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Saturday, February 17, 2024

Breaking Views Update: Week of 11.2.24







Saturday February 17, 2024 

News:
Emails reveal concerns within Waka Kotahi about name change

The head of the Transport Agency (NZTA) ordered the only line about a partnership with Māori removed from a short press release she issued about relegating the name 'Waka Kotahi' to second place.

NZTA chief executive Nicole Rosie's instruction has been revealed in more than 100 pages of emails released under the Official Information Act.

It came shortly after Rosie stressed to staff and the board that partnering with Māori was vital and would "expand"; and days after Transport Minister Simeon Brown told Waka Kotahi to change its "branding and communication in media" as soon as possible.

Brown first ordered the name change to make English in late November, although this was was verbal only.

The emails show that NZTA had expected a follow-up in writing, but the Public Service Commission told RNZ this week that it had given no directives because "we have not received any direction from the government regarding the use of te reo".

"We will continue to build our cultural capability as an organisation, and to work with Māori as partners to build strong, meaningful and enduring relationships to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes."....
See full article HERE

Raukura Hauora o Tainui CEO, HR manager, board member bullied employee at Māori health provider, ERA finds
A personal assistant was bullied by bosses at a Māori health provider who spread rumours and made derogatory comments behind her back after she raised concerns about the trust’s finances.

Now Raukura Hauora o Tainui must pay Jourdan Piacun $36,000 compensation after she won a personal grievance claim against the iwi charitable trust in the Employment Relations Authority.....
See full article HERE

'It changes the meaning': Council omits macrons from Māori names
Missing macrons in an Invercargill City Council report has led to a request from mana whenua to do better.

At an infrastructure committee meeting on Tuesday, mana whenua representative Evelyn Cook pointed out the errors during discussion on a paper about road closures for an upcoming event.

"Can we please do something about macrons that are missing in this report?" Cook asked.

"There should be one on the ‘o’ in Ōreti. There should be one on the ‘o’ in Waihōpai. If we need to do something about the spell check IT programme, can we please do it?...
See full article HERE

Captain Cook statue defaced in politically-motivated action on anniversary of his death
A statue of British coloniser Captain James Cook in Christchurch’s Victoria Square has been twice vandalised in what appears to be politically-motivated action days apart.

In the first incident on Wednesday, which was the anniversary of Cook’s death in Hawaii in 1779, the statue was tagged with red spray paint.

That prompted the city council to erect scaffolding to remove the graffiti and do some maintenance.

Someone appears to have then made use of the scaffolding to damage the statue by grinding off the statue’s nose on Thursday night.....
See full article HERE

Health NZ switches to English name first
An internal memo provided to 1News has confirmed Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand will be changing its name to "align with the expectation for agencies to have their primary name in English".

The public health agency would now be formally known as Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora, the memo read.

The coalition agreement between National and NZ First included requiring public service departments to "have their primary name in English, except those specifically related to Māori"....
See full article HERE

Wairarapa Māori push for rights to Pouākani land
Wairarapa Moana Incorporation [WMI] spoke to United Nations [UN] diplomats this week, lambasting the New Zealand Government’s decision to halt the return of lands at Pouākani to Wairarapa Māori.

In 2021, High Court overturned the Waitangi Tribunal’s 2020 decision to order the return of land in the Ngāumu Forest in Wairarapa and Pouākani to Ngāti Kahungunu.

Specific recommendations to the UN by WMI were to either commit to returning the land to WMI, or provide compensation that is “equal in quality, size, and legal status or of monetary compensation or appropriate redress”.....
See full article HERE

Propaganda:
Hokianga hāerenga impresses finance minister

Fast track law makes seabed protest harder  

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 February 16, 2024 

News: 
Co-governance still coming because Māori own the water 
Maori can’t be shut out of water governance because they own most of it.

That’s according to iwi leaders, who say National politicians shutting down co-governance on water bodies is pointless because they are sure water ownership will end up in the courts.

The government is determined to drive the Three Waters repeal through by the middle of next year but Māori leaders say they are determined to test their rights to the management of water in the courts.....
See full article HERE

Treaty survey criticism ‘wilful ignorance’
The survey of councillors is part of an audit which aims to ascertain whether the council, in accordance with the Treaty, operates in a manner consistent with its partnership with mana whenua and practises bicultural approaches within its organisation.

Cr Michael Laws said the council audit showed "a complete misunderstanding of history, the law and the Treaty itself" because the Treaty was signed with the Crown, which meant the Otago Regional Council was not a partner.

The council had bigger priorities and the audit was a "waste of time and resource", he said....
See full article HERE

Climate hearing to explore ‘catastrophic Treaty breaches’
In March of this past year, Bailey, 46, a mum of two, formally requested the Waitangi Tribunal hold an urgent hearing on climate change issues.

The claims were considered together, and, this past week, the Tribunal’s tiamana tuarua (deputy chairperson) Judge Sarah Reeves granted a priority Kaupapa inquiry into climate change policy.

“The focus should, as raised by the various claims, be on the physical, spiritual, and socioeconomic impacts of climate change on Māori and the Crown’s response,” the February 9 decision says.

“The priority inquiry should also focus on the relevant Treaty principles to be considered in climate change policy, and recommendations for how the Crown should meaningfully engage and consult with Māori.”....
See full article HERE

Research to measure kaupapa Maori health impact
University of Canterbury Associate Professor Sacha McMeeking has received $1.3 million from the Health Research Council to look at how kaupapa Māori improves health.

Ms McKeeking, who is co-director of the Child Well-being Research Institute, will work with 10 iwi and Māori organisational partners on the project.

She says while there is an aim to improve Māori health outcomes by incorporating Indigenous practices into the health system, there have been only limited impact studies....
See full article HERE

Toi Māori gallery Tui Tui opens in Palmerston North’s Square Edge Arts Centre
The gallery is at Square Edge Arts Centre in the space previously used by Studio on The Square, and is the brainchild of new Square Edge Community Arts artistic director Erana Kaa.

She says the gallery is an opportunity to demonstrate the diversity of Māori visual arts, as it can be narrowly categorised. Western art, with its prioritisation of visual aesthetic over cultural relevance, has imposed on Māori artists.

Palmerston North City Council has funded the space for 12 months, and the gallery has also received money from the Department of Internal Affairs.....
See full article HERE

Revitalisation of traditional birthing methods in Whanganui Māori-led service
Whanganui health organisation Te Oranganui is trialling a Hapū Māmā Village to improve birthing outcomes for women through mātauranga Māori (Māori world view) practices.

Almost 50 per cent of babies born each year in Whanganui are Māori....
See full article HERE

Māori trade feature in economic forum
The shape and future of the New Zealand economy will be up for discussion at a conference at the University of Waikato Business School over the next two days.

Today’s speakers include Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr, along with a range of academics, economists, and leaders of businesses and non-governmental organisations.

Dr Mika says Maori want international trade agreements to reflect their aspirations.....
See full article HERE

Award recipients aim to improve Māori cancer care
Two University researchers committed to maximising Māori health gains are receiving funding for their research into improving cancer care......
See full article HERE

Articles:
John Porter: If Not, Why Not Mr Luxon

Propaganda:
Māori political systems are the oldest in Aotearoa – it’s time university politics courses reflected this

The time te reo Māori was almost wiped out in Aotearoa

Time for politicians to listen?  

Thursday February 15, 2024 

News: 
Tiriti vulnerable, commission tells UN 
The Human Rights Commission has told a United Nations panel in Geneva Māori rights remain vulnerable to the political climate of the day, and more work is needed to strengthen constitutional protection of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

She says there have been positive developments coming out of the recommendations of the last review in 2019, including introducing a national strategy to eliminate family and sexual violence, and decriminalising and making abortion much more accessible.

But Dr Sumeo says the commission is concerned the new Government has agreed to remove, review or repeal numerous policies and laws that provide for Māori.....
See full article HERE

Number of kapa haka teams growing in Te Waipounamu
Kapa haka teams in Te Tauihu o Te Waka a Māui, a district at the top of the South Island, are preparing for their upcoming regional competitions in a climate that has had a significant growth of kapa haka teams established in the region.

Te Matatini Te Tauihu o Te Waka a Mauī delegate Tom Alesana says competitive kapa haka teams have doubled in primary school, secondary school, and senior groups in the region within the past five years. He attributes the growth to the local governing committee focusing on developing and nurturing kaupapa Māori initiatives.

“The establishment of kura kaupapa Māori, the higher number of tamariki in Māori medium education, and iwi reo revitalisation have been a large driver of this development,” says Alesana....
See full article HERE

Mātauranga ILG Welcomes Discussion On Māori Education
Mātauranga ILG currently has work underway that will develop a full system map of the direct education touchpoints for ākonga and whānau. The mapping will support whānau, hapū and iwi navigate the complexity of the education system by understanding how Government legislation and policies impact ākonga education experiences.

“An example that comes to mind is our tamariki who attend tangihanga or national kaupapa with their whānau, go on to be listed with the same attendance code as students who have chosen not to go to school. This means the state considers them truant, when they are instead being raised in their own culture while upholding their duty to their whānau,” says Ms Hall.....
See full article HERE

Interesting debate
Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers

Question No. 4—Justice (Treaty Principles Bill)

4. Dr PARMJEET PARMAR (ACT) to the Associate Minister of Justice (Treaty Principles Bill): Why is the Government introducing a Treaty Principles Bill?

Hon DAVID SEYMOUR (Associate Minister of Justice (Treaty Principles Bill)): Next year, it will be half a decade since this House passed the Treaty of Waitangi Act, saying that there was such a thing as the principles of the Treaty. Since that time, Parliament has been silent about their definition while the courts, the Waitangi Tribunal, the Public Service, and many others have had their say. This Government is introducing a Treaty principles bill to democratise that process of defining the Treaty principles because, for the first time through this representative House of Parliament, all New Zealanders will have a say about what our founding document and our constitutional future means.

Dr Parmjeet Parmar: How will the Treaty principles bill honour the Treaty?...
See full article HERE

Propaganda:
‘Dictatorship At Its Worst,’ Ngāti Ruanui Opposes Governments Fast-track Consenting  

Wednesday February 14, 2024 

News: 
Māori wards set for next election 
Northland Regional Council deputy chair Tui Shortland, says the coalition Government may be too late to achieve its target or undermining Māori wards on local councils before the next election.

The Government wants to bring back the referendums which had slowed the establishment of Māori wards since the option was put into the Local Government Act more than a decade ago.

The government can change the laws through the parliamentary process, but it takes time and could have to overcome challenges to the courts and the Waitangi Tribunal.....
See full article HERE

Treaty clauses not delivering
New Zealand First deputy leader Shane Jones says iwi leaders need to rethink their approach to the current Government.

Mr Jones says Maori leadership has fixated on securing wins through the Waitangi Tribunal and the courts, but there’s more to being Maori than that – and the Government has a different approach.

“We’ve gone through a time where whenever any new legislation was passed, certainly over the last three years, it ended up enjoying the insertion of a reference to Treaty of Waitangi principles without us fully understanding ‘in this context what exactly does it mean? What exactly are we safeguarding?'” he says.

Mr Jones says that shifts more power not to Maori but to the judiciary, and he will be working with Maori Development Minister Tama Potaka to get clarity on when such references are necessary.....
See full article HERE

$1.3m for research to indigenise health system – University of Canterbury
Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) Associate Professor and Co-Director of the Child Well-being Research Institute Sacha McMeeking and Dr Sibi Walter have been awarded a combined total of $1,368,439 in Health Research Council grants.....
See full article HERE

Kaitorete at the forefront of Te Waipounamu aerospace boost
The official opening on Friday propels the country further into a prominent position on the global aerospace stage but and underscores the partnership with Ngāi Tahu’s Warewa and Taumutu Rūnanga, melding indigenous knowledge with modern technological prowess.

Backed by a $5.4 million grant from the government’s Regional Strategic Partnership Fund, the centre is poised to generate substantial economic benefits, including over 1,300 high-value jobs and up to $2.4 billion in economic growth over the next decade.....
See full article HERE

Waikato creates new pathway for akonga Māori into med school
Waikato University and Waikato Tainui have teamed up to create a new path into medical studies for akonga Māori.

Vice-Chancellor Neil Quigley today signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Health as part of National’s election commitment to creating a third medical school at the university.

“One of the advantages of the University of Waitangi is we already have 26 or 27 percent of Māori students at the university so we have a substantial pool of Maori students to draw from and with a graduate student programme this is an ideal pathway from undergraduate studies into medicine,” Professor Quigley says.....
See full article HERE

Propaganda:
Lady Tureiti Moxon: What we witnessed at Waitangi is just the start - thanks Minister Seymour

David Seymour is whistling the same Treaty bigotry as Don Brash - Willie Jackson  

Tuesday February 13, 2024 

News: 
ACT leader David Seymour says 'a lot' of customs, traditions at Waitangi designed to 'intimidate' 
When pressed about his comment about Waitangi being designed to "intimidate" people, Seymour said from his experience "a lot of the customs are literally challenges".

"A lot of the tikanga, for example, the laying down of the wero. I mean, that is literally a challenge," he said.

"A lot of the debates on the marae is really face-to-face, not unlike the set-up that you have in a Parliament," he told AM.

"So, yes, it is a challenging environment, literally and metaphorically but the message we get is people like that you've got a set of values and you clearly and politely articulate them respectfully but firmly."....
See full article HERE

Audio:
Shane Jones: On Waitangi, Treaty Debates, the Covid-19 Inquiry and economy

Dr Muriel Newman on the Treaty Principles Bill

Articles:
Bruce Cotterill: Are we better together or better apart?

Barry Brill: NZ Sovereignty - The Law is Settled

Waitangi 2024 – Dr Muriel Newman

Kawharu’s Re-written Treaty

Barrie Davis: Trick or Tribunal

Propaganda:

Government faces the music at Waitangi

Section 27 cultural reports are value for money, help rehabilitate inmates - Tamatha Paul  

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

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Intimidation as at Waitangi may be part of illiterate Stone Age warrior culture but it is not appropriate as part of NZ political/social culture.

If these people want to play out their archaic intimidation and call it culture then do it as between themselves. I can’t believe their colonial ancestors would be amused.

There is enough violence to be managed in this world without recreating it and entrenching it as part of modern NZ culture. Time the All Blacks grew up and dropped the haka . It only idealises violence.

Robert Arthur said...

re 14th I would be interested to read the Canterbury University grants in plainEnglish instead of tertiary speak. Some are especially farcical; ie maori martial arts link to shoulder arthritis. Hardly a huge impartial data base. should perhaps study the effect of the haka on brain befuddlement. And others are just blatant attempts to set up yet other areas for maori domination and control. Applicants should be identified as trace maori where applicable, although I suspect all are, or otherwise shrewd money chasers.
The move to "indigenise" health should do wonders for the private Insurance systems. Few things concern me more than the prospect of a modern brainwashed maori practitioner, accepted with an ability discount, and easily able to link me to my contributions here.

Anonymous said...

Now what was it about a new medical school at Waikato? Is U of C the research centre?

Anonymous said...

But Dr Sumeo says the commission is concerned the new Government has agreed to remove, review or repeal numerous policies and laws that provide for Māori.....

Believe it Sumeo. You can take your APARTHEID and shove it!!

Robert Arthur said...

Tt staggers me that maori whine about enequal outcomes from the school system (commonly and wrongly called inequity) when they want those who swan off to kapa haka junkets counted as statistically present so the figures do not inflate the negative relationship between acheivement and actually attending, so much a maori problem. (m.d.o.)
Whatever the failings of the school system it astonishes me how many are churned out able to spend hours and comment at length on the most obscure concepts expressed in modern tertiary speak at its worst. School exam setters must have a surfeit of material for comprehension tests. I was not good at it 65 years ago in School Cert and would be totally stumped today. I have made the mistake of reading a lot of Churchill.
Incidentally on RNZ recently prof? Mead was asked to define matauranga. Ten minutes of waffle later he still had not,and at 96 he has had ample time to ponder.

Anonymous said...

Why does the Human Rights Commission exist? It is simply a mouthpiece for malign Maori propaganda which it is happy to spread around the world.

Is this ok by NZers?

Anonymous said...

'eliminate family and sexual violence' - sorry, but which insane human being can make or believe such a claim???

Robert Arthur said...

re 16th I seem to recall matauranga being defined as (traditonal based) maori knowledge or maori science. But now it is maori world view, which means whatever maori decide whenever. Traditional maori birth procedures and what they now desire are very different. Early settlers report that women returned to their agriculture almost immediately after giving birth. And the common infanticide limited the numbers damaged as infants, current style.
Finlayson, who presumably knows, also emphasises that any Treaty partnership is not with the likes of Councils. With their clamour for partnership situations many of these councils do not realise the degree of obstructiveness and (paid, extortionate) time wasting "consultation" they are setting themselves up for.

Anonymous said...

The trexit referendum must take place. Activists have hijacked the once benign treaty for their own ends and many more kiwis are now aware of this. They are the racists, not us. Bring on Trexit!!

Anonymous said...


Co-governance still coming because Māori own the water!!!

Well DEMOCRACY is working out well for us taxpayers, isn't it??

Anonymous said...

Apparently co - governance is democracy. Go figure.

robert Arthur said...

I do not understand the fuss at NZTA. The boss by saying one thing in public whilst doing another is in total accord with tikanga and te ao and routine current maori practise. ( They got in quick and as I understand have merely changed the name to NZTA Waka Kotahi whereas the WH part should be in brackets and/or reduced size/and or different font.
And it is rich that having no written language maori now want English cluttered with macrons and those other myriad symbols some other languages are plagued with. I wonder what George Bernard Shaw would have had to say. I suppose there will now be a trace maori council employee whose tasks include vetting all publications for macrons.

Anonymous said...

Ministry of Transport partnership with Maori - what, to build canoes?

Macron’s missing from an unwritten langauage? Converting the language to written form is a modern affectation. Why did they even both to use the sounds attributed to letters in the English language? They could have used Spanish sounds or German.

Caption Cook’s nose? What silly small minded nasty person would be bothered to do that.

When Maori can genuinely prove they understood and monitored the transit of Venus before Cook, I will accept they had navigational skills of repute. When they prove that Cook was a cannibal, a slave trader and as now evidenced, a disrespectful ignorant jerk, then I may give some credence to the view Cook does not deserve his nose.