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Saturday, November 21, 2020

Breaking Views Update: Week of 15.11.20







Saturday November 21, 2020 

News:
Opotiki Council Not Introducing Maori Wards

Opotiki District Council have decided they will not be introducing Maori wards in the next local body elections in 2022.

Instead, the council are going to hold a poll at the same time as the election, to ask the community whether they want Maori wards on the council.

The report recommended that bringing in Maori wards without fully understanding all of the consequences would be very foolish.

Mayor Lyn Riesterer says they need to hear from the community first, before making a big change........
See full article HERE

There are fresh calls for Māori seats at Auckland Council, a decade after the supercity was formed.
It comes as requirement for public polls when creating Māori seats looks like it will be removed.

The Royal Commission that recommended the amalgamation in November 2010 also proposed Māori seats be part of the new council.

While Māori seats in the new supercity were scrapped, an Independent Māori Statutory Board (IMSB) was established to promote issues significant to Māori and ensure the council followed the Treaty of Waitangi.......
See full article HERE

Diabetes treatment in NZ racist, claims group of medical experts
A group of medical experts says the way diabetes is treated in New Zealand is racist.

He said the disease was affecting Māori and Pasifika communities much more, calling it an epidemic.

Jansen told Morning Report there were a number of factors why it is racist.

"It's how we design and deploy a health system which doesn't address a very clear need. You look at diabetes as a great example, it's affecting Māori and Pacific populations much more, it is in the form of an epidemic......
See full article HERE

Ngāti Toa Names Key Structures On Transmission Gully
Ngāti Toa Rangatira has named 15 of the 25 structures of the new Transmission Gully motorway, including its largest structure – the bridge over Cannons Creek.

Ngāti Toa Rangatira kaumātua and former Executive Director of Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira, Tā Matiu Rei says the names gifted by the iwi were chosen to recognise many of the original place names that were changed during colonial settlement.......
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 November 20, 2020

News:
Hawke's Bay makes cautious step towards Maori seats
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has decided to poll voters at the next local government elections on whether it should create Māori wards.

Chief executive James Palmer says while a majority of councillors appear to support having dedicated Māori seats, they expressed concern about the about the matter being decided by binding referendum.

The interim step allows a chance for community engagement and consultation...... 
See full article HERE

Petitions launched to scupper Northland councils' Māori wards
Democracy Northland is seeking 11,000 signatures across three citizen-initiated petitions to oppose recent decisions in favour of Māori wards/constituencies by three of the North's four councils - Northland Regional Council (NRC), Whangarei District Council (WDC) and Kaipara District Council (KDC).

Bain said petitioners were clamouring to sign up.

He said hundreds of petitioners' signatures had already come just 24 hours after Democracy Northland's initial public provision of polling petition forms.......
See full article HERE

North Taranaki Midweek advertisement fell short of our values
An advertisement published in the November 18 edition of the North Taranaki Midweek did not represent the views of Stuff and fell short of our values.

As editor of the Stuff Taranaki newsroom I apologise on behalf of the Taranaki team for the anger, hurt and confusion this has caused.

The advertisement in the free community newspaper, which asked readers to collect signatures calling for a referendum on the establishment of a Māori ward at the New Plymouth District Council, was not labelled as advertising.

The advertisement failed to include enough information for readers to come to an informed decision on the ward issue.

It does not include that a referendum could cost up to $100,000 to hold, or that the ward is just one seat among 15 at the council.

It is not necessarily fair to say this represents a “significant” change in voting arrangements, as the advertisement states.

As an advocacy advertisement it should have also included that it was booked and paid for by a member of the Napier-based Hobson's Pledge Trust, an organisation against legislation based upon “ethnicity or ancestry”......
See full article HERE

Lawyer says Countdown’s diversity hiring pledge could be unlawful
A Christchurch employment lawyer believes Countdown's pledge to have more Maori and Pasifika leaders - might breach the law.

The supermarket chain is committed to achieving 20 per cent of its senior leadership roles filled by Maori and Pasifika by 2025.

Canterbury Chambers lawyer Tim McKenzie told Chris Lynch the law says an employer discriminates if they refuse to offer the same work to other employees with the same qualifications and experience - regardless of race......
See full article HERE

Seabed mining appeal: Crown accused of ignoring Māori rights to foreshore and seabed
The Crown has been accused of yet again ignoring Māori rights to the foreshore and seabed in response to its submissions on a ironsand mining civil appeal before the Supreme Court.

The Attorney-General has intervened to make submissions in relation to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Māori customary interests and applicability of tikanga to marine and marine consent discharge applications......
See full article HERE

Rangiriri event a celebration of survival
Tainui iwi will this weekend mark the anniversary of the start of the 1863 Waikato Invasion by celebrating 157 years of resistance.

Te Pūtake o te Riri organiser Brad Totorewa says the focus will be Rangiriri Pā, where 500 Kiingitanga warriors were overwhelmed by 1400 heavily armed British soldiers.

Brad Totorewa says the iwi is also celebrating a $3 million grant from the Provincial Growth Fund to restore trenches used on the site for education purposes, and also its purchase of a 12 hectare block behind the pā which formed an escape path after the battle......
See full article HERE

Māori Party Call On Government To Ban Seabed Mining In Aotearoa
With the Supreme Court hearings wrapping up, Māori Party Co-leader and incoming MP Debbie Ngarewa-Packer is calling on the Government to put in place a nationwide ban on seabed mining permits within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

“For the last seven years I have worked with my iwi to stop seabed mining off the South Taranaki Bight. Our final legal battle has now concluded and as Māori Party Co-leader I will be taking this fight to Parliament and pushing the Government to commit to banning new, and withdrawing existing, seabed mining permits in the EEZ and RMA” said Mrs Ngarewa-Packer......
See full article HERE 

Thursday November 19, 2020

News:
Support for greater Māori representation signalled
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has signalled its support for enhanced Māori representation at the Council table but has stopped short of creating Māori seats for the next local government elections. 

At an extraordinary meeting of the Regional Council today, a majority vote of councillors (5-3) passed a motion instructing the Chief Executive to give notice to the Electoral Officer that a poll on the question of whether the region should have dedicated Māori constituencies is to be held at the next election on 8 October 2022.

This is to be preceded by robust engagement and consultation with the community....... 
See full article HERE

Ōpōtiki votes to poll ratepayers on Māori wards
Ōpōtiki will be asked at the next local body election whether it would like to have Māori wards.

Despite most councillors believing Ōpōtiki District Council has no need for Māori wards, they have decided to ask the community what it thinks and will be undertaking a poll at the 2022 elections.

The council is required to consider implementing Māori wards and could have chosen to implement them without consulting the community, however, the community could then overturn that decision at a cost to the council.

Councillor Louis Rapihana said he was "not at all for segregation in the district and the community".

"I've spoken with three iwi and they're not keen as they don't see it as having mana to them," he said........
See full article HERE

Maori wards on the table in Taupō
The Taupō District Council has left it until the last minute to directly opt for the introduction of Māori wards for the 2022 local body elections.

Māori representation and the possible establishment of Māori wards will be the sole agenda item at an extraordinary council meeting on Monday, November 23 – the last date by which the council could vote for wards to be in place for 2022.....
See full article HERE

'It's time to have a courageous conversation with Māori' - Southgate
A new draft document that lays out a bold strategy for the Hamilton City Council to engage and substantially strengthen its relationship with Māori has been given an enthusiastic thumbs-up by the city’s politicians.

And arguably the most enthusiastic is mayor Paula Southgate, who has hailed He Pou Manawa Ora - Pillars of Wellbeing as “a starting point for the courageous conversations that we have been saying we need to have for some time”.

Cr Dave Macpherson said he hoped the document was the start of a period of profound cultural enlightenment for Hamiltonians.

“Two hundred years ago local Māori owned all this area – that’s what they are bringing to this debate. It’s their land. We landed on it and even the Raupatu [Claims Settlement with Waikato-Tainui] in the 1990s was the modern version of a few blankets and muskets......
See full article HERE

Calls for Parliamentary Oath of Allegiance to recognise Te Tiriti o Waitangi
National Party leader Judith Collins and her deputy Shane Reti were in agreement.

"I will be swearing an oath of allegiance to her majesty and I will do so with the bible," Collins said.

"I support the current Oath of Allegiance and I've completed the documentation to that effect," Reti said.

ACT's David Seymour didn't want to change the oath either, but he was open for other MPs to focus their attention on changing it.......
See full article HERE

Prosecution of Māori for cannabis offenses falling - Police Commissioner
The Police Commissioner has rejected criticism that Māori are still being unfairly prosecuted for low level cannabis offences but is concerned they are more likely to be found in possession of the drug.

The Māori Council and the Drug Foundation say a law change last year giving police more discretionary powers has done nothing.

Andrew Coster told Nine to Noon the law change was intended to confirm what was already happening.

He said there has been about a 40 percent reduction in cannabis prosecutions in the last five years......
See full article HERE

New wharenui for Mountainview High School shows 'a new journey'
The first concept drawings for a new $300,000 wharenui at Mountainview High School, in Timaru, hoped to be built by April, 2021, are complete.

The new wharenui will be the focal point for the school’s Māori studies department.

The curriculum will include te reo (language), kapa haka (performing arts) and tikanga (culture and custom), Diamond said.

“The Treaty of Waitangi makes it clear laying out protection, participation and partnership as important.”

One new te reo specialist will be employed at the school.

“But there is an expectation that all our staff will commit to upskilling in this area, not just language but also tikanga.”.

The new wharenui will be funded through the school investment package – a one-off grant from the Ministry of Education to help with property projects.......
See full article HERE

Countdown sets clock for Maori managers
Supermarket chain Countdown says it wants to have 20 per cent Māori and Pasifika representation at store manager level and above by 2025.

Countdown's game-changer 2025 commitments are as below:

20 per cent of senior leadership positions (store manager level and above) will be held by Māori and Pasifika New Zealanders.....
See full article HERE 

Wednesday November 18, 2020

News:
'Sick to my guts' - Māori Party MP blasts Parliamentary oath of allegiance to Queen
As a new crop of New Zealand parliamentarians prepare to swear their oath of allegiance, MPs are split on whether they should modernise their pledge. 

Each must recite an oath or affirmation to "bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Her heirs and successors" in English or Te Reo Māori.

The Kiwi pledge is also missing a reference to New Zealand's foundational document, the Treaty of Waitangi. 

"To be quite honest it makes me feel sick to my guts," Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi told AAP.

"We don't mind having Queen Elizabeth in there but there's no equality, no mention of the Treaty. And that's what the country was founded on, through consent."......
See full article HERE

Schools in eastern Southland set to diversify classrooms
Thirteen schools in eastern Southland are set to incorporate more te reo and tikanga Māori into the classrooms after taking on cultural training.

At the conference cultural trainer Raiha Johnson​ explained the importance of incorporating tikanga Māori by drawing a circle with a line, Puna said.

If schools were meeting Treaty of Waitangi obligations, the line would be straight down the middle with equal shares between Māori and the crown, he said.......
See full article HERE

Increased investment in Maori wellbeing
Fixing the adverse effect Covid-19 has had on Maori wellbeing and levels of physical activity will be the focus of a $7 million government investment.

Sport NZ Ihi Aotearoa has announced the new investment over the next four years to improve wellbeing outcomes for Maori as part of the $265 million sport recovery package.

A number of new organisations that contribute to wellbeing outcomes that are for, by and with Maori will benefit from the funding boost......
See full article HERE

New Caucus Co-chairs Reaffirm Labour Commitment To Māori
MP for Te Tai Tonga, Rino Tirikatene and MP for Northland, Willow-Jean Prime were this morning unanimously elected as new co-chairs of the Labour Māori Caucus.

The Labour MPs, who replace outgoing co-chairs Willie Jackson and Meka Whaitiri, say they are focused on continuing the caucus’s work across Government to deliver for Māori......
See full article HERE

Māori population estimates: At 30 June 2020
The Māori ethnic population grew 17,100 (2.1 percent compared with 2.3 percent for the national population).

New Zealand’s estimated Māori ethnic population was 850,500 (or 16.7 percent of national population).....
See full article HERE

'Impractical, incompatible': Gisborne museum refuses to exhibit Endeavour model
Tairāwhiti Museum in Gisborne has refused to accept a controversial Endeavour model, saying it is both "impractical" and "incompatible" with its policies.

The museum's trust deed said it should operate in accordance with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi at all times, specifically to "encourage the spirit of partnership".

"Iwi in Tairāwhiti have clearly stated their positions, the museum respects and supports those positions, and particularly notes the stance of Te Aitanga a Mahaki, who hold mana whenua of the land upon which the museum sits," Wallace said......
See full article HERE

'Why have we been forgotten?': Prime Minister urged to take action on gender pay gap for Māori and Pasifika women
Laulala today made an emotional plea to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to "put action behind her promises" for Māori and Pasifika women.

Ardern told Laulala she was not going to argue with her and the Government knew the pay gap at the Ministry of Justice where she worked was among the worst.

"There is nothing defensible about a pay gap, a gender pay gap, a pay gap that's demonstrably clear around ethnicity. There's no justification at all.".....
See full article HERE

Strategy Aims To Kick Off ‘Courageous Conversations’
A public consultation process aimed at enhancing the city’s relationship with Maori was approved by Hamilton City Council today.

He Pou Manawa Ora – Pillars of Wellbeing is a strategic document that will focus Council’s work on delivering shared outcomes to Maaori and all Hamiltonians......
See full article HERE

How New Zealand's diverse new parliament compares internationally
Māori representation has slipped, however, from 23% at the last election to 21%. That's the lowest level of Māori representation since 2014, but it is still higher than the total proportion of people who identify as Māori in the general population -- around 17%.

New Zealand's Parliament has had Māori seats since 1867, soon after the country was founded, but these have sometimes been seen as tokenism. Until 1967, Māori candidates were only allowed to contest a limited number of Māori seats, and it was only in 1975 that Māori were able to choose whether they wanted to be on the Māori electoral roll......
See full article HERE

Articles:
Bruce Moon: An Open Letter to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

Tuesday November 17, 2020

News:
Luxon keen to unlock Maori economy
National’s new iwi development spokesperson says he intends to draw on his business experience for the role.


Christopher Luxon says as head of Air New Zealand he probably developed better connections with Māori than any other New Zealand chief executive, including increasing the amount of te reo Māori used in the organisation and getting Māori business thinkers to work with middle management.

"That’s really what's attractive to me in this portfolio, it's how do we unleash the economic potential of the Māori economy in order to close the gap we see economically, in education, employment and health and that is really quite exciting," Mr Luxon says........ 
See full article HERE

Wairau River Regional Park Plan Gets Green Light
A “visionary” new regional park along the banks of the lower Wairau River will be the first of its kind in Marlborough.

This will include partnering and co-designing the plan with mana whenua iwi and seeking feedback from the community and river users on issues, opportunities and ideas for managing the river as a regional park. This process is expected to take up to 14 months.......
See full article HERE

NZ Herald and Māori TV sign content partnership
NZME and Māori Television have signed a new content partnership that will see journalism and content shared across each other's major news platforms.

Māori Television, New Zealand's indigenous broadcaster, provides a wide range of local and international programmes, with a strong focus on delivering world-class news and current content for its television broadcast and online audiences.

The NZME news platforms include nzherald.co.nz, the biggest and most popular news website in New Zealand, the NZ Herald, the country's most widely read newspaper, the ZB radio news service, and a stable of regional and community newspapers that have a strong connection with local readers and audiences.......
See full article HERE

Vodafone and Ngāi Tahu sign partnership to boost iwi's digital connectivity
Vodafone and Ngāi Tahu have signed an agreement to help increase digital connectivity with the South Island iwi, hoping for mutually beneficial outcomes for both parties.

The partnership also aims to boost diversity in the technology sector.

Ngāi Tahu and Vodafone will establish a steering group of Vodafone and Ngāi Tahu senior leaders, who will oversee the delivery of the annual work plan......
See full article HERE

Hawke's Bay councillors claim Māori seat discussion was 'rushed'
A Hawke's Bay regional councillor says a meeting to consider establishing one or more Māori seats has been "rushed".

First-term councillor Craig Foss said the item - to be heard at an extraordinary, or not previously scheduled meeting, on Wednesday - has allowed the council little time to consult.

He said he was "at a loss to understand why" it had been called.

"I'm very concerned about where this has come from and why it suddenly seems so urgent."......
See full article HERE

Maori ward in Kaipara improves “democratic wellbeing”
Kaipara District Council last month voted to establish a new Maori ward ahead of the 2022 local government elections.

Cr Larsen declined to comment on why he had abstained, or outline his views on Maori wards, saying he did not have a mandate from ratepayers to form a position on the issue, as the proposal had not been consulted on.......
See full article HERE

Māori wards proponents urge government to pass legislation before Northland polls
A leading New Zealand Māori wards advocate is calling on the prime minister to take immediate action over a major impediment to their establishment in Northland.

Former New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) mayor Andrew Judd says "Legislation change around removing polling over councils' Māori wards voting needs to be the first cab off the rank at the first sitting of our new Parliament".

A spokesperson for the prime minister said Maōri wards legislation change consideration was already under way. The government was committed to making the creation of these wards easier, but legislation change would not be considered at the first full working session of the new Parliament - on 1 December.

NRC will likely write to Mahuta next week, calling for a polling moratorium or similar, after its Tuesday 17 November full council meeting.......
See full article HERE

Land to be returned to Rotorua hapū
Local residents visited Rotorua's council chambers to present submissions for the return of Pururu Reserve.

"We were approached by Ngāti Kearoa, Ngāti Tuara about the return of land that they had gifted to the council some years ago," Rotorua Lakes Council group manager for Māori, Gina Rangi said.

"The council has agreed to return the land, the recreational reserve, back to our whānau," Corbett said. "What will happen is it will go under a common law trust and the Tarewa Marae will then become the trustees of that piece of land. Then we will look to options for the future of what we're going to do with it," she said........
See full article HERE

Justice with a difference: The iwi panels with a 92% success rate
Iwi justice panels in Wellington have credited strong relationships with police and support services at their fingertips for the region's success.

Te Pae Oranga in Waiwhetu is an alternative pathway for low-level offenders, usually held on marae, and uses a restorative justice process integrated with kaupapa Māori practices instead of sending them through the courts.

The latest figures from police show a 92 percent success rate for Māori in the Wellington region, compared to a 54 percent success rate nationally......
See full article HERE

Propaganda:
Being Pākehā 

Monday November 16, 2020

News:
Rotorua Boys' High School changes house names following slavery link discovery 
Principal Chris Grinter said they did some research into the actions of Sir Walter Raleigh/Ralegh, Admiral Horatio Nelson, Sir Martin Frobisher and Sir Francis Drake - and found they had been involved and implicated in slavery as they worked to spread the colonial movement worldwide.

In consultation with Ngāti Whakaue, the new house names have come from the school's pepeha (places and people you are connected to) and were revealed to the school this week at the senior prizegiving. 

The new houses are Ngongotahā (red), which was formerly Drake, Utuhina (green) which was formerly Raleigh, Te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe (blue) which was formerly Nelson and Te Akitu a Raukura (yellow) which was formerly Frobisher......
See full article HERE

Agreement to strengthen iwi access to education opportunities
A top of the south iwi is hoping to guide its whanau to education opportunities after signing a memorandum with the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Rārua and the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) this week signed the memorandum of understanding, to improve access to education and retraining opportunities.....
See full article HERE

Māori research projects land Marsden Fund support
University of Otago researchers this week learned they have secured $17.5 million in funding for 30 projects, including three with a unique Māori perspective.

Researcher Dr Erica Newman received $300,000 to examine the impact of the 1955 Adoption Act on the identity of descendants of Māori adoptees yet to connect to their taha Māori.

Dr Htin Lin Aung also received $300,000 to decode the genetic determinants of a strain of Tuberculosis-causing bacteria which disproportionally affect Māori.

Dr Jude Ball, of the University of Otago, Wellington, was awarded $300,000 to understand how the function and meaning of substance use has changed in young people's lives.

It will also inform local efforts, including efforts by and for Māori, to reduce substance-related harm.".....
See full article HERE

Articles:
Creative NZ gives support to the art of pressing MPs to change “racist” law and facilitate race-based voting systems

Propaganda:
Why referendums are never likely to advance Māori interests 

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
 

1 comment:

TOny Noble said...

I have no problem having names which have New Zealand context, but the rationale for changing names based on associations with slavery is nonsensical. Maori were slavers and fair is fair there is no suspicion or allegation that Sir Walter Raleigh ate his slaves.