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Saturday, March 14, 2020

Breaking Views Update: Week of 8.03.20







Saturday March 14, 2020

News:
Mayors Commit To A Greater Regional Approach
All Mayors, most Deputy Mayors and Chief Executives across the Horizons region spent two days discussing and workshopping a range of topics.

Manawatū Mayor Helen Worboys said there was also a clear commitment regionally to improve iwi partnerships.

“We are all aware that we can better enhance our partnerships with tangata whenua and we recognised this needs to be done at a local level.”

All Mayors signed an agreement called the Makoura Agreement demonstrating the commitment to the way forward.....
See full article HERE

Time for Auckland Council to show leadership in strengthening and enacting their climate framework
“Results of the public consultation showed that Aucklanders are demanding significant action to reflect the urgency of the climate emergency, alongside a thriving and livable Tāmaki Makaurau,” says Generation Zero Auckland co-convenor Bruce Kidd.

Generation Zero also supports the demands of indigenous rangatahi for a greater te ao Māori lens throughout the entire framework. “There is no climate justice without upholding the tino rangatiratanga of tangata whenua. Māori must be given the platform to lead Auckland’s climate response, and mātauranga Māori and tikanga Māori should be centred in all climate action.”.....
See full article HERE

$17 million tax fraud alleged
A Gisborne farmer accused of evading tax totalling $17 million, will stand trial in the High Court later this year.

He has pleaded not guilty and claims he is innocent by virtue of “tikanga”.

Speaking to The Gisborne Herald outside the courtroom, Bracken and a Bay of Plenty man acting in a McKenzie friend type role — Peter Helmbright — said Bracken was innocent due to “tikanga”.

The Maori concept of tikanga can be interpreted many ways. Its definition includes correct procedure, custom and protocol.....
See full article HERE

University staff want to be involved in Massey restructure decisions
Massey University staff want to be involved in the decision-making should changes proposed under a controversial and radical restructuring plan for the university be introduced.

A Massey staff member, who Stuff agreed not to name, went to the Palmerston North meeting.

She said one staff member said the consultation was not in line with being a Treaty of Waitangi-led university, and another said Māori and Pacific students were doing the least well in online learning......
See full article HERE


This Breaking Views Update monitors race relations in the media on a weekly basis. A summary of new material being added is emailed out during the week - to subscribe (or unsubscribe) to the mailout, please use the form at the top of the Breaking Views sidebar. If you would like to send Letters to the Editor in response to any of these articles, most media addresses can be found HERE.

Friday March 13, 2020

News:
Airport terminal celebrates Puketapu history The original stories of Te Ātiawa and its Puketapu hapū are laid out in the design of a new airport terminal to be opened at New Plymouth Airport in Bell Block tomorrow.

The airport is built over the original Puketapu pā, and the iwi was keen to ensure the new building honoured the site with features such as protecting a view shaft between Taranaki mounga and the sea.

"The planting of the whare is also about bringing plants that were part of our history, our kōrero. One of them is a koromiko, ngapuka hetarangi, a very bright red flower that we want to see growing on the ground again. We've collected a number of kōrero we want to see incorporated into the cultural narrative of this building," he says.

Hono also features a hapū-run retail store, Tatai, that will stock quality Māori products and crafts.....
See full article HERE

Tensions ease in Kawhia mana battle
A former researcher for Ngāti Hikairo claims believes tensions over claims around Kawhia Harbour may be receding.

He says the Office of Treaty Settlements within Te Arawhiti seems more open to recognising overlapping mana.......
See full article HERE

Manawatū iwi argue 130,000 hectares of land was stolen by the Crown
Financial compensation is sought, along with the restoration of original Māori names for streets, lakes and reserves. Crown land is also expected to be returned to iwi.

In his opening address, Durie told the tribunal the iwi were defrauded, defeated and driven from their land when deals began in 1840.

The Government failed to get consent of each hapū through its senior representatives.

The Native Land Court then backed the Government's purchase in a ruling Durie described as "contrived and dishonest"......
See full article HERE

Headstones inspire Ngarimu scholar
The scholarship, which is worth $25,000 a year for up to two years, will allow him to collect stories of the 28th Māori Battalion members from those places who did not return home.

The Ngarimu Masters scholarships of $15,000 a year for up to two years went to Marise Stuart, Tipene James and Lee-Ann Tatana, while the undergraduate scholarships of $10,000 a year for up to five years went to Awatea Moxon, Cassiopea Harrison and Tangirau Papa.

Associate Education Minister and Ngarimu board chair Kelvin Davis says the winners of the Ngarimu and 28 Maori Battalion scholarships, created in honour of Victoria Cross winner Te Moana Nui ā Kiwa Ngarimu, are a snapshot of the diversity of Māori students pursuing higher education......
See full article HERE

Thursday March 12, 2020

News:
Mana Whenua Teaching ScholarshipsTapuika Iwi Authority along with the Ministry of Education have 4 Mana Whenua Teaching Scholarships.

Each scholarship is worth $10,000.00 each.

Priority will be given to students with an academic merit and in financial need.

Preference will be given to those of Tapuika descent.....
See full article HERE

Māori land not included in court action over unpaid rates: Far North District Council
Māori freehold land: $18,335,330 owed by 2417 accounts. Most of that is penalties.

No Māori land is among the 57 properties whose owners face court action over years of unpaid rates, the Far North District Council says.

The FNDC is defending its efforts to recover millions of dollars in rates arrears after a claim by the New Zealand Māori Council that it was using the courts to confiscate Māori land over unpaid rates.

In a no-holds-barred statement Māori Council executive director Matthew Tukaki described the FNDC's legal action as ''nothing more than a land grab by modern day pirates''.

He warned local bodies to ''keep their hands off Māori land'' while new legislation addressing rates arrears on Māori land makes its way through Parliament......
See full article HERE

Supporting Resilience In Young People Provides A Better Start
A Better Start National Science Challenge has awarded Dr Karolina Stasiak and Tania Cargo from the University of Auckland $1.4 million over 2 and a quarter years to pilot the implementation of tools into schools in South Auckland, to increase access to quality support for rangatahi well-being.

Given the Treaty of Waitangi and the importance of partnership, participation and protection, rangatahi Māori and their whānau must have access to at least bi-cultural interventions, which have been shown to work. This means implementing HABITs into more schools nationally, implementing HABITs as a digital youth hub, hosting evidence-based BITS, including those of other developers, implementing a Kaupapa Māori qualitative study and implementing HABITs as an online clinical trials centre.

“This includes ensuring Māori cultural values are embedded and evaluated in our approach,” he says......
See full article HERE

Sign of the times: Council stops naming streets after the living
At a recent Howick Local Board meeting new names for new streets were being discussed.

Principal 3.4 refers to naming roads after living people, and contains the text “the names of people still living should be avoided” and goes on to add “as community attitudes and opinions can change over time.”

The use of Maori street names is “actively encouraged” to “support a Maori identity that is Auckland’s point of difference in the world” according to principal 4.1......
See full article HERE

News that New Zealanders are ignoring Tongariro rāhui upsets iwi
New Zealand trampers have been ignoring the rāhui at Tongariro National Park, which could threaten its World Heritage Status, the Department of Conservation (DOC) and local iwi say.

The park has been under the temporary restriction, or rāhui, twice already this year following the deaths of two trampers on the Tongariro Crossing, but DOC Tongariro Operations Manager Connie Norgate said people were not adhering to the rāhui.......
See full article HERE

Advisor Marae Development
Coordinate funding programmes for the achievement of Māori outcomes

Play a part in a step change in the level of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori outcome delivery

Support the Marae development programme across council

Auckland Council is working to achieve a transformational shift with and for Māori, and to deliver on Council’s vision of celebrating Tāmaki Makaurau Māori identity as our point of difference in the world. As part of this journey, we want to develop a bold and contemporary response to Te Tiriti o Waitangi as it applies to Auckland Council – ensuring that we honour both our legislative obligations and the spirit of Te Tiriti relationships......
See full article HERE

Propaganda:
Crowds gathered at Rangiaowhia to commemorate the attack on the village

Wednesday March 11, 2020

News:
Northland council's Houhora camp lease extension angers iwiFar North District Council's lease extension for Houhora Heads motor camp has angered local iwi Ngai Takoto, who opposed the move from the outset.

Wallace Rivers, Te Runanga o Ngai Takoto acting chief executive, said from Kaitaia he was disappointed council had voted to extend the site's lease.

Rivers said the lease extension only served to further muddy the waters about ownership of the land on which the motor camp was built.

Rivers said Ngai Takoto had sought the return of the Houhora Heads motor camp in its Waitangi Tribunal treaty claim. Its claim was settled in 2010. The campground land was not part of the settlement due to it being owned by FNDC.......
See full article HERE

Designs unveiled for disputed Auckland long-distance bus terminal
Ratepayers would have to fund a proposed new long-distance bus terminal which an Auckland Council agency is proposing be built on land owned by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei.

Auckland Transport's plans have already angered the iwi, which knew nothing of years of prior planning for a terminal and opposes it.

"We have a clear plan for the long-term use of our land at Quay Park – a bus terminal is not aligned with that plan," Andrew Crocker, the chief executive of the iwi's commercial arm, said.......
See full article HERE

Fruit trees, traditional plants planned for new community park
The $223,800 park, on Inuwai Street in Dixon Heights, will celebrate the area's previous life as a food bowl for Māori and English settlers. The surrounding areas were used by tangata whenua to grow wheat, corn, kumara, taro and hue and, later, by English settlers as a market garden with fruit trees.

Mana whenua were keen on the proposed name Inuwai Park. The moniker will be considered at the council's community committee meeting in April. There is also space for a pou to be installed at a later date.....
See full article HERE

Waitangi Tribunal told of the 'most dishonest Crown purchase of Māori land on record'
The Waitangi Tribunal has been told iwi in the Porirua ki Manawatū rohe witnessed the most dishonest Crown purchase of Māori land on record.

Sir Eddie Durie said the government was deceitful when it purchased the Awahou and Rangitikei-Manawatū blocks, which encompassed more than 240,000 acres of land.

"Our case on the purchase is that the sale deed was a fraud. In form it was contractual but in substance it was a taking without a proper consent, creating a fictional ownership to get around the opposition of the hapū leaders who were in possession and adopting confiscation practices from Taranaki to gain maximum land with minimal reserves.....
See full article HERE

Sir Bob Jones to pay legal costs to Renae Maihi
Sir Robert has since told media that due to a confidential agreement he can not say why he dropped the case.

Maihi said no agreement of that nature was made.

"On Sunday 8 March TVNZ aired an interview with Robert Jones in which he said he did not want to stop his defamation claim against me.

"He claimed there was a confidential agreement between the parties that meant he could not talk about his reasons for discontinuing the proceeding," she said.

"There was no such agreement. Mr Jones unilaterally abandoned his claim halfway through a 10-day trial.

"He took that step following two days of cross-examination in which he continued to express views about Māori that many New Zealanders would regard as racist and offensive."

She said Sir Robert had agreed to pay for her legal costs.

"By discontinuing the proceeding, Mr Jones became liable to pay my legal costs.

We have now agreed his costs liability, the amount of which is confidential to the parties. That agreement on costs was reached last week and is the only agreement between us.".....
See full article HERE

Genesis of Kororareka clash recalled
"It wasn’t about ceding sovereignty because they never did. It was about saying to the Queen 'your people will not adhere to the tikanga, they will not adhere to the laws we have in place, so you need to manage them.' That was really the agreement that underpins what they were wanting to achieve here," Ms Rewiri says......
See full article HERE

Propaganda:
Pasifika numbers climb as popularity of te reo Māori courses soar

Tuesday March 10, 2020

News:
Iwi get cash payment of $7.7m in deal done over $200m Taranaki road projectA $7.7 million cash payment is part of a deal done between a Taranaki iwi and a Government agency over plans to build a new $200m road in the region.

The amount of taxpayer-cash involved in the deal had been under wraps until now, but the overall package represents a multimillion-dollar boost for Ngāti Tama and one designed to benefit it over generations.

The deal includes: $7.7m to compensate for cultural impact; a land swap involving a 120 hectare property in Urenui, which NZTA previously bought for $1.2m; pest management in perpetuity over 3650 hectares of its land including Parininihi estate; work and business opportunities for iwi members and a role in the project's cultural design.

In terms of the pest management, this part of the mitigation package represents millions of dollars alone.....
See full article HERE

Iwi upset at possible seabed dumping of failed oil and gas company's equipment

A Taranaki iwi and one of its hapū are crying foul over plans for a former contractor to leave production equipment belonging to a failed oil and gas company on the sea floor.

In a statement released on Friday, Taranaki Iwi and Ngāti Tara voiced their opposition to an attempt by BW Offshore, which operates the Umuroa - a floating production storage and offloading vessel - to disconnect from pipelines (before temporarily capping them) along with leaving other mining equipment owned by Tamarind Taranaki behind.....
See full article HERE

Hawke's Bay Regional Council Māori Committee appoint new co-chairs
The Hawke's Bay Regional Council Māori Committee has appointed two new chairs.

Mike Paku and Michelle McIlroy were appointed as co-chairs of the committee after their first meeting in the new triennium.

The committee, which makes recommendations to Regional Council on matters of relevance affecting Māori people in the region, aims to fulfil the Māori consultative undertaking of council, in particular regard to principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.

The Māori Committee includes both elected councillors and 12 representatives of four of the six Ngāti Kahungunu Taiwhenua/Executive in the region.....
See full article HERE

Waitangi Tribunal hearing begins for 'Pene Raupatu'
Today was the start of one of the country's biggest Waitangi Tribunal land claims taking place at Hato Paora College.

Ngāti Raukawa, Te Reureu and Ngāti Kauwhata claim that hundreds of thousands of hectares were taken from Māori, in what they call "Pene Raupatu" - confiscation by the pen......
See full article HERE

Call for Marlborough iwi to 'step up' and help protect sacred land at Wairau Bar
More than 100 people gathered in Marlborough to discuss how to protect archaeologically significant iwi land near Wairau Bar, with one attendee saying he didn't to want to see it disappear for a "bottle of wine".

The land at Kowhai Pā - is the earliest known Māori settlement at about 1250 and has been called the 'birthplace of Aotearoa'. It belongs to three iwi; Rangitāne, Ngāti Toarangatira and Ngāti Rārua.

Rangitāne o Wairau member Keelan Walker said the reason for Saturday's hui was to talk about the history of Kōwhai Pā and the significance of its wahi tapu or sacred sites.....
See full article HERE

Iwi offer help as Northland water crisis deepens
Ngapuhi chair Mere Mangu says the drought in Northland has highlighted the need for resolution of Māori rights and interests in water.

With the region looking for alternate sources of water for the main towns, Māori trusts and iwi have stepped up and offered supply from bores on their land.

She says that has raised questions about the way the councils have allocated water from the aquifers in the past......
See full article HERE

175th Anniversary Commemoration - Battle Of Kororāreka
On March 11 it will be 175 years (11/03/1845) since Māori first signalled, courtesy of Hone Heke, their dissatisfaction with the state of things post the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, signed only five years earlier.

The tensions between Rangatiratanga and the imposition of British Sovereignty, plus a sense that Ngāpuhi independence and authority were being quickly and stealthily undermined, led to the symbolic act of the felling of the Flagstaff on Te Maiki in Kororāreka/ Russell and the ensuing bloodshed that killed around 13 Māori and 20 Britons. The bloodshed spread across Northland and over time further south, often for similar reasons, and ended up involving much of the country.

The battle is commemorated every year by local tangata whenua and the Kororāreka community, including descendants and representatives of ngā hapū/iwi who took part in the fighting......
See full article HERE

Coronavirus: Mixed feelings on marae as quarantine areas
Marae could provide valuable support in response to the Covid-19 coronavirus in Aotearoa, an iwi leader says.

Marae have all the essential facilities to accommodate people and have been used in response to civil defence emergencies before.

In 1918, they were used during the influenza pandemic as temporary hospitals for Māori patients......
See full article HERE

Propaganda:
Why colonisation is bad for everyone

Monday March 9, 2020

News:
Teachers to use digital atlas of original Māori names in lessonsNgāi Tahu's digital atlas of the original Māori names for the South Island can now be used to teach intermediate and early secondary school students about colonisation.

The digital atlas Kā Huru Manu was launched at the end of 2017, and features more than 1000 Māori names and the stories behind them - but now the South Island iwi have designed a guide for teachers to use the map in their classrooms.

"Colonisation meant that a lot of Māori were renamed and those stories that were attached to those places were often erased," Harcourt said.

"So it's [about] getting young people to use the atlas to restore the places that they live in as well as exploring those bigger ideas of colonisation and naming......
See full article HERE

Fonterra, Genesis Energy and Z will go to trial for 'failing' to protect against effects of climate change
An environmental activist and iwi leader has been granted permission to continue court proceedings against New Zealand's top carbon emitters over claims they've failed to protect the country from climate change.

Mike Smith, chairman of the Climate Change Iwi Leaders Group, alleged seven companies were not doing enough to reduce emissions in the face of scientific evidence that those emissions had caused, and will continue to cause harm.

The case against the seven companies was brought by Smith, in his personal capacity, in a bid to protect his interests in land and resources in Northland.

Among his reasons for taking the action were concerns about how rising sea levels, coastal erosion, flooding and increased sea temperatures could affect communities, particularly Māori.

Under his public nuisance claim, Smith said he would suffer harm from the effects of climate change that would result in the physical loss of land and sites of cultural and spiritual significance......
See full article HERE

Sir Bob Jones says he didn't want to drop Renae Maihi defamation case
Ms Maihi had launched a petition to strip Sir Bob of his knighthood after he penned a column which she believed was racist.

But after several days in court, Sir Bob ended the proceedings.

He told Jack Tame on TVNZ1's Q+A that there's a confidential agreement in place - but says he didn't want to stop the case.

"I was outraged by what happened," he says, calling it a "fabrication"......
See full article HERE

Māori back End of Life Choice Bill - poll
Seventy-two percent of Māori say they will vote in support of the End of Life Choice Bill at this year's referendum, according to a new poll revealed by The Hui on Sunday.

The has been controversial, with MPs casting conscience votes on whether or not the Bill - which would legalise euthanasia under strict circumstances - should progress.

For Māori MPs, one of the most divisive discussion points was whether or not assisted euthanasia is a transgression of tikanga Māori.

The Hui's poll, which was undertaken by Horizon Research, shows that 58 percent of respondents did not believe the End of Life Choice Bill was incompatible with tikanga Māori, and 55 percent felt that for the terminally ill, choosing to die was an act of tino rangatira/self determination.....
See full article HERE

The first gathering has been held, of a group set up to help overhaul the education system for Maori learners
Te Taumata Aronui was born in the vocational education restructuring, and will work with the Government on tertiary education policy.

Education Minister Chris Hipkins says the Government has to do a better job, and this group is a big step forward in Maori having their voices heard.

Mr Hipkins says in order to improve Maori educational achievement, they should be empowered to make their own decisions....
See full article HERE

Propaganda:
International Women's Day 'unmissable opportunity' that misses every time

Sunday March 8, 2020

News:
Fears Covid-19 could cost Māori economy $500 millionThe Federation of Māori Authorities is warning Covid 19 could hit the Māori economy by half a billion dollars.

The Māori economy relies heavily on primary industries and tourism, both of which are taking massive hits as the virus disrupts exports to China and international travel.
See full article HERE

New path for Maori researchers
The Council for Educational Research’s Teaching and Learning Research Initiative has launched a new pathway for kaupapa Māori research.

Sheridan McKinley, the council’s kaiwhakahaere Māori, says this year the initiative has about $1.5 million to spend on research of strategic importance within the early childhood or compulsory school sectors, research that supports success for Māori learners across all sectors, and research that supports success for Pasifika learners......
See full article HERE

Maori probe ACC strategy
The Accident Compensation Corporation's treatment of Maori clients will come under the spotlight at a hui in Auckland today.

Willie Jackson, who has associate ministerial responsibility for the kaupapa Maori aspects of ACC, says there has been a lot of criticism about Maori not being able to access their rights when they have an accident......
See full article HERE

Anglicised Wellington street being corrected to te reo
Wellington's council has found some common ground - on correcting the naming of a street.

Waripori St in Berhampore will now become known as Te Wharepouri St, after a Māori chief of the 1800s, after Wellington City councillors voted unanimously for the change.

Technically, Te Wharepouri has always had a Wellington street named after him.....
See full article HERE

Grapegrowers in Marlborough accused of disturbing ancient Maori land
“Our wahi tapu, our urupa, our burial grounds are all out there beneath that vineyard that now lays there, so its blatant disrespect to our people,” Save Kōwhai Pā event organiser Keelan Walker said.

In 2016, Heritage New Zealand laid and later withdrew charges against company directors Haysley and Phillip Macdonald after work at the site.

Mr Macdonald, a Rangitane iwi trustee, says the action against him is "poltically motivated".

Heritage New Zealand is investigating and won't comment until that process is finished.

But concerned iwi members plan to file a claim against the Crown next week over what they see is a failure to protect their sacred space.......
See full article HERE

Propaganda:
Māori more likely to go to court? No kidding

Understanding the relationship between people and things in te reo

This Breaking Views Update monitors race relations in the media on a weekly basis. A summary of new material being added is emailed out during the week - to subscribe (or unsubscribe) to the mailout, please use the form at the top of the Breaking Views sidebar. If you would like to send Letters to the Editor in response to any of these articles, most media addresses can be found HERE

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