Breaking Views Update: Week of 14.11.21

Saturday November 20, 2021 

News:
Māori leaders want urgent inquiry into Govt’s pandemic response
A group of Māori leaders have made an application to the Waitangi Tribunal for an urgent inquiry into the Government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Claimants Archdeacon Harvey Ruru, Sir Edward Durie and representatives of the New Zealand Māori Council have told the tribunal Māori are significantly and irreversibly prejudiced by the Crown’s Covid-19 Protection Framework.

The group are proposing a week-long urgent hearing to take place from December 6.

The Waitangi Tribunal, which investigates breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi by the Crown, only accepts urgent hearings in extraordinary circumstances......
See full article HERE

DOC takes next step in stewardship land reclassification
Along with the proposed legislative changes, It has been confirmed Ngāi Tahu cultural values and interests will be captured in the reclassification process through the addition of a Ngāi Tahu mana whenua panel to work with two national panels, DOC said in a statement.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Kaiwhakahaere, Lisa Tumahai says the Ngāi Tahu-appointed mana whenua panel will provide information on stewardship land within the Ngāi Tahu takiwā to enhance the Minister of Conservation’s decision making......
See full article HERE

Council Hui Lays Groundwork For Modelling Aquifer Changes
Members of Gisborne District Council’s Strategy and Science team spent Thursday morning at a workshop discussing freshwater issues with Councillors and iwi partners.

This morning’s hui was an important step toward meaningful Council and iwi partnership in the future of water management......
See full article HERE

Waitangi Tribunal finds e-commerce CPTPP breaches Treaty principles, but makes no further recommendations
The Waitangi Tribunal has found that the electronic commerce chapter to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) has breached the Treaty of Waitangi principles of partnership and active protection.

But the Tribunal declined to make any recommendations as a result of the breach.

The Tribunal ruling, which was released at midday on Friday, concluded “that the risks to Māori interests arising from the e-commerce provisions are significant, and that reliance on the exceptions and exclusions to mitigate that risk falls short of the Crown’s duty of active protection”......
See full article HERE

Te Whanau a Apanui release conditions for holiday makers this summer
With COVID-19 now present in the Bay of Plenty, the Government opening regional borders and loosening restrictions and summer holidays around the corner, the Te Whanau a Apanui COVID-19 Iwi Response Unit (IRU) have set conditions in place over the summer period to ensure the safety of our people at home but also to ensure we can safely receive our whanau who are coming home for the holidays.

"We are asking for holiday makers, those who do not whakapapa to Te Whanau a Apanui to refrain from entering our tribal territories this summer......
See full article HERE

Waitangi Tribunal Recommends That The Wairarapa Settlement Does Not Go Ahead
The Waitangi Tribunal agreed to hear the claim under extreme urgency together with claims made by the Wairarapa ki Pouākani Incorporation and the Rangitāne Tū Mai Rā Trust. A hearing was held on 11 and 12 November 2021, and on 18 November 2021 the Waitangi Tribunal released its decision in favour of the claimants:.....
See full article HERE

Government funding supports new iwi led housing in Ōpōtiki
* $350 million Māori Infrastructure Fund to enable at least 2,700 houses (at least a 1000 of these will be homes delivered through Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga investment.)

* $380 million for Māori housing in Budget 2021 to build on the MAIHI work we’ve started.

* Our $3.8 billion Housing Acceleration Fund for infrastructure will invest in increasing the pace and scale of new, affordable housing, including for Māori.

* $2 billion in extra borrowing for Kāinga Ora for strategic land purchases for housing......
See full article HERE

Stronger Outcomes For All Ngāi Tahu Communities With Police-Ngāi Tahu Agreement
Police and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu have formalised our important relationship with the signing of an official partnership agreement.

The agreement, signed at the Tamatea Marae today, formalises our commitment to each other and to work collaboratively to build stronger outcomes for our Māori communities.

Police Commissioner Andrew Coster says the partnership is an important milestone in the Police effort to deliver on the organisation’s objectives of Te Huringa o Te Tai strategy, and towards realising aspirations of Māori through strong partnerships with iwi.......
See full article HERE

Nau mai to Council’s new Maangai Maaori
Maangai Maaori were added to Council’s governance structure in 2018 to represent iwi (Waikato-Tainui) and maataa waka (other Maaori and Pacific people living in Hamilton).

There are five Maaori representatives who sit on various Council committees, independently recommended to Council by Waikato-Tainui and Te Runanga o Kirikiriroa......
See full article HERE

Articles:
Buying back the whenua – Chris Trotter 

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 19, 2021 

News: 

The Government has approved $46.75 million and signed 26 contracts to rapidly accelerate Māori vaccinations across Aotearoa and support the efforts of DHBs to reach the 90% double vaccinated target. 

Contracts with providers cover the following regions: Te Pou Matakana (North Island) (1) and Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu (South Island) (1), Te Tai Tokerau (11), Tamaki Makarau (5), Waikato-Waiariki (3), Ikaroa-Rāwhiti (2), Te Tai Hauāuru (1) and Te Waipounamu (2).

Associate Minister of Health (Whānau Ora) Minita mo Whānau Ora, Peeni Henare said funding had extended existing arrangements with Te Pou Matakana ($5.00 million) and Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu ($0.887 million) through 136 whānau ora providers across the South and North Islands......

See full article HERE

Te Ranga Tupua collective secures $2.8m to prepare for Covid-19 cases

An iwi collective says they are committed to standing up their own response effort to help prepare for what they expect as an increase in Covid-19 cases among Māori when the country moves into the traffic light system.

Te Ranga Tupua collective, made up of iwi in Whanganui, Rangitīkei, Ruapehu and South Taranaki, have secured $2.8 million of government funding to ensure support for whānau in the region, in to provide information and build preparedness and resilence to Covid-19.....

See full article HERE

Rotorua council botches Māori seat plan

Te Arawa is upset at a recommendation as there only be one Māori seat on a 10-member Rotorua Lakes District Council after the next local government election.

Council still has a chance to fix it at tomorrow’s full meeting, and she’s pushing a model with two Māori seats, four general seats and four at large seats.....

See full article HERE

New Zealand's cheapest fuel sold by an iwi-owned petrol station near Gisborne

A Gisborne iwi trust is offering the country’s cheapest fuel in a bid to combat the impact of rapidly rising prices nationwide.

Allied Rickards Garage 24/7, owned by the Tāmanuhiri Tūtū Poroporo Trust in the small Manutuke settlement near Gisborne, is offering 91 unleaded fuel for $2.25L.

According to fuel price monitoring app Gaspy that makes it New Zealand’s cheapest.....

See full article HERE 

Thursday November 18, 2021 

News: 

Māori term kaitiakitanga added to Oxford English Dictionary 

The Māori term kaitiakitanga has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).

It comes as part of the dictionary's October update, which has seen nearly 100 new and updated entries with a special focus on words relating to climate and the environment.

According to the dictionary, kaitiakitanga is a noun which means "guardianship or management, especially of the natural resources of a place or area; environmental stewardship considered as a duty and responsibility of the inhabitants of an area"......

See full article HERE

Māori business definition sought
Statistics New Zealand is trying to pin down what is a Māori business.

Senior Māori advisor Paul Clarke says the definition will help it give a better picture of the contribution Māori business makes to the New Zealand economy.

“A Māori business is a business that is owned by a person or people that have Māori whakapapa and a representative of that business as Māori so that is our starting point, that is what we are interested in hearing feedback about,” Mr Clarke says.....
See full article HERE

Tatua director resigns over offensive social media post
A long serving director of Waikato milk processor Tatua Co-operative Dairy has resigned after an offensive social media post relating to Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta.

In a Facebook post made on November 9, Townshend makes disparaging remarks about Mahuta’s traditional tattoo (moko) and how it may be perceived during her 17-day overseas trip that began last Thursday......
See full article HERE

Legal education – reflecting on a bijural, bilingual and bicultural law degree
Tikanga Māori is relevant and applicable to many facets of the state legal system, including legislation, the criminal justice system, public law, and property law. Therefore, law graduates must be “trained to work in a bijural, bicultural and bilingual Aotearoa New Zealand legal system” and they must be able to meaningfully engage with tikanga Māori in order to be effective lawyers.[5] However, law schools must also be able to meaningfully engage with tikanga Māori in order to provide effective, culturally responsive and competent delivery of te ao Māori concepts. Currently, law school remains a tool of colonisation that continues to perpetuate the dominance of Pākehā law.[6] If we are to shift to a truly bijural system which recognises tikanga Māori within its own right, we must decolonise our institutions to create a legal education that is bicultural, bilingual and subsequently bijural........
See full article HERE

Leighton Smith Podcast: Murray Bolton, Muriel Newman and Ewen McQueen talk government, business and the state New Zealand is in
Businessman Murray Bolton took the bureaucracy to the High Court and fought for his rights, and by default for our rights. We talk government, how to succeed if you are young, the Bill of Rights and more.

We have a word with Muriel Newman from NZCPR. She has written a letter to the Prime Minister outlining why “we” don't love her anymore.

And Ewen McQueen, author of “One Sun in the Sky: the Untold Story of Sovereignty and the Treaty of Waitangi”, on why New Zealand is in a dangerous place......
See full article HERE

Articles:
When the He Puapua Report, commissioned by Mahuta, makes it clear that by 2040 the restoration of Māori water rights should be an acknowledged and accomplished fact.

Propaganda:
Unpacking homegrown appropriation of Māori culture 

Wednesday November 17, 2021 

News: 

Minister praises Te Reo Māori award 

Minister for Māori Development Willie Jackson says he is proud of the innovative efforts of Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo Māori – Māori Language Commission staff which saw them win the world’s most prestigious public relations award.

Minister Jackson said the effort put in by Te Taura Whiri chief executive, Ngahiwi Apanui (pictured) and his staff, to get more than one million New Zealanders uniting to celebrate te reo Māori was a fantastic effort.

“This government has pledged to ensure one million people in New Zealand are able to speak basic te reo Māori by 2040. We all need to do our bit to ensure te reo Māori is a thriving and living language and it’s heartening to see Ngahiwi and his team making this happen,” he said......

See full article HERE

Wētā Workshop adds macrons to undo misuse of te reo Māori
For years, missing macrons meant Weta Workshop was mistakenly named after excrement, rather than the spiky native insect.

According to Hēmi Kelly, a lecturer in Te Ara Poutama, the faculty of Maori Studies at AUT, the correct way to spell weta, as in the insect, is with a macron on the ē and the ā.

The macrons indicate the vowel sounds should be elongated – weh-taa.....
See full article HERE

Māori Population Estimates: At 30 June 2021
New Zealand’s estimated Māori ethnic population was 875,300 (17.1 percent of national population)......
See full article HERE

"Insulting": Te Arawa rep leaves meeting over governance model proposal
A Te Arawa representative says it is “insulting” and a “farce” the council did not consult with iwi about a proposed new governance structure.

On Tuesday, Rotorua Lakes Council’s Strategy, Policy and Finance Committee met to discuss the future governance structure of the council, including how a Māori ward would work and how many seats it would have.......
See full article HERE

Māori kai and diet knowledge sought to promote wellness
A wāhine Māori dietician is launching a project to gather Māori knowledge and tikanga to help improve the health of for whānau, hapū and iwi.

Dr Nikki Renall from Massey University recently graduated with her PhD and has been awarded nearly $350,000 towards a new study in Māori nutrition.

The research project named Mātauranga Kai will use partnerships with Māori communities to gather stories about kai from kaumātua and other knowledge holders.......
See full article HERE 

Tuesday November 16, 2021 

News: 

Ngāti Toa condemns anti-vax haka hijack 

Ngāti Toa is condemning the use of its haka Ka Mate in anti-vax protests.

Chair Taku Parai says the iwi sees Covid-19 as a threat to its people and is assisting vaccination efforts.

He’s angry at reports Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki intends to teach the haka to people attending future protests against vaccine mandate......

See full article HERE

Wellington City Council Spends $11,000 On Māori Translation Of Spatial Plan
Wellington City Council spent $11,482 plus GST producing a te reo translation of the summary of its new spatial plan, reveals the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union.

Just 50 te reo copies were printed – resulting in a translation cost of $220 per printed copy.....
See full article HERE

$2.9m HRC funding for Otago
Māori Health Summer Studentships – 3 months, $5000
Leon Harris, University of Otago
Kaitiaki experiences of adolescence care following sports injury

Mieka Taylor, University of Otago
Perceptions of caregivers of Māori children attending Māori centred childcare

Tali Wilson-Munday, University of Otago
Implementation of Tikanga Māori into clinical practice by Physiotherapy graduate

Māori Health Masters Scholarships
Elisabeth Dacker, University of Otago, 12 months, $31,600.00
The effects of urinary incontinence on Māori women’s health

Grace Davies, University of Otago, 24 months, $32,400.00
Māori attitudes towards vaccination in Aotearoa New Zealand

Māori Health PhD Scholarships
Callum August, University of Otago, 36 months, $131,850.00
Combatting Mate Kohi (Tuberculosis) on the home front

Maori Health Clinical Training Fellowships
Cara Meredith, University of Otago, Christchurch, 36 months, $263,405.00
Kaupapa Māori approaches to maternal mental health.....
See full article HERE

Shelly Bay occupation continues despite notice to move on
The occupiers at Wellington's Shelly Bay are showing no sign of moving on, as the deadline for their departure arrives.

Te Ātiawa leaders, including the commercial entities of the iwi, last Monday served occupiers with papers giving them until November 15 – a year since the occupation began – to vacate the land.

The eviction notice stated that Shelly Bay Limited – a commercial entity of Taranaki Whānui – had exclusive rights to occupy and develop the land.

But on Monday morning, the occupation group Mau Whenua remained on the site......
See full article HERE

Te Ākitai Waiohua signed off on settlement
The redress package includes seven sites of cultural significance, financial and commercial redress valued at $9.7 million, and a range of other commercial, cultural and relationship redress.....
See full article HERE

Article:
We face times that are more difficult than we acknowledge 

Monday November 15, 2021 

News: 

Ardern government policies have created a ‘Maori elite’ who rely on ‘victimhood 

The policies of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s government have led to the creation of a “Maori elite” which relies on “Maori victimhood,” according to Hobson’s Pledge founding trustee Casey Costello.

Hobson’s Pledge is a New Zealand lobby group which advocates for equality before the law regardless of race in the face of Maori bureaucratic bodies taking control over large areas of life in the country.

“We’ve had the introduction of the Three Waters Reform legislation which is effectively removing control and ownership of water from the local bodies and councils that own those assets into these massive entities which will be 50 per cent controlled by Iwi,” she told Sky News Australia.

“Bearing in mind New Zealand’s Maori population is only 17 per cent.”

Ms Costello said she was particularly concerned by an “undermining” of the democratic process which has been taking place......
See full article HERE

Directions
Any failure to uphold the equal application of the laws, on the grounds that a separate Māori Health system will soon replace the long-established principle of “one law for all”, will be taken as proof that this government intends to change profoundly the constitutional arrangements of the New Zealand state.

Such a fundamental change to the manner in which New Zealand is administered, especially one predicated on ethnic and cultural considerations, could have no legitimacy without having first secured the endorsement, by way of referendum, of a majority of New Zealand citizens......
See full article HERE

Propaganda:
Three Waters opposition sees some of the worst political impulses to leak out

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.