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Saturday, August 19, 2023

Breaking Views Update: Week of 13.08.23







Saturday August 19, 2023 

News:
Northland hapū seek protection of ancient burial ground after desecration

Whatuwhiwhi-based hapū Te Rorohuri and Te Whānau Moana have reached out to Pouhere Taonga Heritage NZ in an effort to protect an ancient burial site they say is being desecrated.

Makeshift blockades have been set up on the site near Doubtless Bay, traditionally named Te Pātia o Matariki. This is where local Māori say they had seen a person with a digger create an access way through the sand dunes.

One uri Keringawai Evans describes the sand dunes as a sacred wāhi tapu for the hapū....
See full article HERE

New app unites three Waikato councils seeking to increase use of te reo Māori
Three Waikato councils have joined forces for a special project to boost the use of te reo Māori and the understanding of te ao Māori in their area.

Hauraki District Council, alongside Thames-Coromandel and Matamata-Piako district councils, created a free cultural app centred on local knowledge of the traditional Māori rohe known as Te Tara-o-te-ika-a-Māui, the region that encompasses the three councils.

The app, called Te Kete o Te Tara, includes useful vocabulary and everyday phrases, mihimihi (introductions), waiata (songs), whakataukī (traditional proverbs), tikanga (customs) and local maps.....
See full article HERE

No opposition expected from Māori on new RMA
Environment Minister David Parker doesn’t foresee legal challenges from Iwi or hapū to the next generation of resource management law.

He believes it will be acceptable to iwi, who fought changes to the RMA proposed by the previous National-ACT Government.

“I’ve had no indication that they’re considering litigation. There are protections in the legislation requiring us or any future government to fully uphold all existing treaty settlements,” Mr Parker says.

The new Bill provides a mechanism so applicants and councils can ask Te Puni Kokiri which Māori groups that need to be notified about plans and development proposals.....
See full article HERE

Māori Health Authority’s Million Dollar Website
The Taxpayers’ Union has uncovered that the newly launched Aroā Wellbeing website, bankrolled by Te Aka Whai Ora (Māori Health Authority), carried a staggering price tag of $1 million. Of this, $300,000 was allocated to the website's actual design and creation. This discovery prompts the Taxpayers’ Union to scrutinize where the remaining $700,000 was directed, especially as the OIA stated that “the Ministry does not hold information on breakdown of costs into areas such as music, voice actors, and graphic design.”....
See full article HERE

Te Pae Oranga partnership welcomed in Tāmaki
A new Te Pae Oranga partnership between Ruapōtaka Marae and Auckland City District Police has been welcomed into the Tāmaki communities today.

Te Pae Oranga (formerly Iwi Community Panels) provides an Iwi-led restorative alternative to court that responds to offending and addresses the harm caused, while also helping people to turn their lives around.....
See full article HERE

Te Kurawai programme teaches Māori perspective of environment
Māori students are learning about water using a Māori perspective of the environment called Te Kurawai. It also incorporates one of the fastest-growing sports among Māori, waka ama.

It’s part of a teaching framework known as Mātaiao founded by Wayne Ngata, which reconnects students with the languages and environmental knowledge of atua Māori.....
See full article HERE

Flag raised for Koroneihana
The 17th annual koroneihana hui in honour of Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII kicked off at Turangawaewae Marae in Ngaruawahia this morning with the raising of the Kiingitanga flag.

The king’s chief of staff, Ngira Simmonds, says thousands of attendees from across the motu are expected, including representatives of crown and community agencies and political parties.

He says the gathering is a chance to reaffirm the important partnership between te Iwi Maaori and institutions of the Crown and civil society.....
See full article HERE

Iwi Oppose Rumoured Plans To Push Kermadecs Legislation Through Parliament
Iwi leaders will vehemently oppose any moves from the Government to push through the proposed Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary legislation in the final days of this Parliament. In June, 42 iwi organisations representing tangata whenua nationwide overwhelmingly rejected the Government’s Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary proposal at a Special General Meeting held by Te Ohu Kaimoana.....
See full article HERE

Te Pāti Māori Party billboards vandalised in ‘racist attack’, Pākehā donate thousands for repairs
Two Pākehā have donated thousands of dollars to repair Māori Party billboards that have been damaged by vandals.

Both wanted to help and voice their abhorrence of the action, but wanted to remain anonymous.....
See full article HERE

Articles:
Peter Williams: Maori health improving faster than non-Maori


Propaganda:
What prisoners want to read  

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 August 18, 2023  

News: 
Four External Appointees Welcomed Onto ORC Committees 
The Otago Regional Council has welcomed three iwi representatives to its Environmental Policy and Science Committee and Regional Leadership Committee, plus another appointment to its Audit and Risk Committee.

“Our partnership with iwi is important to all of the work we do at the ORC and having appointed members on our committees gives tangible effect to the partnership and provides for direct engagement and dialogue between councillors and iwi partners in policy and strategy discussions”.

The four appointments are paid positions and each has full voting rights on their respective committees. All four have recently attended committee meetings.....
See full article HERE

Māori health providers back Te Aka Whaiora despite a less than flattering review
Māori health organisations have rallied to support the Māori health authority Te Aka Whaiora following a disappointing nine month review.

The collective says they are disappointed by the review of the new entity, calling it premature and unfair.
See full article HERE

Māori wāhine struggling financially as they retire
The Retirement Commission’s latest survey shows financial difficulties facing elderly Māori in retirement are starting to sink in, with wāhine in an even tougher situation than men.

A Westpac retirement claims “a comfortable retirement means couples must save up to $70,000″. But not many Māori superannuitants achieve this. On average Māori will earn less through their working lives, meaning they have fewer resources to draw on when they retire.....
See full article HERE

Te Whakatōhea Historic Moment: First Reading At Parliament For Treaty Settlement
The deed of settlement includes financial redress of $100 million, 5000 ha of marine space reserved exclusively for Te Whakatōhea, the transfer of 33 sites as cultural redress, 51 sites as commercial redress, relationship agreements with various Crown agencies, first right to buy Crown lands in the future and recognition by the Crown of the Treaty breaches, and a formal apology for those breaches.....
See full article HERE

Water Services Entities Amendment Bill passes Third Reading
“This Bill means New Zealanders get the benefits of the reform and communities have a say in how these services are run. I acknowledge and thank those New Zealanders, including local government and iwi who have assisted in refining these reforms....
See full article HERE

More on the above here > National vows to repeal Three Waters, 'RMA 2.0' legislation

Indigenous Nurses Going Back To Their Roots
The annual Indigenous Nurses Aotearoa Conference will be going back to its roots by "Reclaiming our Whakapapa - Mana o te wai" its theme for this year.

"Our whakapapa connects us and grounds us to our turangawaewae our whenua and our culture, and our rights to protect this taonga is imperative."

Ms Nuku said indigenous nurses have been historically disenfranchised by a system designed to keep them on the sidelines.....
See full article HERE

Māori wards approved for Western Bay council in ‘momentous’ decision affecting next two elections
A decision to guarantee Māori representation in Western Bay has been described as “momentous”, a “long time coming” but also “totally wrong” in a fraught and, at times, emotional meeting.

In an extraordinary meeting today, Western Bay of Plenty District Council voted 9-3 to establish a Māori ward or wards for elections in 2025 and 2028. Every six years, councils must follow a representation review process to determine how their communities are represented.....
See full article HERE

Whanganui mayor pens new karakia to open council hui
Whanganui District Council is routinely opening and closing hui with karakia and waiata – even though there are no Māori councillors.

The range of karakia includes a new composition penned by the mayor.

The council of 12 councillors and the mayor does not have Māori wards and no Māori candidates were elected to a general council seat in October’s local government elections.

Mayor Andrew Tripe said using karakia and waiata was the council’s way of acknowledging all of the community.....
See full article HERE

Spatial Planning Act simplifies treaty settlements
Environment Minister David Parker says a Bill which passed yesterday will replace some of the fine print that’s going in to treaty settlements.

The Spatial Planning and Natural and Built Environment Bill is one of a set of legislation which will replace the beleaguered Resource Management Act.

There’s new mechanisms for environmental protection, national standards, and a streamlined approach to including the appropriate hapu and iwi in consent processes....
See full article HERE

Let’s Kōrero about a South Wairarapa Māori ward
Based on our Māori Electoral Roll, South Wairarapa District Council is eligible to have one Māori ward across the entire South Wairarapa District.

If Council decide to have Māori wards this will come into effect for the 2025 & 2028 Local Government Elections.

If you would like to be kept updated on Māori wards or have feedback or questions, please email us at: haveyoursay@swdc.govt.nz
See full article HERE

Articles:
Peter Hemmingson: Waitangi Tribunal

Lindsay Mitchell: Cultural fixation is a crock

David Farrar: Reviewing the evidence behind the claims on Maori health

Peter Winsley: Resolving arguments about opening meetings with karakia - A modest proposal

Propaganda:
Māori health experts say Te Aka Whai Ora hasn't been given a chance to work  

Thursday August 17, 2023 

News: 
Wānanga now able to self-determine how they operate 
Māori tertiary institutions will be now able to chose for themselves how they operate after the Education and Training Amendment Bill passes its third reading in Parliament.

Wānanga can choose to remain a bespoke Crown entity or convert to a non-Crown entity and be accountable to iwi, hapū or another Māori organisation.

Kura Kaupapa Māori would be restored to their previous position as distinct types of state schools in the act, separating the establishment provisions for Kura Kaupapa Māori from those of designated character schools.....
See full article HERE

Ruapehu skifields: Govt ministers apologise for iwi ‘flawed’ engagement
The Government has apologised for failing to recognise the significance of Mount Ruapehu while engaging with iwi over the future of its skifields.

Documents released to Newstalk ZB under the Official Information Act show then-Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan wrote to iwi representation group Tūwharetoa, apologising for a “flawed” engagement process in relation to the sale of the two skifields on the mountain.....
See full article HERE

Crown says ‘sorry’ but will fight Wakatū over claims for remedies
The Crown has apologised for its historic role in matters that gave rise to grievances among Māori in the top of the South Island.

But its “mini opening” late on day two of a remedies trial in the Wellington High Court indicates it’s unlikely to budge on the extent of remedies sought to resolve breaches over land deals during the settlement of Nelson.....
See full article HERE

Land row puts Ōtiria rail link at risk
New Zealand First’s Northland candidate is accusing a roopū which is stymying KiwiRail’s plans to reopen the northern rail link of attempted extortion.

Shane Jones says the group at Ōpahi, about halfway between Motatau and the line’s terminus at Ōtiria, are blocking the project.....
See full article HERE

Te Arawa taonga to return to Rotorua Lakefront
Work has begun to return Te Arawa Waka Taua to the Lakefront and give it pride of place near the shores of Lake Rotorua.

The last major works for the Lakefront Development Project, construction of a new Whare Waka will enable our community and visitors to view and connect with the Te Arawa taonga.

The Whare Waka has been designed by local architects DCA Architects of Transformation in collaboration with Te Arawa artist and master carver Lyonel Grant, Te Arawa Waka Trust and BSK Consulting Engineers. Mr Grant, who carved the Waka Taua by hand in 1989, will be providing carved elements and design features for the building.

In 2018, a $19.9 million Government investment from Kānoa – Regional Economic Development & Investment Unit (RDU) was announced for the project. This funding, alongside $20.1 million from Council, aimed to transform this recreational, economic and cultural resource.

In July 2020, an additional $1 million investment from Kānoa.....
See full article HERE

Articles:
Bruce Moon: The Treaty Tale for Jane and John Citizen

Unlucky country!

Factors affecting NZ media coverage of Treaty of Waitangi issues  

Wednesday August 16, 2023 

News: 
Survey reveals widespread violence 
A national survey conducted as part of a project looking at Māori cultural frameworks for violence prevention and intervention has found four out of five respondents said state or systemic violence had impacted on their wellbeing.

Just over 1700 respondents completed He Waka Eke Noa survey, which was run by Tu Tama Wahine o Taranaki.

Seventy eight percent identified as female, 17 percent were male, and 4.2 percent non-binary.

Around two-thirds of participants had experienced sexual violence, and almost 9 had seen or witnessed physical violence in their lifetime.

Over 70 percent had experienced abuse or abuse of power from WINZ, the education system, the health system, the police, and the justice system, and over 80 percent had experienced racism from the same agencies.

Almost 60 percent of respondents or their whānau had experienced police violence in their lives.....
See full article HERE

New mural pays tribute to local kaumātua June Jackson
Karepa adds that June's dedication to our Māori community and her efforts in promoting Māori culture has been truly transformative.

“The mural honours her work and is a tribute to the enduring relationship between our city and its indigenous people."....
See full article HERE

Ngāti Tūwharetoa confirms bid for Ruapehu Alpine Lifts; now going through its books
Central North Island iwi Ngāti Tūwharetoa has confirmed it is in the bidding to buy Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, which runs New Zealand’s biggest commercial skifield but went into liquidation last month owing creditors $45 million.

The book value of Ruapehu Alpine Lifts is estimated to be more than $50 million....
See full article HERE

Ngāti Whātua and partners to develop block in central Auckland
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei has a new private investment partner to develop Te Tōangaroa, prime real estate in central Auckland. The deal will include commercial buildings and also extends to education and other initiatives that will benefit the iwi.....
See full article HERE

Articles:
Sandra Goudie: What Treaty Principles  

Tuesday August 15, 2023  

News: 
Newshub-Reid Research poll shows New Zealanders split on rolling out bilingual road signs 
The latest Newshub-Reid Research poll voters if they support the increasing use of Te Reo on road signs and 48.4 percent said yes, 44.7 percent said no - the rest didn't know.

Many of the 'no' voters came from National with nearly 58 percent of its supporters opposing bilingual signs - 67 percent of ACT supporters and 68 percent of New Zealand First voters saying a big 'no' as well.

But it's a yes from National leader Christopher Luxon, a fan of them. "We support dual language here in New Zealand," he said.

Many of the supporters came from Labour, with 65 percent of its voters supporting the signs. And 78.6 percent of Green voters are keen, and 87.5 percent of Te Pati Māori supporters. Interestingly though, 8.3 percent of them didn't support bilingual signs.....
See full article HERE

Reo symposum passes tough test
The organiser of Ngāti Kahungunu’s annual national Māori language revitalisation symposium if they had the capacity they could easily have doubled attendance at last week’s event in Hastings.

The 1200 tickets for the two-day hui were snapped up within hours.....
See full article HERE

Forestry pressures lead to downturn for Te Taitokerau forests
Tai Tokerau Māori Forests is considering the cost of falling prices for export logs, potential changes to the emissions trading scheme, and a labour shortage.

There are around 4,400 hectares of Māori pine in Northland, with the price of logs having dropped by 21% over the last year because of the economic downturn in China.

The price of an unprocessed log went from $130 to $113, and that drop has caused some in the industry to lose their jobs....
See full article HERE

Iwi and global pharmaceutical firm sign deal to merge modern medicine and Māori practices
Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua and global pharmaceutical company Roche Pharmaceuticals have recently set up Tū Kotahi, a new partnership that will see modern medicine meeting traditional Māori values and practices.....
See full article HERE

ACT wouldn't allocate separate funding for Māori education body - David Seymour
Kura and kōhanga reo providers won't get support from ACT leader David Seymour for any bid to set up a separate Kura Kaupapa-Wharekura commission to allocate their funding.

Seymour told the host of The Hui Julian Wilcox that when money was allocated under a previous National-ACT Government for charter or partnership schools, it was done from a single provider.

"There weren't two parallel boards with different sets of conditions getting taxpayer money."....
See full article HERE

Articles:
Six Years of Failure – Dr Muriel Newman.

Wayne Ryburn: Article 5 - Exposing History Curriculum Myths

Mike Butler: Racism, Maori health link elusive

Propaganda:
‘You had to be strong within your own Māoriness’ - Iwi liaison marks 50-year career in NZ Police

Act’s pledge to abolish cultural reports is racist and inhumane - law lecturer 

Sunday August 13, 2023 

News: 
Guardians of promised land in Nelson edge closer to final resolution after 180 years 
One of New Zealand’s oldest property law claims goes back to court on Monday. Customary Māori landowners in the top of the South Island have been fighting for justice since the 1840s over promises made but never fulfilled when the New Zealand Company bought land for the Nelson settlement.

In 2017 the Supreme Court ruled the Crown had a legal duty to right the wrongs.

Now, the High Court will decide what needs to be done to resolve the long-running saga of the Nelson Tenths Reserves, which stands as one of the largest pieces of litigation against the Crown this country has seen.....
See full article HERE

Contentious sports club lease granted on sacred East Coast land
A lease application for culturally significant land at Tokomaru Bay has been given final approval, against the wishes of some who say they are descendants of the original owners.

On Thursday afternoon, Gisborne district councillors approved a series of recommendations to lease land at Hatea-a-Rangi Memorial Park to Tokomaru Bay United Sports Club....
See full article HERE

Articles:
The Co-Governance juggernaut rolls on

Aucklanders' views to be sought on Māori Wards

Propaganda:
Climate change action should be informed by mātauranga Māori, says Te Pāti Māori candidate Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke  

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

6 comments:

robert Arthur said...

Was the agreement with the govt or the NZ Company. Does the Statute of Limitations not apply? A distant relative arrived in nelson on the first ship in 1840 with promise of employment by the Co. But this failed and he had to work very hard manually sawing timber to survice (in aletter held in the Nelson Museum, he observed "maori do not undestand work").The government should purchase some seaside farm of the promised size somewhere vaguely near and gift that to maori to develop as a village if they please, meeting all development costs themselves. It is rich to expect land to be developed, preseved from sale, rates paid, benefit from nearby colonist development and then expect to have it giftd 180 plus years later. How much actually transferred to amaori originallr remains in maori ownershup?

Robert Arthur said...

re 15th. I wonder how the road sign survey was carried out. None of the legacy msm seems to have examined the pros and cons; just the now standard uncritical pro maori promotion. None seem to have reviewed the submissions to NZTA. Were the persons surveyed shown a selection, including the hugely increased sign size being made obvious? The overriding criterion for road signs is immediate comprehension. If a stranger in an area, not a regular main road driver, and faced with a sign TE ARA PUAKI EXPRESSWAY would you not wonder just where you were headed? My understanding is that Luxon has rejected the signs.

Robert Arthur said...

re 17th. As with so much today, without a supplied translation or a tedious on line search, I have no clear idea what the articce referring to wananag and kura kaopapa maori is all about.

Robert Arthur said...

Re 18th. Hopefully, being appointed and not elected, and maori there having been more integrated and for longer than elsewhere, and somewhat separated from the northern extremist rebels, the maori on ORC committees will contribute to the common good and not spend their time contriving and intoning karakia, being obstructive to gain profile and mana, and manoeuvring soley for maori supremacy and benefit.

Robert Arthur said...

re 19th. if labour push through the Kermandec fisheries preservation legislation before they exit i will help repair a few of their election advertising signs. It would be one less task for Winston and Shane.

Robert Arthur said...

Further to 19th, pre 1840 pioneer Polak describes how maori showed total disregard for buriala sites of previous tribal occupants. It is absurd that all places where maori walked, lived, lazed, slept, copulated, born, died, cannibalised, "worked", fought, fished, hunted are now candidate for being declared sacrosanct.