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Saturday, July 24, 2021

Breaking Views Update: Week of 18.07.21







Saturday July 24, 2021 

News:
Datacom seals partnership with Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu

Datacom Group and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu have signed a strategic partnership to deliver a series of tech projects and a new pathway for Māori youth in the tech sector.

The agreement, which was inked yesterday, will see the South Island iwi and New Zealand’s largest home-grown technology provider working together to embrace new channels for training and development, Datacom Group CEO Greg Davidson said.

The kaupapa (principle or policy) will help Datacom to better understand the needs of Māori in the tech sector......
See full article HERE

Panuku Admits Social Housing Quota Is Illegal
Auckland Council Property Development arm Panuku has conceded that thousands of Māori and Pacific Island elders, single parents and beneficiaries have been forced on to Government Housing Waiting List by their flawed and unlawful social housing quota.

In a letter to Waipareira CEO John Tamihere, Panuku CEO David Rankin admits the 30% Social Housing quota – which for the past decade has been embedded in Panuku’s terms, had no real legal basis.....
See full article HERE

More on the above here > Auckland Council agency seeks way out of costly legal battle with John Tamihere

No new Maori role plans at councils
As the Invercargill City Council prepares to increase Maori representation within its ranks, another two Southland councils have revealed similar moves are not on their radars.

Last week, the city council moved on a report that would likely mean mana whenua positions were created as early as September.

The new positions, which would be given to one representative from both Waihopai Runaka and Te Runanga o Awarua, follows a decision by Environment Southland to introduce similar roles in March 2019.

However, the Gore District Council has indicated it will not be doing the same any time soon......
See full article HERE

Review of Māori Electoral Option needs wider focus, says Māori politics expert
A Government review of when Māori can switch electoral rolls is too narrow and should focus on the political significance of the Māori Electoral Option as well, a Māori politics expert says.

The Ministry of Justice is asking Māori for their views on whether to change the timing of the Māori Electoral Option.

But associate professor in Māori Studies at Victoria University Maria Bargh, whose research includes Māori representation and voting in local and general elections, says the issues are much broader than whether Māori should have a choice once every five years or once every three-year electoral cycle......
See full article HERE

More on the above here > Māori electoral option: Information campaign needed ahead of 2022 elections, councillor says

'Absolutely appalled': DHB boss yanks racist vaccine booklet
A Covid-19 vaccine information booklet using Māori faces on cartoon virus figures has been immediately withdrawn from circulation after it was deemed racist.

An investigation has been launched after the publicity material, "Let's Give Covid-19 The Boot", was issued by the Bay of Plenty District Health Board and its public health arm, Toi Te Ora Tauranga.

It provides information about the Pfizer vaccination with the Covid-19 virus portrayed as Māori....
See full article HERE

Iwi benefit in Tairawhiti jobs for nature push
Jobs for Nature is putting $14.7 million into iwi-led and iwi-designed projects in Te Tairāwhiti.

Almost $11 million is going to Tūranga Kaimahi mō te Taiao, a collaborative ecological regeneration partnership between Tūranga iwi Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Rongowhakaata and Te Aitanga a Māhaki to protect biodiversity through fencing, planting, and weed and pest management, as well as restore and protect cultural historic sites......
See full article HERE

Pūtiki Bay protesters take action to Auckland Council
The Protect Pūtiki group are protesting against the development which has seen violent clashes between occupiers and security personnel.

But the Council has made it clear that it can't do anything.

Mayor Phil Goff refused to meet with the group and hear their concerns as they arrived this morning.......
See full article HERE

Propaganda:
Gary Dell: What te reo Māori means for four generations of my family

Judith, talk to us not about us 

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 July 23, 2021 

News: 
Traditional health practice literally paving way for wellness at Hokianga hospital 
Traditional Māori wellbeing practices are literally paving the way for health and wellbeing for Hokianga Hospital patients.

Hauora Hokianga is planting more native trees to develop the hospital wellbeing and healing pathway- Ara Rongoā Hikoi Whakaora- which will eventually loop around the entire site.

The aim is to reframe the hospital from being a place of illness to a place of wellbeing and healing......
See full article HERE

Māori employment weathers pandemic storm well: ANZ
A new report on unemployment shows that Māori have not done as badly as might have been expected during the pandemic, so far.

In fact, Māori had the smallest increase in unemployment compared to other groups, ANZ’s chief economist Sharon Zollner said.

Māori employment had typically been more vulnerable in previous recessions in New Zealand but 2020 was different.

“It just so happens that industries where Māori are currently more likely to be employed have been the ones that have experienced some of the most robust recoveries.”....
See full article HERE

One up driving Opposition gang policy
Māori Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer is accusing National and ACT of playing racist ping pong over who will be tougher on gangs.

Both parties have blamed Labour for an increase in the number of gang members, and ACT is proposing new laws including ensuring gang members can’t spend welfare money on alcohol, gambling or tobacco.

Debbie Ngarewa Packer says hundreds of millions of dollars have been poured into solutions that don’t work, and it’s time for the other parties to admit that Māori needs to be looking after Māori.....
See full article HERE

Articles:
Mike Yardley: The Police Minister is drinking the Kool Aid 

Thursday July 22, 2021 

News: 
Maori flag ‘yes or no’ to go to vote 
Otago Polytechnic students will be asked if they want the Maori flag, the tino rangatiratanga, to fly at the Dunedin campus.

Otago Polytechnic Students’ Association president Ezra Tamati said students would be polled, probably next month, with a simple ‘‘yes or no’’ choice.

The polling could be online, on social media, or with ballot boxes at the school’s Forth St campus, he said.......
See full article HERE

Unwieldy WAI 262 claim needs new structure for progress
A Māori intellectual property researcher says a new approach to leadership and a new structure is needed to carry forward the issues raised in the WAI 262 Fauna and Flora Claim.

Karaitiana Taiuru was one of the speakers at yesterday’s online Kia Whakapūmau symposium, and he says the way the claim expanded to encompass everything from the protection of artworks to genetic modification is a tribute to the vision and world view of the original claimants......
See full article HERE

Racist rant earns rare disharmony charge
The Māori Party has welcomed a change of inciting racial disharmony against a man who posted an anti-Māori rant online.

The man was granted continued name suppression when he appeared in the Tauranga Community Magistrates' Court last week.

While the racial disharmony charge carries a lesser penalty than his other charge of making an objectionable publication, Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi says it should set a precedent for any future human rights breaches and hate speech by white extremists.....
See full article HERE

Māori culture plays key role in NZ Olympic team's campaign
Almost 40 athletes who identify as being of Māori descent will compete at the Tokyo Games this year.

The New Zealand Olympic Team has worked hard to provide an environment that incorporates tikanga Māori and reinforce athletes' identity with advisors such as former Commonwealth Games medallist Trevor Shailer helping lay the foundation over the years.....
See full article HERE

Latest Financial Capability Study Proves Knowledge Is Power -with Positive Findings For Māori
Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission has today released its latest survey into the financial capability of New Zealanders. The survey, which canvassed over 3,000 New Zealanders, informs New Zealand’s National Strategy for Financial Capability and feeds into projects to improve financial capability outcomes for New Zealanders. The study found four key headlines including:

* a person’s financial knowledge, behaviour and psychology can have a greater influence on their overall financial wellbeing rather than how much they earn, how old they are or what ethnicity or gender they identify with.

* Māori convert the same level of knowledge and resource into greater financial wellbeing than Pākehā. Therefore, investment in Māori financial capability is likely to bring disproportionately higher payoffs for this group’s financial wellbeing.....
See full article HERE

Wairarapa iwi to launch vote on $115m settlement
Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-a-Rua [NKKWTNR] iwi members will vote next week on the terms of a $115 million Treaty of Waitangi settlement.

The iwi, whose rohe takes in Wairarapa and extends from the Ruahine Ranges to Cape Palliser - Mātakitaki-a-Kupe - opens a poll of its membership over the updated terms of the settlement with the Crown.

Trust chair Robin Potangaroa said the package adds significantly to that voted on in 2018.

Three years ago, more than 70 percent of members voted in favour of Deed of Settlement terms valued at $93m.

It included the Crown's acknowledgement of breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi, a Crown apology, and 19,231 hectares of land.....
See full article HERE

Articles:
Bob Jones: Colonialism nonsense

Propaganda:
Tikanga-based banking services are needed to address inequality

Lifting the bar: A court process that felt like a Māori process 

Wednesday July 21, 2021 

News: 
Land protest under way in South Taranaki over 'wrongfully sold' house 
Rerekura, a member of the Māori sovereignty group Matua Karanga Foundation, said he stopped paying his rates three or four years ago.

This led to the holder of his mortgage selling the property and evicting him, as paying rates was part of the bank mortgage contract.

In March 2020, following three years of legal proceedings, the High Court ruled in the bank’s favour to evict Rerekura from the property, but the bank delayed the eviction because of the Covid emergency......
See full article HERE

Groups' application for leave to appeal Mt Messenger decision rejected by Supreme Court
The $280 million Mt Messenger bypass project has taken a “positive step” forward after a Supreme Court ruling against two opposition groups.

Poutama Kaitiaki Charitable Trust and Ahititi farmers Tony and Debbie Pascoe, who own land being used for the bypass, sought leave to appeal a High Court decision allowing the roading project to go ahead.

But in its judgement, released on July 15, the Supreme Court dismissed the groups’ application.

The Environment Court found neither the Pascoes or Poutama had Maori ancestry linking them to the land, nor was there any evidence Poutama was an iwi exercising mana whenua......
See full article HERE

Grant to build Maori surgery institute
One of the country’s newest surgeons wants to help other Māori follow her along the same path.

Jamie-Lee Rahiri from Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Whātua and Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi is a surgical registrar at Waitematā DHB, where she’s working to build a pro-equity and culturally safe surgical workforce.

She’s just received a $30,000 health delivery research grant from the Health Research Council to lay the groundwork for Te Piringa Kotuku - an independent Māori surgical research and training institute.....
See full article HERE

Ngai Tai looks to own in house building frenzy
One of Auckland's largest iwi housebuilders is teaming up with a housing charity to ensure some of its own people get homes.

Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki has already delivered a number of apartments and houses around the city, and it has just got sign off from Ministers Megan Woods and Grant Robertson for a 300-plus unit development at Middlemore that will be a mix of Kainga Ora, Kiwibuild and market homes......
See full article HERE

Not strong enough, iwi say over council's new 'ecological' designation
Iwi north of Auckland to the Bay of Islands are banding together to support an appeal by Forest & Bird against the Northland Regional Council (NRC) Regional Plan which is adopting 'significant ecological areas' (SEAs).

The move follows widespread protests throughout Northland last month against similar designations on Māori land.

SEAs are determined under the Resource Management Act and give councils control over designated areas, including fishing regulations with the aim of retaining indigenous species......
See full article HERE

Articles:
Effi Lincoln: Gout and the Treaty-driven misrepresentation of health equity statistics.

Propaganda:
Opportunities are not the same for many non-Pākehā school students 

Tuesday July 20, 2021 

News: 
Flags fly as Waikato Regional Council's central complex unveiled 
Flags were hoisted in Hamilton on Monday, as dignitaries filed into the sleek, central Waikato Regional Council headquarters.

New Zealand Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy and the Māori King, Tūheitia, officially opened the modern complex, as local Labour and National MPs, council chief executives and Waikato councillors filed in to take a look.

King Tūheitia unveiled four taonga hanging in the entrance, foyer and council chambers of the building.......
See full article HERE

Māori Wardens move in with police as they reestablish presence in Lower Hutt
Māori Wardens have reestablished themselves in Lower Hutt to help combat social problems.

They have moved into a new base at the Naenae Community Policing Centre, three years after leaving their old office at the now closed Naenae pool.......
See full article HERE

Productivity Commission seeks public's views on 'persistent disadvantage'
The Productivity Commission is seeking public input as it prepares for its inquiry into how to break the cycle of long-term disadvantage.

The Commission noted that Māori have been systematically dispossessed of their land and other resources, and suffered significant losses to their population, language, culture, authority, wealth and wellbeing, which has led to intergenerational cycles of disadvantage for many whānau......
See full article HERE

New council CEO says “iwi partnership is key”
In particular, he acknowledges the need to work with local iwi and Maori representatives, many of whom were present.

“I’m excited,” he says.

“Very excited. I truly believe that partnership with Māori is the true way forward and I look forward to working with you,” he says, in relation to a challenge to look after Māori in the community which was presented in the opening korero.......
See full article HERE

Maori co-design needed to challenge cop computer bias
A member of Internet New Zealand’s new Māori design group says police should have engaged with Māori when they started to use computer algorithms to fight crime.

Police have revealed they use about two dozen algorithms or series of database questions in what they call a considered and limited way.

But Dr Karaitiana Taiuru says the examples given in the police report clearly show biases which affect who is watched and how they are treated......
See full article HERE

Watch: The Barrier Between Us
How could the government offer land on Aotea/Great Barrier as part of a Treaty of Waitangi settlement for iwi who no longer live on the island without consulting with an iwi who do?......
See full article HERE

Bay of Plenty marae tells UN about serious health issues from industry's 'chemical violence'
A small Bay of Plenty marae has told the United Nation's special forum on the rights of indigenous peoples that "chemical violence" by heavy industry is having serious health effects for whānau.

Whareroa Marae spokesperson Joel Ngātuere and Ngāti Kuku chair Awhina Ngātuere presented to the UN and both spoke of the trauma inflected by neighbouring industry.

The marae has long called for cleaner, clearer air, and Joel told 1 NEWS having to take their fight to the UN is an embarrassment for New Zealand......
See full article HERE


Monday July 19, 2021 

News: 
Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr has embraced Te Ao Māori and is pushing back against racism and abuse — he explains why 
Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr says racism may be behind some pushback the central bank has felt since it began embracing Te Ao Māori, or the Māori world, under his watch.

Orr was the first governor to be welcomed with a pōwhiri when he joined a little over three years ago and since then he has been on a mission to better link the 87-year-old hallowed institution with the multicultural country it serves.

Orr says he is focused on laying down the foundational pillars for Te Ao Māori within the bank so that they will last beyond his tenure.......
See full article HERE

Te Reo Maori Plan 2021–2025
As a leading public university, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington is committed to contributing to the vision of the Maihi Karauna, ‘Kia māhorahora te reo’. This vision aims to support and ensure that all ‘New Zealanders use, learn, and value te reo Māori’. Upon achieving this vision, there is an expectation that te reo Māori will become ‘a normal part of daily life for wider Aotearoa New Zealand’. As a university, our plan aims to support the three primary outcomes of the Maihi Karauna (Table 1)......
See full article HERE

New journalism fund's first projects unveiled
The first tranche of the government’s $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund has been allocated - against a backdrop of criticism it could skew reporting of political issues.

Where the money will go
 
On Thursday NZOA announced where the first $9.6m is going (see full list here).

Around 40 per cent has gone to projects benefiting Māori journalism......
See full article HERE

Articles:
50 years of settlements using a fake Treaty of Waitangi – Ian Bradford

Propaganda:
What's in a name? Restoring the mana of Taranaki Maunga

Aotearoa's music industry is becoming bilingual, but at what cost to Māori? 

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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