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Saturday, March 30, 2024

Breaking Views Update: Week of 24.3.24







Saturday March 30, 2024 

News:
Highly rated rangatahi workshop ends as funding stripped

Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa (Massey University), an innovative workshop teaching rangatahi about science, can no longer continue due to the government cutting the funding.

It was funded by the Ministry of Business, and Innovation as part of its national strategic plan He Whenua Hihiri i te Maha (A Nation of Curious Minds).

Business and Innovation Ministry manager contestable investments Alan Coulson said then finance minister Grant Robertson cut the funding......
See full article HERE

ACT Auditing “Safe Space” Policies At Universities And Polytechnics
“For what it’s worth, I am seriously disturbed by the suggestion that in order to be safe, Māori students need to isolate from non-Māori. And I worry about the perception of international students who arrived here expecting to study in an inclusive, egalitarian environment.”

Dr Parmar has written to each of the institutions below, asking for a list of safe spaces, the rationale for such spaces, and whether signage or other policies are changing as a result of recent public concern......
See full article HERE

Former Ōpunakē bank's new owner announced
A new chapter has begun for Ōpunakē’s former TSB bank building, which has been purchased by Te Kāhui o Taranaki Trust.

Part of the settlement includes an agreement to retain the ATM service in the building.

The trust, which is the post-settlement governance entity established to manage the Treaty settlement assets of Taranaki iwi, took ownership on Thursday.....
See full article HERE

Local marae, hapū should have role in Civil Defence response – review
Local marae and hapū should have a seat at the table in our Civil Defence response that is ingrained in legislation, according to an independent review into Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence’s response to Cyclone Gabrielle.

Report author Mike Bush said the review recommended a law change that would see Māori formally included in disaster planning and recovery.

“They must be included. They have the capability, they have the resource, but unless we co-ordinate our response appropriately with all of that capability, we won’t get the right outcome," he said.....
See full article HERE  

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 March 29, 2024 

News: 
Local referendums for Māori wards on the back burner, leak suggests 
The Government's plan to re-allow local referendums on Māori wards looks to have been put on the back burner for now, according to a Cabinet leak.

However, ACT leader David Seymour is adamant that the policy is still on track. The policy is part of his party's coalition agreement with National.

A leak to 1News reveals two options were tabled in Cabinet on Monday.

Option one would have meant pushing go on the referendum policy, while option two meant pushing it out to a later date. Ministers chose option two.

Speaking to 1News, Seymour denied that his policy had been delayed.....
See full article HERE

Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary plan halted
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper.

“The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says.

“The current marine reserve around the Kermadec Islands extends 12 nautical miles from the shores of the various islands. This area is ample to preserve the unique environment of the marine life that inhabits the region.

“Making 15 per cent of New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone a no-go area for Kiwis making their living from the sea, including iwi who received the Kermadecs fishing quota in a 1992 Treaty of Waitangi settlement, makes absolutely no sense,” Mr Jones says....
See full article HERE

Auckland University Māori and Pasifika area: Education Minister Erica Stanford disagrees with Deputy PM Winston Peters' stance
The Education Minister says she doesn't believe a designated area for Māori and Pasifika students at Auckland University is segregation.

Stanford said she didn't agree with Seymour and Peters that the areas are akin to racial segregation, adding they have existed for decades.

"Those spaces have always been there, they were there when I was there, and I am not sure that is racial segregation because I have been in those spaces myself back in the day. They were there 30 years ago......
See full article HERE

University of Auckland stands by designated Māori and Pacific spaces amid backlash
The University of Auckland has stood by its decision to have designated areas for Māori and Pasifika after intense backlash.

A University of Auckland spokeswoman said they were proud of the support they provide their students and the spaces would not be taken away.....
See full article HERE

PM Christopher Luxon says designated Auckland University areas for Māori/Pasifika students ‘highly disappointing’
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says he is “highly disappointed” to see universities offering designated areas for Māori and Pasifika students.

He was also questioned on Māori wards and maintained his position that they were not something he wanted as a part of his government......
See full article HERE

Cost of the sculptures on Mauao
Ngā Poutiriao ō Mauao chair Dean Flavell says they installed three sculptures by helicopter onto Mauao, for $12,902.

“Tauranga City Council is a member of Ngā Poutiriao ō Mauao and helps support projects that share the rich history and stories of Mauao with the community and manuhiri (visitors).

“Through our partnership, these projects are a way to celebrate the mana, identity, and significance of Mauao, which also reflects the connection between Mauao and Tauranga Moana iwi, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāti Pūkenga, and Waitaha.”....
See full article HERE

Law Commission says change needed to ease tikanga evidence into court
The Law Commission wants changes to improve the way tikanga and mātauranga evidence is handled by courts.

Speaking on recommendations coming out of a review of the Evidence Act, commission president Amokura Kawharu says statements handed down from tūpuna are treated as hearsay and therefore unreliable. Kawharu said there needs to be a way it can be admitted into court as evidence.

A code of conduct for expert witnesses also needs to be modified so tribal experts or kaumātua can give evidence on tikanga based on mātauranga and lived experience....
See full article HERE

Maōri king and other indigenous Pacific leaders sign up to granting whales legal personhood
Pacific indigenous leaders, including the Māori king, today urged the legal recognition of whales as persons with inherent rights.

Māori leaders spearheading the Hinemoana Halo Ocean Initiative joined forces with Kingi Tuheitia and the Kaumaiti Nui, Travel Tou Ariki of the Cook Islands and Ariki Pōmare of Tahiti to endorse He Whakaputanga Moana (Declaration for the Ocean). They launched their endorsement at Atupare Marae, House of Ariki Estate, Rarotonga, Cook Islands....
See full article HERE  

Thursday March 28, 2024 

News: 
University of Auckland student shuts down segregation allegations levelled by Act Party 
University of Auckland law student Shakeel Shamaail, of Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kurī and Taranaki descent, was outraged at the Act Party’s position, saying the spaces are vital for wellbeing and counter discrimination they face daily.

The spaces for Māori and Pasifika are a long-standing tradition at the University of Auckland and were championed by writer Ranginui Walker and politicians Hone Harawira and Efeso Collins.

Shamaail said Māori and Pasifika students deserve exclusive spaces and it is a long-standing tradition. The spaces create “balance in what would otherwise be an imbalanced university scene”.

Act tertiary education spokesperson Dr Parmjeet Parmar said she is contacting all the universities in the country and will be attempting to remove the “segregated” areas.

She said the signs are reminiscent of an “ugly past” that New Zealand has left behind.

Deputy Prime Minister and New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters said the university’s actions were comparable to alt-right racist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan.

“It is phenomenal that we not only would accept this as New Zealanders, but that some people have not learnt the lessons of our world’s history of horrors with this type of thinking,” Peters said.....
See full article HERE

A Waitangi Tribunal report shows multiple Crown Treaty breaches - in denying Maori access to their land near Foxton
Iwi were denied legal title for Lake Koputara reserve - for almost 150 years.

The report also shows the Army damaged the reserve, which the Crown failed to protect.

The report recommends the Crown pay compensation to affected iwi.....
See full article HERE

Stuff to use AI tech to increase te reo Māori articles
News site Stuff Group Te Puna is partnering up with Straker and Microsoft to launch their AI tech pilot programme to increase the number the number of te reo Māori articles.

Through their new technology partnership, Microsoft and Straker are combining human translation with artificial intelligence to help normalise te reo Māori on Stuff’s platforms, digital channels, and publications.....
See full article HERE

Vehicle to express ourselves': Poua haka backed by All Black
Rugby World Cup winning All Black TJ Perenara says he stands with Hurricanes Poua and shares similar views with them as controversy continues around their haka.

“Haka is something that we as Māori use to express ourselves, whether that’s through celebration or whether that’s through frustration. We use haka as a vehicle to express ourselves for whatever emotion we are feeling.....
See full article HERE

Articles:
Barrie Davis: State of the Nation Rant

Spotlight on the Courts - Dr Muriel Newman.

A “Global Warmer” Against the Polluters - Anthony Willy.

Propaganda:
New Zealand Government Continues To Stoke Racism

‘We know this whenua and how its waters behave’ - Māori voice missing from Cyclone Gabrielle response  

Wednesday March 27, 2024 

News: 
Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell's strategies to stem high rates of Māori in jails 
Trades training for prisoners and more involvement by hapu and iwi are the strategies proposed by Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell to stem the high rates of Māori in jails.

Mitchell told The Hui host Julian Wilcox there needed to be a genuine partnership between Corrections and iwi and hapu leadership to help rehabilitate and reintegrate Māori prisoners as they came out of the Corrections system.

"The talks that I'm having with iwi leaders that I meet with is quite simply, 'we cannot do this without your leadership. We cannot do this without you putting a line in the sand also, and saying that there's been too much inter-generational harm'," he said....
See full article HERE

19 parks and places in Howick to receive Māori names
Dual and sole names will be adopted for fifteen parks, and four libraries including Botany, Highland Park, Howick, and Pakuranga Libraries. Three reserves are set to have sole Māori names.....
See full article HERE

‘Ugly Past’: ACT Calls Out Auckland University For Ethnic Segregation
ACT Party is calling out racial segregation after photos of signboards at Auckland University reserving public areas for Maori and Pasifika students were shared online.

In a statement to media on March 26, 2024, the party’s ethnic affairs spokesperson pointed to photos it said were posted online last night.

“Photos posted online last night show official-looking signs at the entrance to what appears to be an Auckland University study room saying ‘This is a Designated Area for Māori and Pasifika Students. Thank You’.

“ACT has seen similar accounts from other universities. If true, this is nothing short of segregation,” the statement read.......
See full article HERE

Articles:
Geoff Parker: An Urgent Moratorium On Race-based Policies And Preferences  

Tuesday March 26, 2024 

News: 
Former Treaty minister Chris Finlayson called a ‘Māori-loving ****’, slams Act’s referendum idea 
Chris Finlayson, the former minister for Treaty of Waitangi negotiations and attorney-general, and political commentator Matthew Hooton agree on one point - the National-led Government should not support the Act Party’s Treaty referendum.

Finlayson, who held those key portfolios under former National Party leader Sir John Key, and NZ Herald columnist Hooten, a political analyst and advisor, said the Act Party’s desire for a referendum would derail years of good faith bargaining and empower weirdos....
See full article HERE

Motueka’s old wharf restoration takes a step forward
Once they had iwi approval and the archaeological report was complete and had come back to the group and to the council, a report could be submitted to Heritage New Zealand, Hutt said.....
See full article HERE

TVNZ appoints new political editor
Maiki Sherman has been appointed TVNZ's new political editor, becoming the first wahine Māori to lead 1News' political coverage.

Sherman joined the Press Gallery in 2012 as a political reporter, working for both Whakaata Māori and Newshub before rejoining 1News.

She had previously worked for Te Karere.....
See full article HERE

Māori Battalion awards boost Māori scholars
For the first time this year there’s also a competition open for Māori learners in Years 7 to 13 to compose a waiata related to the Maori Battalion.

The Ngarimu VC and 28th Māori Battalion Memorial Scholarships recognise the outstanding achievements of ākonga

The scholarships were established in 1945 to assist Māori achievers to succeed in education and to contribute as leaders in New Zealand and overseas.....
See full article HERE

Ferris fazed by parliament monoculture
Māori Party MP Tākuta Ferris says parliament’s monocultural bias needs a cultural shake up.

He says since being elected to represent Te Tai Tonga he’s been frustrated by how Māori culture and norms are treated, despite Te Tiriti o Waitangi being a foundational document.

“There are two sovereign parties to every treaty yet us – te iwi Māori – who are the principal ones, we are not mentioned or recognised anywhere in that House. And if nothing else e hoa that’s the message I’ll be barreling down these fullas’ ears for the next three years.” Mr Ferris says.....
See full article HERE

Kanapu kaupapa igniting talent and leadership across te ao Māori
Ngāti Kahungunu uri (descendants) are leading and working in rangahau (research), pūtaiao (science) and auaha (innovation) spaces locally and across the motu.

The opportunity to scale and strengthen skills, networks and pathways of uri a Kahungunu, will have long-term positive impacts on our iwi, region and Aotearoa. Areas where our people are contributing include food cultivation, climate change, astronomy, health and wellbeing and mahi toi (artistic pursuits).....
See full article HERE

Articles:
Frank Newman: Update -“Book burning” at the Hutt City Council

Propaganda:
Veteran alcohol harm reduction campaigner’s message for non-Māori organisations 

Monday March 25, 2024 

News: 
Central Bay of Plenty iwi help geothermal power station grow 
Ngāti Tahu Ngāti Whaoa, Tauhara North Number 2 Trust and Mercury NZ are adding a fifth generating unit to the power company’s four at Ngā Tamariki Geothermal Power Station between Rotorua and Taupō.

Ngāti Tahu Ngāti Whao Runanga Trust chairman Roger Pikia say he’s is excited to work on relationships between the three groups and capitalise on what geothermal power has to offer to his iwi.

“We demanded we be part of the development and no longer as spectators,’’ Pikia says.....
See full article HERE

SailGP boss Sir Russell Coutts doubles down on Christchurch venue
"I find it astonishing the amount of influence iwi have over the authorities here in New Zealand," he said. "The Department of Conservation would not allow racing in Lyttelton, unless SailGP had approval from the iwi - I suspect most New Zealanders don't realise the full implications of such a stance......
See full article HERE

Propaganda:
Tupara firm on importance of Māori wards

Rangatahi identify racism as handicap

Explaining haka: Why it’s so much more than a ‘war dance’

Māori wards: 'We prove our worth every time we come to the table'


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:

Ray S said...

Yes we do Sir Russell.
This rubbish has been happening for many years and getting worse by the day.
Iwi approval is needed for everything, soon to include having a poo I suspect.

You probably now realise that Maori are a 'special race' and their 'world view' is beyond reproach.

Anonymous said...

"Former Treaty minister Chris Finlayson called a ‘Māori-loving ****’, slams Act’s referendum idea??"

It was the Five Principles that gave Finlayson an open cheque book to settle claims on his own when he was National’s Minister of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations.

This un-elected MP had an open cheque book to hand over taxpayer’s money, land or assets to one small group of NZ citizen that can claim a minute trace of Maori ancestry. And he excelled at it.

Prior to entering parliament, Finlayson was the leader of the legal team that won the $170 million claim by Ngai Tahu that had sold all their land before the Tiriti was signed in 1840.

At Bell Gully he spent years fighting for Ngāi Tahu against the government, pursuing its treaty claims through a series of high-profile court battles.

"I used to love going to the office in the morning when we were suing the Crown" Finlayson said in a speech in 2009.

Ngāi Tahu mastered the art of aggressive litigation, whether it was suing the Waitangi Tribunal, National's Treaty negotiations minister Doug Graham or the Director-General of Conservation.

"It was take no prisoners and it resulted in a good settlement.The signing of the Treaty deal with Ngāi Tahu in 1997 was the highlight of my legal career".

Why was this not considered a “Conflict Of Interest” prior to him becoming Minister of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations?

Robert Arthur said...

e 26, I agree a referendum on the Treaty will be very divisive. There are very many maori of low and modest IQ and with no incentive to question anti pakeha propaganda fed them by artful more able maori through the marae based rebel network.They will be fed the message that the Treaty is to be axed, and on that basis extreme actions triggered. Better to get rid of recent reinterpretations one by one by legislation, less easily opposed on a blanket basis.. It cannot then be so positively asserted that the Treaty is being rejected.
One would think with the election results, and the demise of TV3 news that it would dawn that the majority public are fed up with te reo intermingled and a blatant pro maori pro Labour slant on all reporting. Yet TVNZ has just appointed a maori with a background in blatant pro maori communications as political editor! Are all Boards and Management so pro maori indoctrinated that they are quite impervious to rational logic?
A theme is being sought for a maori battalion wiata. Perhaps celebrate the recognised savagery of the charge. Or perhaps the maori prisoner captured by Rommel and who had many ears on a string. Or Rob Muldoon's observation of a passing maori Battalion column. Maori dressed in top hats and other looted clothing Riding on asses,the income source for some peasant farmer. And the hangis of local farmer's pigs, a vital food source for them in severe circumstances.
It looks like Mr Ferris is all set for a major positive contribution whilst in Parliament with a whopping colonist based salary.

Anonymous said...

Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell's strategies to stem high rates of Māori in jails. Why?

It is what it is and singling out part Maori for "special treatment" from other offenders is just APARTHEID. Accountability and personal responsibility applies to everyone equally, does it not?.

So it looks like this coalition government is still fast tracking APARTHEID masquerading as co-governance.

Gaynor said...

Prevention for young offenders would be much better, surely.

For the umpteenth time I will quote US Department of Education statistics which states two out of three students who fail to achieve in literacy will end up in prison or on welfare..

You can't succeed well in a trade if you lack basic literacy and numeracy skills.

Our schools are where the main action is needed. Scrap the abominable ideologies which are frequently Marxist now and promote Universal Literacy. Many of the neuro- diverse symptoms vanish with correct teaching methods.

This Universal Literacy was achieved in Dunedin in the 1030s and '40s when my mother was a teacher there. The method was systematic, explicit, cumulative phonics now known as structured literacy along with fair discipline and ethics. Kids must also know their tables and number facts and basic arithmetic manipulations by rote. Cognitive Science and research confirms this.

Anonymous said...

"The spaces for Māori and Pasifika are a long-standing tradition at the University of Auckland and were championed by writer Ranginui Walker and politicians Hone Harawira and Efeso Collins".

Precisely why it should be shut down, being championed by racist.

Robert Arthur said...

Re 28th. The msm seem to have learned nothing from the recent TV3 news demise. They seem totally unable to accept that the public is not interested in news spattered and riddled with te reo twaddle, all with a super pro maoi bias. Incredibly Stuff is going to use AI to infiltrate yet more. What they do not realise is that the mere potential audience do not have inbuilt AI to sort it all to straight English and to spit out written incognito rejections of the endless pro maori propaganda, so they will continue to flee to other sources.

Anonymous said...

"The Government's plan to re-allow local referendums on Māori wards looks to have been put on the back burner for now, according to a Cabinet leak".

So the APARTHEID can being kicked down the road then?

The most divisive issue we face as a country heading towards a Tribalist coup masquerading as co-governance/co-management is put into the to hard basket?


Robert Arthur said...

Re 30th, If I had every science fact learned at school reinforced by hours larking about in a waka, I would not have accumulated sufficent to ever become more than a faintly clued labourer. But the socialising coud have been fun and constructive; I could have built to several kids and a state untit forever instead of frittering years in study so that i might contribute a fortune in taxesinstead.