Breaking Views Update: Week of 11.12.22

Saturday December 17, 2022 

News:
A 16m-high tribute to ancient waka takes its place beside the Waikato Expressway
A new piece of art now adorns the Waikato Expressway in the form of a 16m-high sculpture just north of Hamilton.

The artwork tells the story of the Tainui waka – which came from a tree planted on the grave of Tainui, who was the son of a chief Tinirau and his wife Hinerau in Hawaiki.

“While the expressway project has finished, the Crown-iwi relationship has evolved and grown stronger and will carry on.”.....
See full article HERE

Waikato-Tainui receive inflation-updated $101.5 'relativity' payment
Waikato-Tainui has received a big pre-Christmas bonus, in the form of a $101.5 million “relativity payment”.

Waikato and Ngai Tahu are the only iwi in New Zealand to have relativity clauses – a form of additional redress – included in their Treaty of Waitangi settlements with the Crown....
See full article HERE

More on the above > Latest Waikato-Tainui Treaty settlement payment takes iwi total to $390 million

$8 million boost to improve Māori and Pacific heart health equity
Pūtahi Manawa - Healthy Hearts for Aotearoa New Zealand has just released funding for six major research projects which amounts to more than $8 million over three years.

“It’s one of the biggest ever tranches of funding for equity-based research in Aotearoa New Zealand and offers the opportunity for a fresh new way to perform heart research that will champion health equity,” says Professor Julian Paton, co-director of Pūtahi Manawa.....
See full article HERE

Kaipara hikoi leader petitions Parliament for mandatory karakia
Dargaville district’s Paturiri Toatu has lodged a petition request with Parliament seeking karakia are made compulsory for the start and finish of council meetings in councils with Māori wards or constituencies.

Toatu’s December 5 petition request reads: “That the House of Representatives makes it mandatory for councils that have Māori ward representation to respect Tikanga Māori and Māori culture by having an opening and a closing karakia (prayer) before and after all council meetings, according to Māori custom.”....
See full article HERE

Māori experts added to heritage councils
Heritage experts Rei Kohere and Rangi Mātāmua have been appointed to the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga board and the Māori Heritage Council respectively.....
See full article HERE

Poutaki Mātauranga Māori Applying Māori Knowledge And Insight To Services And Projects
UniServices, the research application and commercialisation company of Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, has appointed two senior Māori leaders to work with the design and delivery of the portfolio of services and projects it manages.

Tama Davis and Bernie O’Donnell share the role of Poutaki Mātauranga Māori, which focuses on bringing a Te Ao Māori and tikanga Māori lens to UniServices-managed business units that provide research-informed services to the education and health sectors.....
See full article HERE

Articles:
Graham Adams: Report into Mahuta family contracts leaves questions unanswered

Don Brash: I admire Craig Jepson 

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 December 16, 2022 

News: 

A notice of motion agreeing to open and close every full council meeting in karakia was lost by a vote in the council meeting held on Wednesday. 

The motion was led by Otamatea Ward councillor Mark Vincent and was supported by Pera Paniora, new Māori Ward councillor for Kaipara District. The moment happened just hours after several Northland iwi leaders were invited into the council's building following their hīkoi in protest and while hundreds stood outside in protest against new Kaipara District Mayor Craig Jepson's attitude towards karakia at council meetings.

"My notice of motion is a way of respecting and acknowledging diverse viewpoints, resolving this matter and enabling our council to focus more on the host of other issues confronting it," Vincent wrote.

The Kaipara District Council and the Mayor have been approached for comment about the motion lost, as well as reaction to both the petition and protest, but they have not responded.....

See full article HERE

Some Shelly Bay land returned to iwi, construction begins
About 1.7ha of land at Wellington’s Shelly Bay will be returned to Taranaki Whānui as construction on a housing development there finally gets underway, the Herald can reveal.....
See full article HERE

Psychological distress, discrimination harming Māori wellbeing, Treasury finds
High rates of psychological distress and discrimination are impacting Māori wellbeing, according to a new paper.

The first paper explores emerging trends in Māori wellbeing using He Ara Waiora, a framework that looks at wellbeing from a Māori perspective.....
See full article HERE

Crown urged to start treaty settlement with Te Ātiawa/Ngāti Awa
The Waitangi Tribunal has found the Crown breached te Tiriti o Waitangi in its treatment of Te Ātiawa/Ngāti Awa during the 19th and 20th century and recommended the Crown urgently negotiate a Treaty settlement.

In a new report of the Porirua ki Manawatū Inquiry (Wai 2200), released on Thursday, the Tribunal ruled the Crown’s actions, including how it handled the land where Kāpiti Coast Airport is located and land purchases in the late 1850s, breached Treaty principles and left significant prejudice that was still felt today.....
See full article HERE

Iwi shake off Hauhau tag
Three small central North Island tribes have initialled a joint deed of settlement for their historic claims.

He says it’s important the tribes have been acknowledged, after being labelled Hauhau rebels and ostracised by government.

Along with an apology from the Crown and financial and commercial redress, the settlement includes cultural redress totalling 19 sites from Whangamomona and Retaruke in the north through Waimarino-National Park and Raetihi down the Whanganui River, Pipiriki and Ōhoutahi.

There will also be overlay classifications at Pōkākā including part of Erua Scenic Reserve, the Mākātote Scenic Reserve parcels west of State Highway, Manganui-a-te-Ao Scenic Reserve, and Pōkākā Scenic Reserve to help further the aspirations of iwi to develop an ecosanctuary.....
See full article HERE

Zelensky anti-colonisation message resonating with Māori
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta says the Ukrainian situation should resonate with Māori because of their experience with colonisation.....
See full article HERE

Rongoā
Te Aka Whai Ora recognises that rongoā is a taonga Māori. For centuries, whānau, hapū and iwi have cultivated, cared for, and used rongoā. The knowledge and the practice of rongoā have been passed down through the generations within whānau, hapū and iwi, with Māori tino rangatiratanga over rongoā protected under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.....
See full article HERE

Undercounting of Māori in health data a breach of treaty, report finds
The undercounting of Māori in the health and disability care sectors is prevalent, and a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, according to a new paper published in the New Zealand Medical Journal......
See full article HERE

'Many' injustices to Kāpiti Māori admitted in Tribunal report
The Waitangi Tribunal has found the Crown committed "many" Treaty breaches on the Kāpiti Coast - including in the founding of the town of Waikanae and the acquisition of land for an airport - that resulted in significant prejudice "that is still felt today."....
See full article HERE

Articles:
John Porter: It Is Really Simple: One Man One Vote

Frank Newman: A great day out at the Kaipara protest

Chris Trotter: Kaipara: A Struggle For Political Legitimacy And Cultural Power. 

Thursday December 15, 2022 

News: 

Votes not there for Kaipara karakia fight 

Kaipara Māori ward councilor Pera Paniora says there wasn’t enough support around the council table to fully reverse new mayor Craig Jepson’s karakia ban.

Councilors have agreed to a so-called compromise in which each of them will get a chance to open a meeting with a karakia, prayer or sentiment of their choice.

Whatever is said to open the meeting still needs to conform with tikana, and she will bring a kaumatua in for a workshop in the new year to explain to councilors what that is.....

See full article HERE

‘No way are we going to take that’: Dame Naida Glavish calls out council in peaceful hīkoi through Dargaville
Kaipara mayor Craig Jepson got a “rude awakening” today as hundreds of people gathered to tell him that tikanga (Māori customs) is here to stay whether he likes it or not.

Around 300 people from all over Northland took part in a peaceful hīkoi that wound its way through Dargaville’s main streets.

“We’re standing in solidarity with the people of Kaipara to restore the place of tikanga and remind the council of its obligation to the Treaty of Waitangi,” said Kerepeti-Edwards.....
See full article HERE

Maori directorate established at Pharmac - Pharmac Nz
Te Pataka Whaioranga - Pharmac has set up a dedicated Maori directorate, demonstrating the strong commitment Pharmac has to ensuring equitable health outcomes for Maori.

"We are committed to upholding te Tiriti o Waitangi across all areas of our work. The independent review into Pharmac highlighted we need a stronger Maori voice in our work and better ways to incorporate matauranga Maori," says Pharmac’s Chief Executive Sarah Fitt. "To support us to achieve this, I am pleased to announce the development of a new directorate, with our Chief Advisor, Maori, Trevor Simpson (Tuhoe, Ngati Awa) stepping up into the role as our new Kaituruki Maori Director.".....
See full article HERE

Wairarapa settlement creates new treaty breach
The chair Wairarapa Moana Incorporation says by removing legal pathways to pursue a claim for land under a Waikato River dam the crown has ensured the fight will continue into the next generation.

Parliament yesterday passed the Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-ā-Rua Claims Settlement Bill, covering claims from Danneverke and Cape Turnagain down to Cape Palliser.

Kingi Smiler says Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Andrew Little forced the iwi to also include WAI 85, which covers the Pouakani lands near Mangakino which were given as part of a swap for Lake Wairarapa and then taken again to build the Maraetai hydro power station.....
See full article HERE

Tribunal hears from hapū burned from him
A Ngāti Raukawa clamant says actions by the crown almost destroyed his hapū, but it’s fighting back.

Larry Parr has presented evidence on behalf of Ngāti Hikitanga to the Waitangi Tribunal, which is hearingone of the last of the major historic claim areas.

Larry Parr says most of the land is now in private hands, but he wants the crown to buy some for the redress package......
See full article HERE

Human Rights Commission's damning report on emergency housing points to rights breaches
And the third breach, was that people were being evicted into homelessness by accommodation providers who were not subject to accountability arrangements honouring the Treaty of Waitangi.

At any one time, close to 9000 New Zealanders are living in emergency accommodation (60 percent with whakapapa Māori) and 100,000 people overall are considered homeless.

Referencing RNZ's reporting in its findings, the Human Rights Commission said this law change directly "led to a beach of the right to accountability and access to justice for these individuals, as well as breaching other features of their right to a decent home".

"This situation is also likely to breach Te Tiriti o Waitangi.".....
See full article HERE

Health trials redesigned for fairer representation of Māori, Pasifika and rural New Zealanders
Professor Frank Bloomfield, director of the University of Auckland’s Liggins Institute, says there is inequitable access to clinical trials.

“In particular, Māori, Pacific and rural New Zealanders are more frequently missing out both on participating in clinical trials and on their benefits,” Bloomfield says.....
See full article HERE

'Cost to Māori enormous' - forestry group fighting government anti-exotic move
Climate Change Minister James Shaw is determined to exclude exotic trees from the Emissions Trading Scheme, which estimates say could cost iwi billions of dollars. Many iwi who have had settlements ended up with pine plantations on poorer-quality land.

Now Māori forestry leaders have established a working group to relay directly to the government how to tackle climate change without disproportionately penalising Māori, by creating an indigenous-led model for permanent transitional forest management that combines science with mātauranga Māori and forestry expertise.....
See full article HERE

Articles:
‘When we have control of the water, we have total control of Aotearoa.’

Report on the constitutional kōrero 2022 conference

Propaganda:
Universities urged to decolonise approach to indigenous data 

Wednesday December 14, 2022 

News: 

Tiriti and trade – it’s ‘Māori business’ 

“A Tiriti approach to trade itself needs to be rethought through a Māori lens by taking a long-term relational approach”, according to co-convenor Pita Tipene. He is very active in Māori economic development, trade and protection of Māori intellectual property.

“The Mediation Agreement, and now the formal establishment of Ngā Toki Whakarururanga, cements an enduring relationship that sourced in te Tiriti o Waitangi, itself based on He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni.

Kāwanatanga has recognised in words the rangatiratanga of Māori in the broad-ranging “trade” space and ensures Māori have a genuine and effective influence on trade policy and negotiations conducted by Aotearoa. We intend to ensure it does so in practice.”....

See full article HERE

Mahuta cleared of wrongdoing, agencies' processes flawed - report
The review found no evidence of favouritism, bias, or undue influence over agency decisions in relation to KAS or KC due to any connection with a Minister. KAS is directed by Mahuta's husband Gannin Ormsby and Tamoko and Waimirirangi Ormsby. Tamoko and Waimirirangi are also directors of Kāwai Catalyst.....
See full article HERE

Dam case to be snuffed in forced settlement
The Waitangi Tribunal has expressed its concern the Government intends to push ahead with extinguishing a claim to a Waikato River hydro dam – despite a finding from the Supreme Court that it should take its course.

Over the objections of claimants, WAI 85, covering the Wairarapa Moana Incorporation’s claim to land under the Maraetai Power Station, was included in the Ngāti Kahungungu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui a Rua Claims Settlement Bill which is up for third reading today.

The land was part of a block around Mangakino which was given to the Ngati Kahungunu owners as a forced swap for Lake Wairarapa, and then taken off them for the power project....
See full article HERE

Therapeutic Products Bill Is A Treaty Breach
Te Pāti Māori Co-leader and health spokesperson Debbie Ngarewa-Packer is calling on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the Labour Party to withdraw the Therapeutic Products Bill, which brings rongoā Māori into Pākehā law without the active consent of Māori, a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

“This is a dangerous Bill. The regulation of rongoā poses huge risks to the protection and restoration of mātauranga Māori and would remove the power for decisions relating to rongoā from whānau, hapū and iwi to the state”, said Mrs Ngarewa-Packer.....
See full article HERE

Piripi hands over helm at Te Rarawa
Haami Piripi has stepped down after nearly 16 years as the chair of the Far North’s Te Runanga o Te Rarawa.

But the 65-year-old says was farewelled at his home marae, Roma, in Ahipara on Saturday, with more than 200 people attending – including Crown Relations Minister Kelvin Davis, New Zealand First’s Shane Jones, and a who’s-who of Te Rarawa leaders including newly elected chair Katie Murray, a leader in whanau-focused services for three decades.....
See full article HERE

Normalisation key to reo advance
The chief executive of Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo Māori says the pressure needs to be kept up to normalise the language in all areas of life if New Zealand is to have any hope of achieving the goal of one million speakers by 2040.

The next step needs to be normalising te reo across society so tamariki don’t just speak it at kura or on the marae.

Mr Apanui says if te reo were to be given the same educational status as English, that would be a huge boost for achieveing their million te reo speakers by 2040 objective – and it would create a truly more bicultural nation.....
See full article HERE

New Papers On Māori Wellbeing And The Distribution Of Advantage
The Treasury published two papers today on trends in Māori wellbeing and the distribution of advantage in New Zealand. They are the latest in a series of background papers that provide in-depth information and analysis supporting the content of the Treasury's first wellbeing report, Te Tai Waiora: Wellbeing in Aotearoa New Zealand 2022.....
See full article HERE

Mahuta Was Working On Entrenchment For Weeks
More evidence has emerged showing that Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta was working on entrenchment in her Three Waters legislation weeks before it was voted on in the House, shadow Leader of the House Chris Bishop says.

“Cabinet agreed in May 2022 to not pursue entrenchment in the Three Waters legislation, but it’s now clear that Ms Mahuta blatantly ignored this and carried on with her desire to put entrenchment in anyway.”....
See full article HERE

‘Crown determined to be better partner’: $115m Treaty settlement passes through Parliament
A $115 million Treaty settlement for Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki Nui-a-Rua has passed through Parliament, with all parties acknowledging the hara caused by the Crown for the lower North Island iwi.

As well as the $115 million in financial redress, the settlement includes an agreed historical account, Crown acknowledgements and apology, as well as cultural and commercial redress.

It also includes the vesting of 27 sites of cultural significance, and the restoration of 30 sites to their original names.....
See full article HERE

Tuesday December 13, 2022

News:
Health leaders call for kaupapa Māori-led initiative across agencies to help fix inequities
But Māori health leaders now say that while the creation of the Māori Health Authority will help them achieve that goal, it isn't enough on its own - they need more say across the entire health system.

Primary health care is overseen by Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand, but now 27 Māori health leaders said the Māori Health Authority needs more say in primary health care or what goes on in hospitals and doctor's clinics.

The health leaders told researchers they need kaupapa Māori-led initiatives across all health agencies to help fix inequities.

"They said to us about how to do it differently is to prioritise mātauranga Māori, to prioritise our knowledge.....
See full article HERE

Iwi and hapū focus of BOP regional council safer boating programme
oi Moana Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s harbourmaster has completed the inaugural Kia marutau ki te wai – a pilot education programme providing safer boating training specific to the needs of individual iwi and hapū.

Thanks to $10,000 of Maritime NZ funding, nine safer boating ambassadors from Otawhiwhi Marae in Waihi, Te Rereatukahia Marae in Katikati, and students from Ngāti Awa iwi were put through the Coastguard boating education day skipper course.

Harbourmaster Jon Jon Peters says the process will now be reviewed and the programme is set to be rolled out.....
See full article HERE

Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson heads to Paris to kōrero about indigenous language
Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson is on his way to Paris to speak at the launch of the United Nations International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022-2031 (IDIL).

Jackson says it is important that New Zealand supports the revitalisation of indigenous language and culture around the globe.....
See full article HERE

Kupe Waka Centre opens in the Far North
Iwi in the Far North are celebrating a significant milestone with the opening of the Kupe Waka Centre. The centre, located at Aurere on the east coast of the Far North, will be open to anyone interested in waka building and star navigation.

This institute was the dying wish of a giant of ocean navigation, Sir Hekenukumai Busby, and received $4.6m from the Provincial Growth Fund to build the centre. People from across New Zealand and the Pacific were on hand to witness the culmination of 'Hek's dream'.....
See full article HERE

Articles:
Labour’s Decline – Muriel Newman.

Propaganda:
‘The Crown was at great fault’ 

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.