since footage of inmates fighting, smoking cannabis and
drinking alcohol was shared on social media.
"Staff who have no real connection
to the people in there. I hope this doesn't come across as in anyway
racial but there's very few Māori staff in there and most of the
inmates are Māori.
"So, you know, the lack of
connection and valuing of what those people value, the way that
families are treated when they visit, this all adds to the stress."
Mr White said the Corrections budget
was huge and more resources should go to Māori organisations to run
programmes for Māori offenders.
"There's a huge chance to
intervene but the majority of programmes that are run in jail take a
clinical Western approach, even though some of them have Māori
names."...
See
full article HERE
Dunne defends $3m Treaty display
project spend
Internal
Affairs Minister Peter Dunne has defended the $3 million spent
discussing where the original Treaty of Waitangi documents should be
displayed.
The Government announced four years ago
it was moving the country's founding document from its current home
in the National Archive to a new space in the National Library just
200 metres up the road.
"It's not just some documents.
It's the Treaty of Waitangi. It's the 1835 declaration. It's some
documents that are critical to the history of New Zealand."
But New Zealand First leader Winston
Peters said it was outrageous Internal Affairs had spent four years
and $3 million doing effectively nothing......
See
full article HERE
The kererū is considered a food of the
chiefs, and it was served and consumed by chiefs at an iwi leaders'
hui in the central North Island two years ago.
Sitting alongside the iwi leaders were
Crown ministers Amy Adams, Nathan Guy and Tariana Turia.
A spokesperson for the marae in Ohakune
said between three and five birds had been handed to them by the
Department of Conservation.
Marae spokesperson Che Wilson said the
feathers were used for weaving, while the bodies were saved for a
special occasion.
He said the kererū were mixed with
chicken and miromiro berries and served as part of the hakari
(feast).
Ngāti Maniapoto leader Tom Roa said he
gladly took part in eating the kererū and said he did it knowing
that his relations at the marae would also be cognisant of their
responsibilities regarding the sustainability of the resource...
See
full article HERE
Northland
Maori have asked the Waitangi Tribunal to hold an urgent hearing to
stop the flag change process, claiming iwi have not been properly
consulted over the contentious issue.
The
claimants say they are suffering, and will continue to suffer,
significant and irreversible prejudice by the Crown's failure to
appropriately engage with Maori when deciding to initiate the flag
change process.
In
their application, they say the Crown has failed to recognise their
mana, tino rangatiratanga and the Aotearoa/New Zealand flag as their
taonga; failed to actively protect their taonga, namely their tino
rangatiratanga and the Aotearoa/New Zealand flag; failed to uphold
the principles of good-faith partnership when initiating the flag
change process that could eventuate in a change of the Aotearoa/New
Zealand flag; and failed to appropriately engage with Maori,
including them, in the decision to initiate the flag change process
in relation to the Aotearoa/New Zealand flag.
They
submit that, given their legal status as tangata whenua and partner
of the British Crown, any flag of New Zealand is a taonga, as found
in Article 2 of the Maori version of the Treaty.....
See
full article HERE
At
a council meeting on Wednesday, councillors unanimously agreed Lake
Ferry township should be formally recognised but conversation was
sparked over what the official name should actually be.
He
said a lot of people mistook the lake itself for being called Lake
Ferry instead of its correct name, Lake Onoke, and that the naming of
the town should differentiate the two.
"But that needs to be made quite
clear that Lake Ferry settlement or township, or what ever it gets
called ... that Lake Onoke doesn't lose its identity.
"The point I want to get across is
that Lake Onoke is not the Maori name for Lake Ferry like many people
think is the case.
"The local iwi are keen to make
that distinction between the two."
Mayor Adrienne Staples said council
supported Mr Cameron's proposal and would refer it to the Maori
Standing Committee.
Mr Cameron said that Lake Wairarapa and
Lake Onoke were also not officially-recognised names and, as he
understood it, local iwi were in consultations addressing this....
See
full article HERE
Scary monster fear in Paritai zoning
The chair of Auckland’s Independent
Maori Statutory Authority says owners of properties on exclusive
Paritai Drive don’t need to fear the recognition being proposed for
a pa site under their land.
Some of the residents have hired
lawyers to oppose the Onepu Whakatakataka site at the city end of the
ridge getting a cultural heritage overlay in the Unitary Plan.
David Taipari says it’s one of 2800
sites around the city where some level of heritage protection will be
sought.
David Taipari says the row show the
massive gap in understanding between Maori values and the rest of
society....
See
full article HERE
Elders should be allowed kereru -
Turia
Kaumatua
should be allowed to to eat small amounts of kereru at special
occasions, says former Maori Party co-leader Dame Tariana Turia.
The Department of Conservation is
looking into how the protected wood pigeon came to be served at a hui
of iwi leaders and government ministers.
Dame Tariana was one of three ministers
who attended the hui at an Ohakune marae in 2013 where the bird was
served though she was not at the dinner itself.
She told Morning Report that while she
believes depleted resources such as kereru should be left alone, she
was not opposed to allowing elders access to certain foods that were
traditionally part of their diet.
"The fact that it's now become a
depleted resource is not the fault of tangata whenua, it is the fact
that most of our resources have been destroyed.....
See
full article HERE
Insufficient
number of potential jurors and the failure by Northland courts to
punish those who fail to show for jury service has come to a point
where significant injustice could occur, a leading criminal lawyer
has warned.
Mr Blaikie said many people in the Far
North were not registered on the electoral roll from which the jury
pool is selected. Another problem, he said, was the difficulty in
getting information from the Justice Ministry on how jury panels were
allocated in both Maori and general rolls which resulted in a
significant lack of Maori jurors.....
See
full article HERE
More Māori at high decile schools
A
study of inequality in education has found the percentage of Māori
children attending higher decile schools has increased as the
socio-economic status of Māori has improved.
It found the percentage of Māori
students attending decile six to 10 schools has gone up from 21 to 34
percent during that time.
Ms Gordon said the movement of Māori
into high decile schools could signal the start of a change away from
segregation that will open up opportunities for a more bicultural
society....
See
full article HERE
No Justification for Whānau Ora
Spend
The decision to give $50 million worth
of extra funding to Whānau Ora navigators in Budget 2015 was made by
the Government without the Minister of Whānau Ora, Te Ururoa
Flavell, having any information to justify the extra spending, says
New Zealand First.
“Without documentation outlining a
shortage of navigators, how did Minister Flavell justify the extra
$50 million spend on navigators?
“It appears that at a time when all
other departments are stretched to breaking, the government remains
content on squandering taxpayer money on the Māori Party’s vanity
project without necessity or reason,” says Mr Paraone....
See
full article HERE
Sir Mark Solomon wants iwi
representatives to have input when decisions are made about water.
Sir Mark, a leader of Ngai Tahu, says
iwi want "equitable access" to water. Iwi are not talking
about tradeable property rights for water, though others are, he
says.
Allocation is a right to use water and
is not permanent ownership.
"We are not asking for a permanent
ownership, but we are asking for a permanent input into the
governance, the management and the monitoring of the water systems."
Ngai Tahu will also look at buying
state houses the government is planning to sell, Sir Mark Solomon
says.
The government wants to sell as many as
8000 state houses to community housing providers in the coming years
for ongoing use as social housing.
Te Runanga o Te Rarawa chairman Haami
Piripi says iwi groups want the state houses "at no cost"
but Finance Minister Bill English has ruled this out and says there's
interest from Australia.
Sir Mark said some state houses have
not been maintained well and they're not insulated.
"I think some of them would be an
economic millstone around your neck if you bought them. But we will
do a full due diligence on what is on offer, and if it stacks up and
if our people wish to go into it, maybe," he said...
See
full article HERE
Council cops flak for dumping waste
company
An
iwi in Northland is warning that a council decision to dump its
contract with a waste management company will have dire consequences
for the rohe.
The Far North District Council has
terminated its contract with Cleanstream in favour of a cheaper
service provider.
Cleanstream is jointly owned by iwi
organisation Te Rūnanga O Te Rārawa and the Community Business and
Environment Centre.....
See
full article HERE
National govt outed on secret water
negotiations - Peters
The National Government has been outed
with Environment Minister, Nick Smith, confirming negotiations with
many Iwi on demands for water ownership. This of course has been in
the past denied by National.
"Sir Mark Soloman on The Nation
this morning also admitted as much without saying it outright,"
Mr Peters said.
"This explains Ngai Tahu lodging
an appeal last year over its inability to convert 7000 hectares of
Hurunui forest into dairy farms. For those with existing water
consents and rights, it is clear National has a new policy of ‘last
in, best dressed.’
"Nothing National does should
surprise anyone anymore. Kiwi not Iwi has been reversed. In
Parliament, National’s Dr Shane Reti expressed concern over the
lack of spending on "Maori spiritual health," meanwhile,
Minister Nick Smith is clearly looking after big Iwi’s "financial
health" by catering for new water demands.
"In addition, new unelected Maori
representation is being negotiated on to water control authorities
all over the country. The issue is why has the National Party not got
the honesty to admit that?....
See
full article HERE
Crown says no to delaying TPPA
On Tuesday lawyers for the claimants
seeking an urgent inquiry into the Crown’s actions in negotiating
the TPPA by the Waitangi Tribunal asked the Crown for an undertaking
that no action would be taken towards making final commitments on
behalf of New Zealand in negotiations until the claims have been
resolved.
Today the Crown responded, declining to
give the undertaking sought.....
See
full article HERE
Iwi leaders want to share control
of water - Sir Mark Solomon
Solomon says iwi leaders want to share
control of New Zealand water with regional councils, deciding who
gets to use freshwater
Freshwater Iwi Leaders’ Group
co-chair says Maori have the right to co-govern water and will "keep
pushing the issue"....
See
full article HERE
Mole News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Paritai
Drive residents fighting Maori heritage designation moves
Neighbours
in Auckland's most prestigious street are fighting moves to tag their
properties with a Maori heritage designation.
The Auckland Council supports a bid by
Ngati Whatua Orakei to extend a "mana whenua cultural heritage
overlay" over about 25 properties at the city end of Paritai
Drive in the Auckland unitary plan.
Under current rules, property owners
within a 200m "buffer zone" of these sites may need to
obtain a cultural impact assessment from iwi for additions or
redevelopment.
Ngati Whatua say the properties have a
cultural and spiritual association with a former pa, Onepu
Whakatakataka.
The site is one of nearly 3000 across
Auckland earmarked for scheduling in the unitary plan as "sites
of value to mana whenua".
Information provided by Ngati Whatua
was insufficient to justify the designation, Mr Nolan argued. The
cultural overlay "would impose costs, possible loss of value and
significant constraints on the owners".
The headland pa was recorded as
"destroyed" more than half a century ago but iwi argue that
"intangible" cultural and spiritual values should be
recognised when development occurs near valued or sacred ancestral
sites......
See full article HERE
Efforts
to accommodate Maori spiritual and cultural values in planning
decisions have residents of Auckland’s most moneyed street manning
the barricades.
The form letter posted to numbers "68
to 110a Paritai Drive" was not well-received by Gilda
Kirkpatrick at No. 90, nor most of her well-heeled neighbours.
The April 9 letter from Ngati Whatua
Orakei advised some of Auckland's most envied property owners they
were sitting on a "Site of Significance to Mana Whenua", to
be listed in the unitary plan. The plan "requires consultation
with affected iwi to ensure any development respects the cultural
values and associations with that site". What rankled
Kirkpatrick, and others, was that they'd missed the opportunity to
lodge opposing submissions - that deadline had passed 14 months
earlier. Any neighbours (or their lawyers) who'd studied the daunting
draft of the unitary plan had not recognised the name: Onepu
Whakatakataka. No maps pinpointed the site.
Around 3600 sites, from Kawau Island to
Papakura, were on the initial list when the plan was notified in
September 2013, sparking an outcry. The proposed sites of value were
preliminary and affected properties within a 200m "buffer zone",
pending further assessment by the 17 iwi who claim mana whenua
(customary authority) status over parts of Auckland.
Under latest proposals, earthworks
fitting certain categories of resource consent will trigger
consultation with iwi and, depending on the issues, a cultural impact
assessment.
The proposed list has been whittled
down to 2900 sites after iwi input and, following developer
submissions, the council has proposed reducing the buffer zone to a
50m radius. Though some sites have been deleted, many more are
expected to be added in future. The council has budgeted $7.7 million
over 10 years to further investigate sites - some may be upgraded to
"sites of significance", requiring consultation for most
types of development. Other iwi who want sites added to the schedules
include Ngati Paoa and the Tamaki collective, representing 13 mana
whenua groups.
Such reaction, says Independent Maori
Statutory Board chairman David Taipari, exposes the gulf in
understanding that still exists between "western" and Maori
concepts of planning and property development issues.
"Archaeological values are not a
substitute for cultural values. Mana whenua values and relationships
with ancestral lands, waters, sites, wahi tapu and taonga include
both tangible and intangible values ... that need to be assessed and
provided for.
"The importance and value to mana
whenua is not focused on the 'archaeological remnants' themselves but
is manifest in the place and locality as wahi tupuna [ancestral
places such as maunga], wahi tapu [restricted/sacred sites] or wahi
whakahirahira [prized areas]."
"It is the effects on the mana,
tapu and mauri [life-force] of physical resources that are important.
Only 61 mana whenua sites were
identified as "sites of significance" (the highest
protection level) in the notified unitary plan, most rolled over from
pre-amalgamation plans. Then in September 2013, when 3600 "sites
of value to mana whenua" appeared as purple-shaded circles on
the unitary plan maps - with an associated consultation regime -
reaction from Kawau Island to Papakura ranged from blatant racism to
genuine developer frustration over added costs and delays. The rules
could require applicants for certain resource consents within the
200m-wide circles to consult with iwi and, in some cases, obtain a
cultural impact assessment (CIA).
Horror stories ensued of drawn-out
negotiations with multiple iwi, some following different protocols
and processes. Developers and homeowners complained of muddled
processes and long delays and charges ranging from "less than
$1000 to $20,000".
Developers remain sceptical. Todd
Properties, currently building at Long Bay, Mt Wellington and
Ormiston, says it has enjoyed constructive engagement with iwi over
the years but since the plan was notified "less positive
relations have increased." ....
See full article HERE
Mole News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
When John Key was Leader of the
Opposition, he said that when he became Prime Minister, all historic
Treaty of Waitangi claims would be settled by 2014. When 2014 came
and went, that became an "aspirational goal" and the date
was pushed back to 2017.
Nowadays, Treaty Negotiations Minister
Chris Finlayson doesn't talk about settling all claims by 2017, but
is "keen" to have all deeds of mandate and terms of
negotiation signed by then.
It may seem a cheap shot to criticise
the pace of settlements considering the progress that has been made -
including the Tuhoe deal, which many thought would be impossible to
resolve - but the slippage does illustrate the danger of setting
deadlines.....
See full article HERE
Maori face housing discrimination,
MPs say
Maori face discrimination when they
want to rent or buy a home, the Maori Party says.
Its co-leaders Te Ururoa Flavell and
Marama Fox say the row over Chinese buying homes in Auckland
highlights what's been happening to their people for decades.
"In Rotorua alone, I've seen
racism towards Maori," Mr Flavell said.
Ms Fox says she has research which
suggests there's bias and "widespread institutional racism"
in the housing market.....
See full article HERE
Māori IT experts critical of
digital divide
The Government is spending $2 billion
on improving broadband internet access throughout New Zealand, but
some tāngata whenua have said rolling out cables is not enough.
During an internet conference, NetHui,
last week in Auckland, experts - including members of Māori internet
working group Ngā Pū Waea - said making broadband infrastructure
available was just the start.
Ms Te Hau said an affordability study
carried out on behalf of Ngā Pū Waea last year showed some
households were willing to pool resources to help their local marae
connect - if they were offered the right package deal.
"They would be prepared to bundle
all their connections together, and the products and services that
are offered around their connections, to support the local marae.
"The marae is the same - similar -
to a school. It's a place of engagement, it's a place where we
gather, it's a place for learning and local knowledge."....
See full article HERE
Excluded Māori veterans consider
legal action
Some
Māori military veterans and their whānau are being excluded from
the first
Waitangi Tribunal kaupapa inquiry
because their iwi's treaty claims have already been settled.
Lawyers for some claimants say they may
seek a judicial review of the tribunal's decision, which they
received on Wednesday.
He said the only realistic option for
excluded claimants was to seek a judicial review...
See full article HERE
Waitemata DHB supports the government
policy of reducing inequalities. Working in partnership with Māori
at all levels and in all parts of the district health sector helps
Waitemata DHB ensure participation occurs, resulting in better health
outcomes for Māori people who experience inequitable outcomes.
Waitemata DHB’s partnership programme
is consistent with the Treaty of Waitangi and adheres to the
framework outlined by the NZPHD Act 2000.....
See full article HERE Mole News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Prepare Māori for leadership or 'society in trouble
Educationalists
are warning that the current education system must change so that
Māori students are more stimulated in the classroom, which could
inspire them to enrol in tertiary courses.
At
the recent annual Māori education hui, speakers warned that in
future Māori will outnumber Pākehā, and new strategies must be
used to inspire them to become leaders in their chosen field.
"Preparing
for 2050, the demographics of our country will change and 52 percent
of the population will include Māori, Pacific Island and Asians,"
Mr Apanui said.
"So Pākehā will be in the
minority by that time, but they will also be largely old people. We
as Māori tertiary educators need to start looking to see if we're
developing leaders, how do we develop them and what sort of resources
do we need to put behind them."
"Māori and others will soon be in
the majority and that raises important questions because the 'white'
population is aging, and will be more dependent on the - what is now
the minority population - to support them.
"And so unless we do something
different to prepare Māori and others for leadership roles, through
good education, the society is in trouble, the future is in trouble."
Dr Noguera said in order for children
to achieve at school there must be support for their parents as
well....
See full article HERE
Tertiary partners to merge
Bay
of Plenty could have a new tertiary institution as soon as next year
with Bay of Plenty Polytechnic and Waiariki Institute of Technology
agreeing to a full merger, subject to consultation.
By partnering more effectively with
iwi, and providing greater access for dispersed communities, the
proposed new institution could help to ensure better education and
employment outcomes for young Maori....
See full article HERE
Waitangi Tribunal to consider TPP
inquiry
The
Waitangi Tribunal has asked to hear further argument on whether it
should hold an urgent inquiry into the Trans Pacific Partnership
(TPP).
It has five claims this month from a
range of prominent Māori individuals, and organisations, who say the
trade deal could breach their treaty rights.
The tribunal said the claims raised
matters of importance not just to Māori, but to New Zealand as a
whole.
He has also asked the Crown for more
information - including whether the TPP would include a clause
protecting Māori rights under the Treaty of Waitangi...
See full article HERE
Consents a sore point for
Northland Māori
Māori
from around Te Taitokerau have told the Northland Regional Council it
must find better ways to involve tāngata whenua in vetting resource
consents.
The
council's consents manager, Colin Dall, briefed the new Regional
Māori Advisory Committee about the consenting process last week.
Mr Dall said the council provided marae
and iwi with a copy of almost all applications for resource consents
in their rohe - and the council must process them within 20 days.
The committee seized the chance to
offer feedback with one member telling Mr Dall to get the language
right - the Resource Management Act says councils must consult Māori,
not iwi - and in the north, hapū are the go-to groups....
See full article HERE
Rocket company in talks with
iwi
A
space company is in talks with South Island iwi over its plans to
build a launch site for rockets.
Rocket
Lab has applied for resource consents to build a site on Kaitōrete
Spit in Canterbury.
The organisation has been in contact
with three iwi groups, including Ngāi Tahu, about the proposal.
The Kaitōrete Spit is considered a
site of cultural importance to Māori and was once a crucial
thoroughfare for those travelling from Horomaka to settlements such
as Kaiapoi and Kaikōura....
See full article HERE
Council to inform Maori over oil
spills
The
Bay of Plenty Regional Council says it has "cleaned up its act"
after a lack of communication with Māori following an oil spill in
April earlier this year.
The regional council said it had
introduced policies to ensure local iwi would be properly informed
and consulted.
Local iwi say they had to rely on
second-hand reports to find out about the 1500 litres of oil that
poured into Tauranga Harbour in April.
Tāngata whenua were angry when they
were alerted via the media instead of being the council's 'first
responder'.
The regional council and oil giant
Mobil have both apologised to the Tauranga Moana Iwi Chairs Forum,
the group representing the three iwi in the rohe.....
See full article HERE
Sonny Tau and the kereru affair
What's the difference between a mistake
and a brazen, calculated crime? Ask Ngapuhi leader Sonny Tau. A
slip-up, a blooper, a blunder, a gaffe is how Mr Tau has
characterised his attempt to smuggle on to a plane five dead kereru
stuffed up his jumper.
To designate such a morally dissolute
act as a "mistake" (he apparently declared that he deeply
regretted his miscalculation) makes one immediately think that he was
simply sorry he got caught and should have hidden them in his
suitcase. Bugger!
To add to the moral duplicity of the
whole sordid affair, the chairman of the Northland-based iwi said it
was important to note that no charges against Mr Tau had been
laid. What is being implied by such a statement? Is it being
suggested that no crime has been committed? Actually, since then,
charges have been laid. We do not need in this country one rule for
some and a different one for others.....
See full article HERE
Te Mako vs Walter Nash in spat over
new name for Taita centre
Tempers flared at a Hutt City Council
meeting as politicians struggled to agree on a name for the $12
million Taita Sports and Community Centre.
The city council has considered a
number of names, including Te Mako and Walter Nash Te Mako, for the
building which includes a revamped Walter Nash Stadium.
The Northern Ward Committee, which
appeared to have the delegated authority to make the decision,
favoured Walter Nash Te Mako.
Sir Walter Nash was one of New
Zealand's most prominent politicians. He lived in Lower Hutt and was
a significant figure in the history of the Labour Party and the
development of the welfare state.
Te Mako was the name of a pa in Naenae
with links to Wi Tako Ngatata Te Taitai, after whom Taita was named.
City development chair David Bassett
said it was a very important issue but getting everyone to agree will
be impossible.
The best way forward would be to poll
the public, he said
Cr Tui Lewis said the "sad"
reality is that the education system ignores the contribution
made by Maori to New Zealand.
Maori will be outnumbered in a public
vote and the result would be meaningless, she said.
Asking the public what they think is
the right approach to take and he was not interested in the personal
views of council officers, Shierlaw said....
See full article HERE
Māori left in limbo after Labour
claims high number of foreign homebuyer trends in Auckland
Although many houses up for sale in
Auckland say "Sold", who are they being sold to?
The Labour Party claims that about 40%
of houses on the Auckland market have been sold to buyers with
Chinese surnames.
Labour’s Peeni Henare who is also the
Member of Parliament for Tamaki Makaurau, says that it is not a new
thing that Māori are not largely involved in buying homes.
Henare says, “The main concern for me
is that there needs to be more clarity around how iwi and the
Government work towards making that option available to Māori.”....
See full article HERE
Te reo Maori is the most popular second
language among Wanganui secondary school students but a local
advocate wants everyone to become more familiar with the language,
culture and history.
Awhina Twomey, who works at the
Whanganui Regional Museum as kaitiaki taonga Maori, said the Maori
language was a taonga (treasure).
It was encouraging to know students
were studying Maori but she questioned teachers' level of ability in
te reo. She wants adults at schools to learn the language, so they
can converse in it and show it is normal.....
See full article HERE
Māori, Aboriginal businesses look
to team up
Australia's
Māori Business Network is looking at the idea of partnering up with
different Aboriginal enterprises.
Māori Business Network co-ordinator
Brent Reihana said Māori organisations were keen to work with
indigenous enterprises because there were a lot of cultural
similarities.
"For Supply Nation, they need to
have 51 percent Aboriginal ownership and what I was looking at was
how Māori could partner up with those Aboriginal businesses,"
Mr Reihana said.
"The reason why those Aboriginal
[businesses] are also keen to collaborate with Māori is because they
have the same work mentality, and they'd rather work alongside other
indigenous groups....
See full article HERE
NZ Maori Council joins TPPA claim
The New Zealand Maori Council has
joined the attempt to have New Zealand’s participation in the Trans
Pacific Partnership Agreement reviewed by the Waitangi Tribunal.
The tribunal is considering whether to
grant an urgent hearing to a claim by a group of prominent Maori
including Dr Papaarangi Reid, Moana Maniapoto and Hone Harawira who
say the multilateral trade and services deal would compromise the
Crown’s ability to protect Maori interests under the Treaty of
Waitangi...
See full article HERE
Iwi front and centre in ports review
Auckland mayor Len Brown is meeting
with Tamaki Makaurau iwi today to discuss the review of the city’s
port.
He says it’s important iwi have input
into the Future Port Study, which will run over the next year and
look at environmental effects of further development, the costs and
benefits of expanding the port or leaving it at its present size, and
what alternatives the city has.
"A key part of that is to put the
port company in a better space in terms of how it relates to its
community and to iwi, get a much better rapport and trust, and I
think that will be the big work over the next year and so iwi will
sit front and centre in that process," he says....
See full article HERE
Accountants ponder culture and
cashbooks
Maori accountants are looking for ways
to bridge the financial needs and economic concerns of Maori people
while working in a corporate environment.
Speakers include New Zealand
Superannuation Fund chief executive Adrian Orr, ASB senior economist
Jane Turner and motivational speaker Ngahihi Bidois, who will talk
about using ancient Maori wisdom for modern day solutions.....
See full article HERE
The Conservation Estate Belongs to
Us All – not just Maori
It may surprise you
to know that the Conservation Act 1987, which governs the Department
of Conservation and the public conservation estate, contains a
section ~ section 4 ~ which says that ‘[t]his statute shall so be
interpreted and administered as to give effect to the principles of
the Treaty of Waitangi’. Why is this provision here? The public
conservation estate is the property of us all, not just of Maori, and
conservation is, or should be, a matter of universal public interest.
Moreover, given that the policy of the Conservation Act is, hardly surprisingly, in favour of conservation, it would not be surprising if attention to Treaty principles meant in practice a diversion or redirection away from that policy. After all, if certain actions or policies are promoting conservation the Department may well be pursuing them anyway. Attention to Treaty principles is not going to help conservation. It is far likelier to be diverting the Department away from purely conservation matters towards the promotion of the interests of one racially defined part of the human race.
The Conservation Act dates from 1987, and so we have the Douglas-Lange-Palmer to thank for this. It was that same government that inserted the Treaty section, section 9, into the State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986. It is clear that section 9 was inserted as a meaningless piece of pious lip-service; Richard Prebble has written of the consternation in the Beehive, reaching even to a certain well-known constitutional expert, when the New Zealand Maori Council took Parliament at its word and brought its now famous legal action against the Crown. (As I have explained in a previous column, however, section 9 still did not justify the disgraceful political decision reached by Sir Robin Cooke and his band of meddling activist colleagues.) I imagine that the Labour government’s attitude to section 4 of the Conservation Act was much the same. Conservation was not important ~ here was a good opportunity to curry favour with Maori by trying to appear as though the government cared about the Treaty; and if it did affect conservation, who cared? The government was probably also held the common condescending and indeed racist belief that Maori somehow were natural conservationists, possessing strange links and sympathies with the land and its plants and animals beyond the knowing of the white man. I do not dispute for a second that some Maori do indeed have such strong links; I do object, though, to the suggestion that these links have anything to do with race. European New Zealanders may have them also; and not all Maori do. There is no gene for conservation.
There is no doubt that by the time of European settlement Maori had acquired a considerable degree of harmony with the natural world which is often held up to us as an example to be imitated. These environmental practices did not arise, however, out of any inherent racial superiority. There is abundant evidence that before European settlement Maori were responsible for the destruction of somewhere between a third and a half of New Zealand’s original forest cover. Considerably more bird species ~ somewhere about thirty, perhaps even more ~ became extinct in Maori times, compared with a dozen or so in European times, and some of the European extinctions ~ of the huia, for example ~ were made much easier because the birds’ range had been enormously reduced by pre-European Maori hunting. The reason that early European sealers killed seals only in the enormous colonies of the remote south was not because those places were the seals’ only natural habitat, but because Maori had hunted them to extinction everywhere else. Some archaeologists believe that Maori fishing for snapper was at unsustainable levels. If you wish to read more on this subject you could dip into Kerry-Jayne Wilson’s The Flight of the Huia, Barney Brewster’s Te Moa, Jared Diamond’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpanzee (especially the chapter The Golden Age That Never Was) or Dr Tim Flannery’s The Future Eaters. Dr Flannery, indeed, suggests that by the time of European discovery of New Zealand a resource crisis was in full swing, and had it not been for the arrival of European food ~ pork and potatoes especially ~ there would have soon been a catastrophic collapse of the Maori population. It was that crisis which had caused the peaceful Maori of earlier centuries to develop a far more warlike culture. (This point we might well ponder as we approach a resource crisis of our own. But I digress.)
Maori environmental practices, then, were not the result of any inherent superiority, but were forced upon Maori by their circumstances. I do not say this to blacken the reputation of Maori. Europeans have not been any better. It is unedifying and ultimately pointless, these arguments as to whose ancestors were worse. Maori and European pioneers were all men and women of their own time, all strangers in a strange land, inevitably making mistakes as they slowly learnt of the nature and limitations of its resources.
Now, of course, knowing as much as we do, there is far less excuse for us to persist in bad practices. Yet we do. Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.
It is important to realise that environmental soundness is not the prerogative of any particular race or culture. If we misdiagnose environmental destruction as caused by Europeans and their culture and attitudes, then we are likely to prescribe a remedy ~ taking conservation out of Europeans and putting it into Maori hands ~ which simply will not succeed.
I have a lot to tell you about the ways in which section 4 has been implemented in practice, which must wait for another column. It is regularly suggested, for example, that it gives Maori rights to take protected species; this was even proposed by the New Zealand Conservation Authority itself in not one but two papers of 1994 and 1997 proposing Maori rights of ‘cultural harvest’ of protected species such as the native wood pigeon, the kereru or kukupa. The aim of the papers was never conservation, but a racial and political policy, to which conservation was merely a side issue to be considered on the way. (You can read more about this, if you please, in the chapter The Natural World in my book Truth or Treaty?) We condemn Norwegians for killing pigeons, and rightly so, but the Conservation Authority and Maori lobbyists saw no problems with Maori doing so.
Maori, indeed, often attempt to have their cake and eat it too. They claim special understanding and links with the natural world; they are also, now, fairly represented in the ranks of the exploiters. There has been shameful Maori logging in the SILNA forests (those awarded to certain Maori under the South Island Landless Natives Act 1906), which enjoyed a special exemption from the Forests Amendment Act 1993 which required that all other private owners of native forest log their forests sustainably. Pigeon poaching has been rife in Northland ~ I am not sure how many are left there ~ and Dr Margaret Mutu, a prominent activist and ~ fortunately briefly ~ a member of the Conservation Authority ~ has stated that pigeon was among the traditional foods which she expected to see offered on a marae by way of proper hospitality. A Treaty Fisheries Commission analyst has urged that Maori should be able to trade in whalemeat. Ngai Tahu spokesmen have at various times suggested culls of whales and seals. Ngai Tahu have recently been prominent in seeking more Canterbury water for their dairy farms developments. Most recently, the Deputy Chair of the Hauraki Maori Trust Board, Harry Mikaere, has said that his personal opinion ~ his Board had not yet discussed it ~ was that mining of the conservation estate, in the Coromandel, for example ~ ‘could be one of the best things that’s ever happened to this country’. Maori being involved in all aspects of mining ~ including receiving royalties ~ was not an ‘off the planet’ idea.
Royalties, eh?
I could offer more examples. Might we observe also that membership of the conservation movement, which has served us so well in fighting for public lands, national parks and wild New Zealand, is chiefly of non-Maori New Zealanders?
It might well be argued to be sensible and reasonable that Maori be pragmatic and, just like European New Zealanders, often take a hard-headed business–like approach in looking for opportunities to use the natural world. Very well. But such an approach is completely incompatible with any claim to have greater spiritual, cultural or environmental sensitivity, and is a clear indication that we can expect Maori to be no less prone to commercialisation and exploitation of nature than anyone else. Nor is it any argument that environmental destructiveness is forced upon Maori by economic circumstances. That can be said of anyone. Anyone can be environmentally sensitive when nothing forces them to behave in any other way.
At various times the prospect of ‘co-management’ of the conservation estate has raised its ugly head. In particular, the famous or notorious Crown ’fiscal envelope’ proposals of 1994 included the giving of conservation land to Maori ‘where the overall management of conservation values will be maintained or enhanced as a result of their use in settlement’ (i.e. to hell with conservation values, use conservation land as a cheap option) or the ‘transfer of a significant management role to Maori’. I mention the matter here because it seems not impossible that the end of the foreshore and seabed debate may be some similar arrangement. It may be instructive to consider the issues that arose in the past.
(The saintly lamented Jeanette Fizsimmons once told me at a public meeting that I was racist because I objected to handing over the entire conservation estate to be managed jointly by the Greens’ proposed national Maori and non-Maori Parliament and Maori and non-Maori regional assemblies. Pots, kettles….)
Co-management was unsatisfactory because it would mean that land was no longer fully public land. It would be managed, at least in part, for one favoured race. It would have meant a greatly increased administrative workload for the Department. The non-Maori public would still be significantly excluded from management. Any accountability of the Maori party to the public would of course be highly unlikely. The Crown’s ability to act would be severely limited. If DoC were actually to stand up for conservation against its co-manager and ‘Treaty partner’ there would be very unpleasant fights and hell to pay politically. Political correctness, rife in the Department as elsewhere, would make it likely that DoC would often merely accept de facto total management by Maori. It would certainly be difficult to imagine that DoC would ever revoke any co-management privileges. Political pressure or the threat of running to the Waitangi Tribunal would put paid to that. Already the sorry saga of Mt Hikurangi has shown how unwilling or incapable the Crown is of enforcing the simplest and most basic conditions. How could any effective action be taken against inadequate or uncooperative co-managers?
Moreover, it is inevitable that any special rights which Maori obtain over the conservation estate (or foreshore and seabed) will be regarded by them not as a final settlement but just as a foot in the door.
Maori, like all other New Zealanders, have full access to conservation land now. Indeed, they already enjoy racial privileges over it. Totara and other trees may in certain circumstances be taken for canoes and traditional buildings. Plants may be taken for cultural purposes. There are feather recovery programmes for dead native birds and exclusive rights to dead whales washed ashore. There are Maori representatives as of right on the Conservation Authority and certain conservation boards.
Since the reorganisation of government departments in the 1980s, the conservation estate is the only remaining substantial area of Crown land. But it is unthinkable that these lands should be used in Treaty settlements. They are now specially dedicated to an excellent purpose. Moreover, most of our conservation lands remain in their wild state precisely because they are remote or useless for farming or any other productive purpose. Mountain and higher altitude country are over-represented in the conservation estate, as many biologists have lamented. Existing conservation lands were seldom centres of Maori population. Most, in fact, would be economic liabilities if used in settlements and managed as at present. They are not ’productive’. Even if they continued to be dedicated to conservation ~ which any private owner or co-manager would not unsurprisingly object to ~ they would make money only if there were significant changes to management ~ entry charges, at least, and perhaps much more.
Our wild lands, the bush and mountains, clean rivers ~ with water in them ~ and empty beaches, are an important part of our culture and our idea of what it means to be a New Zealander. As our society becomes more racially, culturally and socially diverse, the principle of equality of entitlement is becoming more, not less, important. To grant special rights to some New Zealanders is, to that extent, to turn all other New Zealanders into trespassers in the land of their birth.
Our conservation lands, our public patrimony, must remain just that ~ our lands. Indeed, if anyone is the true tangata whenua of most of them, it would be trampers and mountaineers. Our splendid conservation record is based on Crown ~ public ~ ownership ~ public involvement, and the accountability of the land’s public managers to us all. Nothing else will work. Chief Te Heuheu Tukino may well have realised this when he gave the Tongariro peaks to the Crown, and the Taranaki tribes when they gave Mt Egmont.
April 4, 2010
Pollok's Gary Smith says anyone doing
any building work on the Awhitu Peninsula could find themselves open
to thousands of dollars in costs and threatened with prosecution over
the impact of a new law relating to historical finds.
Mr Smith purchased the property some
years ago, and, intending to put a house on it, commenced excavations
to remove the topsoil last month. He says he invited George and Karl
Flavell from local iwi Ngati Te Ata to the site to observe the work,
thinking that if they found something of interest to the iwi they
would document or remove the items at their expense.
Instead, he says, "the site was
shut down when two food storage pits, two fire remains and a garbage
pit with some shells was discovered." Mr Smith says Auckland
Council told him he had to stop work, then told to get in touch with
Heritage New Zealand who, he says, threatened prosecution for
'damaging a historical site'.
The site has now been shut down for the
next two months, and Mr Smith says he has had to pay $2800 for an
archeological report, and been told his site now has to be put under
the authority of Heritage New Zealand. He adds he faces a further
$6000 in fees for the site to be examined, and has been told he has
to pay $145 per hour for someone to monitor any work he does on the
site. On top of this, Mr Smith says if anything else is found, the
whole process (and costs) start all over again. "It's like
giving them your bank account and telling them to help themselves,"
he says.
Of additional concern is that he has
been told his neighbour's property, where some of the diggings were
tipped by arrangement, should now also be put under the authority of
Heritage New Zealand. Mr Smith says the problem is that Heritage New
Zealand is taking the approach that any site at all on the Awhitu
Peninsula is deemed likely to have some form of 'historic' site. This
means that any disturbance of that site opens the landowner up to
prosecution, on the basis that they should have expected to find
something, and should have notified Heritage New Zealand prior to
doing any work.
"This is all possible through the
new Act that was passed late 2014," Mr Smith says. "Be
prepared for huge expenses should you decide to uncover your
topsoil." Mr Smith says, if governing bodies are going to
maintain this approach, any landowner on the Awhitu Peninsula could
face the same issue.
Hawke's Bay iwi initials its deed of
settlement
A
Hawke's Bay iwi is one step away from signing its full and final
Treaty of Waitangi settlement with the Crown.
Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga-Tamatea
suffered significant and widespread loss of land under the Crown, and
will eventually receive $100 million in compensation.
Some of the areas the money will be
spent on include setting up a restoration fund for waterways and
investing in marae as well as education programmes for tribal
members.
Mr Finlayson said the package would
also include a special lease agreement of Te Aute College.
"To do something with Te Aute
College through this settlement is tremendous and it's not the
be-all-and-end-all because we've got further matters we need to talk
about there, but I'm very interested in the issue and very keen to
help you.
"As I've said, we're looking at
things like Glasgow leases and the like in the future," said Mr
Finlayson.
A member of the mandated iwi
negotiating group, He Toa Takitini, spoke about the relationship
Ngāti Kahungunu has with the Crown and its ambition to move forward.
"We have always respected the
Crown and we have always seen ourselves as equals. That position has
not changed and that journey now resumes. Strategic and politically
astute - that is Heretaunga-Tamatea."
The iwi and hapū will be given powers
to appoint two members to the Hawke's Bay regional planning
committee.
Bids will be made for the original
Māori place names to be recognised: Waipureku for Clive and
Heretaunga for Hastings.
The deed will now be taken back to
Hawke's Bay for iwi members to approve over the next few weeks,
before a full and final settlement takes place before the end of the
year....
See full article HERE
The recently-formed Te Awarua-o-Porirua
Whaitua Committee has appointed community conservationist and
ecological engineer Stu Farrant as chair.
The purpose of Te Awarua o Porirua
Whaitua Committee is to facilitate community and stakeholder
engagement in the development of a Whaitua Implementation Programme
(WIP). They operate in partnership with tangata whenua and
develop recommendations.
Farrant is looking forward to working
with the community to develop a set of rules around how we manage
land and water in Te Awarua-o-Porirua catchment.....
See full article HERE
Cycle trails could bring cash to
marae
Maori Development Minister Te Ururoa
Flavell is encouraging rural marae to think of ways they can benefit
from the network of cycle trails being built around the country.
Mr Flavell says tourism is important to
the Maori economy, but Maori operators need to think beyond poi and
haka.
"Those cycle trails are really
starting to get some momentum, bringing people here who need
accommodations. Especially some of those rural marae out in the
countryside that might want an income stream off some of those
cycleways, they’ve got to start thinking about that because other
people are cashing in, like some of these little bed and breakfast
places," he says.
Mr Flavell says there could be debate
about whether tourist accommodation is an appropriate use for marae,
but the bills have to be paid....
See full article HERE
Past claims undone by TPPA
One of the people behind a claim
against New Zealand signing up the Trans Pacific Partnership
Agreement says the so called trade deal will undo any progress Maori
hope to make from the WAI 262 flor and fauna and intellectual
property claim.
"The arguments raised in the WAI
262 claim about the need for Maori to be kaitiaki of our taonga and
so on was necessarily subject to an earlier agreement, the TRIPS or
Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement, and
that is being included in the TPPA, so that will render any
protections our people hope for under WAI 262 to be null and void,"
Mr Jackson says.
The Waitangi Tribunal is still
considering whether to give the claim an urgent hearng....
See full article HERE
Parihaka set aside for Taranaki settlement
Taranaki Tuturu has this morning
initialled a deed of settlement for its raupatu treaty claim after
splitting out issues relating to the 1882 sacking of Parihaka.
Taranaki Iwi Trust chair Tokatumoana
Walden says the iwi is happy with the $70 million deal, which
includes a large cash element, 28 properties including a number of
historic pa sites, waahi tapu and some commercial opportunities.
He says a separate group has been set
up including former prime minister Jim Bolger, Dame Tariana Turia,
and Parihaka representatives Mahara Okeroa, Ruakere Hond and Amokura
Panoho to make recommendations to the Crown on the redress for the
Parihaka claim.
"They’re looking for a whole of
government approach to Parihaka, what happened at Parihaka, but also
looking at a fund to help build the capacity for Parihaka as well so
we are very confident that (Treaty Negotiations Minister) Chris
Finlayson and the team will provide meaningful redress back to
Parihaka, hence us moving forward with our initialling," Mr
Walden says.....
See full article HERE
Waahi tapu give iwi place on
landscape
The return of significant customary
sites will give Taranaki iwi a presence back on the landscape under
the terms of a settlement initialled in New Plymouth today.
The $70 million deal includes 29 sites
of cultural significance, including joint ownership of Nga Motu/
Sugar Loaf Islands with Te Atiawa, and a two-year deferred right of
selection over 29 commercial properties.
Taranki Iwi Trust chair Toka Tu Moana
Kevin Walden says there is not much crown land in the rohe, which
runs around the western side of the mountain from New Plymouth to
Opunake.
That makes getting back reserves from
the Department of Conservation so important.
What we are wanting to do is to
reinstate our mana back onto the landscape and we are wanting the
title of those lands back under Taranaki iwi," says Tokatumoana
Walden....
See full article HERE
ACT slant on maunga plan fails truth
test
But Mr Majurey says the traffic ban was
canvassed in 2007 process to develop a management plan for
Maungawhau, and it has wide public support.
He says the authority, which is a
co-governance arrangement between mana whenua and Auckland Council,
is also required to take into account the connections iwi and local
communities have with the mountains.
"We know with these important
ancestral places that there is a spiritual and cultural connection, a
metaphysical if you like. And thats an equally important and valid
part of the world view that go with these ancestral taonga" he
says....
See full article HERE
Finlayson's patience running out on
Treaty settlement
Ngapuhi's Treaty of Waitangi settlement
has cost taxpayers more than $3 million so far, and the Government is
losing patience.
Minister for Treaty of Waitangi
Negotiations Chris Finlayson says that's more than twice the normal
spend, and it's largely because of a spat between two groups within
the iwi.
Mandate holders Tuhoronuku are at odds
with a group of hapu based in Hokianga, and Mr Finlayson says the
money could be spent to help their people.
"It's a lot of money. People need
to get off their high horses, get personalities to one side and act
in the interests of the iwi for once."
Mr Finlayson says Ngapuhi's negotiators
need to keep communicating with the whole iwi, and if they don't,
their mandate could be taken away.
"If I'm sounding frustrated, it's
because I'm thinking of the people of Ngapuhi and what they're
missing out on by not having a settlement."
Mr Finlayson says neither the budget,
nor his patience, are limitless....
See full article HERE
Crown fights TPPA Maori hearing
The crown has told the Waitangi
Tribunal there is no point holding an urgent inquiry into claims
against the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement.
The tribunal is considering what it
should do with a claim by Papaarangi Reid, Moana Jackson and others
that signing up the massive trade deal would compromise the crown’s
ability to uphold the Treaty of Waitangi.
Claimants have not demonstrated that
significant and irreversible prejudice will be caused, and New
Zealand has insisted that a robust Treay of Waitangi exceptions
clause be included in the document.
Crown Law says many of the concerns of
claimants are unfounded, as can be seen by the successful
implementation of existing free trade agreements with no prejudice to
Maori, and the fact that New Zealand has not yet needed to invoke the
Treaty of Waitangi exceptions provision....
See full article HERE
The Waipoua Forest Trust (WFT) has
accused New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) of putting kauri and
other species under threat due to the mismanagement of the roadside
on State Highway 12.
NZTA has admitted some maintenance
practices along the road corridor have not been up to scratch.
WFT member Stephen King monitored
roadside work until a year ago when NZTA switched the contract to an
iwi body. Mr King said one native orchid, the tutukiwi, had since
been "wiped out". It was one of several naturalised orchids
on that stretch of SH12.
While rare native plants were being
sprayed with weedkiller, invasive and noxious plants were not being
targeted, WFT claimed.....
See full article HERE Mole News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Marine reserves may go begging under Sea Change
People want more marine reserves in the
Hauraki Gulf Marine Park under proposed marine spatial planning, but
are unlikely to get them.
That's the view of marine reserve
expert and biodiversity and biosecurity round table member Dr Roger
Grace.
Forum members Christine Fletcher and
Mike Lee said the steering committee, wouldn't put the park first.
Democracy Action group spokesman Lee Short said Auckland's 1.5
million residents would be under represented with the high number of
unelected Maori members.
There is widespread unhappiness among
Maori with the Marine Reserves Act, which they say locks them out of
certain areas and interferes with customary gathering rights.
"The Marine Reserves Act has the
power to extinguish the rights of mana whenua in their customary
practices, and effectively confiscate resources that have been
traditionally, and successfully, managed by iwi and hapu for many
generations," Maori Party MP for Waiariki Te Ururoa
Flavell said in 2013 when opposing the establishment of a marine
reserve at Akaroa Harbour.
Local iwi have also opposed creating
marine reserves, including in the Bay of Islands, Great Barrier
Island, and Wellington.
Northland Ngati Wai opposed National's
proposed recreational fishing park in the Hauraki Gulf, saying it
would affect Maori fishing rights under the Treaty of
Waitangi, ......
See full article HERE
Date set for iwi's land
rights claim
A judicial review of the government's
plan to use surplus land for housing will be heard in the High Court
at Auckland on October 12....
See full article HERE
Taranaki to do initial $70m treaty
deal with Crown
Taranaki Iwi Trust's $70 million treaty
deal will be formally initialled during a ceremony in New Plymouth on
Tuesday morning.
From 10am, Trust and iwi members will
gather at Puke Ariki Museum to prepare for the arrival of Minister
for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Chris Finlayson and other
government officials who are due to attend the formalities.....
See full article HERE
Another iwi joins fishing collective
Another
iwi has joined the largest Māori-owned lobster processing business
in the country, further expanding its quota.
Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, based at the
top of the South Island, is the latest tribe to sign an agreement to
lease its crayfish quota to Port Nicholson Fisheries.
The move means an additional 400 tonnes
of crayfish will be sent overseas by the collective....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Hold your hat on, Dover – those
kauri logs (carved or otherwise) are nice little earners for
the economy
Alf is a bit bemused about this kauri
carry-on.
Here’s how he sees it: enterprising
people are doing Northland a favour by ridding its swamps of kauri.
But Dover Samuels, one of the region’s
prominent citizens, is hollering for a halt to the clean-up, which –
for good measure – is earning good export dollars.
These logs have been lying in the
swamps for many, many years.
Now that someone is making a buck from
them, Dover recognises them as a treasure and the export of them as
“plunder”.
Obviously he disapproves of this
treasure being turned into cash (although maybe he would be tempted
to change his mind if he was given a slice of the action).
Radio NZ
reported
his complaint here:
A Northland
Maori leader is calling for a moratorium on the mining of swamp kauri
and a review of the laws that regulate it.
Dover Samuels
said iwi from Te Hapua to Kaipara were fed up with what they saw as
the plundering of a national treasure.
The one-time
Minister of Maori Affairs, now head of Northland Regional Council’s
Maori Advisory Committee, said it was time to halt the trade while a
rethink of the whole industry was carried out.
This committee is one of those advisory
arrangements set up to enable indigenous persons to flex their
political muscle without having to stand for election.
It is a comparatively recent
example of the co-governance genre being adopted by councils around
the country with a strong impulse to weaken their democratic
structures in favour of race-based alternatives.
After the first meeting Dover
said the committee’s formation is part of the
regional council’s wish to promote Maori (whanau, hapu and iwi)
participation and engagement in its processes and decision-making.
Councillor
Samuels says initially it had been proposed the committee’s
membership would comprise two representatives from each of the
invited iwi/hapu, himself and three of his regional council
colleagues; council chairman Bill Shepherd, Dennis Bowman and Paul
Dimery.
“It’s still
very much early days, but I’m personally really pleased to see the
level of interest expressed already.”
“Maoridom is
poised to become an increasingly major contributor to the Northland
economy as a result of treaty settlement processes and council wishes
to work with Maori to advance the economic aspirations of whanau and
hapu.”
Alf is wondering if a commitment to
advance the economic aspirations of whanau and hapu means it does not
promote the economic aspirations of others in the region.
Surely not, although Dover plainly
wants to nobble whoever is making a bob from clearing the swamps of
their kauri.
According to the Radio NZ report:
Mr Samuels said
the advisory Committee had been consulting iwi in recent months about
policy affecting their interests and the consistent message was that
they wanted the industry controlled, in part because of the damage
it’s doing to wetlands and lakes.
“Many of the
whanau and hapu where these taonga lie are very concerned about the
exploitation of what they say, and what they see as a New Zealand
taonga, said Mr Samuels. “Not just Maori, but New Zealand, taonga.”
Alf is pleased to report that his good
mate Nathan Guy, our Minister for Primary Industries, has defended
the regulation of the swamp kauri industry, saying his ministry staff
have kept a close watch on what is going out of the country.
The ministry website says swamp kauri
can be exported as manufactured or finished products, but not as
logs.
But some
companies have exported logs legally by carving the surface and
exporting them as finished products, with MPI approval.
Mr Guy said the
trade was good for the country.
“They are
finished products,” he said.
“I have seen
some photos where some fantastic-looking swamp logs have been carved
and they’re going to be an amazing feature for our country in an
international country that they’re destined for.
“We manage it
very, very closely.”
Alas, some sourpuss people are grumping
about what constitutes a carving.
Fiona Furrell,
who heads the Northland Environmental Protection Society, scoffs at
the idea that the carvings represent New Zealand.
“The first
one we saw an MPI photo of, we call it the Casper log, because it
looks more like Casper the friendly ghost than any sort of Maori or
authentic carving.
“It’s just
this big log with weird markings and paint all over it and what looks
like a big smiley face. “
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,
of course, and what’s wrong with a smiley face?
It would be bureaucratic nonsense to
have some officials determine that this bit of art can be exported
but this one can’t.
What can be exported surely should be
decided by the importer at the other end of the deal.
Fair to say, Dover disagrees.
Mr Samuels said
tangata whenua were not impressed with MPI’s rationale for
sanctioning the logs as carvings.
“I mean, how
naive can you be when you say you’ve applied some sort of
artificial tiki to the log, or an artificial carving to the log, and
say that passes the requirements of the legislation? I mean, that’s
absolutely ridiculous.”
Oh – but let’s not forget another
grouch:
Ms Furrell said
if Mr Guy thought the swamp kauri trade was good for the country he
should head north and inspect environmental damage caused by the
mining.
“Drained
lakes, drained wetlands, completely destroyed natural environment
that is protected.”
She will appreciate we have done her a
favour when climate change has lifted the temperature enough to
provide a nice habitat for mosquitoes carrying nasty diseases.
Without those mucky swamps to settle
in, they will have to settle elsewhere.
The health of Northlanders will have
been done a service.
June 17th, 2015
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
The
claimant group that lobbied for the region's airport to be renamed
Ahuriri Airport Hawke's Bay could become a half-owner of the facility
through its treaty settlement.
Mana Ahuriri Incorporated has been
offered "right of first refusal" for the government's 50
per cent shareholding in Hawke's Bay Airport Limited as part of its
ongoing $20 million-plus Treaty of Waitangi claim settlement
negotiations with the Crown.
Asked if the group was interested in
taking up the airport share offer, Mana Ahuriri deputy chairman Piri
Prentice said yesterday it was too early to say because negotiations
were continuing....
See full article HERE
The Māori
Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Act 2004 provides for a full
and final settlement of Māori commercial aquaculture claims since 21
September 1992. The Act delivers this settlement through providing
settlement assets to Te Ohu Kaimoana Trustee Limited (the Trustee)
for distribution to Iwi Aquaculture Organisations. The settlement
assets must be representative of 20% of aquaculture space, where that
space is generally either: ....
See full article
HERE
Iwi agrees to participate in
Auckland council's Special Housing Area initiative
At the Glenbook site in Franklin, the
development company Kahawai Point Ltd, which includes Ngāti Te Ata
iwi members, hopes to make 80 housing sites available specifically
for Ngāti Te Ata.....
See full article HERE
Construction has stalled on Tauranga's
$102 million Southern Pipeline because of a dispute over 12 avocado
trees.
A Matapihi Maori land trust locked the
orchard access gates about three weeks ago - preventing contractor
HEB Construction from laying the sewer main down an unformed road on
the last leg of the pipeline's route along the peninsula.
The trees on the edge of the orchard
owned by the trust could end up being felled if the city council can
prove they intrude on the unformed (paper) road.
Work on the Bayfair end of the pipeline
stopped when the Ohuki 1 G2 Trust closed the orchard access gates
near Matapihi Rd. The gates also straddle the paper road.
"The council wasn't talking
compensation, only cutting them down."
He said the trust was waiting to see
what compensation would be offered by the council for the loss of the
mature trees.....
See full article HERE
Proposed Newstead cemetery lounge
cut from draft plan
Peter Forman, a consultant and former
cemeteries manager, said the proposed facility did not comply with
the Burial and Cremation Act and was contrary to Maori custom.
The preparation and consumption of food
within the confines of the cemetery grounds went against Maori
custom.....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
5 July 2015
From NZCPR Breaking Views archives - By David Round
From NZCPR Breaking Views archives - By David Round
The Enemy of Nationhood
There was a poem
which my mother had learnt off by heart as a girl and portions of
which she could long remember and recite to us. It
was, I later discovered, Whittier's Barbara
Frietchie, and it tells of a true
episode in the American Civil War when Confederate forces, occupying
a town in the north, decreed on pain of death that all Union flags in
the town should be taken down. Heroic old Barbara refused, and
‘Shoot if you must
this old grey head
But spare your country’s flag’ she
said.
The officer was moved.
‘Who touches a
hair of yon grey head
Dies like a dog!
March on!’ he said.
A
nation’s flag is a precious thing. It arises out of a long history;
it grows with a people and tells their story. The New
Zealand flag is no exception. On the
blue of the Pacific Ocean shines the Southern Cross, the great
guiding constellation of our skies, and in one corner the crosses of
St George, St Andrew and St Patrick ~ England, Scotland and Ireland ~
tell of our British ancestors ~ the explorers and pioneers who found
New Zealand a barbarous, albeit beautiful, wilderness of warring
tribes, and created by their patient heroic labours the land of peace
and comparative prosperity we have inherited.
Certainly, there is nothing specifically Maori here, and it might be nice if there were, although Maori crossed the blue Pacific guided by the stars, and all Maori, after all, have British ancestry, even if they prefer to ignore or deny the fact; but this is our flag. It is a pretty accurate reflection of our nation and of the traditions and ideals which have shaped and made us and, until recently anyway, inspired us. We shall need those ideals again in future. It is perhaps a bit of an accident of history, but then so are many things.
We have never been a great flag-waving nation; we are an undemonstrative, laconic people; but all the same, this is what we are. Our ancestors, Maori and British, have fought and sometimes died for it. A flag is not just a pretty piece of cloth. It is not just a corporate logo, to be updated or perhaps completely changed the next time the business is redefining itself or repositioning itself in the global marketplace. It is not just ‘a symbol’, as three gold balls, say, symbolise a pawnbroker, or a blindfolded woman with scales and sword signify justice. It is more than that; and that is why the Prime Minister’s decision that the Maori sovereignty flag will fly from Parliament, Premier House, government buildings and the Auckland Harbour Bridge next Waitangi Day is so foolish and ominous a sign.
The word ‘nation’ comes ultimately from the Latin verb nascor, nasci, natus sum, meaning to be born. A nation was all those people born of a common ancestor. It was, then, a giant family. Apart from total conquest and absorption, other peoples could become part of ones nation only by adoption, an arrangement far commoner in the ancient world than it is now. By adoption the incoming people became the descendants of the same ancestor; they could therefore participate in the state religion, which usually involved the worship of the deified ancestor or of the god or gods who had entered into a solemn covenant with the ancestor, and who were the guardians of the state.
No-one would suggest that our citizenship ceremonies go quite so far. But there is a profound truth underlying these arrangements. A nation is not just a group of people who happen to live on the same piece of land. We could not call the inhabitants of China , say, or the former Yugoslavia a nation. A nation is made up of people who have a great deal in common. There are always differences and interests, of course, but the members of a nation believe that more unites them than divides them. They therefore are prepared ~ not without grumbling, certainly, from time to time ~ to put the common good before the interests of their particular tribe.
One of the common unthinking slogans of those who a couple of years ago were agitating for a new national flag was that we needed one which would ‘reflect our diversity as a nation’ This is complete nonsense. Diversity is difference. The more diversity there is in anything, the less there is in common. That is what diversity means. It is impossible to have a flag (which epitomises who and what we are ~ what we have in common) which reflects the fact that we are ‘diverse’ and have nothing in common.
Tribalism is the
enemy of nationhood. The flying of a Maori sovereignty flag on our
national day may be looked upon as a meaningless gesture by those for
whom nothing is sacred, and who see our own flag only as a
meaningless bit of cloth. They ‘know the price of everything and
the value of nothing’. But Maori sovereignty enthusiasts do not see
it as an empty gesture, and neither should anyone else. It is an
insult to those who serve and love our nation’s flag, for no other
flag can be as good, and Maori sovereignty and division is the enemy
of the one new Zealand nation
of our very own flag. There may be arguments as to what ‘exactly’
Maori sovereignty means. One radical will claim it is one thing,
another another. But this at least is perfectly clear ~ that it means
that those who fly it do not want to be part of the same nation the
rest of us are in. They will continue to want the funding of course.
But for the rest, they consider those outside the tribe to be ~ what
were Hone Harawira’s words again? ~ just people to be used,
exploited and at the same time hated. We have to be grateful to Hone
~ which is more than he is to us, of course, for the manifold
blessings of European civilisation ~ in that at least he reminds us
of what we are up against. He is the true voice of the Maori party.
No other voice is possible.
Dr Brash was
absolutely right when he made his wonderful Orewa speech, and Phil
Goff was absolutely right when he recently similarly warned of the
dangers of racial division. It is a depressing indication of the
madness now an unquestioned part of our national life that those
calling for racial equality and respect for the rights of all,
including the foreshore and seabed as our common heritage, are
automatically condemned as racist. New
Zealand is indeed a deeply racist
country. But the racism lies in a race-based political party,
racially-selected Parliamentary seats and members, a special racial
electoral roll, race based sports teams, schools and units within
schools, television stations, government departments, trusts and
financial assistance galore, legal recognition of racial privilege,
treaty indoctrination on every conceivable occasion. Universities now
have special Maori graduations. No public ceremony in our secular
country is complete without Maori elders and karakia.
Every new appointee in the public service is welcomed with a
powhiri…..None of this is diminishing. It is growing. We are not
working towards becoming one nation. We are walking in completely the
opposite direction.
And not only is this
racial distinction growing, it is absolutely clearly not working in
its alleged aim of producing a happier tomorrow and relieving poverty
and distress. A small tribal elite benefits. But how many of the
benefits trickle down to the increasingly desperate alienated Maori
underclass? They are vastly over-represented in all the wrong
statistics ~ poverty, crime, prison population, truancy and
illiteracy, unemployment, alcoholism and drug dependency, domestic
violence and child abuse. If New
Zealand were to extract the Maori
(and, to a lesser extent, Pacific Islander) figures for these social
ills from our statistics, we would appear as one of the happiest and
best countries in the world. But instead, we are marred by this sad
and growing underclass. The social welfare system subsidises its
breeding, and so we are willingly creating the most dreadful social
problem for the future. No government seems interested in stopping
this vicious circle. Maori in Australia ,
where many of energy and enterprise have gone to live, are just as
prosperous as anyone else. But here so many are mired in a system
that seems designed to trap them in hopelessness. Liberals love to
talk about this racism, as revealing our own wickedness and
selfishness, while ignoring the racism of Maori privilege. What we
must realise is that these two racisms are the two sides of the same
coin.
It may be that for
as variety of reasons Phil Goff is unlikely to become Prime Minister,
although you never know. Look at that unexciting John Major. But the
National Party would do well to remember the effect of Don Brash’s
Orewa speech. At the time it was
given the National Party was in serious, perhaps even terminal
decline. Despite the almost universal disapproval of media
commentators ~ practically everyone announced loftily that New
Zealanders would not fall for this shameful obvious playing of ‘the
race card’ ~ the speech’s sentiments struck a chord with ordinary
people who recognised its truth. Those New Zealanders have not gone
away, and they have not changed their opinions. How will they vote
next time?
And what will happen
in the near future when the money runs out? When the world’s
lenders refuse, or are simply unable, to support any longer a lazy
nation, too cowardly to confront its own problems, and which has been
living beyond its means for the last generation? When the world
economy collapses, the price of oil starts to soar (and our whole
economy and civilisation rests on oil ~ without it tourism and
agriculture, for a start, as they are currently practised, are
unthinkable) and climate change brings woe? Then, even more
pressingly than now, we will not be inclined to spend our last
precious pennies on support for the underclass, or for anyone except
ourselves. Without the anaesthetic of social welfare, however, ugly
voices will be raised. And not just voices. Bella,
horrida bella et Thybrim multo spumantem sanguine cerno. Hone
Harawira’s recent outburst is only a taste of things to come.
Dreadful changes are coming. We all of us urgently need to realise
that we have to look after ourselves far more, and that unity in the
face of hardship and peril is vitally necessary. Yet Maori
sovereignty perpetuates the hateful myth that everything is the white
man’s fault, that Maori have nothing in common with him and would
be better off on their own. But with the funding, of course. To fly
the flag of a movement dedicated to the dismantling of our country
shows how foolish and blind we have become. The Maori sovereignty
flag is the enemy of the flag it will be flying next to.
February 5, 2012
(first published December 2009)
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
4 July 2015
Ngapuhi
runanga chairman Sonny Tau has been charged with killing and
possessing native wood pigeons after he was allegedly caught with
five kereru in his possession at Invercargill Airport last week.
The Department of Conservation today
laid charges in the Invercargill District Court against a 61-year-old
Northland man for the alleged hunting/killing and possession of a
protected species under the Wildlife Act.
Raniera Teitinga (Sonny) Tau has been
summoned to appear in the Invercargill District Court on July 24, DoC
said in a release....
See full article HERE
New Māori alphabet app launched to
help all ages
A new digital app which focuses
on the Māori alphabet has been launched today.
Kapohia Ltd has released their
app, "Arapū", as Māori Language Week approaches and with
school holidays just around the corner.
Originally produced for Māori-medium
schools, Maraea Hunia says the app is free for everyone to
download....
See full article HERE
Practising Māori law
Working
at the Ngāi Tahu Māori Law Centre isn’t just a job for Haines
Ellison, it’s a way to help others.
Tikanga
is important at the Ngāi Tahu Māori Law Centre and as well as
applying the right legal principles, Māori customs are always
considered when dealing with a case and a client.
“We are a community law centre
specialising in Māori freehold land matters. We also offer
assistance in kaupapa Māori matters and thirdly we have a kaupapa
Māori mediation service. We are qualified mediators and our service
is very much in the infant stages but when we have to mediate, we do
it in a kaupapa Māori setting where we can acknowledge tikanga.”....
See full article HERE
Federated Farmers National
Conference 2015
Peter Douglas, CEO Te Ohu Kaimoana,
predicted that Maori hold the key to the primary sector’s future
resilience.
Mr Douglas said Maori were younger,
energetic and achieving better grades while staying healthier than
previous generations. Above all, in the last 40 years, the Maori
population had doubled and a future agricultural workforce would be
reliant on this demographic....
See full article HERE
Bay of Plenty iwi and hapu have lodged
a request for more time to gather evidence in opposition to leaving
Rena on Astrolabe Reef, citing a lack of funding and notice.
Motiti Rohe Moana Trust, Nga Potiki a
Tamapahore Trust, Te Runanga i Ngati Awa, and Te Patuwai Tribal
submitted a joint memorandum to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council on
Wednesday for an extension to the lodgement of evidence.
Tama Hovell, counsel for Nga Potiki a
Tamapahore Trust, said the key point for the request was that
resourcing for the iwi submission had only just been confirmed....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
2 July 2015
Urgency
Applications to the Waitangi Tribunal on the Trans-Pacific
Partnership Agreement
On
23 June 2015, two Waitangi Tribunal claims were filed alleging that
the Crown’s negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership
Agreement were in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Our
lawyers have asked that both claims be heard urgently, before events
take place that overtake the necessity of the claims.
Once
the Tribunal has received the Crown’s response the Judge will set
us a deadline to reply.
The Tribunal will
then make a decision on whether to hold a fixture to hear the claims
urgently....
See full article
HERE
Ninety Mile Beach bill through
to next stage
A
bill that would give control of Ninety Mile Beach in the Far North to
iwi has moved a step closer to becoming law.
Parliament
sat under extended hours this morning for MPs to consider the Te Hiku
Claims Settlement Bill.
The legislation would ratify a
long-awaited Treaty settlement between four far North iwi and the
Crown.
Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris
Finlayson told the House the bill would see one of the largest
returns of land to Maori ownership..
See full article
HERE
Maori centre gets funding for stage
one
Whangarei
mayor Sheryl Mai says a new Maori cultural centre planned for the
city will be a major asset.
The council has granted $500,000 to the
Hihiaua Cultural Centre Trust to launch the first stage of its
project at the Town Basin precinct.
Ms Mai said with the Hundertwasser
Wairau Maori arts centre at one end and the cultural centre at the
other, the area will be a magnet for visitors and locals.
The council grant will go towards a
carving centre and waka shelter beside Whangarei harbour and enable
the trust to apply to major charities to advance the project....
See full article
HERE
Tuhoronuku confirm Tau stood down
Ngapuhi claim settlement negotiating
body Tuhoronuku has confirmed it has rolled its chair Sonny Tau.
The board called an extraordinary
meeting last night to discuss Mr Tau's admission he had been
questioned by Department of Conservation officers after being found
with five dead kereru at Invercargill airport.
In what seems indicative of confusion
in the organisation, it took until mid-afternoon for a media release
to emerge confirming Mr Tau's deputy Sam Napia had been appointed
acting chair, with lawyer Moana Tuwhare taking the number two
spot....
See full article
HERE
Fostering Maori contribution to the
decision-making process
We acknowledge Māori as people with
whom there is a special relationship. We are committed to giving
effect to the principles and intent of the Treaty of Waitangi, and to
engaging in genuine and appropriate consultation with Māori.
We have in place protocols for ensuring
Tangata Whenua are consulted in regard to decisions made under the
Resource Management Act 1991, Local Government Act 2002, and in 2012
received and adopted a Memorandum of Understanding with Te Runanga o
Moeraki to guide the ongoing relationship between Council and the
Runanga. We also have a Relationship Agreement with Waitaha Taiwhenua
O Waitaki
Trust Board...
See full article
HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
1 July 2015
More
Maori have been appointed to conservation boards in an effort to
better represent iwi and hapū.
The role of the boards is to advise the
Department of Conservation on local issues and act as a point of
contact for the community.
In 2013, a Government report found they
were not diverse enough.
The report found "boards should
actively enhance their relationships with iwi and manawhenua through
joint meetings and identification of projects of common interest".
The associate conservation minister,
Nicky Wagner, said 42 percent of the boards' 135 members would now be
Māori, up from 36 percent last year.....
See full article HERE
Govt urged to take action on climate
change
The
New Zealand Climate and Health Council is urging the Government to
take urgent action against climate change to improve the health of
Māori.
Council co-convenor Rhys Jones said
Māori suffered the most in Aotearoa from its effects.
Dr Jones said doing more to tackle the
problem, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting
walking and cycling instead of driving, would go a long way to reduce
diseases such as cancer, heart and lung diseases.
The University of Auckland Te Kupenga
Hauora Maori senior lecturer said people's attitudes towards the
issue needed to change, and climate change needed to be viewed as
something that affected not just the environment but people's health
as well.
"Māori in particular stand to
suffer most from the effects of climate change. That's partly because
they tend to live in poorer areas and have worse infrastructure, so
are more vulnerable to some of the effects of climate change,"
he said.....
See full article HERE
Ngati Tuwharetoa deal to be
finalised
Ngati
Tuwharetoa will today finalise the purchase of 8500 hectares of Crown
land in the central North Island.
The Tuwharetoa Settlement Trust and
five other Tuwharetoa groups will buy the land in a buy-to-lease
deal.
Hautu-Rangipo Whenua Limited will buy
the Tongariro-Rangipo Corrections Facility, including the Hautu
prison farm near Turangi, and about 4000 hectares of timber
plantations.
The package is costing about $20
million and is part of the Deferred Settlement Process, which was
agreed with the Crown in the 2008 Central North Island Treaty
Settlement.....
See full article HERE
Natural Resources Plan Provides
Certainty for Resource Use
Greater Wellington Regional Council
today approved a ground-breaking new Proposed Natural Resources Plan
that sets out rules and guidelines for protecting and sustainably
using natural resources in the region.
GWRC Chair Fran Wilde says the plan
sets limits for natural resource use and quality while ensuring an
environment for economic growth.
Ms Wilde says the plan is the result of
five years of collaboration with iwi, business and the community,
starting with an award winning partnership with the region’s six
mana whenua iwi.
Iwi representatives were invited to
join GWRC’s Natural Resources Committee Te Upoko Taiao, which
oversaw the consultation process and the drafting of the plan.
This partnership was recognised when
GWRC and Te Ara Tahi – the council’s iwi leadership forum –
co-won the 2012 IPANZ Gen-I Public Sector Excellence Award for
Crown-Maori Relationships for Te Upoko Taiao.
“This partnership has been the envy
of councils around New Zealand,” Ms Wilde says. “It’s exciting
that Wellington has once more led the way and in this case on
something that is so important to the people of the region – the
use of our natural resources.....
See full article HERE
Māori of the Wellington Region
GWRC has a partnership arrangement with
six mana whenua authorities of the region who continue to maintain
kaitiaki roles over their ancestral lands.
Mana whenua also have recognised
overlapping interests with their iwi neighbours of the region.
Greater Wellington is home for mana
whenua and taura here/matāwaka (non-mana whenua who call Wellington
their home) Māori residents.
Maori residents comprise a rich mixture
of tribal backgrounds. This ranges from the pre-colonial mana whenua
who continue to maintain kaitiaki responsibilities over their
ancestral lands, to the East Coast tribes encouraged to work and
settle here by people such as Sir Apirana Ngata and Sir James
Carroll...
See full article HERE
July is Māori Language Month
at Massey University
The revitalisation of the Māori
language is so important that Massey University is extending Māori
Language Week to include a whole month of activities.
Te Marama o Te Reo Māori kicks off on Wednesday with events like Māori movies, waiata sessions, guest speakers and giant Māori scrabble games on all campuses...
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Some Northland Maori want involvement
in the swamp kauri industry but one iwi is rejecting the notion as
the trade does not bring benefits to its people.
The Forests Act 1949 bans the export of
swamp kauri logs unless they are made into finished timber products.
But claims have been made that exporters are skirting the ban by
labelling kauri slabs as table tops, or superficially carving the
logs and calling them artworks.
Northland iwi and hapu members said
there should be more involvement from Maori.
Northland Regional Councillor and
former MP Dover Samuels has accused the Ministry of Primary
Industries of "pointing the finger" and trying to shift
responsibility. The Ministry has said the Northland Regional Council,
not MPI, was responsible for overseeing the extraction of swamp
kauri.
Through the Resource Management Act,
the regional council (NRC) was responsible only when extraction could
damage protected species or wetlands.
Mr Samuels said he had no problem with
swamp kauri being exploited, if it was done without environmental
harm and if it was processed in New Zealand.
He said swamp kauri should enjoy
similar protection to pounamu in the South Island, where Ngai Tahu
controlled its exploitation.....
See full article HERE
Call for more equality in top
jobs
New
research on equality in the workplace shows the playing-field is
still tilted towards Pakeha men.
The Human Rights Commission says on
every measure women, Maori, Pasifika, people with disabilities and
young people get much less of a fair go at work.
It is calling for employers to bring in
special measures to get underrepresented groups into top jobs.
The research showed the unemployment
rate for Maori and Pasifika aged between 25 and 44 is three times
that of their European counterparts.....
See full article HERE
A Northland sports club has been
invited to represent New Zealand at the 'Olympics of indigenous
games'.
The first World Indigenous Games will
be held in Palmas, Brazil, in late October. They are being organised
by Brazil's Indigenous Tribal Council and Ministry of Sport, with 24
Brazilian ethnic groups and people from 22 countries expected to take
part.
Events will include archery, spear
toss, tug-of-war, traditional canoeing, a 100m 'rustic race',
wrestling and a native American ball game, xikunahati.
The organisers invited Bay of Islands
man Harko Brown to help them shape the games' content, format and
rules at a gathering in Brasilia which ends this weekend.
Mr Brown, an expert in traditional
Maori games, founded the sports club Ki-o-rahi Akotanga Iho, which in
2010, along with All Black legend Buck Shelford, embarked on the
world's first international tour with tests and demonstration games
in the UK, France and Italy.
Before his departure for Brasilia Mr
Brown said he had been asked to advise on how traditional Maori games
were run in New Zealand. A crucial part of the preparation was the
tatu, whereby competing tribes met beforehand to come up with an
agreed set of rules.....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Flaky Ngati Whatua report fisked
Sometimes, light-weight bleeding-heart
commentary needs to be taken to task. Today, Brian Rudman of the New
Zealand Herald is in the gun for his article “Joe Hawke gains
victory”. A “fisking”, according to the Urban Dictionary, is
where a commentator is beaten through his words, often interspersing
criticisms with the original article's text. The term is named after
Robert Fisk, a reporter known for anti-western writings.
Rudman:
Yesterday in Parliament, the long struggle for justice, reignited by
Joe Hawke and his fellow squatters in the 1970s, finally came to an
end with an apology from the Crown, and ritual compensation by way
of cash and land.
As I recall, the dispute around the
507-day occupation of Bastion Point, 5.3 ha of land that was taken
under the Public Works Act in 1886 for military use, was settled in
1988, when the land was returned with compensation and an apology.
Another dispute detailed in the Wai 9 claim lodged in 1986 by Joe
Hawke and others that focussed on grievances around the 700 acres
known as the Orakei Block, was enshrined in the Orakei Act 1991 in
which nearly 65 hectares were returned to Ngati Whatua o Orakei .
The current settlement is Ngati Whatua’s third bite of the
cherry.
Rudman: The Ngati Whatua "had gained rights," according to the circumspect language of the "agreed historical account", in what is now the Super City boundaries by 1740, by right of conquest and occupation. Inter-tribal conflicts in the 1820s made them "temporarily relocate" to Waitakere and then Waikato, but from 1835 they'd started to reoccupy the Tamaki isthmus.
The fact is that Ngati Whatua had only
occupied the Auckland area from the mid-18th century until 1822,
probably about the same length of time that many of the residents at
a public meeting at the Navy Gym earlier this year over including
Navy land in the Ngati Whatua settlement, have lived in Devonport.
Ngati Whatua did not occupy Auckland for very long before driven out
by a Nga Puhi war expedition led by Hongi, Rewa and Patuone in
November 1822. Ngati Whatua were happy to SELL large parcels of land
to incoming settlers because they were too frightened to live there
without a settler presence. This “temporary relocation” is
claimant-speak in a bid to convey the idea that they really were in
an area even though they were not there.
Rudman: To protect themselves from Ngapuhi muskets, Ngati Whatua exchanged the 1214ha triangle of today's central Auckland, stretching along the coast from Cox's Bay to Hobson Bay and south to Mt Eden - all of present day Herne Bay, Ponsonby, Newmarket, Parnell and the city centre - for 50, 20 pairs of trousers, 20 shirts, 10 waistcoats, 10 caps, four casks of tobacco, one box of pipes, 91m of gown pieces, 10 iron pots, one bag of sugar, one bag of flour and 20 hatchets.
Yes, Ngati Whatua SOLD the land, and
for more than the collection of items Rudman listed. A quick check
on the Office of Treaty Settlements summary of the Ngati Whatua
settlement reveals that the tribe initially sold around 3500 acres
of land (the central city area of Auckland) to government officials
in September 1840 for £50 in coin and goods amounting to
approximately £215. Over the next two years the tribe sold a
further 29,000 acres to the Crown for around £640 plus other goods.
The land area of Auckland is 489,400ha. It is recorded that by the end of 1842 Government agents had purchased from chiefs land totalling 92,000ha (227,200 acres) the price being £4,196 25, or just a little over 4d (four pence – as in 240 pennies in ₤1) per acre. From 1862 to 2012, that amount would have inflated, according to the Reserve Bank inflation calculator, to $461,579.71. Remember, the government bought unimproved land, the value of which grew as the area was developed.
Ngati Whatua repeat the fiction that they "lost" the land, blaming the government. The tribe did not "lose" the land; their ancestors SOLD the land.
The fact that the land was sold by willing sellers to willing buyers was confirmed in a 1975 Court hearing presided over by Justice Speight and endorsed by Ngati Whatua elders.
The land area of Auckland is 489,400ha. It is recorded that by the end of 1842 Government agents had purchased from chiefs land totalling 92,000ha (227,200 acres) the price being £4,196 25, or just a little over 4d (four pence – as in 240 pennies in ₤1) per acre. From 1862 to 2012, that amount would have inflated, according to the Reserve Bank inflation calculator, to $461,579.71. Remember, the government bought unimproved land, the value of which grew as the area was developed.
Ngati Whatua repeat the fiction that they "lost" the land, blaming the government. The tribe did not "lose" the land; their ancestors SOLD the land.
The fact that the land was sold by willing sellers to willing buyers was confirmed in a 1975 Court hearing presided over by Justice Speight and endorsed by Ngati Whatua elders.
Rudman: But no one reading the history could deny that Ngati Whatua were royally shafted by the servants of Queen Victoria sent out to protect their interests.
Bearing in mind that the public works
taking in the Bastion Point row, and the alleged forced sales by 13
owners who allegedly should have held the Orakei block in trust, are
both outside the scope of this latest settlement, the main aspect of
Ngati Whatua’s third settlement is a big sense of sellers’
remorse among the vendor chiefs, a grievance that has been nursed
over the decades as mothers suckled their infant sons and daughters.
Sellers developed this remorse when they saw the colonial
government, which had the monopoly right to buy land from chiefs and
on-sell it to settlers, using the profit to fund administration,
sold this land attaining a profit of £68,865. Between 1844 and
1845, the Crown allowed chiefs to sell more land directly to
settlers, enacting regulations to protect Maori. Claimants argued
that the Crown did not apply these regulations correctly.
Rudman: It was the servants of the Crown who proved to be the worst diddlers of all, locking Maori into derisory sale prices, supposedly to protect the simple natives from the speculators.
The Deed of Settlement details how Ngati Whatua o Orakei hosted the month-long Kohimarama Conference in July of 1860, where the bulk of 200 chiefs attending gave emphatic support to the colonial government and the Treaty of Waitangi. It would appear that Ngati Whatua were happy with the situation at that time, which was after the bulk of the land had been sold. Why did they become unhappy? Most likely, the prestige of being able to sell such large tracts of land had faded, and the sales proceeds had been spent.
Rudman: In Ngati Whatua's case, the Crown was supposed to set aside land for Maori in perpetuity and use the land sales profits to build schools and hospitals for the locals. Little or none of this happened.
Er, excuse me. Auckland Hospital, Middlemore, schools as far as the eye can see, universities, roads, water reticulation, sewage, electricity. Does this not count? Or does Rudman believe the government should have provided a school and hospital for every kaianga?
Rudman: Yesterday's agreement doesn't erase old wrongs, or fully compensate for them.
This is what claimants always say when the settlement windfall lands. Let me see. British settlement enabled Ngati Whatua to return to Auckland, sell undeveloped land, benefit from settlement, and get paid for it all over again. How wonderful are the ways of the wicked white coloniser.
Rudman: I was on the phone to Ngati Whatua firebrand Joe Hawke hoping for a story. He didn't disappoint.
Joe Hawke and the Hawke family never disappoint when it comes to a news story. Joe has the esteemed reputation of having lodged Wai 1, in October 1976, when Joe Hawke, Henry Matthews, Te Witi McMath, and Rua Paul became the first claimants to the Waitangi Tribunal with a claim relating to fishing rights in the Waitemata Harbour. Specifically, the claim concerned the matter of prosecutions brought by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries pursuant to regulations 106K(2) and 106KA(3) of the Fisheries (General) Regulations 1950. Does not Joe Hawke's Wai 1 claim sound like the numerous fishing situations in which the treaty is invoked?
Source > Joe Hawke gains victory, NZ
Herald, November 16,
2012,http://www.nzherald.co.nz/maori/news/article.cfm?c_id=252&objectid=10847713
18 November 2012
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Ngāti
Whātua has today filed a statement of claim in the High Court at
Auckland to seek a ruling to fast-track the resolution of the
difference of opinion over the extent of Ngāti Whātua’s Right of
First Refusal (RFR) to surplus Crown land in Tamaki Makaurau.
This will be done by way of a judicial
review of recent decisions and announcements around the Auckland
Crown Land Programme, and in particular a property in Moire Rd in
Massey.
“Ngāti Whātua is working closely
with the government to get more houses built,” Ngāti Whātua’s
Ngarimu Blair said today.
“At the same time, achieving clarity
over the extent of our 172-year RFR is a fundamental point of
principle and economically important.
The relationship between Māori and the
Crown was harmed for many generations by lack of agreement about the
meaning of the articles of the Treaty of Waitangi and we are
determined similar differences of opinion will not spoil the
post-settlement relationship.....
See full article HERE
A
proposed name change for Hawke's Bay's airport remains up in the air
after Hastings District Council yesterday failed to either support or
oppose a move to rename it Ahuriri Airport Hawke's Bay.
Instead the council, which owns 24 per
cent of the airport, voted narrowly in favour of a motion to support
a similar but different name change - to Hawke's Bay Airport Ahuriri.
But following yesterday's Hastings
District Council decision, airport company chairman Tony Porter said
his board was not left with a clear mandate and would need to discuss
what to do next.....
See full article HERE
Review committee challenge
rules
The
change of direction in progress at the Waste Water Management Review
Committee is being passed up the chain to the next stage.
The
committee's appointed Maori members are in the process of challenging
the rules under which the committee operates.
The
WWMRC has been created out of the resource consent process that
allows the city council to operate its Te Maunga wastewater ponds and
outfalls. The consent requires the Tauranga City Council to have a
joint council/Maori committee to administer a court ordered fund of
‘not less than' $250,000 and distribute it to the local affected
iwi and hapu.
The council paid into the fund at
$50,000 a year for five years before any distribution was made. There
have been only two successful applicants securing funding to a total
of $160,000. The committee's reason for existence is to distribute
the fund, which it has failed to do.
There is $92,400 left. The council is
10 years into the consent. The Maori members also want the council to
approve in the Long Term Plan, an additional $50,000 a year for five
years, which will bring the cost of the coastal discharge consent up
to $1.5 million....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
The
Department of Conservation is investigating allegations that Ngapuhi
chairman Sonny Tau tried to smuggle native birds on a flight up the
length of the country under his jacket.
Last night 3News reported DoC were
investigating the iwi leader, who was allegedly caught with five
kereru - native wood pigeon - under his jacket as he boarded a flight
from Invercargill to Northland.
3News said Mr Tau was caught with up to
five kereru. It is thought he was taking the birds as a gift to his
local kaumatua.
The birds were reportedly shot during a
hunting trip, but it was unclear whether Mr Tau was responsible for
killing them. It has been illegal to shoot kereru since 1864. Kereru
have been totally protected since 1921....
See full article HERE
Some Maori want to eat kereru,
minister says
Maori Development Minister Te Ururoa
Flavell said eating Kereru was a practice that some groups still
advocated for.
NZ First leader Winston Peters
said he never knowingly ate native wood pigeon but one time at a
marae in Hokianga suspected he might have been served some.
"I was too polite to ask".
Kereru were once a traditional source
of food for Maori, but hunting them has been banned for nearly a
century.
Ngapuhi leader David Rankin said there
was nothing wrong with catching kereru.
"Article two of the Treaty of
Waitangi guarantees Maori the full, exclusive and undisturbed
possession of our fauna and flora. Basically, the problem
is that the law hasn't caught up with the Treaty.".....
See full article HERE
Minister: Iwi have withdrawn legal
action
Two
iwi are no longer taking court action over the sale of public land
for housing in Auckland, the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi
Negotiations says.
Ngāti Whātua and Tainui have
previously said they were going to the High Court to clarify whether
they should have been offered the right of first refusal to purchase
the land.
But Christopher Finlayson said there
were no court proceedings underway and, after speaking with Tainui
this morning, that was unlikely to change.
He maintained the Government had acted
in good faith with the iwi throughout the process.
Mr Finlayson said iwi were interested
in moving forward and it was better for everyone involved if court
action was avoided.
Ngāti Whātua and Tainui have not yet
responded to a request by Te Manu Korihi for comment...
See full article HERE
Iwi says 'time to forgive' Rena
owner
A
Bay of Plenty iwi has decided not to oppose a plan to leave the wreck
of container ship Rena on Otaiti - the Astrolabe Reef - just off the
coast from Tauranga.
Ngāti Ranginui chair Tawharangi Nuku
said the agreement signals a decision to acknowledge the grounding
and its impact on Tauranga moana, but heralds a significant decision
to move on.
Mr Nuku said Ngati Ranginui respected
the right of other iwi to make their own decisions and do what was
right for them.
Te Arawa has made a similar agreement
with the Rena's owner....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
A group of esteemed Māori leaders and
academics, including Dr Papaarangi Reid, Moana Jackson, Rikirangi
Gage, Angeline Greensill, Hone Harawira and Moana Maniapoto have
filed a claim and application for urgent hearing today in the
Waitangi Tribunal.
The claim alleges that the government’s
actions in negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPPA) are a
breach of the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles.
The claimants say that the TPPA
procedurally and substantively prejudices them and undermines the
guarantees to Māori under the Treaty to the exercise of their tino
rangatiratanga in governance decisions that affect them.....
See full article HERE
State house 'going to waste' amidst
housing shortage
An empty Housing New Zealand house on
an overgrown property in Wakapuaka near Nelson is going to waste, say
surrounding property owners.
But the property needed to go through a
First Right of Refusal process with local iwi first and foremost.
"This means it must first be
offered to local iwi before it can be considered for sale on the open
market," he said.
Housing New Zealand had started the
process with iwi, but Conway said discussions were still in early
stages with those iwi.....
See full article HERE
Iwi Leaders applaud the PCE report
into Freshwater
The Freshwater Iwi Leaders Group has
welcomed the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s
report into freshwater.
“The recommendations, particularly
concerning water quality, support the key messages the Freshwater Iwi
Leaders group has been advocating for on behalf of all iwi. Te Mana o
te Wai – improved water quality – is one of our key objectives in
‘Ngā Mātāpono ki te Wai’, our framework model,” said the
Freshwater Iwi Advisors chair, Roku Mihinui.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the
Environment recommended six improvements to the Freshwater National
Policy Statement. Those recommendations are:....
See full article HERE
Paul James appointed New Zealand’s
new culture ministry chief
Before his time at the DIA, James
worked as director of the Ministry of Justice’s Office of Treaty
Settlements, which is tasked with negotiating settlements due to
historical breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi – an agreement
between representatives of the British Crown and various Māori tribe
chiefs from the North island of New Zealand first signed in 1840.
In this post, he oversaw a significant
increase in the rate of settlements achieved.
He has also worked in policy roles in
the Treasury, Accident Compensation Corporation, and Te Puni Kokiri –
as the government’s principal adviser on its relationship with the
iwi, hapu and Maori tribes.....
See full article HERE
Ngāi Tahu market garden gets boost
A
Ngāi Tahu market garden is getting a funding boost from the South
Island Whānau Ora agency.
The garden would act as a catalyst for
hapū-led food farming ventures.
The garden at Koukourārata, or Port
Levy, on Banks Peninsula, is the original site where the iwi
cultivated food to sell to colonists in the 1880s.
It would be used for education and
research opportunities.....
See full article HERE
Social Value Aotearoa launched
The
head of an urban Māori authority is calling for the Government to
introduce measures showing whether the funding it provides is
actually producing results.
Te Whānau O Waipareira Trust and the
North Island Whānau Ora Commissioning agency, Te Pou Matakana, have
launched 'Social Value Aotearoa'.
The network aims to get organisations,
including those in the public sector, to think about more than just
the costs of providing a service.
It wanted an assessment model to be
introduced which analysed whether there were actually any tangible
benefits for those the funding was meant to help.
Trust chief executive John Tamihere
said the Government's current approach was not working and it needed
to adopt a different one.....
See full article HERE
Disabled Maori more disadvantaged -
survey
The
lives of disabled Māori have come under the spotlight with He haua
Maori - Findings from the 2013 Disability Survey.
It found one in four Māori are
disabled.
The Statistics New Zealand survey
showed that while many disabled Māori enjoyed good levels of
material well-being and quality of life, overall they tended to fare
worse that non-disabled Māori.
Just over half of those disabled were
working, but their incomes were lower than for others, with
two-thirds having an annual income of $30,000 or less.
A quarter said their income was not
sufficient to meet everyday needs.....
See full article HERE
What on earth is going on at Maori
TV?
The latest allegations of direct
interference with Maori TV editorial content by Te Ururoa Flavell
demands a serious investigation because it simply does not pass the
scratch and sniff test of independent journalism.
Emails show Te Ururoa Flavell
complaining to Maori TV chief executive Paora Maxwell about including
Winston Peters in a debate about Whanau Ora, Flavell then met with
Maxwell and less than two hours later, the debate was cancelled....
See full article HERE
A governance board made up of iwi and
council representatives will "open up a huge can of worms"
when it takes over management of Ninety Mile Beach, a district
councillor says.
Currently, no single body manages
Ninety Mile Beach. Various parts are controlled by the district
council, regional council, DoC and iwi.
Council policy and planning manager
Kathryn Ross said the board was part of settlement legislation for
four of the five Te Hiku iwi. It was going through Parliament and
would soon become law.
Far North-based Northland Regional
councillors Dover Samuels and Monty Knight have been appointed as
that council's representatives on the new Te Oneroa-a-Tohe Board. The
board's first task will be to develop a management plan for the
beach. The council's role on the board will be to articulate the
concerns of residents and ratepayers.
The Crown will give the NRC $150,000
for the board's initial operating costs and $250,000 for developing
the management plan.
No funding has been provided for the
Far North District Council's costs....
See full article HERE
North Shore Maori left in cold for
tangi
Whanau on Auckland’s North Shore
want Auckland Council to help them build a marae so they don’t have
to use garages and tents to host tangihanga.
Te Aniwa Tutara says there is no
suitable marae to service the large Maori community in Beach Haven,
Birkdale and Northcote.
She says Beach Haven has more than a
dozen church, school and community halls, and now the Kaipatiki Local
Board wants to build another one without considering the needs of
Maori...
See full article HERE
Nick Smith may get his houses yet
One of the problems may have been that
both the Crown the iwi appear to have been arguing at cross purposes.
It seems unlikely that the iwi actually
want to develop the land.
What they are seeking is a pro forma
recognition of what they consider their Treaty Right to be offered
the land even if it is only for them to turn it down.....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Rena stance upsets iwi
Bay of Plenty iwi are upset coastal Te
Arawa has broken ranks and struck a deal with the owners and insurers
of the Rena to drop opposition to leaving what’s left of the
stricken cargo ship on Otaiti-Astrolabe reef.
Te Arawa Coastal iwi spokesperson
Raewyn Bennett says after getting expert advice her iwi were
convinced that option is better for the environment.
They have negotiated conditions they
want in any resource consent, and they also intend setting up a
marine education centre.
But Buddy Mikaere, who has links to
hapu on Motiti Island most directly affected by the wreck, says other
iwi feel betrayed.
He told Radio Waatea host Willie
Jackson the $750,000 offered to each iwi to drop their objections
falls well short of a reasonable price.
"We’ll only sign up if they give
us about $500 million because we understand that will be the cost of
getting the wreck off the reef" he says.
Buddy Mikaere says because of the power
of the Rena’s Swedish insurer in the industry, it is hard to find
salvage experts willing to testify against the plan...
See full article HERE
Bishop Pat Dunn returned from a
fortnight in Tokelau to clarify that the diocese never intended to
sell the Northcote property.
"He has become annoyed at the
constantly repeated comments in the media that the diocese is going
to sell the land. This has not come from us. We cannot, because it is
a Crown grant for educational purposes," he said via a
spokeswoman.
He also spurned a Treaty of Waitangi
claim by college old boys who want 152ha of land, including the
college and AUT's Northcote campus.
"He finds the Treaty ... claim is
spurious, based on false information. The Crown grant was to the
bishops of Auckland for the education of children from both races and
from the islands of the Pacific. They seem to have the idea that it
was left for Maori education, which it was not.....
See full article HERE
Samuels, Knight appointed to Te
Oneroa-a-Tohe Board
Far North-based regional councillors
Dover Samuels and Monty Knight have been appointed as the council’s
representatives on the new Te Oneroa-a-Tohe Board.
The beach board – which will jointly
manage Ninety Mile Beach as part of a looming Treaty of Waitangi
settlement – is expected to become operative later this year and be
made up of eight to 10 members;
Councillor Samuels, who also chairs the
regional council’s Te Tai Tokerau Maori Advisory Committee, says
the looming establishment of the beach board is a significant
milestone.
“It will mark the beginning of a
long-awaited new relationship between Te Hiku iwi, our council and
the FNDC.”
Councillor Samuels says the board’s
purpose is to co-develop a management plan for iconic Ninety Mile
Beach and the “eyes of the nation” both Maori and non-Maori will
be watching with keen interest to see what is ultimately proposed....
See full article HERE
Iwi talks "constructive"
but staying private
The Building and Housing Minister is
keeping his cards close to his chest over the state of play with
Auckland iwi over the Government's housing plans.
Nick Smith says talks remain ongoing as
iwi have raised concerns their Treaty settlement rights are being
breached by the Government's proposal to set aside Crown land for
residential development by private interests.
He won't say anything about whether the
Crown will take part in a joint court case to determine the plan's
legal status.
"No I'm not going to be public.
I'm going to have discussions directly with Iwi.
"All I'm saying is that those
discussions have been constructive and ongoing."...
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Children of prisoners need more help
- advocate
Rethinking Crime and Punishment
spokesperson Kim Workman said Māori tamariki were more vulnerable,
and research was needed into the positive effects of support groups
for children with parents in prison.
"When you get conditions and
systems that put people at disadvantage, that puts Māori at
increased disadvantage because there are more of them and so the
effect is quite traumatic on families, so this is a target group that
really needs the attention of policy."...
See full article HERE
Iwi bounce back from defeat at the
ballot box to demand council voting rights without being elected
You’ve got to give Peter Moeahu full
marks for gall.
His undemocratic cause was lost when
the good citizens of New Plymouth went to the polls to decide if it
was a good idea for their district council to have a separatist ward
reserved for indigenous persons.
An overwhelming majority of those who
bothered getting off their chuffs to vote made plain it was a bad
idea.
But this Peter Moeahu feller sees this
as a chance to push an even more provocative idea.
He is calling for New Plymouth’s
council to reconsider appointing iwi representatives to influential
standing committees.
This means they would get to influence
council decisions without having to go through the bother of getting
elected, even in a separatist ward.
This is the
tribal way of trying to get good governance, Alf imagines, although
it is seriously contradictory to his own strongly held ideas of how
democratic government should operate.
Here’s what’s happening according
to Stuff (although what is happening behind the scenes would be
even more fascinating).
In the wake of
an overwhelming referendum result against a Maori ward seat, Te
Atiawa iwi representative Peter Moeahu asked the council to revisit a
proposal it voted down in April last year.
However, Mayor
Andrew Judd has said there are no immediate plans to revisit the idea
and the council needs to process the results of the referendum first.
Last year’s
proposal, which if passed would have seen two iwi members appointed
to each of the monitoring, policy and regulatory committees, was
voted down seven votes to five.
This week
Moeahu told councillors he wanted to congratulate them for having the
courage to propose a Maori ward, even though it failed.
“Now I’m
back again to ask that this council consider the appointment of iwi
representatives on council standing committees, not on the council
itself.”
Moeahu seems thoroughly disdainful of
the thrust of the recent vote.
He also said his proposal could not be
classed as “special treatment”, because it was just part of doing
business in Taranaki.
Really?
Oh, and he raises some teasing ideas
about constitutional matters.
He said under the Treaty of Waitangi
iwi had developed their own runanga, or governing system.
Alf has peered at the document and
failed to recognise the bit that gives rise to this governing system,
although he accepts it may well be in the Maori-language bit.
In short, he wonders if the good people
of New Plymouth are being tossed a load of treaty horseshit but he is
always willing to stand to be corrected.
Here’s what Moeahu said to make Alf
curious:
“Councils of
course get their authority from the Crown, by way of legislation, and
we get our authority from the Treaty. Like council, we also have
electoral constituents, so we have democracy in place. We elect our
representatives, just like council does.
“We’ve been
evolving over the years and we now make appointments to various
bodies. It is not unusual and it is not special.”
He said iwi representatives regularly
engaged with government ministers.
Agreed, this is not special. Anybody
can engage with government ministers, if they can get past the
gatekeepers.
But then he said iwi representatives
were appointed, with voting rights, to the Taranaki District Health
Board.
This seems to suggest they can
influence health board decisions without being elected. The rest of
us can’t – not to sit at the board table, anyway.
So far as Alf can see, this is a
race-based privilege, and this means the arrangement is “special”.
It is one of several precedents set by
craven non-Maori decision-makers to avoid being accused of racism.
There are more to come, thanks to the
highly undemocratic decisions being made by mandarins in Wellington.
And so Moeahu can rightly say:
“And you’ll
be aware that the regional council have agreed to add iwi
representation appointments to its standing committees as well.
“Our desire
is to share that with this council. I would ask that council
considers putting this matter back on its agenda again. I think it
deserves to be revisited.”
When questioned about whether iwi
expected voting rights on council standing committees, Morehu pointed
out the privilege that indigenous persons in Taranaki already have
been given – they have voting rights on the Taranaki District
Health Board.
“But our main
purpose is to provide our perspective to council’s deliberations,”
he said.
Would this be the sort of perspective
that has resulted in Auckland people having to consult umpteen iwi
representatives and cough up big sums of money to ensure cultural
offence is not given or treasures endangered when they dig their
gardens and so on?
Moeahu’s expectations are further
explained:
“Our iwi
would be appointing the best people that we have to assist council.
To provide the best people we have and for them to not have a vote,
it would be disappointing.”
Political parties put up their best
people too at elections.
But it’s what the voters want and
their idea of the best person that matters. Or should.
This is the obstacle Moeahu would
rather circumvent by playing the treaty card – which looks
suspiciously like a race card, by the way.
https://alfgrumblemp.wordpress.com/2015/05/22/iwi-bounce-back-from-defeat-at-the-ballot-box-to-demand-council-voting-rights-without-being-elected/#more-21289
May 22nd, 2015
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Complaints
have been made to the Human Rights Commission over a move by police
to spare Maori drivers from being ticketed if they're caught without
a licence.
The police now admit the driver's
licence amnesty in South Auckland, in which Maori drivers were not
fined, should never have happened
The instruction to Counties Manukau
police, which had been in place for 18 months, said all Maori drivers
caught without a licence or in breach of licence conditions should be
given two months to fix the problem before they're fined.
The Human Rights Commission said it had
now received complaints about the police instructions, which were
being dealt with by its complaints resolution team......
See full article HERE
Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa
confirm land sold by Māori Education Trust will be returned
Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa iwi are
rejoicing over the news that land originally gifted and sold by the
Māori Education Trust is now destined to be returned.
The Māori Education Trust was
originally gifted the farm by a Pākehā farmer, Ned Holmes in the
60's for the benefit of local Iwi.
But just this year, the Māori
Education Trust sold it to private ownership to pay off debt.
Hone Oneroa says, “The Crown did
wrong in the first place leaving out Te Wairarapa whānau within
Hinewaka, today it was announced and understood that the Crown is now
a way to return the land back to the whānau.”
Crown representatives will meet with
the owners next week in Taranaki to talk about the buy back
options....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Old boys from Hato Petera lodge Treaty claim for land
Old boys of troubled Auckland Catholic
co-ed boarding school Hato Petera have lodged a Treaty of Waitangi
claim on the property and surrounding land, including AUT's Northcote
campus.
Past pupils of the college in Northcote
referred to the land's history and how the Church got it 165 years
ago when lodging their Treaty claim, known as Wai 1385....
See full article HERE
Researchers say they are shocked to
find an apparent racial bias by mortgage lenders against Maori people
who "look Maori" - but real estate entrepreneur Mike Pero
is not surprised.
The Auckland University research has
found that a Maori person who rates 5.55 out of 7 on a scale of
Maori-like personal appearance is twice as likely not to own their
own home as a European-looking Maori rating only 1 on the scale,
after allowing for all other factors including income and age.
The effect of personal appearance on
home ownership was roughly as strong as the effect of income - a
result that shocked the researchers.
However Dr Eric Crampton of the NZ
Initiative think-tank said there could be many other explanations for
this besides racial bias. For example, people who looked more Maori
might have parents who did not have freehold properties to use as
collateral for loans, a factor that was not surveyed.
"Banks would be throwing money
away if they decided to not lend to somebody simply based on looks,"
he said.
Mortgage brokers Bruce Patten in
Auckland and Karen Essex-Mooney in Blenheim both said they had never
seen a mortgage application turned down because the borrowers were
Maori. They said many borrowers now applied online and never actually
met the lenders.
New Zealand Bankers' Association chief
executive Kirk Hope said racial stereotyping was not in the banks' or
their customers interests especially within such a competitive part
of the banking sector.
"Banks consider a range of factors
when making a lending decision," he said. "The customer's
ability to repay the loan is among the most important things banks
take into account.
"They'll also look at your equity
in the property and any possible changes in your future
circumstances."..
See full article HERE
Maori Party won't attend Mana
Movement hui
Māori Party President, Naida Glavish
has confirmed that the recent notice by Mana Movement issued on 14
June incorrectly states that the hui to be held in Tamaki Makaurau on
Sunday 21 June will include the Māori Party.
"No representatives of the Māori
Party will be in attendance. Should any of our membership attend they
will be doing so in a personal capacity," advised Ms Glavish.
"Any future meeting between our
parties will need to be endorsed by our National Council and
Executive and to date that hasn’t happened. If an opportunity
arises in the future we will give it due consideration."...
See full article HERE
Principal Māori academic appointed
Lincoln University – New Zealand’s
specialist land-based University – today announced the appointment
of Professor Hirini Matunga (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Mamoe, Ngāti Porou,
Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Paerangi (Atiu, Cook
Islands)) as the University’s Professor of Māori & Indigenous
Development.
“This is the University’s principal
Māori academic position and I am delighted that we have been able to
bring this top academic back into a teaching and research position,”
says Dr Stefanie Rixecker, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Scholarship and
Research.
“Professor Matunga has been part of
the senior leadership team at Lincoln for many years and has been
instrumental in developing relationships with Iwi all around New
Zealand, and in the formation of our Whenua Strategy – the strategy
that drives the University’s engagement with Māori in the
land-based sectors in a way that gives rise to meaningful and
enduring partnerships. His contribution in this has indeed been
valuable, but his passion lies in the academic world and I am pleased
that Professor Matunga will be taking up this senior professorial
position.”....
See full article HERE
Maori authorities boost asset base
Maori authorities now manage an asset
base of more than $12.5 billion.
In the latest snapshot from its
Tatauranga Umanga Maori project to define and identify the role of
Maori businesses in the Maori and New Zealand economies, Statistics
New Zealand says Maori authorities have evolved beyond traditional
land-based industries and are reaching into areas like financial and
insurance services.
It says 89 percent of Maori authorities
are in the North Island, with 27 percent in the Bay of Plenty and 21
percent in Waikato.
Most filled jobs in the authorities
were in agriculture, forestry and fishing, education and training,
and health care and social assistance.
The asset base in the sector grew 9.1
percent from 2012 to 2012 to reach $12.5 billion.
Total income increased 18 percent to
reach $2.9 billion in 2013.
Maori authorities exported goods worth
526 million in 2014, with seafood the top export commodity.
China took 44 percent of the Maori
exports.....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Smith goes to ground after iwi meeting
Housing Minister Nick Smith has gone to
ground after a tense meeting with two iwi.
Smith met with Ngati Whatua and Tainui
yesterday, to try dissuade them from taking High Court action over
the release of Crown land in Auckland for housing.
The meeting went until late in the
evening, but the Minister is refusing to talk to media about how the
negotiations went.
A spokesperson says Smith will only
comment on the issue when he feels it is appropriate to do so...
See full article HERE
"I received an assurance from him
that that was not the intent of the policy and that the policy will
be amended to make that clear."
Mr Woodhouse said he did not condone
any policy that had the effect or appearance of treating one group of
people differently from another.
Mr Bush said tonight at Superintendent
John Tims of Counties Manukau was looking into how the policy
guidelines had been followed in his district.
He said the wording of the policy was
inappropriate and would be changed....
See full article HERE
New head of UC School of Māori and
Indigenous Studies
University of Canterbury has appointed
Sacha McMeeking (Ngāi Tahu) as the new Head of School of Aotahi:
Māori and Indigenous Studies. Ms McMeeking will join the College of
Arts at the end of June as a Senior Lecturer and as Head of School.
Ms McMeeking has been at the forefront
of Iwi, Māori and indigenous development in a career that has
spanned more than 16 years, being based both locally and
internationally. Domestically, she has led substantive commercial and
policy reforms, particularly focussed within a Post Treaty Settlement
environment. Formerly, she was the General Manager of Strategy and
Influence at Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu where she was responsible for
significant inter-Iwi initiatives, including commercial partnerships
as well as landmark policy outcomes that reflect post-Settlement
Treaty partnership...
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Minister looks at backing Maori effort
to clarify right of refusal for housing land but says challenge ‘a
surprise’
Attorney-General Chris Finlayson has
not ruled out joining iwi in court to resolve a dispute on the sale
of surplus land in Auckland to private developers.
But Mr Finlayson appears to be fuming
about Ngati Whatua and Tainui-Waikato's legal challenge over the
right of first refusal, which he said came as a complete surprise.
"But look, that's the way things
go and I deal with my Treaty partners in the same positive way they
deal with me."
Maori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell
urged the Government to clarify the issue in court.
He said that the issue had "huge
connotations" for iwi around the country, who had told him that
they were watching the case very closely.....
See full article HERE
Police told not to ticket unlicenced
Maori drivers in South Auckland
Unlicensed Maori drivers caught behind
the wheel in South Auckland are getting the chance to avoid a $400
fine.
Police are defending the move, saying
it's part of their goal to reduce Maori offending and that it's
crucial and it's working.
Documents leaked to ONE News show the
"guidelines"police in South Auckland say they've been
enforcing since last year.
The paperwork spells out that all Maori
drivers caught without a licence or in breach of their conditions are
to be referred for training and not given a ticket.....
See full article HERE
Hapū grill Hawke's Bay Regional
Council over water bottling plants
Iwi, hapū and members of the community
met with the Hawke's Bay Regional Council last night to have their
questions answered over why non-notified consent had been
granted to allow water to be extracted from the Heretaunga Aquifer.
One Pure International has been
given permission to extract more than 405,000 cubic
metres of water a year and ship it overseas. The water will be
extracted from an Awatoto bottling plant currently being
constructed.
Hawke's Bay Regional councillor Ian
MacDonald said there is no discrimination when people are applying
for water uptake. The council will look at it's intended use and
whether the limit will be enough and what affect it will have on the
environment before granting it.....
See full article HERE
Māori Board: Auckland Council
progress 'disappointing'
The
Independent Māori Statutory Board says Auckland Council needs to
work much harder to address the needs of mana whenua in the wake of a
performance audit.
The board's chair, David Taipari, said
progress was too slow and the council was yet to fulfil its Treaty
obligations.
The board was set up after the
formation of the "supercity" to promote issues important to
Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau.
Its role is to ensure the council takes
those issues into account when making decisions.
"The general capacity of council
is an issue and how they deal with things Māori. So I think those
are key fundamental areas," he said.
"I think they're still grasping
with understanding their legal obligations,....
See full article HERE
The debate about the Kohanga Reo board
has come to a impasse, with Labour calling for the education minister
Hekia Parata to demand resignations, but the minister saying it's not
her place.
Maori Television's Native Affairs
revealed last night that a review by Internal Affairs had said there
was "gross mismanagement" at the trust's subsidiary, Te
Pataka Ohanga, including $110,000 in director's payments to the Maori
king when he was not a director.....
See full article HERE
Ihaka takes up Senior Communications
Advisor role
Putting Māori Members of Parliament
(MPs) at the forefront of important New Zealand politics is Jodi
Ihaka's plan, as she was recently appointed the Labour
Party's new Senior Communications Advisor (Māori).
"I'm really excited to use my
communication skills in such an important Māori advisory capacity.
I have loved my time at Whakaata Māori (Māori Television) and have
nothing but respect for the Māori journalists on Te Kāea and Native
Affairs," says Ihaka.
The position sees Ihaka take on a
key advisory role to Labour leader, Andrew Little as well as Māori
MPs including Kelvin Davis, Peeni Henare, Louisa Wall, Meka
Whaitiri, Nanaia Mahuta and Adrian Rurawhe...
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Concern over the future of beach access for all
The Far North District Council has
voted to appoint Mayor John Carter and Cr David Collard as its
representatives to Te Oneroa a Tohe (90 Mile Beach) Governance Board,
which will be formed as part of the Treaty settlements for four Te
Hiku iwi, against strong opposition from Te Hiku Ward councillor Mate
Radich.
His concerns included that effectively
giving responsibility for management of the beach to iwi would likely
see public access restricted, and not only on 90 Mile Beach.
"East Beach has to be a worry
now," he said.
"There are people at Kaimaumau who
are waiting to see what happens, and I wouldn't be surprised if
public access to that beach came under threat too. Remember the road
from the village to the harbour has never been legalised."
There were already problems, he added.
A 'No Parking' sign had been erected at the Bluff - "That didn't
come from the district council, the regional council or DOC" -
and Ngati Kuri was benefiting financially from tour buses using Te
Paki Stream to get on to and off the beach.
"What about the other tribes? Will
Ngai Takoto start charging at Waipapakauri Ramp and Te Rarawa at
Shipwreck Bay?" he asked.
"If access is restricted or
charged for in one place, it will soon be restricted or charged for
everywhere.
"Once the tribes have control,
what do you think is going to happen? Will the mussel spat harvesters
have to pay a levy? What about the crayfishermen at Ahipara?....
See full article HERE
No apology from Auditor-General
over Whanau Ora
The
Auditor-General says she will not be apologising for criticism she
has made about Whānau Ora.
In a report tabled in Parliament on 5
May, Lyn Provost said Whānau Ora's administration was cumbersome and
unusual.
The report found nearly $42.3 million
of the programme's $137 million funding had gone to administration.
Iwi Chairs Forum spokesperson Sonny Tau
said the comments were unfortunate and he believed the
Auditor-General was set to talk to an iwi leaders meeting to
apologise personally.
However, while Ms Provost confirmed she
had accepted an invitation to an Iwi Chairs Forum meeting, she said
she would not apologise.
In her report, she outlined her hope
that the criticism be taken on board....
See full article HERE
Iwi want representation on New
Plymouth District Council
Taranaki iwi leaders have pleaded with
the council to reconsider how Maori can have a voice in local
politics.
This week about 30 iwi members came
together to talk at a public forum about the future make-up of the
New Plymouth District Council.
All 14 councillors were invited to the
meeting. The only ones in attendance where Harry Duynhoven, Richard
Handley, Richard Jordan, Craig McFarlane, Howie Tamati, and mayor
Andrew Judd.....
See full article HERE
Call for better exploration
consultation
A
Far North hapū is demanding the mining, oil and gas exploration
industries engage more with Māori when they want to drill in their
rohe.
It said the area was spiritually
significant and one of the most sacred places in Aotearoa.
Te Ahipara Kōmiti Takutaimoana
spokesperson Catherine Murupaenga-Aken said the Government was too
hands-off in its approach and that more needs to be done to engage
with Māori during the permit application process.
"We know there's a declaration of
rights and independence, we know there's a Tiriti o Waitangi, we know
there's legislation and such, but what's on paper and what happens in
practice is like two different universes. The reality is they aren't
implementing what their obligations are," she said.
Te Ahipara Kōmiti Takutaimoana has
filed a claim accusing the Government of breaching the Treaty of
Waitangi.....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Iwi land row heads to court
Ngati
Whatua and Waikato-Tainui have decided to go to court to challenge
the Government's interpretation of "right of first refusal"
in light of Budget moves to free up surplus land in Auckland for
private housing developments.
But in a bid to avoid souring their
relationship with the Government, the tribes are inviting the Crown
to join them in seeking clarification of the law.
The tribes have asked the law firm
Russell McVeagh to seek an urgent meeting with the Solicitor-General
Mike Heron to discuss the possibility of a joint approach to the
courts.
The announcement of the joint action
follows a meeting yesterday between 13 iwi with interests in and
around Auckland and Housing Minister Nick Smith and Treaty
Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson.....
See full article HERE
Transfers of power
Iwi can be granted the power to make
resource consent decisions (or other powers) by councils under the
RMA. Section 33 allows councils to transfer any of their functions,
powers or duties to another public authority, including iwi
authorities.
The iwi authority has to make an
application for this, and both parties must agree that:
- they want the transfer to take place
- the iwi authority is the appropriate group able to deliver the duties, functions or powers efficiently
- the iwi authority has the expertise to exercise the powers....
See full article HERE
Connection to land vital for Whanau
Ora
The close relationship between whānau
and whenua (the land) provides the foundation for the new model of
whānau health and the South Island Whanau Ora Commissioning Agency,
Te Putahitanga o te Wai Pounamu are showing their support by
investing $237,000 in the first stage of the initiative.
The market garden, utilising a site
originally used to sell food to early colonists as far back as the
1880s, will become the catalyst for hapū-led food farming ventures,
education and research opportunities, and Te Putahitanga Chair Norm
Dewes is enthusiastic about the potential of the project....
See full article HERE
It's no secret that the Maori language
is in a vulnerable state. And according to research by Kahurangi
Maxwell, so are parents who wish to bring their children up speaking
Maori in NewZealand.
"Significant are the pervasive and
negative attitudes towards a reo Maori lifestyle that are founded in
a belief that English must remain predominant and might be
threatened," Kahurangi said....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
From the archives of Alf Grumble
Bugger trying to woo local voters –
the smart way to power is through Treaty settlements
Forget about all this democracy
stuff.
There are short-cuts to getting a place
at the local authority decision-making table – or close enough –
without having to go through all that messy stuff about winning
support from voters.
Nah, nuts to all that. If you are an
indigenous person with tribal inclinations you can count on non-Maori
decision-makers – if you approach the right ones – being
only too anxious to let you in.
That’s how Taranaki’s
indigenous persons will soon be flexing their iwi muscle with the
Taranaki Regional Council.
The good people of Taranaki – who
have shown a distinct preference for making their indigenous big-wigs
earn their council posts the hard way – accordingly have been
gazumped.
Alf senses the craven aiding and
abetting of Christopher Finlayson may be found in there somewhere.
But let’s go
back to this Radio NZ news item
in April last year.
We were told then:
A northern Taranaki iwi, Te Atiawa,
is optimistic that there will be dedicated Maori seats on the New
Plymouth District Council.
On
15 April the council voted down
the proposal to install six tribal representatives on standing
committees with full voting rights, saying it would be undemocratic
to have un-elected Maori spokespeople.
The tribe’s Treaty claims
negotiator, Peter Moeahu, is appealing to the local Te Tai Hauauru
MP, Tariana Turia, and the Chief Crown Treaty negotiator to
intervene.
He says it is just a matter of time
and iwi will be sitting at council table and doesn’t see any reason
why they shouldn’t be…
It’s just a matter of time if you
know how to short-circuit the electoral process.
Or if local authorities do the
short-circuiting.
At that time Moeahu was illuminating:
The Te Atiawa man says Taranaki
Regional Council has proposed to include iwi at the decision making
table which they have accepted, but it won’t happen until all
Taranaki tribes have settled their Treaty of Waitangi claims with the
Crown.
He says Taranaki iwi intend to have
representatives at both the local district council and regional
council levels.
Mr Moeahu says democracy will still
be retained because tribal representatives on standing committees
will make recommendations for the full council to determine whether
or not to accept them.
He says if two iwi chairs can
persuade the other nine councillors to their point of view, he
expects the council could be more open to iwi suggestions.
Things are moving on quite nicely for
the iwi.
Radio NZ this
morning reported:
Maori are likely to have permanent
representation on two of theTaranaki Regional Council’s powerful
standing committee by the end of the year.
A mechanism giving iwi three
representatives on the Policy and Planning and Regulatory committees
is included in the Treaty settlements of Te Atiawa, Taranaki and
Ngaruahine.
The kaitumuaki of Te Korowai o
Ngaruahine Trust Cassandra Crowley said the mechanism would be
triggered for all Taranaki iwi who wanted to be involved when the
first settlement was approved by legislation. That was expected to be
Ngaruahine’s, and within the next three months.
The extraordinary thing is that Ms
Crowley said a regional council had similar responsibilities to the
te ao Maori concept of a kaitiaki and iwi were looking forward to
working with it to protect the Taranaki environment.
Not really,
Regional councils are democratically
elected forms of local government.
In Alf’s experience your iwi aren’t
too keen on the voting bit of that arrangement.
That was all too clear when Moeahu was
talking to Radio NZ last year and said northern Taranaki tribes
intended to put their best people forward to sit on local councils.
He says they may not necessarily be
elected representatives of the iwi.
Instead, they may be people who are
skilled in local government, who are knowledgeable about the law and
who can debate and influence the outcome of decisions.
And then were given another
extraordinary example of iwi thinking on how a modern government
should be made accountable to the public:
Mr Moeahu says in his view they will
not be political appointments, but people who can do the best for
both Maori and general communities.
Not political appointments?
That’s like saying The Pope doesn’t
have a religious job.
Never mind the clear evidence that the
people of New Plymouth and the Taranaki district would rather they
got their seats the hard way, like anybody else in their comunities.
That’s clear from
this Stuff report:
While New Plymouth is voting on the
establishment of Maori wards the regional council and iwi of Taranaki
are forging ahead with their own representation arrangement.
As part of their treaty settlements
Te Atiawa, Taranaki and Ngaruahine negotiated provisions ensuring iwi
representatives had a place on Taranaki Regional Council standing
committees.
Three individuals will be appointed
to the policy and planning committee and three to the consents and
regulatory committee, Te Korowai o Ngaruahine Trust general manager
Cassandra Crowley said.
While the representation arrangement
has been talked about since the middle of last year it took a step
closer on Monday when the Ngaruahine Claims Settlement Bill went
before Cabinet for consideration.
It could take months for Cabinet to
enact the legislation but once that process was complete it would
allow the TRC to make the appointments.
“We’re one step closer. It will be
within a year,” Crowley said.
It’s a measure of the way our
indigenous persons prefer to do things that Crowley said it
could take months for Cabinet to enact the legislation.
That would get around all that crap
about having bills go through a Parliamentary process.
Just how the indigenous appointments
will be made in Taranaki, by the way, is a mystery.
Exactly how the representatives will
be selected has not been revealed but a draft plan was submitted to
TRC chief executive Basil Chamberlain last week.
A final note: We are reminded by Stuff
that last year the New Plymouth District Council voted in favour of
establishing a ward – which would see one Maori seat at the council
table – but a petition against the decision saw the issue go to a
binding referendum and vote which closes on Friday (15th May).
May 12th, 2015
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
A
sovereignty group is calling for the Māori flag to be given the same
status as the New Zealand flag.
Te
Ata Tino Toa presented the policy at a flag consultation workshop in
Wellington on Thursday.
The group's chair said at the moment
the Tino Rangatiratanga flag can only be flown by the Government on
certain days, such as Waitangi Day, but that needs to change.
Te Ao Pritchard said the organisation's
policy was based on the partnership principles in the Treaty of
Waitangi and would make both flags equal all of the time.
"So the new flag that will be
chosen by the New Zealand people can fly alongside the Māori flag as
well," she said.
Ms Pritchard said that would give the
Māori flag more mana and the recognition it deserved.....
See full article HERE
Government fast-tracks 1000 more
homes
The Government has fast-tracked the
building of a further 1000 houses and apartments at Hobsonville Pt
and about 300 of those will cost less than $550,000 - a higher
proportion of "affordable" homes than the rest of the
3000-house development.
In the Budget, he also unveiled plans
to use more crown land in Auckland for housing. He and Treaty
Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson are to meet with Tamaki
Collective iwi to discuss the bypassing of the iwi rights of first
refusal on the land....
See full article HERE
Iwi expects apology from Auditor
General
Maori
leader Sonny Tau says the Auditor General is to apologise for
comments she made criticising the amount of Whanau Ora funding spent
on administration.
Auditor General Lynn Provost told a
select committee last month Whanau
Ora's administration was cumbersome and unusual.
She told MPs out of the $137 million in
funding the scheme has had, 20 percent had gone on administration.
He said that 20 percent spent on
administration was not a big fee....
See full article HERE
Cross removed from Puketāpapa-Mt
Roskill
The
new Māori authority that looks after Auckland's volcanic cones is
working with church leaders and a local board after a cross that once
stood at the summit of Puketāpapa-Mount Roskill was removed.
"The Maunga Authority has agreed
to receive an application to erect the cross for future events and
consider this next month."
The cross on Puketāpapa-Mt Roskill is
usually put up during Christmas and Easter, but due to an oversight,
it remained in place without authorisation...
See full article HERE
Whiff of racism seen in 'H' debate
The decision by the Wanganui District
Council to ask the New Zealand Geographic Board to insert the dreaded
"H" in the name of the district has had the unfortunate -
though predictable - effect of pitching Maori against non-Maori.
Some reactions have had a whiff of
racism about them, though the R-word remains largely taboo in polite
conversation.
But perhaps it is something we should
be a little more open about. Most of us - whatever our hue - have
been guilty of racism at some point ... that's life. Usually it is
born out of ignorance and it often dissipates as that ignorance
dissipates.
The issue threatened to raise its head
when the Wanganui council considered spending $150,000 a year for the
next 10 years on iwi relations.
But hard information about just where
the money would go and what exactly it would be spent on was in short
supply.
Rather the expenditure was wrapped up
in woolly platitudes. That does no one any favours - especially
iwi....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
A treaty settlement allowing a central
North Island iwi to rear and harvest trout for consumption is
"disturbing", says Fish and Game.
The Crown and Ngati Tuwharetoa have
signed an agreement in principle which proposes including trout as
part of a Treaty of Waitangi claim settlement.
"The Crown has little to do with
trout and it is politically inflammatory to use them to settle its
Treaty obligations.
"Anglers brought trout to this
country, not the government, and generations of anglers have
protected, managed and nurtured sports fish, paying for them from
their own pockets."
He called the proposal a "slap in
the face", and said courts had already determined Maori have no
Treaty-based statutory relationship with trout....
See full article HERE
Caution needed on Te Ture Whenua
review
Caution is needed around the Te Ture
Whenua Review, to prevent further injustice and the loss of Māori
land rights, says Meka Whaitiri, Labour MP for Ikaroa Rāwhiti.
“The possibility the Te Ture Whenua
Review could weaken judicial protections and see people lose
meaningful interests in fractionally owned Māori land is concerning.
“Māori should be able to control
their own destiny in respect of their land. There can be difficult
issues around fractionally owned Māori land, particularly where a
large number of people hold small interests....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
DoC letter sparks trout farming fears
Crown’s
proposed deal with Ngati Tuwharetoa has anglers on alert after
including harvesting of fish option.
According to the DoC letter, these
include "arrangements for Ngati Tuwharetoa to use a raceway and
any other existing facilities not required by DoC and the ability to
construct new facilities ... for the purposes of raising trout to
harvest for important occasions".
A spokesman for the office said: "The
agreement in principle does not allow for commercial trout farming.
The use of the raceway is to raise trout for cultural purposes only.
We believe this arrangement will enhance the educational and cultural
role of the Tongariro Trout Centre."
Mr Orman said it was incongruous that
DoC was proposing "a form of trout farming" when DoC
received anglers' licence money for Taupo to represent the interests
of recreational licence holders.
Bryce Johnson, chief executive of Fish
& Game New Zealand, also questions the constitutional basis for
an inclusion in a historical Treaty of Waitangi claim when trout were
not introduced to New Zealand until the late 1800s, long after the
Treaty was signed.
"Successive court cases have
explicitly confirmed that trout, as an introduced species for sports
fishing, are not a consideration under the Treaty, so where is the
legal basis for this proposal?" Mr Johnson asked.
Allan Simmons, a Taupo-Tongariro
fishing guide for nearly 30 years and president and outdoors
spokesman for United Future, said: "This current proposal looks
like a devious attempt to bring in trout farming under the guise of
Treaty settlements and utilise facilities that have been funded by
anglers' licences."....
See full article HERE
Whanaungatanga important in life
satisfaction for Māori
A new report from Statistics New
Zealand shows that 4 out of 5 Māori are highly satisfied with their
lives and that health, relationships, and income are the most
important factors contributing to their life satisfaction.
Connection to culture also has a small
but significant association with higher life satisfaction: the more
important Māori feel it is to be involved with Māori culture, the
higher their levels of life satisfaction....
See full article HERE
Fish & Game Demands Answers Over
Taupo Trout Deal
Fish & Game is
meeting the Office of Treaty Settlements to get answers over a
controversial proposal to allow Ngati Tuwharetoa to raise trout in
Taupo’s existing trout hatchery facilities.
The Office of
Treaty Settlements has confirmed the Crown and the Tuwharetoa Hapu
Forum on behalf of Ngati Tuwharetoa have signed an agreement in
principle to include trout as part of the settlement of Tuwharetoa’s
outstanding Treaty of Waitangi claims.
The agreement in
principle allows Tuwharetoa to use the Tongariro National Trout
Centre to raise and harvest trout for consumption for “cultural
purposes”. Tuwharetoa would also be allowed to train iwi members in
trout rearing.
Fish & Game
chief executive Bryce Johnson says the proposals are disturbing and
come as a complete surprise.
“Fish
& Game is the primary manager and guardian of trout in New
Zealand and yet we knew nothing of this proposal.....
See full article
HERE
Indigenous research conference
registrations open
The conference
pōwhiri will be at the University of Waikato, Gallagher Academy of
Performing Arts on Sunday, 28 June from 10.30am-1pm, followed by a
range of indigenous performances and a poetry slam. In the week
before the conference, there will be pre-conference community
workshops with the keynote speakers.
The keynote speakers at the conference include Professor Pou Temara, Associate Professor Leonie Pihama, Professor Karina Walters, Moe Milne, Dr Jamee Māhealani Miller, Dr Ruakere Hond, Dr Bonnie Duran, Professor Graham Hingangaroa Smith, Professor Bob Morgan, Dr Sarah-Jane Tiakiwai, Mereana Pitman and Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith.
Several hundred
people are expected to attend the conference, with visitors from
Hawaii, Australia, Canada and America mixing with a broad range of
academics, researchers, students, iwi and community representatives
from around New Zealand.
The conference
title and theme, He Manawa Whenua, is the Māori term for a
subterranean aquifer or an underground spring. It is from this source
that the most pure, clear and refreshing water is obtained, being
naturally filtered through the land before emerging at the surface.
Water is life, and because a Manawa Whenua originates deep within the
earth, Māori believe it is a most precious resource, vital for the
well-being of the people. The statement “he manawa whenua e
kore e mimiti”, considers that the flow of the underground spring
is everlasting, therefore its benefits are unlimited.
This
conference views mātauranga Māori as a Manawa Whenua, or a pool of
knowledge, that is situated within the heart of the people. Like the
water, this knowledge has been filtered throughout time by the
community as well as the environment to become central to the life
and well-being of Māori. This Māori centred
knowledge also has the potential to deliver unlimited benefits for
Māori, both now and into the future....
See full article
HERE
Ngai Tahu to expand into Auckland
market, led by Eden Park boss
Ngāi Tahu
Property, the property investor of the dominant South Island iwi, is
entering the Auckland market and has snagged Eden Park Trust boss
David Kennedy to lead the expansion.
"After
appropriate investigation and analysis, Ngāi Tahu Property has
decided to expand the business to include the Auckland market,"
said Tony Sewell, chief executive of Ngāi Tahu Property.....
See full articleHERE
Māori at risk in unsafe
mines, quarries
A
union representing mine and quarry workers says Māori are among
those most at risk following delays to health and safety laws.
Its
national president Syd Keepa said Māori were over-represented in
workplace accident statistics and are in high-risk jobs which were
made even riskier when run by unqualified people....
See
full article HERE
Lobster business partnership
announced
Port
Nicholson Fisheries and Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd have decided to
partner to form the largest Maori-owned lobster processing business
in New Zealand.
From
1 April 2016 Aotearoa Fisheries’ lobster division will join
together with Port Nicholson Fisheries to process and export their
live lobster to the world. The new partnership will process 650
tonnes of lobster quota.
This
represents approximately 44 per cent of the North Island and Chathams
TACC and 23 per cent of New Zealand’s total live lobster exports.
“The
coming together of Aotearoa Fisheries and Port Nicholson fisheries is
a significant milestone for Maori business and the New Zealand
seafood industry,” Port Nicholson Fisheries Chairman Dion Tuuta
says.
“The
partnership brings together like-minded Maori lobster businesses with
a common shareholder base, aligned values and a shared vision for the
future,” Tuuta adds....
See
full article HERE
Pa Kids a 'stepping stone'
to Maori school in Marlborough
A
new pilot programme at Omaka Marae is a "stepping stone" to
setting up a Maori school in Marlborough, say marae leaders.
Pa Kids is a
weekly programme at Omaka Marae, near Blenheim, that teaches children
about Maori language and culture.....
See full article
HERE
Pukekura Reserves Co-Management
Trust Board
Launched in March
2013, the Plan covers reserves at Pukekura vested in the DCC, the
Ngāi Tahu Ancillary Claims Trust and in the Crown (administered by
DoC). It is intended to provide a consistent management and policy
framework for all of the Pukekura Reserves while promoting
kaitiakitanga, or stewardship, of the land. The Plan identifies the
Pukekura values as (in order of significance), ecological, cultural,
historic, public appreciation, and tourism and commercial.
Dunedin Mayor Dave
Cull says, “Formation of the Trust Board is a major step in a
process that has involved many years of discussion and work,
achieving a collaborative vision and kaitiakitanga for the Pukekura
Reserves...
See full article
HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
"Notice of an Application for an
order recognizing protected customary rights and /or customary marine
title under the Marine and Coastal Area Act 2011 " on behalf of
Whakatohea Maori relating to Whakatane /Ohope/Te Rangi coastal
areas." ....
See full article HERE
Housing Minister to meet tribes
after Ngati Whatua denied right of first refusal on Crown property.
The
Government is seeking a "workable solution" with Ngati
Whatua over plans to develop huge tracts of land in Auckland, after
two more iwi spoke out against the Crown's treatment of the Auckland
tribe.
Ngati Whatua o Orakei is expected to
decide this week whether it will take the Government to court over
the decision not to grant it right of first refusal on up to 500ha of
Crown land earmarked for housing. Two other large iwi, Waikato-Tainui
and Ngai Tahu, have echoed Ngati Whatua's concerns.
Yesterday, Prime Minister John Key
reiterated the Government's position that right-of-first-refusal
rules were only triggered when the state no longer had a need for the
land.
But he said Housing Minister Nick Smith
planned to meet the Tamaki Collective - which includes Ngati Whatua -
to discuss the issue. A hui had been scheduled for Sunday and all 13
iwi from the collective had been invited.
Mr Key said: "Who knows what might
come out the other end but there might be a workable solution that
benefits everybody."
Asked whether some of the Auckland land
would be offered to Ngati Whatua, he said: "Not necessarily
that. But there might be another way through the issue."....
See full article HERE
Land Based Taxes and Māori
While it can be argued that the “full
and final” settlements have resolved this issue, the imposition of
a tax on land is a shift in the underlying foundations on which the
Iwi settlements have been based.
In effect, the imposition of a
capital gains tax or a land value tax would amount to a further
attempt by the Crown to profit from the breach of Māori rights to
their ancestral whenua. Māori rights to their whenua should
be, and must be, taken into account in the formulation of any land
based taxed and, therefore, a portion of the income raised (50%)
should be returned to the traditional owners of the land as on-going
compensation for the breach of their rights. At the heart of
the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi is the notion of a
partnership between the Crown and Māori. It is not a
partnership of equals while one party continues to profit from the
harm it has caused the other....
See full article HERE
Settlements bring hope and optimism
There is much optimism and hope amongst
Maori communities that the pending treaty settlements will add value
to culture and communities.
The combined estimated value of around
$400m will be 99.9 per cent invested in the Kahungunu region,
including Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa. Marae redevelopment and small
business renaissance has triggered bubbling energy amongst our
people.
After 20 years of the settlement of
Ngai Tahu and Waikato claims of $170m and $140m respectively, they
have both just tipped over the $1b mark.
The true original settlement quantum
was valued at only 2 per cent of the real losses suffered by those
iwi and the Ngti Kahungunu settlements are at the same ratio.
Again there is great hope amongst Maori communities that things are looking up and that there's greater cohesion in our region.
However, the latest rants and raves in
the news media about Maori repatriation of place names and protection
of the environment from pakeha commentators demonstrates there's a
lot of white anger which seems to border on hostility at times for
Maori positive projects and proposals.
The hue and cry over the restoration of
Ahuriri to the name Hawke's Bay Airport is an example. Also the iwi
assertion of rights over water and other natural resources has been
met with howls of derision by commentators who believe that only
pakeha have exclusive rights to freshwater.
The repatriation of the Maori language,
Maori art, Maori social structures and actions alongside Maori
economic investment will boost the regional economy and the regional
texture to levels never seen before.
The hand brake to this happening is
white anger.
White anger is holding this region back
against a backdrop of Maori hope and ambition for everyone.
It is fortunate that the huge bulk of
Hawke's Bay community are fair-minded and willing to support and
develop across all creeds and colours and we are willing to work
closely too....
See full article HERE
New lookout for Whangarei's Mt
Parihaka summit
Local hapū have worked with the
council to design a new lookout for Mount Parihaka to better reflect
the cultural significance and importance of the area.
A new lookout is being built at the
summit of Parihaka for visitors to enjoy the view, which includes
a new ramp with palisade-like edges and a special kohatu
(rock). It seems the old lookout didn't properly reflect the
place's importance.
“This is an important place, but the
old lookout hasn’t reflected that in a way that respects its mana.
By working with the district’s hapū, we have achieved a
design that will include a special kohatu, which will inspire a sense
of gravity and significance to the lookout,” said Senior Landscape
Architect Bruno Gilmour....
See full article HERE
Te Mana o Ngati Rangitihi mandate
recognised
Te Mana o Ngāti Rangitihi Trust (Te
Mana) has today announced that the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi
Negotiations and Minister for Maori Development have recognised its
mandate.
The iwi will now begin the process of
direct negotiations with the Crown relating to the comprehensive
settlement of all its historical Treaty of Waitangi grievances.....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
South
Taranaki iwi Ngaruahine is disappointed that a 35-year extension has
been granted for the extraction of natural gas from the Maui gas
field.
In its submissions to the authority,
Ngaruahine said it would support the consents if they were granted
for no longer than 15 years.
Ms Crowley said the iwi was keen for a
reduced term and wanted more recognition of the cumulative impact of
the gas extraction.
"We also wanted more understanding
of the Māori view point and it is really refreshing to see the
acknowledgement of that in the decision."
The decision also said Shell Todd had
to consult iwi at least annually.
Ms Crowley said it was something both
the iwi and Taranaki whānui would work together on to make sure it
was a meaningful engagement....
See full article HERE
Tainui calls Housing Minister Nick
Smith to clarify right of first refusal position
Housing minister Nick Smith's
interpretation on right of first refusal law in treaty settlements
has disappointment Waikato iwi, who want an explanation.
The latest move, which came just days
after Waikato-Tainui commemorated their historic treaty agreement
with the Crown over the land confiscations of the 1800s, has put the
relationship on shaky ground.
Smith's proposal to skirt around the
right of first refusal (RFR) mechanism in Treaty of Waitangi
settlements to sell 500 hectares of Auckland land for development was
at odds with settlements, said Waikato Tainui executive chairman
Rahui Papa....
See full article HERE
Marlborough iwi leader takes on
Whanau Ora role
A top of the South iwi leader has been
appointed to the board of a Maori development organisation.
Te Runanga o Ngati Kuia vice chair Gena
Moses-Te Kani has taken up a position with the board of Te
Putahitanga o Te Waipounamu, the South Island Whanau Ora
commissioning agency.
Moses-Te Kani, who lives in Hamilton
but regularly travels back to Blenheim, said the role of the agency
was to invest money from Te Puni Kokiri in whanau development.
"There's a range of ways that we
support whanau self-determination," she said. "People say
I've got this awesome idea and we have a coach work with them to
develop that idea.....
See full article HERE
Treaty advice for school trustees
Help is at hand for schools looking to
improve relations with Maori employees.
The School Trustees Association and
Post Primary Teachers Association have collaborated to revise the
publication Guidelines to Assist Boards of Trustees to Meet their
Good Employer Obligations to Maori.
There are some things Pakeha people and
organisations tend to handle differently from Maori which can create
misunderstanding and tension....
See full article HERE
Kohanga keen to restart funding
talks
A spokesperson for Te Kohanga Reo
National Trust says the appointment of Kararaina Cribb as chief
executive should pave the way from resumption of negotiations with
the crown.
"Government was found to have been
under-funding Kohanga, that this was detrimental to the kohanga reo
and really it's time for the crown to stop mucking around and get
back to the negotiating table. They are saying things like 'We want
you to change your governance processes.' Well that is underway and
anyway, how the trust governs itself it is really the trust's
business," Mr Fox says. ...
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
ANYONE in New Zealand can make a submission the online form is here > http://www.linz.govt.nz/regulatory/place-names/place-name-consultation/13067
PLEASE fill out the form (only takes a minute) and then send the above link to your contacts or 'share' on social internet sites.
From the archives of NZCPR (By Mike
Butler)
Where not to drop your aitches
“H” or no “H”,
what is the problem? The councillors of Wanganui/Whanganui all good
and true on Friday voted 10 to 2 to support the name of their town
having the “H”. A referendum in 2006 found that fewer than 3 per
cent of residents wanted to change the spelling. Is this a case of
yet another council being out of step with its constituents?
A quick look at history shows that settlers asked for the name "Wanganui" to replace the New Zealand Company name of Petre in a petition dated May 3, 1844, noting that the name “Petre” was “universally disliked”. (1)
The name Petre derived from Henry William Petre who first came to New Zealand in 1840 as director of the New Zealand Company of which his father, William Henry Francis Petre, the 11th Baron Petre, had been chairman.
The 1844 petition spelled the name “Wanganui”, although I did notice that my great grandfather who was a court interpreter in Wanganui at that time used both spellings on his letters, although he mostly omitted the “H”.
The word “wanganui/whanganui” means “great harbour". Before the wicked white coloniser came along renaming everything, Port Nicholson at Wellington was known as Te Wanganui/Whanganui a Tara, or The Great Harbour of Tara”.
In a nation less ad hoc than New Zealand, matters of language and culture are decided in a less partisan fashion. For instance France has L’Academie Francaise, a pre-eminent French learned body that rules on matters pertaining to the French language.
New Zealand appears not to take matters pertaining to the English language seriously.
The language is not even legally recognised as official even though it is the defacto language of government and business. Even Prime Minister John Key in his self-deprecating manner has joked that he would benefit from elocution lessons.
The “Wanganui/Whanganui” problem started in May of 2008 with an application by the blandly named Te Runanga O Tupoho, an iwi committee, to the New Zealand Geographic Board for the "H" to be added. (2)
As the national place naming authority, the New Zealand Geographic Board is required by law to consider proposals to assign, alter, approve or discontinue names for geographic features and places, including cities.
But Ken Mair was the spokesman for Te Runanga O Tupoho. Mair was one of the organisers of the 79-day occupation of Moutoa Gardens in Wanganui in 1995 in protest over a Treaty of Waitangi claim, an action which split the town and the nation and garnered significant attention from police.
District Mayor Michael Laws vehemently opposed the move and the “Wanganui/Whanganui” battle lines were drawn.
The New Zealand Geographic Board deliberated for 14 months. A district-wide referendum in May 2009, with more than 19,000 Wanganui residents voting, overwhelmingly rejected adding the H. (3)
After considering 180 submissions in September 2009 New Zealand Geographic Board decided that Wanganui should have an "H" added to its name.
The board opined that “Wanganui, the name given to the town to reflect its position near the mouth of the Whanganui River, was spelt incorrectly and has never been formally gazetted by this board or its predecessors. It is therefore not currently an official New Zealand place name.” (4)
However, a paper by historian Diana Beaglehole, commissioned by the Wanganui District Council, had concluded that Wanganui was the correct version. (5)
In the paper, Beaglehole found that Wanganui first began appearing in written form in the late 1830s. "The Wanganui spelling was a direct consequence of the way the initial sound in the name was pronounced by local iwi," Beaglehole said.
No early diaries or journals had any references to the Whanganui version of the name, she said.
“H” proponents parrot stirrer Mair's line that it was important the spelling be changed to "Whanganui" because "if people continue to spell your name wrong, you would want to rectify the situation". But the increasingly forced change has brought a costly headache for every organisation that must change signs and stationery and created windfall business for sign writers and printers.
It has also brought bizarre pronunciation. If the “H” is included, “Whanganui” needs to be pronounced with an aspirated “wh” as in the word “where” or “why”. What we have is attempts at correctness resulting in “Whanganui” being pronounced “Fonganui”.
An amendment to the Geographic Board Act 2008 passed in December 2012 enabled either “Wanganui” or “Whanganui” to be used in official documentation, no longer both names.
The latest squabble over the “H” coincided with Wanganui/Whanganui being referred to as a zombie town, falling behind the rest of the country in economic factors, and possibly nearing its end.(6)
Stirrer Mair could be rubbing his hands with glee at the mayhem he has caused. Suggestions from him to benefit his town would be more helpful.
One question: If the New Zealand Geographic Board can call for submissions and change the name of a town could it also change the name of New Zealand to "Aotearoa New Zealand" or just "Aotearoa"? Apparently not! A question to the board revealed members were unsure how the name of New Zealand could be changed.
Sources
1. Petre, Wanganui, or Whanganui, http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/interactive/18927/petre-wanganui-or-whanganui
2. Laws digs in over putting 'h' in Wanganui, http://www.stuff.co.nz/archived-stuff-sections/archived-national-sections/korero/418362
3. Wanganui to become Whanganui, September 17, 2009. http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/wanganui-become-whanganui-2995794
4. New Zealand Geographic Board to publicly consult on ‘h’ in Wanganui, March 30, 2009. - http://www.linz.govt.nz/news/2009-03/new-zealand-geographic-board-publicly-consult-%E2%80%98h%E2%80%99-wanganui
5. Wanganui to become Whanganui, September 17, 2009. http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/wanganui-become-whanganui-2995794
6. Talk of zombie towns rejected, July 19, 2014. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wanganui-chronicle/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503426&objectid=11295919
A quick look at history shows that settlers asked for the name "Wanganui" to replace the New Zealand Company name of Petre in a petition dated May 3, 1844, noting that the name “Petre” was “universally disliked”. (1)
The name Petre derived from Henry William Petre who first came to New Zealand in 1840 as director of the New Zealand Company of which his father, William Henry Francis Petre, the 11th Baron Petre, had been chairman.
The 1844 petition spelled the name “Wanganui”, although I did notice that my great grandfather who was a court interpreter in Wanganui at that time used both spellings on his letters, although he mostly omitted the “H”.
The word “wanganui/whanganui” means “great harbour". Before the wicked white coloniser came along renaming everything, Port Nicholson at Wellington was known as Te Wanganui/Whanganui a Tara, or The Great Harbour of Tara”.
In a nation less ad hoc than New Zealand, matters of language and culture are decided in a less partisan fashion. For instance France has L’Academie Francaise, a pre-eminent French learned body that rules on matters pertaining to the French language.
New Zealand appears not to take matters pertaining to the English language seriously.
The language is not even legally recognised as official even though it is the defacto language of government and business. Even Prime Minister John Key in his self-deprecating manner has joked that he would benefit from elocution lessons.
The “Wanganui/Whanganui” problem started in May of 2008 with an application by the blandly named Te Runanga O Tupoho, an iwi committee, to the New Zealand Geographic Board for the "H" to be added. (2)
As the national place naming authority, the New Zealand Geographic Board is required by law to consider proposals to assign, alter, approve or discontinue names for geographic features and places, including cities.
But Ken Mair was the spokesman for Te Runanga O Tupoho. Mair was one of the organisers of the 79-day occupation of Moutoa Gardens in Wanganui in 1995 in protest over a Treaty of Waitangi claim, an action which split the town and the nation and garnered significant attention from police.
District Mayor Michael Laws vehemently opposed the move and the “Wanganui/Whanganui” battle lines were drawn.
The New Zealand Geographic Board deliberated for 14 months. A district-wide referendum in May 2009, with more than 19,000 Wanganui residents voting, overwhelmingly rejected adding the H. (3)
After considering 180 submissions in September 2009 New Zealand Geographic Board decided that Wanganui should have an "H" added to its name.
The board opined that “Wanganui, the name given to the town to reflect its position near the mouth of the Whanganui River, was spelt incorrectly and has never been formally gazetted by this board or its predecessors. It is therefore not currently an official New Zealand place name.” (4)
However, a paper by historian Diana Beaglehole, commissioned by the Wanganui District Council, had concluded that Wanganui was the correct version. (5)
In the paper, Beaglehole found that Wanganui first began appearing in written form in the late 1830s. "The Wanganui spelling was a direct consequence of the way the initial sound in the name was pronounced by local iwi," Beaglehole said.
No early diaries or journals had any references to the Whanganui version of the name, she said.
“H” proponents parrot stirrer Mair's line that it was important the spelling be changed to "Whanganui" because "if people continue to spell your name wrong, you would want to rectify the situation". But the increasingly forced change has brought a costly headache for every organisation that must change signs and stationery and created windfall business for sign writers and printers.
It has also brought bizarre pronunciation. If the “H” is included, “Whanganui” needs to be pronounced with an aspirated “wh” as in the word “where” or “why”. What we have is attempts at correctness resulting in “Whanganui” being pronounced “Fonganui”.
An amendment to the Geographic Board Act 2008 passed in December 2012 enabled either “Wanganui” or “Whanganui” to be used in official documentation, no longer both names.
The latest squabble over the “H” coincided with Wanganui/Whanganui being referred to as a zombie town, falling behind the rest of the country in economic factors, and possibly nearing its end.(6)
Stirrer Mair could be rubbing his hands with glee at the mayhem he has caused. Suggestions from him to benefit his town would be more helpful.
One question: If the New Zealand Geographic Board can call for submissions and change the name of a town could it also change the name of New Zealand to "Aotearoa New Zealand" or just "Aotearoa"? Apparently not! A question to the board revealed members were unsure how the name of New Zealand could be changed.
Sources
1. Petre, Wanganui, or Whanganui, http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/interactive/18927/petre-wanganui-or-whanganui
2. Laws digs in over putting 'h' in Wanganui, http://www.stuff.co.nz/archived-stuff-sections/archived-national-sections/korero/418362
3. Wanganui to become Whanganui, September 17, 2009. http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/wanganui-become-whanganui-2995794
4. New Zealand Geographic Board to publicly consult on ‘h’ in Wanganui, March 30, 2009. - http://www.linz.govt.nz/news/2009-03/new-zealand-geographic-board-publicly-consult-%E2%80%98h%E2%80%99-wanganui
5. Wanganui to become Whanganui, September 17, 2009. http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/wanganui-become-whanganui-2995794
6. Talk of zombie towns rejected, July 19, 2014. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wanganui-chronicle/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503426&objectid=11295919
December 20, 2014
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
According to Ngāi Tahu, one of the
country's first iwi to settle its Treaty claim, they've been wedged
out of their right of first refusal (RFR) by the government a number
of times.
Ngāi Tahu chairman, Sir Mark Solomon
has also criticised Bill English's assertion that RFR needs to be
further defined.
English explains the Budget and
suggesting there be more explanation around rights of first refusal.
Ngāi Tahu says their right of
first refusal have been breached many times by the Government.
Solomon says that's not due to legal confusion on the part of
iwi.....
See full article HERE
Norway's biggest oil giant heeds
Māori advice
The
leader of a Far North delegation opposing oil exploration in Te
Reinga Basin says some shareholders in Norway's biggest oil giant are
backing its campaign to stop looking for oil in New Zealand waters...
See full article HERE
Maori social service provider shut
down
A Maori social service provider has
shut its doors permanently, just days after the Ministry of Social
Development launched an investigation into its affairs and issued it
with a 60-day suspension notice.
The axe fell on Raukura Waikato Social
Services - a registered charitable trust with offices in Hamilton,
Huntly and Morrinsville - after a meeting with staff.
Raukura was an approved provider for
the ministry but were told to stop work last Monday while police
were brought in to investigate.
It had contracts to provide whanau
support programmes, non-violence programmes, youth justice services
and budgeting advice.
In the 2014/15 year, it was awarded
$1.17 million worth of services in its Child Youth and Family
section....
See full article HERE
Collaboration promotes Treaty
partnership in schools
Employer-union collaboration promotes
Treaty partnership in schools
An updated publication, Guidelines to Assist Boards of Trustees to Meet their Good Employer Obligations to Māori is a great example of a collaborative approach paying dividends in the education sector, says NZSTA President Lorraine Kerr.....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Willie
Jackson says iwi leaders want to take control of money set aside for
urban interests.
Urban
Maori leaders are threatening legal action over what they say is an
outrageous attempt by their iwi counterparts to take control of a $20
million fund set aside to serve the interests of Maori who have
migrated from their ancestral lands and no longer have strong tribal
links.
National Urban Maori Authority (Numa)
chairman Willie Jackson has vowed to halt what he calls an "iwi
cash grab" of the urban Maori fisheries fund (Te Puea
Whakatupa).
Mr Jackson said he was appalled at a
recommendation by a subcommittee of Te Ohu Kai Moana (TOKM) - the
Maori Fisheries Trust - that iwi effectively take control of a fund
set aside for urban Maori through the 2004 Maori Fisheries Act.....
See full article HERE
Māori employees feel 'used' for
cultural knowledge
A
survey on Māori in the workforce has revealed that some feel they
are exploited for their cultural knowledge and undervalued.
Raiha Hooker, a Masters student at
Massey University, conducted an online survey and found many who
responded had even been refused tangihanga, or bereavement leave.
The Ngāruahine woman wanted to find
out how culturally responsive the working environments of Māori
employees are and how well they acknowledged Māori values....
See full article HERE
Rongoa Maori provides holistic
approach
A new Maori health service is about
more than just treating physical illnesses.
It's also a way to address spiritual
ailments and connect urban Maori back to their roots, Te Whiu Isaac
says.
But the service isn't exclusive to
Maori, everyone is welcome.
Isaac, who lives in the Auckland suburb
of Orakei, is one of two practitioners of Rongoa Maori (traditional
Maori healing) to start operating at the Glen Innes Health Centre in
East Auckland.
"Most Maori have been brought up
in the city," Isaac says.
"Rongoa Maori helps them remember
where they come from.
"Most of their sicknesses didn't
start today, they go way back."
In Maori culture spiritual health comes
first, he says. Then mental, physical and family health, followed by
an awareness of how the other aspects of health relate to each other.
It's a holistic approach to health and
is designed to compliment general medicine, Isaac says....
See full article HERE
Good faith so far between Iwi and
government
A lawyer has said the government is
committed to a consultation process with Ngati Whatua to keep them in
the loop about plans to develop crown land in Auckland.
The Iwi solicited legal advice when it
looked like the housing minister might try and cut them out of the
process by using a loophole in the treaty agreement that he said
meant the crown didn't have to offer Iwi first right of refusal on
the land if it was to be used for housing.
But Nga Manu Whenua o Tamaki Makaurau
member and lawyer Paul Majurey points out there are also
circumstances where this wouldn't be the case.
He reports there are some conditions
under the Treaty Settlement Act that would give Ngati Whatua the
right of first refusal to this land.
"This is all about the Crown
honouring its settlement."
Minister for Treaty of Waitangi
Negotiations Chris Finlayson isn't sure if there is an obligation
under the Treaty, but said iwi have done a good job in the past.
He added that there is a clear need for
social housing in Auckland....
See full article HERE
$100,000 CNZ Fellowship awarded to
Areta Wilkinson
Creative New Zealand’s $100,000
Craft/Object Fellowship has been awarded to Canterbury
artist/jeweller Dr Areta Wilkinson (Ngai Tahu) for 2015.
Having recently completed a doctoral
thesis examining concepts of taonga relevant to her own contemporary
practice, Dr Wilkinson says the fellowship will enable her to
“realise a body of work that synthesises the doctoral research.”
Her project titled Hine-Āhua: Absences and Presences will use gold
sourced from Te Tai Poutini (the West Coast) and Ōtakou (Otago)
regions.
“Through a Maori lens, gold from
Papatuanuku and Te Waipounamu has a mauri (a life essence) and I am
interested to investigate how the precious metal and new forms will
be further enhanced by Ngai Tahu narratives about gold,” Dr
Wilkinson says....
See full article HERE
Maori Television journalist
Mihingarangi Forbes quits
Experienced Maori TV
journalist Mihingarangi Forbes has announced her resignation.
In 2013 Native Affairs won a court
battle allowing it to air its investigation, led by Forbes, into the
Te Kohanga Reo Trust Board - a body of seven, life-term,
board-appointed members - which runs the network of
full-language-immersion early childhood education centres.
Native Affairs obtained credit card
transaction details of board member Dame Iritana Tawhiwhirangi and
her daughter-in-law Lynda Tawhiwhirangi, the general manager of the
trust's charity-status subsidiary Te Pataka Ohanga.
The investigation led to Forbes being
heavily criticised by some in the Maori community.
It is understood Forbes' resignation
comes after Maori Television executives took exception to a new
two-piece investigation following on from the Te Kohanga Reo story
and which was due to begin on Monday.
Staff were told by chief executive
Paora Maxwell that the investigation would not be running....
See full article HERE
Te Ohu Kaimoana to be restructured
as iwi takes control of AFL shares
Iwi have voted to keep Te Ohu Kaimoana,
the Maori Fisheries Commission, while taking full control of Aotearoa
Fisheries voting and income shares in a move which will see oversight
of its $543 million in fishery assets restructured
Iwi have rejected dismantling the
fisheries governing body while unanimously voting in favour of
transferring all Aotearoa Fisheries voting and income shares to iwi
control. Under the Maori Fisheries Act in 2004, TOKM was set up to
manage the fishing quota awarded to Maori in the 1992 fisheries
settlement....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Te
Ātiawa and the Kāpiti District Council have signed an agreement to
work in partnership on water and its management in the rohe.
The
Te Āti Awa ki Whakarongotai Water Working Group will now work with
the council to explore how to manage water in a culturally
appropriate way within the Waikanae, Paraparaumu and Raumati
catchment.
The iwi and the council recently
launched the 'River Recharge Scheme', which uses traditional Māori
scientific knowledge to oxygenate the river with tuna, or eels.
The chair of the working group, Bill
Carter, said it confirmed the important role iwi played as kaitiaki
of natural resources.
"We saw there was a position as
Treaty partners for the three [local iwi] of us having a joint
responsibility," Mr Carter said....
See full article HERE
Plan to raise Maori literacy,
numeracy
A
Māori educationalist says Māori without basic literacy and numeracy
skills have nothing to be ashamed of, but must seek help which is
readily available.
50 percent of Māori adults are below
the world minimum standard.
Keith Ikin from the New Zealand Council
for Educational Research is working on a national plan to raise their
literacy and numeracy standards by 20 percent in five years.
He said it was not just holding tāngata
whenua adults back, but damaging whānau and the country's economic
future.
Mr Ikin described it as a devastating
cycle, and said that within the next 15 years Māori will make up
almost 20 percent of the workforce...
See full article HERE
Iwi calls urgent meeting over Crown
land sell-off
The Government and Auckland Maori are
headed for a legal clash over plans to sell public land to developers
to help ease the housing crisis.
Ngati Whatua has called in lawyers
because it thought it would be given first rights to buy the land
under its treaty settlement, but the Government is using a
workaround, meaning it can sell the land straight to developers.
"We're taking legal advice to see
if our Treaty settlement has been circumvented," says Ngati
Whatua deputy chairman Ngarimu Blair.
The iwi has now asked for an urgent
meeting with the Government for them to explain the
situation.....
See full article HERE
Government's Auckland housing plan
could be in jeopardy over iwi legal skirmish
The Government's latest plan to
increase housing supply in Auckland is facing a legal challenge from
iwi who say they should be offered Crown land before it is sold to
developers.
Ngāti Whātua thought it would be
given first right of refusal to Crown land up for grabs in Auckland.
The Government announced as part of the Budget that 500 hectares of
public land would be sold.
Labour's housing spokesman Phil Twyford
questioned why Housing Minister Nick Smith was going to such great
lengths to cut out iwi, who were being "circumvented" on
right of first refusal.
"Ngati Whatua simply want to build
affordable houses for the people of Auckland, so why is he trying to
cut them out of the deal?"
However Smith told the Social Services
select committee there was no right of first refusal for Ngāti
Whātua under its Treaty settlement agreement, but there was one
for the Tamaki Collective, which Ngāti Whātua is an active and
prominent member of....
See full article HERE
Māori Party backs Ngāti Whātua
The Māori Party is calling on the
Government to honour its Treaty of Waitangi settlement with local
iwi, Ngāti Whātua
.
The iwi has sought legal advice after
learning that the Government has no intention of dealing with Ngāti
Whātua first over the sale of government owned land in Auckland.....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Mayor Annette Main believes the time is
right to add the "H" to Wanganui.
Following the announcement last week
that the New Zealand Geographic Board had opened consultation on a
name change for the district, Ms Main said the "Whanganui"
spelling had become much more common in recent times.
The Geographic Board's public
consultation will last three months from May 28.
After an initial rejection by Wanganui
District Council of a name change, the council finally proposed
changing the name of the district to Whanganui by a vote of 10-3 in
December.
It then conducted its own consultation
and received close to 2000 submissions.
Ms Main said the Geographic Board
consultation was "an opportunity for our community, as well as
people throughout New Zealand, to have their say.
The Geographic Board has said it is
interested in reasons provided with submissions, not necessarily
submission numbers; the process is not a vote. Following
consultation, submissions will be analysed and considered when the
board meets on September 23.
Ms Main said the outcome would "provide
certainty" to iwi and Wanganui residents. The council proposal
followed a request from the Tupoho Working Party to consider changing
the spelling....
See full article HERE
Possible Mana Maori unification
With the recent uncertainty of the
Kaitoko Whānau contracts the Mana Movement and Maori Party
membership cooperated to advocate for their contracts. These events
lead to historical hui between members of each organisation who
decided to sit down to a cup of tea and macaroon biscuits...
See full article HERE
A
Northland roopu have filed a claim with the Waitangi Tribunal saying
the Government should have sought consent of local iwi and hapu
before issuing deep sea oil drilling permits in the Te Reinga Basin.
Te Ahipara Komiti Takutaimoana, who are
the marae and hapu mandated group from Te Rarawa managing marine
environment issues, filed the claim on May 22.
The claim alleged the Government
breached the Treaty of Waitangi by not consulting Maori rights
holders before permits to oil drill in the Te Reinga Basin were
issued.
Ms Murupaenga-Ikenn said it was vital
the claim be lodged to protect the ocean.
"This whole beach is sacred. It's
a pathway of spirits. I hate the words 'Maori myths and legends'
because this is what I truly believe, that one day my spirit will
travel along there and I will look back."...
See full article HERE
Younger generation losing te reo
Māori
Fewer young Māori are speaking te reo
– fuelling fears for the language’s survival.
The number of te reo Māori speakers in the generation vital to keeping the language alive has fallen in the seven years between Census counts.
According to Statistics NZ the December 2013 Census, revealed 23.3 percent of Māori aged 15 to 29 can hold a conversation in te reo Māori.
This is an 8.2 percent decrease from the 2006 Census.....
The number of te reo Māori speakers in the generation vital to keeping the language alive has fallen in the seven years between Census counts.
According to Statistics NZ the December 2013 Census, revealed 23.3 percent of Māori aged 15 to 29 can hold a conversation in te reo Māori.
This is an 8.2 percent decrease from the 2006 Census.....
The Government says while it welcomes
the interest of iwi in social housing, it won't be giving them state
houses for free as one group wants.
Mr English dismissed the proposal for transferring the houses for free, but said some properties might have little value anyway.
"No, we'll go through a proper process. There may be some which have no value – if you're in a small town with a house that's been a P lab, it might be a wee bit hard to get rid of.
The Government does not want to sell the houses below market value...
Mr English dismissed the proposal for transferring the houses for free, but said some properties might have little value anyway.
"No, we'll go through a proper process. There may be some which have no value – if you're in a small town with a house that's been a P lab, it might be a wee bit hard to get rid of.
The Government does not want to sell the houses below market value...
See full articleHERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
John Wood's negotiating skills, honed
as New Zealand's ambassador to the United States, Iran and Turkey,
have since been put to use as chief Crown negotiator in several
outstanding Treaty of Waitangi claims.
He was first appointed chief Crown
negotiator for the Whanganui River claim in 2009, then in the Te
Urewera claim with Tuhoe and is involved in a claim involving
Tongariro National Park and a smaller one with Ngati Rangi which
has a bearing on the former.
Wood, who has no Maori background or
previous involvement, garnered considerable international experience
as a trade and economic negotiator during his time in the diplomatic
service. He looks on his treaty experience with satisfaction,
particularly that involving Tuhoe.
"It had been tried so many times
in the past, to effect reconciliation between the Crown and Tuhoe,
and failed. This time we achieved it, and that by any measure is
nationally significant," he said....
See full article HERE
But watch. There's a consent to be
obtained. This will take years and cost millions. The usual suspects
will object. There will be cultural values affected and to be
compensated for. There might even be a taniwha or two lurking about
who needs soothing.....
See full article HERE
Co-Leader James Shaw voices
priorities
New Green Party co-leader James Shaw
spoke for the first time at the Green Party AGM in Auckland today.
He spoke about climate change and his
wish to have more Māori candidates in the party.
Mr Shaw says, “So one of the things
we need to do more of is to ensure that we have more Māori
candidates especially in places like South Auckland and in the Māori
seats to get really good coverage.”...
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Partnership? What Partnership
In 1922, Sir Apirana Ngata summarised
the effect of the Treaty of Waitangi in these terms: “Article I of
the Treaty transfers all chiefly authority to the Queen forever, and
the embodiment of that authority is now the New Zealand Parliament.
For that reason, all demands for absolute Maori authorities are
nothing more than wishful thinking.”
There can be no possibility that the
Treaty of Waitangi formed a sovereignty partnership. Having signed
the Treaty, the chiefs became not partners, but subjects of the
Crown, as did all other Maori. As subjects of the Crown – that is,
New Zealand citizens – all those descended in part from the tangata
whenua are today entitled to the same rights as non-Maori citizens:
no less, and certainly no more.
In a free society all citizens enjoy
equality in citizenship. This is so regardless of whether some of a
citizen’s ancestors arrived in a waka in 1350, a sailing vessel in
1850, a steamship in 1950, or more recently by airliner. Even someone
who put his hand up 30 seconds ago at a swearing-in ceremony is
entitled to all the rights of citizenship. Prior arrival or ancestral
longevity in the land is no basis for special privilege.
Group rights, whereby one group enjoys
separate, different, or superior rights on the basis of group
membership, are an anathema to a free society. They require a broker
in the form of an activist government to forcibly take rights from
one group in order to bestow them upon another.
As Richard Prebble reminds us: “One
group’s positive discrimination is another group’s negative
discrimination.”
If New Zealander don’t want a civil
war anytime soon, now might be a good time to reject the divisive,
Marxist-spawned, racist nonsense of state-sponsored identity
politics.....
See full blog HERE
April 5, 2013
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
A representative of the Iwi Chairs
Forum said this morning that iwi should have state houses transferred
to them for free.
Te Runanga o Te Rarawa chairman Haami
Piripi made the comments on TV3's The Nation this morning.
Many of the houses were "at the
very low end of the spectrum in terms of the Government housing
portfolio," he said.
He said social housing was part of
"post-modern capitalism" and he had concerns that if the
market crashed and the value of houses went down, iwi would make a
"significant loss".
"Our starting point is they have
no value," he said, as there would be an ongoing obligation to
support the families who lived in them...
See full article HERE
Lack of clarity around what the funding
will be used for is why four Wanganui District councillors tried to
vote down extra spending on iwi relations.
The quartet made their points clear
when the council debated its 2015-25 10-Year Plan last week but did
not get the support of their colleagues.
The vote approved spending $150,000 a
year for the next decade on iwi relations with the dissenters
including councillors Philippa Baker-Hogan, Charlie Anderson, Rob
Vinsen and Ray Stevens.
The potential for business partnerships
with local iwi is a prime motive behind the increase.
Mr Stevens said the increasing money
for liaison could easily reach $2.6 million over the next decade by
his reckoning.
"We've just voted to add $150,000
a year for the next 10 years for iwi relations so there's $1.5
million. We're already budgeting $60,000 a year for iwi liaison.
"There's another $600,000. And we
have to consider officer time during this period which I believe
could conservatively total another $500,000," he said.
Mr Anderson said he believed the amount
was too much and unnecessary.
"There's been nothing specific to
say what the money's being used for.
"It seems we only have to pay when
we liaise with iwi. To anybody else we do this for free," he
said...
See full article HERE
Hamurana Springs Golf Club has come
under the governance of a Ngati Rangiwewehi trust.
Te Tahuhu o Tawakeheimoa Trust will
take over the running and maintenance of the club, which has a
membership of nearly 200 people - many of whom are descendants of the
iwi, club president Colin Watkins says.
Hamurana Springs was returned to Ngati
Rangiwewehi as part of a multi-million-dollar Treaty of Waitangi
settlement last year. The iwi-led changes have included international
tour groups being charged $10 a head to visit the springs....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
A
Bay of Plenty iwi has been given leave to go to the Supreme Court in
its bid to stop the sale of farmland by Landcorp.
The Crown-owned company wants to sell
Wharere Farms near Pukehina. Ngāti Whakahemo has opposed the sale
for some time and went to the High Court.
The court granted an interim
injunction, but this was dismissed by the Court of Appeal.
The Supreme Court put the sale on hold
while it decided if it wanted to hear an appeal.
It has now given the green light, and
will allow an appeal based on the iwi's claim of bad faith shown by
Landcorp.....
See full article HERE
More support needed for Maori
workers, says CTU
A
leading Māori trade unionist wants Māori-owned companies to support
the lower paid more, because those workers are predominantly Māori.
Syd Keepa, who is Vice-President Māori
of the Council of Trade Unions, said successful Māori-owned
commercial enterprises, both private and iwi-lead, have economic
clout, and they can do something to assist lower paid Māori....
See full article HERE
Crown researchers reach out to Maori
Crown research institutes are looking
for better ways to engage with leading figures in the Maori economy.
The seven CRIs and Callaghan Innovation
are coming together for a two day symposium in Rotorua next month, Te
Ara Putaiao.
Organising committee chair Marino Tahi
says Maori have a strong and active presence in New Zealand’s
primary industries....
See full article HERE
NGO's under attack
A Maori manager at Relationships
Aotearoa says non-government providers are under attack, especially
those who work with the most vulnerable in society.
The government has refused to give
further funding to the organisation, which had contacts from the
Ministry of Social Development, Justice and the Probation Service to
deal with issues like domestic and sexual violence and drug and
alcohol abuse...
See full article HERE
AFFCO demands an attack on Maori
The Council of Trade Unions runanga is
describing the Talley Group’s demands for its AFFCO meatworks as
kick in the face for Maori workers and their communities.
CTU vice president Maori Syd Keepa says
the 2012 lock-out was only settled after the intervention of iwi
leaders, and now Talley’s is back to its union-busting tactics...
See full article HERE
175 years on – Treaty of Waitangi
now and in future?
The re-emergence of the Treaty of
Waitangi in 1970s at a tumultuous period in New Zealand’s history –
and its subsequent impact on New Zealand society – is the theme of
an upcoming conference.
Scholars, policy makers and iwi leaders
will mark the 175th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty by
sharing their views on its role in shaping the last half century and
its place in the future, at a major conference organised by Massey
University and Auckland War Memorial Museum.
Titled The Treaty on the Ground:
Dialogue and Difference. Crisis and Response, the three-day
conference at Auckland Museum and Massey’s Auckland campus in July
will focus on how evolving interpretations of the Treaty have
influenced New Zealand policy-making, institutions and
communities....
Margaret Kawharu (Ngāti Whātua),
senior Māori advisor at Massey University and one of the presenters,
says she is interested in the effect of “Treaty fatigue or
complacency.”
“The risk is that once settlements
are completed, everything returns to ‘normal’, without any real
paradigm shift, and grievances are just as likely to continue. This
is due in part to settlement negotiations being often behind closed
doors and the general public don’t get to hear the rich tapestry of
narratives from both Māori claimants and the Crown representatives.”
Roy Clare, Director of Auckland War
Memorial Museum says the Treaty “has been a feature of work at
Auckland Museum since our founding in 1852, but for a large part of
that history the interactions did not properly respect the
partnership....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
The New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā
Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa (NZGB) is calling on New Zealanders –
particularly Wellingtonians – to have their say on a new proposal
to assign a Māori name to Wellington’s popular inner-city lagoon.
The Wellington City Council (WCC) and
Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust (PNBST) joint proposal seeks to
assign the name ‘Whairepo Lagoon’ to what is commonly called
‘Frank Kitts Lagoon’, ‘Frank Kitts Park Lagoon’ and ‘The
Lagoon’.
Public consultation will be open for
three months, from 28 May-28 August. Anyone can make
a submission either in support of, or objecting
to, these proposals.
Submissions can be made in writing to
the Secretary for the New Zealand Geographic Board, via the online
forms, or to nzgbsubmissions@linz.govt.nz.
See full article HERE
The homes are also being offered to iwi
under the Tamaki Collective settlement. Ngati Whatua Whai Rawa chief
executive Rob Hutchison said his iwi had not bought any yet but was
interested in any state properties that came up for sale in Auckland.
It was negotiating to buy one property from the Transport Agency in
Phyllis St in Mt Albert, which was in private ownership before being
taken for the motorway.
"They don't give them to us. They
are valued, so what happens is an offer is made at a price and then
there are a number of different iwi across three different roopu
[tribal territories] so we each have a turn in a carousel system,"
Mr Hutchison said....
See full article HERE
Rotorua Lakes Council's decision to
adopt a modified version of the Te Arawa Partnership Proposal has
been applauded by the Race Relations Commissioner and the mayor of
New Plymouth, and has appeased the chairwoman of the Rotorua
Pro-Democracy Society.
New Plymouth mayor Andrew Judd said the
decision would affect local government all over the country.
"Firstly, I congratulate Steve
[Chadwick] and her council, they have picked up the baton and lead
the country.
"This question will now ripple
through the country. Others will follow, the conversation is just
beginning."
Rotorua Pro-Democracy Society
chairwoman and councillor Glenys Searancke said she was pleased with
Tuesday's result.
"I wasn't surprised at the vote,
we didn't think for one moment that the vote would change. We'll just
wait and see. It could work."
She said the society had been
misconstrued as being racist.
"I think that some of the debate
was a bit vicious because this has never been a racism thing, it's
the democratic process we stand for.
"It's the appointment that has
always been our concern."
Mrs Searancke said the society was
"taking a breath" and confirmed legal action could be on
the cards.
"I think it's something that has
concerned the community more than I've known before in all my time
with council, so I don't think it's finished for one minute,"
she said....
See full article HERE
NZ Māori Tourism Confirms Two New
Board Members
The Board of New Zealand Māori Tourism
confirmed two new Board Members at its quarterly meeting today, says
New Zealand Māori Tourism Chief Executive Pania Tyson-Nathan.
Verity Webber and Glen Katu were both
successfully voted into the two vacant positions by the NZ Māori
Tourism membership. The vacancies became available through the term
expiry on 30 June 2015 of Glen Katu (who was nominated for
re-election) and Amokura Panoho. NZ Māori Tourism was delighted with
the very high calibre of candidates vying for the positions....
See full article HERE
A new Maori education centre planned
for the site of Havelock North's Arataki Motor Camp will cater for up
to 180 students, the Ministry of Education says.
The kura kaupapa will be open to
students from Year 1 through to Year 13 if an application from an
existing Hastings primary school to expand into secondary education
is approved.
Plans for the Arataki site, which the
ministry has owned for several years, have been the subject of
speculation and political debate since a government announcement last
month that a new kura was planned for Hastings....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Race Relations
Commissioner Susan Devoy has welcomed news that Rotorua District
Council has agreed to a modified version of the Te Arawa Partnership
model.
"Relationships are about working
with one another through the good times as well as the tough times,
the Te Arawa Partnership model formalises our relationship in
Rotorua."
Dame Susan says the Treaty of Waitangi
is something all New Zealanders should be grateful for.
"175 years ago our ancestors
agreed that all New Zealanders had rights and in 1840 that was a
pretty revolutionary concept," said Dame Susan.
"The Treaty is our own, uniquely
Kiwi human rights document and we should all be pretty proud that
this is what our nation is founded on."...
See full article HERE
Consultation hui on Maori land law
announced
Changes that make it easier for Maori
land owners to use and develop their whenua will be the focus of
discussions at 23 regional consultation hui announced today by Maori
Development Minister, Hon Te Ururoa Flavell.
The review of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act
1993 is part of a Maori land reform programme which also includes
offering practical support for Maori land owners. A new $12.8 million
Te Ture Whenua Maori Network was announced in the Budget last week.
This network will support targeted initiatives to improve the
productivity of Maori land over the next four years...
See full article HERE
More work needed on Te Arawa model
Rotorua Lakes Council has asked the Te
Arawa working party to continue working with it and the iwi on new
partnership arrangements.
The council yesterday voted 8-5 to
allow Te Arawa representatives on two key committees with voting
rights.
The council will spend up to $250,000 a
year supporting the independent Te Arawa Board that will make the
appointments.
She says the community has come of age,
and what is good for Te Arawa is good for Maori and for all the
citizens of Rotorua......
See full article HERE
Māori to discuss interaction with
oil industry
Nga Pae o te Maramatanga lead
researcher Andrew Erueti will be presenting at a seminar today
looking at the complex issue of Māori interaction with the
extractive and mining sector.
The research centre will be holding its
third 'Horizons of Insight' seminar for 2015 at Waipapa Marae,
University of Auckland.
The government is strongly supportive
of investment in this sector, however, there have been high profile
demonstrations against exploration and mining by environmental and
iwi/hapū groups who are deeply opposed to these companies mining
within their lands and rohe. It is also clear that some iwi
have been trying to work with the industry, and in some cases have
sought a treaty interest in the resource...
See full article HERE
Land sell off sign of panic
Labour leader Andrew Little says the
Government's plan to sell surplus land in Auckland for housing is a
panicked response to the crisis.
Labour claims that much of the 430
hectares promised in the budget already contains facilities such as
electricity substations and pylons, or is landbanked for schools or
motorways.
Mr Little says there are also rights of
first refusal under Treaty of Waitangi settlements that will need to
be factored in to any sell-off...
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
The Maori Party’s approach of
bullying and intimidation against those who have stood up for one
person, one vote, in Rotorua, is a dishonourable act by Members of
Parliament that should know better. Democracy Action, a pressure
group which champions democratic values is calling-out Waiariki MP Te
Ururoa Flavell for his intimidatory
comments regarding the Rotorua District Council
vote to accept unelected members onto Council committees.
Democracy Action Chairman Lee Short
says:
“We all accept that reasonable people
can have differing views on race-based appointments onto local
councils, but for a Government Minister to label those who stand for
democracy as ‘racist’ is frankly outrageous.”
“We call on Mr Flavell to withdraw
his offensive remarks. Bullying and intimidation have no place in
democratic debate."
“The Rotorua Council should have
conducted a referendum on this issue. For a constitutional change
such as this, the consent of all the citizens needs to be sought."...
See full article HERE
Rotorua District Council leads
the way on Māori representation
“Racism
has been defeated by fairness, justice and reason today,” said
Māori Party co-leader and Waiariki MP Te Ururoa Flavell in response
to Te Arawa winning their battle for better local government
representation.
The Rotorua District Council has voted
to accept a modified version of the Te
Arawa Partnership Model today after receiving
more than 1800 submissions on the issue. This will ensure that a Te
Arawa representative will be on all standing committees.
“The leadership shown by Te Arawa and
the Rotorua District Council today is an example of what can be
achieved if justice is at the forefront of our decisions. Let me be
clear – the option agreed today is an alternative to the unjust
legislation that makes it almost impossible for Māori wards to be
established,” says Māori Party Co-leader Marama Fox...
See full article HERE
Te Arawa partnership plan
passed
Rotorua Lakes Council has voted 8-5 to
adopt a partnership model proposed by Te Arawa.
See full article HERE
Māori Education Trust back in
hot water
The
Māori Education Trust has landed itself in hot water again with iwi
after selling off another block of gifted land to clear its
debt, this time with South Waikato iwi, Ngāti Maniapoto.
Since Native Affairs revealed in a
story last month that a prime dairy farm in the Wairarapa was being
sold off by the trust for similar purposes, locals of Ngāti
Maniapoto have spoken out.
Ouruwhero is a multi-million dollar
dairy farm in South Waikato. A 120ha block which was
gifted to the Māori Education Trust by local kuia Mihikiteao Thomson
in her will to "train young Māori farmers".
But that dream is no longer after the
Trust got into financial difficulties forcing them to sell the farm.
They called in Māori farm specialist, Te Tumu Paeroa to revive
it, and after they did that, they brought it for $5mil...
See full article HERE
'Stronger whanau' should be
focus to alleviate poverty
The
head of a Maori health provider says the Government needs to place
more emphasis on building stronger families.
Tureiti Moxon, from Te Kohao Health at
Kirikiriroa Marae in Hamilton, said that while initiatives in last
week's budget were a good start to alleviate poverty, much more
needed to be done.
She said whānau was the corner-stone
of Māori society and it needed more support.
Ms Moxon said while sending people out
to work was the ideal, babies needed their parents to look after
them....
See full article HERE
Commemorations 'help nations grow'
Last year during the 150th anniversary
of the Battle of Ōrākau, Otorohanga High School launched a petition
calling for the Government to establish a commemorative day for the
country to remember local civil battles.
Waikato-Tainui leader Tukoroirangi
Morgan supported them.
Māori historian Awanuiarangi Black
said Aotearoa needed to acknowledge what had happened on its own soil
and mark its battles.
The Prime Minister's office said John
Key had not ruled out the possibility of a holiday to mark the New
Zealand Wars, but it was not under active consideration.
Last year Mr Key said if National was
still in Government after the September elections, his party would
consider it.....
See full article HERE
Parliament workload 'lightest for 20
years'
He said Treaty of Waitangi Settlement
bills were now passing through the House much more "expeditiously"
than in the past, because they did not face long committee stages.
"That's taken a terrific amount of
work out of what any order paper might look like."
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Waikato-Tainui gathered at Tāheke
Marae in Rotorua for the annual Te Arawa poukai celebration. For
over 22 years, Te Arawa has been pushing for a Māori voice at local
government level.
Mauriora Kingi says, “Te Arawa
Standing Committee was established in 1993 to discuss and manage
issues pertaining to Te Arawa. 20 years has passed and the standing
committee hasn't made much inroads.”
Over the weekend the topic of Maori
representation in local government re-emerged with strong support by
some Waikato-Tainui leaders, according to Tipa Mahuta, “Rotorua is
known worldwide as a face for Māoridom but says the community of
Rotorua need to work with the Māori of Rotorua first.”
The Te Arawa Partnership was proposed
to establish an independent Te Arawa Board sitting outside of the
council, to represent iwi interests, with board members elected by
the Te Arawa community....
See full article HERE
Progress too slow - 2015 Treaty
Audit of Auckland Council
A major finding of the second Te Tiriti
o Waitangi audit on the wider Auckland Council group shows only a few
of the 42 audited recommendations are completed. The audit findings
were presented to the Mayor and Councillors during an Auckland
Council Finance and Performance committee meeting yesterday.
The Board’s follow-up Te Tiriti o
Waitangi audit on Auckland Council, Local Boards and
Council-controlled organisations has been completed by global service
providers, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The audit reassesses the wider
council’s performance against high priority legislative
requirements relating to Māori and provides insight into progress
made against the 2012 baseline audit....
See full article HERE
Hapu group will continue opposition
A
Northland group which opposes an agreement between the Crown and
Ngāpuhi says it will continue its stand until the bitter end.
The Tūhoronuku Independent Mandated
Authority, which represents Ngāpuhi and its numerous hapū, has
signed terms of negotiation with the Crown, meaning the parties can
begin work on the iwi's Treaty claims and start full negotiations.
Pita Tipene, co-chair of Te Kōtahitanga
o ngā hapū o Ngāpuhi, said there were still outstanding issues
involving the Waitangi Tribunal inquiry into the Crown's decision to
recognise Tūhoronuku's mandate....
See full article HERE
Judd and Fox presenting at Māori
Governance Hui
New Plymouth Mayor Andrew Judd and
Māori Party Co-leader Marama Fox are the latest to join an exciting
line up of speakers and presenters attending this weekend’s Te
Tatau Pounamu Maori Governance and Representation Conference in
Palmerston North.
New Plymouth has been in the headlines
recently for the overwhelming vote against Maori Wards in the
region. Mayor Andrew Judd has also made known his own
principled stand to lay a complaint with the United Nations Permanent
Forum on Indigenous Issues for an issue he believes is fundamentally
unfair.
This weekend’s speakers include:
Joris De Bres (Former Human Rights Commissioner), Doug Leeder (Chair
of the Eastern Bay of Plenty Council) Moana Jackson (Indigenous
Rights Advocate and Lawyer), Tipa Mahuta, (Councillor Waikato
Regional Council), Teanau Tuiono (Activist and Entrepreneur), Dr
Whatarangi Winiata, Te Rangikaheke Bidois (Te Arawa Councillor),
Melanie Shadbolt (Lincoln University Researcher and Te Waipounamu
District Maori Council Chair) Veronica Tawhai (Massey University
Lecturer), Mike Reid (Local Government NZ) Tame Te Rangi (Ngati
Whatua and Tuhoronuku Representative) Haami Piripi.(Te Runanga
o Te Rarawa Chairman)....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
A
new Waitangi Tribunal claim is alleging breaches of Te Tiriti o
Waitangi due to the New Zealand Government’s failure to actively
seek the prior and informed consent of Maori tribes in relation to
the issuing of deep sea oil drilling permits.
Filed today, the legal action is being
taken by Te Ahipara Komiti Takutaimoana, who are the marae and hapū
mandated tribal organisation that manage all issues concerning the
marine environment for Te Rarawa.
Te Rarawa is one of the Far North iwi
that strongly opposes the current deep sea oil exploration in Te
Reinga Basin by Statoil, Norway's biggest company.
The claim also alleges breaches of Te
Tiriti o Waitangi by the New Zealand Government due to failing in the
duty of the correct consultation process with Maori rights
holders....
See full article HERE
$500k boost for new centre
Te Kaika spokesman Prof Peter Crampton
- also dean of the Otago Medical School - said the new initiative was
being driven by local iwi Kati Huirapa Runaka ki Puketeraki and Te
Runaka o Otakou.
''It is iwi-owned and has a focus on
Maori health but it is much broader than that, so Pacific families
and, well, anybody [is covered]. ...
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
A
Maori leader is calling for New Plymouth's council to reconsider
appointing iwi representatives to influential standing committees.
In the wake of an overwhelming
referendum result against a Maori ward seat, Te Atiawa iwi
representative Peter Moeahu asked the council to revisit a proposal
it voted down in April last year.
However, Mayor Andrew Judd has
said there are no immediate plans to revisit the idea and the
council needs to process the results of the referendum first.
"Now I'm (Moeahu) back again to
ask that this council consider the appointment of iwi
representatives on council standing committees, not on the council
itself."
Judd said the idea of having iwi
representatives appointed to standing committees had already been
voted down by the council, but he could not rule out revisiting
it....
See full article HERE
Iwi eyes Budget housing opportunity
Ngati
Whatua o Orakei is keen to talk to the government about its plan to
free up 430 hectares of Auckland land for housing development.
News of the plan leaked out on the eve
of today's Budget when the Ministry for Business, Innovation and
Employment posted tender documents on its web site.
Ngatu Whatua deputy chair Ngarimu Blair
says the hapu was aware at a high level the plan was coming, but it
doesn't know which particular blocks are involved.
Ngati Whatua and other Tamaki Makaurau
iwi have rights of first refusal covering specified crown agencies.
"Certain ones like New Zealand
Transport Authority surplus land, surplus education, district health
board and defence land, we would be keen to discuss with the Crown
any ideas it has about declaring that surplus and how we will be a
part of those negotiations," Mr Blair says.....
See full article HERE
Waikato-Tainui signing 20 years
on
Today
marks 20 years since Waikato-Tainui signed the first major settlement
of historical land confiscation (raupatu) with the Crown.
Signed
by then-Prime Minister Jim Bolger and the late Maori Queen Dame Te
Atairangikaahu, Waikato-Tainui's confiscation claims were settled
with a package worth $170 million, in a mixture of cash and
Crown-owned land.
That package is now worth over $1
billion and the iwi is an economic powerhouse in the region....
See full article HERE
Only Maori to represent Maori says
Fox
The Maori Party is upset its former
chief of staff is being held up by Social Development Minister Anne
Tolley as representing Maori on a panel reviewing Child, Youth and
Family.
Co-leader Marama Fox says she's pleased
Helen Leahy, who now works as an advisor for Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu,
was selected for the group.
But she has told Mrs Tolley the panel
also needs Maori and social work expertise...
See full article HERE
Māori Health & Social Services
Delegation travels to the US
Te Arawa Whānau Ora Chief Executive
Officer, Ngaroma Grant was part of a high level Māori delegation
that traveled to the US to gain first hand knowledge of how
developing technologies in the Health and Social Service sectors
might benefit whānau.
The group headed to California, Nevada,
Arizona and Washington state in April to both share innovative and
transformative practices and tools being used in Aotearoa and to
learn about what is happening within indigenous communities in the
US.
As a result relationships were built
with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Indian Health Services, the City
of Los Angeles and a number of community leaders.
In addition the delegation received a
briefing with Microsoft executives in Redmond, Washington and made
a presentation at the Self-Governance Tribal Annual Consultation
Conference in Reno, Nevada.
Also part of the delegation
were Waipareira CEO, Hon John Tamihere,Te Pou Matakana Chair,
Merepeka Raukawa-Tait, New Zealander of the Year Dr Lance O’Sullivan
as well as Lady Tureiti Moxon in a 20 strong Māori Health and Social
Services delegation to the US.....
See full article HERE
Terms of Negotiation signed with
Ngāpuhi
The
Crown and the country's largest iwi are just one step away from
settling its Treaty of Waitangi claims.
The Tūhoronuku Independent Mandated
Authority, which represents Ngāpuhi and its numerous hapū, have
signed the terms of negotiation with the Crown.
Tūhoronuku described it as a
celebratory moment for the iwi as it was eight years ago when tribal
elders directed the iwi to 'get on with the settlement'.....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
$35.3m invested to improve Māori housing
Māori Development Minister, Te Ururoa
Flavell says Budget 2015 provides operating funding of $35.3
million over the next four years to improve housing outcomes for
whānau Māori.
This will provide practical assistance
to whānau and Māori housing projects and will be coordinated
through the establishment of a Māori Housing Network.
$5.7 million a year is set aside for
the Māori Housing Network. This will fund regional housing
development facilities that will provide practical assistance and
expertise at a local level. The funding will also be used to address
housing deprivation among whānau Māori.....
See full article HERE
$2.1m for rangatahi Māori suicide
prevention
The Budget provides $2.1 million of new
operating funding for rangatahi Māori suicide prevention, Māori
Development Minister Hon Te Ururoa Flavell says.
“It recognises the need within Māori
communities to address the high rate of suicide among our rangatahi
and to reduce its tragic consequences,” he says.
“The causes of youth suicide are
complex and varied. This fund will contribute towards taking a Whānau
Ora approach to reducing youth suicide.”....
See full article HERE
$12.8m for new Te Ture Whenua Māori
Network
The new Te Ture Whenua Māori Network,
which will help Māori land owners improve the productivity of their
land, will be supported by $12.8 million in the Budget, Māori
Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell says.
The network complements the current
reform of the Te Ture Whenua Māori Act.
“Significant tracts of Māori land
remain under-utilised and improving its performance and productivity
will provide benefits to its owners and the wider New Zealand
economy,” Mr Flavell says....
See full article HERE
Whānau Ora navigators to receive
$49.8m boost
Whānau Ora Minister Te Ururoa Flavell
says new operating funding of $49.8 million over the next four years
will further support Whānau Ora navigators to work with families.
The new funding will allow the
continuation of Whānau Ora navigators, who play a critical role in
Whānau Ora. Flavell says, "They act as brokers for the
whānau and support them to achieve their goals...
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
A
Wellington mana whenua leader says tribal boundaries have not been
adequately considered in the proposal for a supercity council.
The
Local Government Commission's plan to create one single authority
that amalgamates nine councils in the greater Wellington region has
divided the Māori community, with leaders in support, but rank and
file Māori opposing it.
As the plans for a Wellington supercity
council get underway, the mana whenua of Te Whanganui-ā-Tara, Te
Ātiawa, are cautiously considering the benefits before they endorse
them.
The chair of the Port Nicholson Block
Settlement Trust said the first thing that the Local Government
Commission should think about is the importance of tribal rohe.....
See full article HERE
$244 million funding boost includes
establishment of 3 new kura kaupapa
Three new kura kaupapa are on the cards
under the announcement of $244 million in funding that will go
towards new schools, additional classrooms and expansions to existing
schools.
The kura kaupapa will be established in
Whakatane, Gisborne and Hastings.
Education Minister, Hekia Parata says,
“funding spread over four years, demonstrates the government’s
commitment to ensuring all kids can do their very best at school. It
will be used to build seven new schools, expand four existing schools
and add another 241 classrooms across the country.”
However Te Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin
Davis wants confirmation from Government that kura kaupapa will
receive the same funding as mainstream schools in this year's
budget....
See full article HERE
Dismay at lack of Maori on CYF
review panel
The
Government is excluding Māori from an expert panel set up to review
Child, Youth and Family, the Whānau Ora iwi leaders group chair
says.
There are six iwi representatives in
the group as well as ministerial staff.
Chairperson Raniera (Sonny) Tau said he
had written to Social Development Minister Anne Tolley to express the
group's 'extreme concern' at the panel's make-up which appears to
contain no Māori.
Iwi representatives in the group as
well as Mr Tau are: Naida Glavish, Rahui Papa, Sir Mark Solomon, Dr
Hope Tupara and Richard Steedman.
Mr Tau said he was appalled by the lack
of Māori representation.....
See full article HERE
Maori students' development plan
underway at Witt in Taranaki
The Taranaki polytechnic has identified
cultural barriers that may have prevented Maori learners from
achieving and the institute is now working towards implementing a
better support system for its students.
In 2014, Witt was found to have
graduated students from two Maori performing arts courses which they
probably did not attend and was forced to repay the Crown $3.7m as
a result.
The Maori performing arts programmes
are no longer offered....
See full article HERE
The Napier City Council has voted to
support a request to rename the region's airport as Ahuriri Airport
Hawke's Bay - with one councillor voicing his opposition to the
proposal.
The airport company was approached with
the name change request by Treaty of Waitangi claimant group Mana
Ahuriri.
Richard McGrath was the only Napier
City Council member to speak against the proposal at yesterday's
meeting, saying there was "little to no public support" for
the change....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Hawke's Bay Today and Ngati Kahungunu
Iwi Incorporated (NKII) have joined forces to produce a new monthly
publication called Tihei Kahungunu.
Tihei Kahungunu will be a monthly
insert in Hawke's Bay Today and aims to give Ngati Kahungunu and
Maoridom in the region a voice.
Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated
chairman Ngahiwi Tomoana said that with 25 per cent of the Maori
population identifying with Ngati Kahungunu, there was a great demand
for such a publication....
See full article HERE
Davis demands answers over new Kura
Kaupapa
Te Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis wants
confirmation from Government that kura kaupapa will receive the
same funding as mainstream schools in this year's budget.
Education Minister Hekia Parata
announced three new kura kaupapa to be built over four years in
Gisborne, Whakatāne and Hastings, but Davis says the quality of
those schools could be compromised.
He has extensive experience in the
Education sector and Kelvin Davis wants answers.
"My question is, will Māori
immersion schools be treated the same as mainstream schools? How
much resources will be given them?".....
See full article HERE
Lack of Maori Representation
Concerns Iwi Chairs
Raniera T (Sonny) Tau; the Chairperson
of Whānau Ora Iwi Leaders Group, has written to Hon Anne Tolley,
expressing the concern of Iwi Chairs about the lack of Maori
representation in the expert panel set up to review CYFS.
“At our recent hui at Whangaehu Marae
(6 May) concerns were raised that it appeared Maori representation
had been excluded from the Minister’s Expert Panel” said Mr Tau.
“And yet there is a
disproportionately high number of Maori children who have been
referred to youth justice facilities; to care and protection
residences, or to the care of CYFS”.
“Maori have been saying for decades
now, let us be the designer of our own solutions. It is somewhat
confusing that a Government which has been bold enough to invest in
Whānau Ora is unprepared to show that same test of faith in the care
of our tamariki mokopuna”.....
See full article HERE
'Corporate welfare at its very
worst': Govt grant to iwi slammed by Taxpayers' Union
The Taxpayers' Union has slammed a
$350,000 grant to a Rotorua iwi to build a spa complex as "corporate
welfare at its very worst".
Prime Minister John Key today announced
the grant to Pukeroa Lakefront Holdings Ltd, a commercial arm of
Ngati Whakaue.
"This is taxpayer money going to
build a spa in Rotorua. That's not innovation, it's corporate welfare
at its very worst," says Jordan Williams, Executive Director of
the Taxpayers' Union.
"The problem with these sorts of
grants, is it allocates taxpayer money to the industries and regions
favoured by politicians."....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
A
new Māori business masters programme is being planned for
universities around the country.
University of Auckland Business School
senior lecturer Chellie Spiller said consultation was underway to get
the programme ready for launch, which will see universities
co-deliver the programme titled the Masters of Māori and Indigenous
business.
She said courses taught would focus on
core areas of business but be infused with a kaupapa Māori focus....
See full article HERE
Funding boost for Maunga Authority
Auckland's
Maunga Authority says iwi are making progress in protecting their
taonga - the city's tihi (summit) - after receiving a large funding
boost.
The authority was established eight
months ago, and its kaupapa is to protect the 14 Tūpuna Maunga
affiliated with the 13 iwi in the rohe.
Auckland Council has allocated nearly
$80 million to the Tūpuna Maunga o Tāmaki Makaurau Authority for
the next 10 years.
The authority's chair Paul Majurey said
its first project was to ban vehicles at Maungawhau-Mount Eden's
summit, other than those used by the disabled. It hopes to have the
ban in place by the end of the year.....
See full article HERE
Crown purchases significant battle
site
The Crown has purchased one of the most
significant battle sites of the New Zealand Wars, Minister for Treaty
of Waitangi Negotiations Christopher Finlayson announced today.
“We are pleased we could purchase
this very significant site which is of great historical and cultural
importance to the iwi who fought at the Battle of Ōrākau,” Mr
Finlayson said.
The Ōrākau property near Kihikihi, Te
Awamutu, was likely the site of a major battle between Māori and the
Crown in 1864. Māori sustained many casualties and the site is
recorded as a wāhi tapu area....
See full article HERE
Māori worldview key to success for
whānau parenting
Today Superu is releasing What Works:
Parenting programmes effective with whānau, a summary of the key
findings from a Superu research report on effective parenting
programmes published in April 2014.
In New Zealand, parenting programmes
that have emerged from the Māori worldview are called kaupapa Māori
programmes. Additionally there are Māori culturally adapted
parenting programmes.
What Works: Parenting programmes
effective with whānau finds that kaupapa Māori and culturally
adapted parenting programmes are effective with whānau because they
validate Māori knowledge, values, and practices. Both of these types
of programmes support whānau through strengthening cultural identity
and growing knowledge of traditional parenting practices. It is
important that the culturally adapted programmes be validated by
Māori.....
See full article HERE
All-Pakeha CYFS review flawed
Manurewa MP Louisa Wall says a review
of Child Youth and Family is fundamentally flawed because it does not
include any Maori.
The review is chaired by former
Commerce Commission head and includes police commissioner Mike Bush,
the Social Development Ministry's chief science advisor Ritchie
Poulton, former maori party chief of staff Helen Leahy and Duncan
Dunlop, who heads a children's advocacy charity in Scotland.
Ms Wall says more than 2000 Maori
children are in CYFS care, or 56 percent of the total.
That means an independent Maori
perspective is critical to any reform....
See full article HERE
The recently released Bay of Plenty
Regional Growth Strategy stresses the importance of growing the Maori
economy and the contribution Maori can make to overall regional
growth.
"We can bring assets and expertise
to bear," said Te Ururoa Flavell, the Minister for Maori
Development and Associate Minister for Economic Development, at the
strategy's launch.
"There's a desire by Maori to move
into new areas of commerce. I think the community has to recognise
that we are big players - we don't want to just be sitting at the
side."...
See full article HERE
New Plymouth District councillors in
dark over mayor Andrew Judd's UN complaint
New Plymouth councillors were kept in
the dark about their mayor's plans to lay a formal complaint against
the Government.
Mayor
Andrew Judd's plan to lodge the formal complaint with the United
Nations about the Government's "unfair"
legislation for Maori wards was unknown by his peers until Saturday,
when it was reported in the Taranaki Daily News.
Former mayor and current councillor
Harry Duynhoven said Judd's move appeared to be a unilateral action
and he was not aware of it until he read it in the paper on Saturday.
"I am sure that the council will
wish to discuss this with the mayor and vice versa," he said.
However, many councillors said Judd had
made it clear his complaint was not in his capacity as the mayor.....
See full article HERE
Law change needed for local seats
Maori Development Minister Te Ururoa
Flavell is considering a private members bill to stop people using
binding referendums to block Maori representation in local
government.
Mr Flavell says the situation in New
Plymouth, where 83 percent voted against the council’s plans to
introduce a Maori ward, showed how unfair the current system is.
An attempt to give Te Arawa more say in
the Rotorua Lakes Council is also having a rough ride.....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
New Plymouth Mayor Andrew Judd says a
law which allowed his council’s decision on Maori wards to be
overturned shows the government is not serious about giving Maori a
voice in local government.
In a referendum, New Plymouth residents
voted more than four to one against the move.
It's the only action a council takes
that can be challenged through a publicly-initiated binding
referendum.
"That to me says the government or
the crown has never been serious about the option because at the very
end, the majority can decide for the minority. That is racist and
biased and just infuriates me so I am not letting that aspect lie,"
Mr Judd says.
He’s disappointed with the Prime
Minister’s off-hand dismissal of the issue, and he is looking at
raising a complaint with the United Nations about New Zealand’s
compliance with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples.......
See full article HERE
NZ Maori Council pushing governance
strategy
The New Zealand Maori Council wants to
find ways for Maori to become more involved in governing their
communities.
It has called a national conference in
Palmerston North at the end of the month to look at strategies for
Maori participation and representation at all levels of government in
Aoteoaroa.
The hui will also consider the
council’s relevance today and how it can work better not just with
Maori committees but with urban and iwi authorities.
Meanwhile the revitalisation of the
council continues, with a district Maori council covering Te Tau Ihu,
the top of the South Island, holding its annual meeting over the
weekend.
Having properly constituted Maori
committees and district councils helps the national body as it pushes
to resume oversight of the Maori wardens and to act as an advocate
for Maori on issues that might fall outside the responsibilities of
individual iwi.....
See full article HERE
Treaty tutoring for migrant
jobseekers
Facing questions about the Treaty of
Waitangi at job interviews is driving new migrants to attend
workshops on New Zealand's founding document.
Auckland Regional Migrant Services has
been running Treaty workshops at its Three Kings premises since 2007,
but has moved them to the central city because of the growing number
of new migrants living in the CBD.
One of the primary reasons people
wanted to learn about the history and meaning of the 1840 document
was because they got asked about it when they applied for jobs,
Migrant Services communications manager Chinwe Akomah said.
The seminars included role playing on
how to handle such questions, she said.
She faced the situation herself at a
job interview not long after she migrated from the UK.
"They just asked me, 'what is the
Treaty of Waitangi?' I didn't really know how to respond....
See full article HERE
Local iwi called upon to bless
vandalised site at Papakura cemetery
Local iwi were called upon this morning
to Papakura South Cemetery following the desecration of a number of
children's graves over the weekend.
Manurewa kaumātua carried out a
karakia at the site, where headstones and crosses have been removed
and strewn all over the lawn when Auckland Council staff had made
their discovery yesterday.
Auckland Cemeteries Manager Catherine
Moore confirmed that karakia was held this morning for those on site
but says there are plans to have another blessing ceremony later in
the week...
See full article HERE
Spotlight on human rights in NZ
The
UN Committee Against Torture is calling on the Government to do more
to uphold and protect the human rights of all people.
In
a new report, the committee has welcomed some new measures taken in
this country, such as the introduction of police safety orders and
the Vulnerable Children Act.
But it has expressed concern at the
over-representation of Maori in prisons, and the use of solitary
confinement for mental health patients.....
See full article HERE
Taranaki principals keen to change
outcomes for Maori students
Taranaki schools are lining up to be a
part of a collective championing Maori student achievement.
More than 60 principals from throughout
New Zealand gathered at Owae Marae this week for the Te Arahou Maori
Achievement CollaborativesNational Hui.
Maori Achievement Collaboratives
(MACs), supported by the Ministry of Education, focus on working with
principals to better meet the needs and improve achievement outcomes
for Maori students.
The hui ran from Wednesday afternoon
through to Friday and had a range of speakers discussing issues
facing Maori students and how to better understand their different
learning needs.....
See full article HERE
Looking Māori means you are less
likely to own your own home
A study on home ownership rates among
Māori shows that looking stereotypically Māori means you are less
likely to own your own home.
A study on home ownership rates among
Māori shows that looking stereotypically Māori means you are less
likely to own your own home.
The research, by Dr Carla Houkamau, a
senior lecturer in Management and International Business at the
University of Auckland Business School, and Associate Professor Chris
Sibley of the University’s School of Psychology, is part of the New
Zealand Attitudes and Values Survey (NZAVS).....
See full article HERE
Court says taihoa on Landcorp farm
sale
The Supreme Court has issued a
injunction stopping Landcorp selling a Bay of Plenty farm until it
has decided whether it will hear an appeal.
Ngati Whakahemo challenged the sale of
the Wharere Farm near Te Puke because it had a treaty claim over the
land and wanted the chance to make an offer for it.
The Court of Appeal last week
overturned a High Court judgment in its favour, because it said
Landcorp’s actions were not reviewable.
The state owned enterprise wanted to
complete the sale to a third party by May 30.
The Supreme Court has given Ngati
Whakahemo chair Mita Ririnui until tomorrow to file submissions, and
if necessary there will be a hearing next week to determine whether
the appeal can go ahead.....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Don’t tell the Whips, but here’s
one Nat who has a sneaking inclination to go AWOL on Whanau Ora
Alf is desperately looking forward to
getting out of here today – the damned debating chamber – to take
refuge in the Pickwick’s Bar.
For the past hour or so MPs have been
banging away about the pros and cons of Whanau Ora.
Alas a highly discomforted Alf finds
himself on the side of the defenders of the programme,
notwithstanding the report on it from the Office of the
Auditor-General.
He has had to smile approvingly while
our MPs laud the role of “navigators” in our social welfare
system.
Navigators?
Dunno which misguided plonker took
these creatures out of the transport industry and introduced them to
the Whanau Ora scheme.
The navigators perhaps should be called
on to explain why so much money has – dare Alf say it – failed to
reach its intended goal?
It is one of the Government’s
flagship programmes and cost $137 million in its first four years –
but the country’s top spending watchdog admits it is difficult to
work out what Whanau Ora has achieved.
Auditor General Lyn Provost also
found that $40 million of the money for the scheme – which is
earmarked for vulnerable families and children – was swallowed up
in administration.
And after an audit of its first four
years, Provost admitted: “It was not easy to describe what it is or
what it has achieved.”
Don’t forget that the driving force
behind Whanau Ora was the former Maori Party co-leader, Tariana
Turia.
She had a real bee in her bonnet about
this and could countenance no criticism.
Alf had misgivings…
But National threw its weight behind
the scheme, which is seen as a model for the delivery of some other
services.
The Government has been forced on
the defensive, however, by revelations about a lack of checks on
money handed out under the scheme, including $20,000 used by Dunedin
gang members to buy cannabis.
NZ First leader Winston Peters has
also criticised “whanau integration” grants of up to $20,000
which he claimed had been used for family reunions.
The money was part of a fund used to
prepare “whanau plans”.
Provost – in her report – has
described Whanau Ora as an example of innovation and new thinking
which provided an opportunity for health and social service providers
to work directly with families.
“Whanau Ora has been a success for
many families who now have a plan to improve their lives. For
example, some whanau are working towards getting their young people
living and working on their ancestral land. The government spending
to achieve this has been small, but the importance for the whanau is
significant.”
Whanau plans also had benefits such as
reconnecting family members and identifying where skills and
expertise lie within the whanau, the report says.
But after setting out to inform
Parliament and the public “what Whanau Ora is, where the funding
has gone, and what Whānau Ora has achieved after four years”,
Provost said it was “not easy to describe what it is or what it has
achieved”.
“We could not get a consistent
explanation of the aims of the initiatives in Whanau Ora from the
joint agencies or other people that we spoke to. So far, the
situation has been unclear and confusing to many of the public
entities and whanau.”
“During the first four years,
total spending on Whanau Ora was $137.6 million. Delays in spending
meant that some of the funds originally intended for whanau and
providers did not reach them. Nearly a third of the total spending
was on administration.”
Let’s roll out Finance Minister Bill
English for an explanation.
He said it was clear to the Government
when the programme was set up that a lot was being spent on
administration.
“It was a pretty radical kind of
programme to start with and in some respects the high admin
costs…[reflected] a good deal of concern that in a new programme
the money was used appropriately,” he said.
Now let’s hear from Maori Development
Minister Te Ururoa Flavell.
He said the report acknowledged the
potential of the programme.
“Yes, we’d accept that something
could have been done better. That’s a part of the development of a
new project but I’m comfortable with where we sit,” he said.
According to another report
from Stuff, however, Labour is calling for an
investigation into Whanau Ora, claiming its performance “must now
be of the highest priority for the Government”.
Opposition leader Andrew Little is
quoted as saying:
“The auditor-general is critical
of the process of funding families under Whanau Ora. These
organisations are where much of the $42 million-plus in
administration costs has gone. This process is described as a burden
in the report, and it’s a financial burden on taxpayers.”
The investigation needed to cover
“how much money is being spent on whanau” as the funding was not
meant to be used for operational costs such as service delivery,
salaries and rent.
“A significant overhaul of Whanau
Ora’s governance model was announced less than two years ago and
was said to include senior ministers, iwi leaders and experts. The
Government knew about the issues then and yet the Auditor General
confirms that problems remain,” Little said.
“This is another example of
wasteful spending by this Government when it is desperately needed by
some of our most vulnerable people. Labour supports Whanau Ora as a
delivery framework, but there is not enough good governance and
oversight by those charged with making it work.”
Alf is not allowed to say so publicly,
but he shares Little’s concern to have a hard look at the scheme.
May 6th, 2015
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
Ngāti
Mutunga on the Chathams Islands has moved a step further to settling
its Treaty of Waitangi claims.
After seeking the mandate from iwi
members, it now has a Settlement Governance Group in place that has
been recognised by the Crown.
Last year, the Ngāti Mutunga o
Wharekauri Iwi Trust held wānanga to listen to kōrero around
grievances and settlement expectations, and to get an idea of a
timeframe to achieve its goal of reaching a mandate....
See full article HERE
Water rights shipped overseas
An advisor to the Freshwater Iwi
Leadership Group says it’s critical Maori interests in water are
defined before they are lost.
The group is working with officials on
a new management framework, and it has been consulting with iwi on
what Maori rights and interests could look like within that.
Willie Te Aho says existing systems
haven’t worked for Maori, with other groups getting priority
access.
He says in the case of groups like the
owners of Poroti Springs near Whangarei, a decision from the Native
Land Court that they owned not only the land but the spring itself
has been ignored in favour of the local council, irrigators and a
private water bottling company.....
See full article HERE
Unjust requirements on Māori wards
The Māori Party is disappointed but
not surprised by the outcome of the referendum on the establishment
of Māori wards for the New Plymouth District Council (NPDC).
An overwhelming number of voters said
“no” to the establishment of one Māori ward for the northern
Taranaki council.
Mrs Fox who participated in a debate on
the establishment of a Māori ward for NPDC last year says the
decision “shows the tyranny of the majority”.
“Where is the Treaty of Waitangi
relationship reflected in local and central government? The provision
for a Māori ward isn’t a perfect solution but at least it would
guarantee an independent Māori voice at the table.”...
See full article HERE
GP Clinic launches traditional Māori
healing service
A first for a Ngāti Whatua Health
Clinic who now provide traditional Māori healing alongside
mainstream medicines for the community of Glenn Innes.
The cultural context in which Māori
deal with ill health and its impacts are addressed through Rākau
Rongoā (native floral herbal preparations) Mirimiri (massage)
and Karakia (prayer).
While in the next room, there will be
mainstream GP clinical services, including Tamariki Ora (Children's
services), Smoking Cessation and AgeCare services.
The aim of this partnership between
Ngāti Whatua Ōrākei Health Services and the Ministry of Health is
to deliver positive health outcomes to all whānau in the Glenn Innes
and surrounding community....
See full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
New
Plymouth voters have overwhelmingly rejected the introduction of a
Maori ward in the district.
In a citizens-initiated referendum on
the issue, 83 percent of those who voted were against the proposal.
A total of 56,250 people were eligible
to vote with 45 percent doing so.
Mayor Andrew Judd, who championed a
Maori Ward, said he was personally disappointed with the result and
the poor turnout.
He said the council must now reconsider
how to engage with Maori and enable their participation in
decision-making, as it was required to do by law.
Hugh Johnson, who sponsored the
petition forcing a referendum, said he was satisfied with the result
which was more clear-cut than he expected.
"I think it's very good, we beat
Northland, Northland was only 66 percent.
"So the voters are feeling like I
do [in thinking] that people should only be elected to council on
their own merit."...
See
full article HERE
Board rejects proposal for
Maori engagement
An
offer of Maori input in local board decision-making has been turned
down, leaving one board member "stunned" by the decision.
The Papakura Local Board has refused
the help offered by a steering group designed to improve Maori
engagement at the community level.
The group is made up of iwi
representatives and intended to help the local board on Maori issues
through a "collaborative approach".
Papakura Local Board chairman Bill
McEntee says the Maori steering group's proposal was declined
because it wasn't local enough.
But the board rejected the $8000
proposal which has already been accepted by Mangere-Otahuhu,
Otara-Papatoetoe and Manurewa local boards.
She says the group is set up to provide
"meaningful engagement" on a range of issues between local
boards and mana whenua, including such things as environmental
decisions, street names and even turning the soil at the start of new
projects.....
See
full article HERE
EIT Appoints First Emeritus
Professor
A leading Māori educator and an
academic of international standing, Dr Roger Maaka has been appointed
EIT’s first emeritus professor.
The honour recognises Professor Maaka’s
distinguished service as a research professor and former dean of
EIT’s faculty of Māori studies, Te Ūranga Waka
.
Of Ngāti Kahungunu descent from Takapau, he attended Central Hawke’s Bay College before launching into a 20-year career in the New Zealand Army, which included tours of duty in Borneo, South Vietnam and Singapore.
Of Ngāti Kahungunu descent from Takapau, he attended Central Hawke’s Bay College before launching into a 20-year career in the New Zealand Army, which included tours of duty in Borneo, South Vietnam and Singapore.
Combining study with running a business
he established in Christchurch, he gained a PhD in political science
with a study of the tribe in 20th century Māori society.
Professor Maaka has published on treaty
relationships, urban and tribal, social and economic development of
Maori and other indigenous peoples and he is an authority on
indigeneity as a global social movement....
See
full article HERE
Mole
News is published on a regular basis to expose the on-going build up of
race-based privilege in New Zealand. The Mole welcomes tips - please
send to mole@nzcpr.com. Older news items can be found HERE.
15 May 2015
Bay
of Plenty iwi Ngati Whakahemo is appealing a decision dismissing its
challenge to the way Landcorp sold a dairy farm at Wharere.
The Court of Appeal this week ruled
that High Court Justice Joe Williams had no basis to review
Landcorp's decision to sell the farm, because neither the Minister
for Treaty Settlements nor the shareholding Ministers in Landcorp had
the power to intervene in the company's decision.
That's despite the Office of Treaty
Settlements making a mistake when it advised Landcorp that Ngati
Whakahemo's claims had been settled, so the farm was not needed for
any future treaty settlement.
Costs were awarded against the iwi.
Ngati Whakahemo chair Mita Ririnui says
the decision is disappointing, but is consistent with a trend where
the Court of Appeal leaves the hard calls on treaty-related cases to
the Supreme Court.
What is not consistent is the way the
iwi was treated by the crown....
See full article HERE
Māori representatives against oil
exploration meet with Saami Parliament
Members of the Indigenous Saami
Parliament have met with a group of Māori representatives from
Northland carrying with them a message against oil-exploration at Te
Reinga Basin.
A member of the Executive Council of
Saami Parliament, Henrik Olsen and Political Adviser Runar Myrnes
Balto were among the Saami representatives who met with the
delegation earlier this week.
Hinekaa Mako says, “The meeting went
really well, as the indigenous peoples of Norway the Sámi understand
our concerns, they are considering ways to support us in the
future.”...
See full article HERE
