Pages

Saturday, April 23, 2022

Breaking Views Update: Week of 17.4.22







Saturday April 23, 2022 

News:
Maori reps fed-up with lacklustre engagement from Auckland Council

Auckland Council’s Independent Māori Statutory Board members have expressed growing frustration around Council’s lack of engagement with mana whenua.

The matter was raised at a Planning Committee held on March 31.

Council has a legal obligation to recognise and respect the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and one way it does this is through Māori impact statements in reports. These statements outline engagement with Māori and how the feedback is incorporated into policy......
See full article HERE

Indigenous peoples rights declaration moves to next stage
Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson is urging like-minded New Zealanders to embrace - and not let scaremongering political rhetoric get in the way of - adopting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples blueprint.

Jackson said this was a special moment in our nationhood. The declaration adopted by John Key's government in 2010 but implemented only now by Labour sets out a broad range of rights and freedoms, including improving Māori outcomes.

The draft plan moved a step closer this week after completing consultation with Māori.....
See full article HERE

Māori Health Authority model could be applied to education and justice, consultation suggests
It has been suggested in consultation feedback published by the Government that the Māori Health Authority model could be applied to education and justice.

The Government already has plans to introduce legislation in early 2023 to revamp Māori education, with the aim of seeing 30 percent of Māori learners participating in Kaupapa Māori/Māori medium education - where students are taught all or some curriculum subjects in the Māori language for at least 51 percent of the time - by 2040......
See full article HERE

Landmark agreement helps heal almost 60-year-old wounds in Tūrangi
A landmark agreement between the original guardians of the land under the township of Tūrangi and Taupō District Council is less than a week away.

The new co-governance framework will enable Ngāti Tūrangitukua to make joint decisions alongside council on matters that affect their land and whanau

A co-governance committee made up of Ngāti Tūrangitukua and council appointees will be set up as the governing body to build on the existing working partnership between the two entities and will cover community planning and co-design of community projects, facilities, and sustainable community outcomes......
See full article HERE

Co-governance not enough to satisfy indigenous rights declaration, Government told
A focus on tino rangatiratanga, which could one day see the Crown’s role significantly devolved, will shape the Government’s plan for how to recognise its obligations under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP).

It’s hoped the Māori Health Authority can be used as an example for other sectors, such as justice and education

Jackson said the plan would not be focused only on co-governance.

“In fact, the feedback has been that there are many ways we can strengthen indigenous rights and achieve better outcomes for all that aren’t about governance at all,” he said.

The report said an emphasis on self-determination was consistent. It also said one issue with co-governance was that it didn’t fully recognise tino rangatiratanga.

One suggestion was for the “establishment of a true Māori justice system by Māori and for Māori based on tikanga that would run in parallel to the Western model”......
See full article HERE

Heritage NZ launches rare prosecution against quarrying firm over pā site collapse
Heritage New Zealand has launched a rare prosecution against a Waikato quarrying firm over an alleged partial destruction of an historic pā site.

Stuff revealed in January how the J Swap Contracting conglomerate had continued blasting activities at its Waotu quarry near Tokoroa even after part of the adjacent Pirauiti pā collapsed last July.

This was despite pleas from iwi and stop-work notices from South Waikato District Council and Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.

J Swap denied at the time that its blasting had caused the collapse, claiming the slip had occurred in bad weather.....
See full article HERE

Rotorua council representation bill 'cannot be justified' - Attorney-General
A controversial bill that would increase Māori voting rights in Rotorua's local elections cannot be justified and discriminates against general roll voters, the Attorney-General has found.

"The conclusion I have reached, that the bill cannot be justified ... is largely due to the absence of information and analysis available to provide justification for the limit on the right to freedom from discrimination."

Parker said in a representative democracy, it was important to maintain much the same level of representation for everyone......
See full article HERE

Discriminatory Rotorua Local Bill should be dropped
The Rotorua District Council Bill must be scrapped following the Attorney General’s report today that it is discriminatory and would breach the Bill of Rights, National’s Justice spokesperson, Paul Goldsmith says.

“The Bill gives greater voting rights to people on the Maori roll and this cannot be justified.

“The Labour Government has been trying to sneak through significant constitutional change without proper discussion. Now their own Attorney General has called them out, they should think again.......
See full article HERE

Articles:
Dennis Gates: Plain language or manglish?

Bryce Edwards: A polarising co-governance decision for parliament

Tony Simpson: The damned curriculum: a camel with only one leg

Propaganda:
Minority has already taken water rights 

This Breaking Views Update monitors race relations in the media on a weekly basis. New material is added regularly. 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 April 22, 2022 

News: 
World’s first war trenches re-opened in Rangiriri 
The bloodiest battle of the New Zealand land wars, at Rangiriri, will now be commemorated with the launch of the Rangiriri trenches, a tourism venture.

Today the Rangiriri trenches were opened to remember the past, to preserve and share knowledge, and to become a tourism venture.

It took nine months to build, and cost $3 million funded by government and iwi. It is hoped that this could create 50 jobs in the community......
See full article HERE

Christopher Luxon insists Māori Health Authority has to go
National Leader Christopher Luxon this week reiterated that the proposed Māori Health Authority has to go - despite a raft of expert opinion arguing for the opposite.

He also said the Government has failed to make the case to "five million New Zealanders" on the highly charged issues of Māori co-governance and Te Tiriti.

In an extended interview with Moana Maniapoto on Māori Television, Luxon said that the Authority – which is expected to be in place by July this year – was an inefficient use of resources and would end up in direct competition with Health New Zealand.....
See full article HERE

Māori nurses need fair pay deal
The Nurses Organisation’s kaiwhakahaere Māori says nurses feel betrayed by the pay equity settlement they were offered.

The NZNO is heading to court rather than asking members to vote on the deal, which the Government says is a binding agreement.....
See full article HERE

State support for Maori farmers
The Government is throwing its support behind Māori landowners eyeing a piece of the growing sheep milk sector.

"We are backing the Māori Agribusiness Sheep Milk Collective, which has to ambitious goals to have multiple farms milking about 25,000 sheep and potentially employing more than 100 people by 2030," says O'Connor.

The Government is injecting $700,000 into the Collective to help it explore the potential of sustainably producing sheep milk at scale, create jobs and further grow this emerging export market......
See full article HERE

UNDRIP not scary says Jackson
Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson says people shouldn’t be scared of facing up to their responsibilities under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Mr Jackson says Auckland’s Independent Māori Statutory Board, which was created by ACT, shows co-governance need not just be limited to mountains and rivers and treaty settlements......
See full article HERE

Archives NZ's reading room cutbacks delaying Treaty claims, historian says
Archives New Zealand may be breaching Te Tiriti o Waitangi by making access to historical records more difficult after slashing reading room opening hours, a historian says.

The agency, which is set to move into an $290 million facility in 2026, has reading rooms in four cities that were open up to eight hours a day.

But opening hours were reduced before the first Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020. Wellington's reading room is now only open five hours a day, while rooms in Auckland, Christchurch, and Dunedin are open four hours a day.......
See full article HERE

First Māori wahine appointed to United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
As the first Māori and the first New Zealander to be appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council to the UN’s Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), Dr Toki (Ngāti Rehua, Ngātiwai, Ngāpuhi) is well on her way to playing her part on the global stage to support the recognition of Indigenous rights.....
See full article HERE

Fatal police shootings: Māori advocate calls for change in approach
Criminal justice advocate Emilie Rākete told Midday Report lethal force should be used sparingly to stop Māori from dying at the hands of police.

"The reality is that Māori people are significantly more likely to be shot and killed by police, to be pepper-sprayed, to have an attack dog set on them, and the police have this kind of plausible deniability that allows them to continue abusing our people this way."....
See full article HERE

Public submissions on Rotorua Māori wards bill extended after concerns about rushed process
The timeframe for public submissions on a bill to allow an equal number of Māori seats and general seats for Rotorua Lakes Council has been extended after criticism about the rushed process.

Submissions for the bill were initially only open for two weeks about 1400 had been received before it closed on Thursday – but on Thursday morning the Māori Affairs Select Committee agreed to a motion by National Party MPs to extend it for a further two weeks until May 4......
See full article HERE 

Thursday April 21, 2022 

News: 
Northland: Māori trustees to appeal case against FNDC 
A Māori trust has failed in a legal bid to get the Far North District Council to remove an asbestos pipeline and metalled access track from its land.

The trustees of the Ngakahu/Ngakohu Whānau Ahu Whenua Trust administer two Māori freehold land titles in Kaitaia.

In the 1930s, at the behest of the hospital board when considering relocation of the hospital from Mangonui to Kaitaia, a pipeline providing potable water was constructed across the land.....
See full article HERE

Reti says veto cave in bad for Māori
National’s health spokesperson Shane Reti says the Government is setting Māori up to fail with its rewrite of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Bill.

He says the Bill a reported back from select committee last week drops the idea of iwi partnership boards and includes no system for measuring outcomes.

It also scraps the idea of giving the new Māori Health Authority a veto over general health care decisions......
See full article HERE

Articles:
Point of Order: Treaty settlements, environmental management and the insidious march from co-management to co-governance

Elizabeth Rata: The Road to He Puapua – Is there really a Treaty partnership?

Graham Adams: Ardern struggles to defend unequal suffrage 

Wednesday April 20, 2022 

News: 
Street names to integrate Maori culture 
Maori culture and heritage is set to be reflected in Invercargill’s new road and street names.

Invercargill city councillors approved a new road-naming policy at a committee meeting last week.

He said the new document would incorporate the required standards, while ensuring road names reflected the identity of the community, including Maori culture being more visible in the city......
See full article HERE

Tasman partnership to lift indigenous business

New Zealand and Australia governments are funding a new initiative to support indigenous business, Associate Minister for Māori Development, Nanaia Mahuta announced today.

Targeted towards Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori communities, the funding will provide e-commerce training and business development to help up to 82 indigenous businesspeople.

“Today’s announcement is a next step in our Indigenous Collaboration Arrangement (ICA) with Australia, demonstrating tangible outcomes for our indigenous business communities,” Ms Mahuta said......
See full article HERE

Māori broadcaster Moana Maniapoto accuses Christopher Luxon of 'misinformation' in co-governance debate
Veteran Māori broadcaster Moana Maniapoto accused National leader Christopher Luxon of "misinformation" during a fiery debate about co-governance.

In an episode of Te Ao with Moana on Māori TV, Luxon explained to Maniapoto the reasons for his opposition to the Government's centralised co-governance arrangements, like the new Māori Health Authority.

"We've had co-governance in the past-National government that's been bounded around Treaty claims and iwi managing local natural resources essentially working with local government," Luxon explained......
See full article HERE

Special Matariki fund for Rotorua announced
A special one-off fund is now available to Rotorua community initiatives that support Rotorua Reorua and celebrate this year’s first official Matariki public holiday on 24 June.

Te Tatau o Te Arawa and Rotorua Lakes Council are pleased to announce the creation of a jointly funded round, Matariki 2022 Rotorua Reorua, valued at $10,000......
See full article HERE

Shelly Bay protesters and iwi Trust collaborating after years of unrest
Shelly Bay protesters and leaders of the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust (PNBST) are showing signs of unity and collaboration after years of division.

The $500 million development planned on the Wellington site, featuring 350 new homes, has been bogged down in legal challenges and disputes since its conception......
See full article HERE

Propaganda:
Councillors welcome rise in Māori seats

Mark Solomon replaces Matthew Tukaki as head of Oranga Tamariki Advisory Board 

Tuesday April 19, 2022 

News: 
Iwi company completes biggest marae solar energy system 
A lower North Island iwi-owned sustainable energy company is installing the biggest marae-based solar network in the country with the potential to power a whole Northland village.

Tū Mai Rā Energy is a business borne out of a Waitangi Tribunal settlement for lower North Island Rangitāne iwi, and was formed to provide sustainable energy solutions.

Apanui said following the feasibility work, the board of Tū Mai Rā Investments agreed to commit $1million to ensure its new subsidiary had every chance of succeeding.....
See full article HERE

Bilingual kura/school signs replacing English-only
A change to a land transport rule came into force on April 5 2022 enabling bilingual school traffic signs, says Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency Director of Land Transport Kane Patena.

The Land Transport Rule: Traffic Control Devices (Kura/School Signs) Amendment 2022, which specifies requirements for ‘school’ signs that can be used on roads, now requires bilingual sign supplements for new school signs.

“With over 2,500 schools across Aotearoa New Zealand this represents a significant opportunity to increase New Zealander’s exposure to te reo Māori through traffic signs,” says Kane.

“The Government wants to see te reo Māori seen, spoken and heard wherever possible.....
See full article HERE

Cops use discretion to help unlicensed Māori drivers from going down the wrong road
Inspector Todd Bartlett, Pou Whirinaki, Māori responsiveness manager for the Waitematā District said the driver licensing programme was just one tool officers were using to support whānau as part of the wider Māori strategy.

"Our driver licensing programme is aimed at all Māori who are unlicensed," Bartlett said. "In saying that we will not turn other ethnicities away.

"We are constantly looking at how we achieve better outcomes for Māori.".....
See full article HERE

Fears new history syllabus could create hostility in schools
A Wellington social studies teacher who allegedly asked students whether land should be returned to Māori has left one mother reeling.

"I think it could be anything that might be quite triggering for some students, and possibly for some teachers as well. Clearly there's issues around settler ideologies I suppose, in 19th century, and the belief that New Zealand was to be a better Britain, essentially a white New Zealand, with Māori finding a place somewhere in it, but not as an equal partner."....
See full article HERE

Articles:
Bruce Moon: The Truth Must Be Told Again!


Sunday April 17, 2022 

News: 
Kura kaupapa founders, Crown agree to mediation over Māori education claims 
Kura kaupapa founders who have been pushing for an autonomous Māori Education Authority through a Waitangi Tribunal claim have now entered mediation with the Crown.

The claimants said they were agreeing to mediation to show “good faith” to the Crown, despite the Crown indicating it would rule out an independent Māori education authority.

In a statement released by Te Rūnanga Nui on Friday, Dewes said the organisation had agreed to mediation “as an expression of good faith towards the Crown”.

“We recognise that a mediated settlement of some, or all, of the issues raised in our claim may bring about a remedy more swiftly than an urgent Waitangi Tribunal process”, Dewes said......
See full article HERE

Representation among staff a focus for incoming dean
The new dean at the University of Otago’s Te Tumu — School of Maori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies, has increasing the number of Maori and Pacific Island staff at the university as one of his goals.

His priorities as dean were to increase Maori and Pacific staff and strengthen Te Tumu’s relationships with the university, he said.

"I envision Te Tumu as a central location for realising the university’s Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations and as a place where research relevant to Maori and Pacific communities is prioritised.".....
See full article HERE

What Te Ao Māori can teach us about climate change
About Akuhata Bailey-Winiata

Akuhata is an Indigenous Māori scientist from Aotearoa New Zealand, with tribal connections to Te Arawa, Tūhoe and Tūwharetoa. He has a BSc in Earth Science with a minor in Geography at the University of Waikato. As well as a MSc at the University of Waikato which investigated the potential exposure of coastal marae (ancestral Māori meeting house) and urupā (Māori cemeteries) to the impacts of sea level rise around Aotearoa New Zealand......
See full article HERE

Articles:
Point of Order: Local Govt Commission over-rides Rotorua’s undemocratic voting model – but what will Labour-majority Parliament do?

Animal Farm Democracy – by Dr Muriel Newman.

Rotorua Gerrymander is a Blatant Power-Grab – Barry Brill.

Propaganda:
Hundreds of years of Māori knowledge at risk if environmental decline not addressed 

This Breaking Views Update monitors race relations in the media on a weekly basis. New material is added regularly. If you would like to send Letters to the Editor in response to any of these articles, most media addresses can be found HERE

No comments: