Pages

Saturday, December 24, 2022

Breaking Views Update: Week of 18.12.22







Saturday December 24, 2022 

News:
Tears of joy, sadness, over 'groundbreaking' Waitangi Tribunal report

The Waitangi Tribunal has reported back about one of the largest Treaty claims ever heard - a document described as "groundbreaking", and "defining" for Māori in Te Tai Tokerau.

It said the Crown repeatedly overstepped its authority to govern, leading to a widespread erosion of rangatiratanga as well as warfare and extensive loss of land.

It also said William Hobson's proclamations of sovereignty and the Constitution Act were some of the most severe Treaty breaches.

The Tribunal also recommended the Crown return all Crown-owned land in the district to Māori and provide economic compensation.....
See full article HERE

David Seymour will choose policies over positions in a National-Act government
Act leader David Seymour will prioritise his party’s policy agenda over the prospect of ministerial positions should New Zealanders opt for a National-Act government in next year’s general election.

Seymour has sent that message to his MPs, notifying them that portfolios could come at the expense of the party’s bottom lines, which include a “referendum on co-governance” with respect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi - something National’s leader Christopher Luxon has previously opposed.

“That’s the number one thing, in our view, that the government needs to resolve,” Seymour said.

If [National is] not prepared to do that, we’re not going to be prepared to do much other stuff they want to do.”.....
See full article HERE

Tasman District Council eyes council-iwi cadetship trial
A council-iwi cadetship programme has received a $300,000 injection.

Tasman District Council is gearing up to trial a council-iwi cadetship programme aimed at building the capacity and capability of iwi to contribute to the council’s work programme and decision-making.

The cadetship proposal has received a $300,000 boost from the Government. That $300,000 was announced this week as part of $5.64 million the Government approved for the council in Better Off funding under its Three Waters reform programme.....
See full article HERE

Co-governance plan kicked down the road to 2024
The Cabinet agreed on Monday that ministers wouldn’t receive any further reports on developing a draft plan in response to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples until 2024, Newsroom can reveal.

The party was in coalition with New Zealand First at the time but leader Winston Peters told Newsroom he knew nothing of the report and didn't agree to it being commissioned.

It caused an uproar when its findings were made public in 2021 by ACT, with its proposals including things such as a Māori Parliament or separate Upper House.

ACT Party leader David Seymour and National’s then-leader Judith Collins campaigned hard against the co-governance proposals at the time.

National leader Christopher Luxon has been vague on how his party would meet the commitments if in government.

However, he has ruled out a referendum that would define what the Treaty of Waitangi means in modern New Zealand, which Seymour has proposed as a fix.....
See full article HERE

Māori and Police in partnership
Police are committed to building strong, dynamic, and effective relationships with Māori to deliver services that whānau Māori and our communities expect and deserve.

This includes building our understanding of the aspirations of Iwi, whānau and communities and supporting the achievements of those aspirations.

Police are committed to being responsive to Māori as tangata whenua and understand the value and importance of the Māori Crown relationship and honouring the Treaty of Waitangi as New Zealand’s founding document.

Police continue to work to understand how as an organisation, we can be a more proactive and an inclusive partner for iwi Māori.....
See full article HERE

Progress to make Ōpōtiki a bilingual town stalls
Progress on Ōpōtiki becoming a reo rua (bilingual) town has been put on hold in order for mayor and councilors to be brought up to speed about what it involves.

The programme offers $225,000 in funding over two years for council and iwi to work together to create and implement a plan to create more opportunities for te reo Māori to be seen, heard and celebrated.....
See full article HERE

Thames School Plants Traditional Māori Medicinal Garden
The primary school named the project Māra hauroa, which means healthy garden. The school had the aim to create a unique and distinct rongoā (traditional Māori medicinal) garden to provide comfort and nourishment for the mental, spiritual and physical wellbeing of their students.....
See full article HERE

Propaganda:
Te Pāti Māori wants to connect with Māori drawn to 'white supremacist' movements during the pandemic

As old Treaty grievances are settled, will today's generation pass the latest acid test?

Crown overstepped authority to govern Northern Māori in 19th century - Waitangi Tribunal 

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 23, 2022 

News: 
2022 in Review: Māori voice grows louder throughout society 
The voices of Māori became more prominent in 2022 across various sectors, from health through to local government.

TVNZ's Te Karere takes a look at some of the major issues in Te Ao Māori and how they made a significant difference for Māori.....
See full article HERE

Aotearoa New Zealand’s Largest Iwi On Board For The 2023 Census
Te Rūnanga-Ā-Iwi-Ō-Ngāpuhi, representing the largest iwi in Aotearoa New Zealand, has signed an agreement with Stats NZ to boost its peoples’ participation in the 2023 Census and support the Community Counts initiative, aimed at increasing response rates for next year’s census, Stats NZ said today.

He said Ngāpuhi estimates its population as up to 160,000 members, but according to the last-census statistics, only 125,000 are recorded. Ngāpuhi would like this discrepancy resolved.....
See full article HERE

Rotorua iwi Ngāti Whakaue to buy Rainbow Springs land from Ngāi Tahu
A collective of Ngāti Whakaue entities has agreed to buy the land Rainbow Springs used to operate on and is eyeing up new tourism offerings.

Ngāi Tahu Holdings closed Rainbow Springs in March citing substantial operating and maintenance costs which, combined with Covid-19 uncertainty, meant Rainbow Springs was not financially viable as a business.

A statement released this morning said the Ngāti Whakaue collective had bought the underlying land, and the assets fixed to the land would also transfer to the collective as the new landowner......
See full article HERE

$1 seals deal for South Taranaki hapū to get land back after protest
A $1 deal has been struck, allowing ancestral land to be returned to two South Taranaki hapū, who stood up and opposed its potential sale last year.

In June 2021, descendants of Ngāti Tamāhuroa and Titahi hapū of Ngāruahine iwi placed a rāhui on the property where the former Oeo School was located, when they discovered it was up for sale.

At the time, the two sections were on the market for a combined price of $310,000.

On Saturday, a ceremony held at Oeo Marae, saw the land officially signed back into hapū ownership.....
See full article HERE

New strategy launched to boost Maori agriculture
Ruataki mo te Taurikura, Embracing Change for Prosperity, has been developed over the past 18 months by Nga Pouwhiro Taimatua, the Māori Primary Sector Forum. This was set up to provide strategic advice to, MPI (Ministry for Primary Industries) on how best grow the Māori primary sector economy.

The report notes that the Māori agriculture forestry and fishing asset base was worth $23 billion in 2018 and that 22,500 Māori are employed in these sectors. The report says the challenge and the purpose of the report is to unlock the potential productivity of the Māori asset base.....
See full article HERE

Articles:
John Porter: Labour’s Court Jester Is Willie Jackson

Propaganda:
2022 in review: Te Reo Māori hits major milestones

New Zealand’s approach to financial education for Māori highlighted at OECD event

Kōrero is key to learning te reo, says Māori language champion 

Thursday December 22, 2022 

News: 
Māori should set rules says Green 
Green MP Teanau Tuiono says other countries are doing better at recognizing indigenous self-determination than New Zealand.

He says while Aotearoa is recognised internationally for its work in language revitalisation, that’s not enough.

“So it you look at places like Nunavut (in northwest Canada) and Guna Yala (in Central America) as well where they can actually make rules and pass regulations on their whenua, that in my view falls more in line with tino rangatiratanga. We don’t have any of that here,” Mr Tuiona says.....
See full article HERE

Māori media facing uncertainty
She says while Māori media can celebrate a substantial boost in funding – it’s all short term.

“Extra 40 million this year, extra 40 million next year, and most of that is going to Te Māngai Paho for content creation. So that’s actually a substantial achievement. What we don’t know though is how secure that’s going to be, after those couple of years,” Dr Middleton says.

She says Māori media really needs a longer term strategy – but a possible change in government and policy next year will add more uncertainty for Māori outlets.....
See full article HERE

Māori research to benefit from $40m Lego Foundation grant
Whānau are set to benefit from a multimillion-dollar research grant aimed at developing Māori-led wellbeing programmes and tikanga-based play spaces.

It will see Otago University’s Te Rōpū Rangahau Hauora a Eru Pōmare, a kaupapa Māori health research centre based in Wellington, partner with three Māori community organisations, alongside international indigenous collaborators led by theJohns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health over a five-year period.

The group received more than $40 million through a Lego Foundation Build a World of Play Challenge......
See full article HERE

Māori sites of significance maps to be fixed after errors found
Relief is in sight for a number of West Coast property owners who found their land had been mistakenly captured in mapping errors for sites of significance to Māori in the proposed Te Tai o Poutini Plan (TTPP).

The errors are mainly around Paroa Lagoon, affecting parts of Gladstone, and at Cashmere Bay on Lake Brunner.....
See full article HERE

Māori Contribution to Council Decision Making Policy 
This policy will guide elected members and staff on providing appropriate opportunities for Māori to contribute to Council decision making processes.

This policy will provide Māori within the Thames-Coromandel District with an understanding of how Council will manage its obligation to provide opportunities for Māori to contribute to Council decision making processes under the Local Government Act 2002......
See full article HERE

Articles:
Fashionable silliness – Bob Jones

Cam Slater: I thought maori invented swimming?

Propaganda:
The Kaipara Council Prayer: Western Secularism vs Indigenous Man

Bicultural project initiates change in scholarship programme 

Wednesday December 21, 2022 

News: 
Editor of Woodville newsletter apologises for comments on Māori language, culture 
The editor of a community newsletter has apologised for her dismissive response to a correspondent who requested one sentence of a submitted article be in te reo.

In a statement Jane Hill, the former editor of the Woodville Wire, said she was committed to changing the way she engaged with Māori, after an email exchange, in which she belittled Māori language and accused Māori of falsely claiming indigenous status, led to a racial harassment complaint to the Human Rights Review Tribunal.

She asked for her article’s opening salutation – “Kia ora nau mai, ngā mihi nui koutou katoa” – remain in any edited version of her article to reflect her culture.

Hill refused what she considered to be a “demand”, and in her reply wrote: “This is not a Māori newsletter; it is a community newsletter and everyone in this community speaks English.

“I, as well as many New Zealanders am not in favour of giving one cultural group special privilege regarding their language simply because they (falsely) claim first nation status.”....
See full article HERE

 Māori undercounted and under-resourced in health putea, new data report confirms
A report released in the New Zealand Medical Journal confirms what Māori health providers and social services organisations have long been saying: Māori were undercounted by the Ministry of Health, thereby under-resourced in the health sector - and justifies their decision to take and beat the ministry in court.

Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency CEO John Tamihere told the Herald he believes undercounting Māori numbers was a deliberate act by the Ministry of Health.
See full article HERE

Mayor and MP have ‘strong concern’ about remand centre in Hastings
The local Labour MP and the mayor in Hastings have expressed their “strong concern” to the police minister over the location of a new kind of remand facility proposed by iwi and police.

Its supporters say it will be transformational for Māori, while local authorities believe it will destroy prime land for desperately needed houses.....
See full article HERE

Treasury sees slow improvement for Maori
A new Treasury background paper on has highlighted some familiar areas of concern for Māori – but offers no policy solutions – at least at this stage.

Trends in Māori Wellbeing says the wellbeing of Maori and the environment are inextricably inter-twined … and that Maori ways of life and cultural identity are threatened by loss of biodiversity and climate change.....
See full article HERE

Articles:
Escaping the guilt trap: who really broke the Treaty - John Robinson

United Nation’s Destroys New Zealand’s Democracy

Propaganda:
Zoe Hawke: Is the new order of health really going to fix Māori inequality?  

Tuesday December 20, 2022 

News: 
Ngāti Kahungunu Treaty Claim strategy proves fruitful 
The Ngāti Kahungunu Strategy of three-tier Treaty Claims has come to fruition, with the final land claim being settled for Tāmaki-nui-a-Rua and Wairarapa last week.

The three-tier claims were as follows:

1. The iwi has its own economic autonomy and development;

2. Hapū have their own autonomy and development;

3. Whānau being independent with their own economic trajectory.

.... down this path and directed us to bend the Government’s rules over settlements to our way of doing things....
See full article HERE

Rates of Māori stood down from school twice that of Pākeha students
Māori students are stood down from school as a punishment for bad behaviour almost twice as much as Pākeha students.

Official figures show the rate for Māori is almost five percent, compared to 2.5 percent for Pākeha.

Some experts say the only way to bring that down is for an education system that's based on Te Tiriti o Waitangi.....
See full article HERE

Several murals will be popping up around Pōneke over the next couple of months recognising mana whenua, our creative culture and adding further vibrancy to the capital.
The three main projects will have many benefits for the city, from acknowledging mana whenua sites of significance and making our cultural heritage more visible through ngā toi Māori, to contributing to safer, brighter and more vibrant public spaces.

Wellington City Council has commissioned local artist Ariki Brightwell, Rongowhakaata, Raukawa, Te Arawa, Ngati Toa, to paint a mural along a retaining wall on Bowen Street.....
See full article HERE

Te Pāti Māori committed to holding other parties to account on a 'Te Tiriti-centric Aotearoa'
Te Pāti Māori can't see itself being part of a Labour or National-led government after next year's general election.

Things could be different if Māori had been treated differently by both parties, she said.

"We must stay true to what is going to be the best pivotal position to advance us out of the adversity and disparities we're in. At the moment, what we don't see from any of them is a real true, intentional approach towards progressing to a Te Tiriti-centric Aotearoa."...
See full article HERE

Healers fight to keep rongoa safe
A leading rongoa practitioner says the Crown has no authority to regulate the practice of traditional Māori hearing.

“In the last two years we have administered more than 65,000 treatments through crown contracts one way or the other in the rongoa Maori space and we’ve not had one safety complaint or issue. I bet no other health practice in Aotearoa could make similar safety claims. Maori have adequately regulated rongoa Maori through tikanga. For the crown to start meddling with tikanga is to make rongoa unsafe,” Ms Kerridge says.

The current legislation fails to acknowledge Maori tino rangatiratanga, and it also makes it illegal for rongoa practitioners to make claims abut traditional Maori use......
See full article HERE

Iwi receive dividend for the 2021-2022 financial year - Moana New Zealand
Moana New Zealand, Aotearoa’s largest Maori owned kaimoana company, has reported net profit after tax of $12.0 million for the 2022 financial year. Moana New Zealand’s own directly managed business delivered a result that is 25% above plan for FY22, a positive result in a challenging operating year, while its 50% share of Sealord earnings was down 64% on plan.

Operating earnings before tax and interest were up on plan by 22%, but down 18% on the prior year. While Covid19 continues to adversely affect businesses across Aotearoa, today’s economy and operating environment have additional challenges-inflation, supply chain pressures, and labour shortages combining to create a perfect storm.....
See full article HERE

Wellington mayor tries persuasion on tiriti deniers
Wellington’s new mayor says one of her top priorities is getting the councillors who opposed Māori wards to see their value.

Tory Whanau says she’s working with mana whenua representatives and Maori councillors to tell Wellingtonians how partnership is beneficial to everyone, not just Maori.

“We do have some councillors who disagree with honouring Te Tiriti, or who voted against having Maori wards. I’m just going to leave that in the past and get the to see the benefit of a true partnership with mana whenua.....
See full article HERE

Articles:
Bruce Moon: Challenging Charters

Propaganda:
How to win friends and influence people, Kaipara-style: Mayor sets cracking unpopularity pace

The purpose and creation of the Māori electoral roll

Rebuilding Better: The tide against Māori and racism is going out, a new tide is coming in - Debbie Ngarewa-Packer 

Monday December 19, 2022 

News: 
Dozens of groups urge govt to pick up pace on co-governance 
More than 60 organisations have signed an open letter calling on the government to honour the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

It comes after Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson earlier this month said the government's co-governance work might be put on hold.

Anjum Rahman from Inclusive Aotearoa Collective Tāhono said co-governance was a matter of justice and equity.

Cabinet is due to make a decision on whether to pause its co-governance work tomorrow.....
See full article HERE

Nelson social housing project led by iwi one step closer to fruition
An iwi-led long-term affordable rental housing development is one step closer to fruition after being given a waiver of development contributions by the Nelson City Council.

Both Nelson deputy mayor Rohan O'Neill-Stevens and mayor Nick Smith said the waiver of approximately $85,000, which was passed unanimously at Thursday’s full council meeting, was a “no brainer” in terms of getting social housing on the ground.

The development would provide five warm, dry and affordable houses to Ngāti Kuia members on the Ministry of Social Development public housing list, Gibellini said.....
See full article HERE

Articles:
Mike Butler: $681m for Waikato, meter running 

Sunday December 18, 2022 

News: 
Tauranga hapū 'paying price' of confiscations, told to compete on open market for farm land 
In 2015, Tauranga City Council (TCC) decided it would sell land in Bethlehem known as Smiths Farm and classify it as a Special Housing Area.

Mana whenua Ngāi Tamarawaho offered to purchase the land on commercial terms and build an affordable housing development.

Now the land will be sold on the open market, the council advising the hapū they can take part in that process.....
See full article HERE

Rotorua mayor compared to Xi Jinping, Mugabe by councillor
"We should be growing the learning of governance and skills, not limiting any opportunities."

He said he was "offended" Māori ward members were not offered more than one deputy chair role.

"This feels like crumbs from the colonial table."....
See full article HERE

Taranaki kaimoana ban given legal teeth
The government has banned collection of kaimoana from 70 kilometres of the Taranaki coast, giving legal backing to a rāhui that hapū placed on the area in January.

The two-year legal ban begins today, just before the summer holidays, when hapū of Taranaki iwi feared a fresh assault on seafood stocks.....
See full article HERE

Articles:
Future for local government review proposes radical change

Report on the constitutional kōrero 2022 conference 

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

9 comments:

Fred H said...

Well, Maori are not indigenous. They came from another place around 1300 AD and there were people already living on the islands at the time. Maori being indigenous is just another myth spread by a few who want to obtain special privileges without working for them.

Doug Longmire said...

I have read the "offending" article, and although the wording was maybe a bit direct, what she actually wrote was a/ quite correct and b/ appropriate.

Kiwialan said...

Maori are not bloody indigenous. Fact , proven. When will the mainstream woke media get off their collective arses and start challenging all this cultural bullshit being thrown at us? Kiwialan.

Anonymous said...

When people like martin luther king and nelson mandela said they wanted everyone to be treated as equals, this was absolutely correct. So why do we now find ourselves in some weird reverse racism/ apartheid situation again? It is absolutely insane and goes against all the morals and beliefs of these two inspirational men.

Anonymous said...

I see the Waitangi Tribunal is at it again - reinventing history and the Treaty. They are well past their use by date and time they were gone.

*** said...

The Waitangi Tribunal report into the Te Tai Tokerau claim concludes that the NZ government has no sovereignty.

The report finds: “[Maori]….never ceded their sovereignty to the Crown, nor did they cede their authority to make and enforce law over their people and territories”.

I would have thought this news would cause massive repercussions, condemnation from parliament, dominate news headlines, bring the masses onto the streets, etc. Yet, I’ve just checked Stuff and the NZ Herald and there is not even a mention of it. There is no comment from any politician.

What on earth is going on in NZ?

Anonymous said...

Absolutely agree with the comments about Maori not actually being indigenous to New Zealand and have just been on a gravy train with the Treaty claims.
I would sincerely like some party to actually publish in the Herald a full page spread of what monies and money Maori have received via the Treaty over that last few years and I'm sure it would be a wake up call for Kiwis.

Robert Arthur said...

The Waitiangi Tribunal has got completely out of hand. One woners what state Northland would now be in if rangatiratanga had been given free rein over the decades. One of the few analogous coubtries is Afghanistan. With colonists and descendants severely discouraged (or worse) I wonder how Northland would now look with out their contributed ability, effort and onvestment over the decades. And with less or no infusionn of colonist blood their wiliness may have developed far less.
It would be of great interest to read any objective msm report into the proceedings of Waitangi Tribunal findings. There was one such on BV a year or two ago and it was a revelation, including to those who had served on the tribunal when it was rational. Of course it would be impossible to report on objectively and stay within PIJF requirments.

Anonymous said...


This decision (announced 23 December 2022) was opportune to minimize comment from media, all official sources and the public. The Crown has declined to comment further now.

Reaction in 2023 - including no reaction - will be the really telling moment.

Post a Comment

Thanks for engaging in the debate!

Because this is a public forum, we will only publish comments that are respectful and do NOT contain links to other sites. We appreciate your cooperation.