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Saturday, August 3, 2024

Breaking Views Update: Week of 28.7.24







Saturday August 3, 2024 

News:
Ngāpuhi leaders walk out of meeting with Christopher Luxon in protest

Ngāpuhi leaders have walked out of a meeting with the Prime Minister in a protest over coalition Government policies.

Chair Mana Tahere said the delegation would not sit in the room in silence with a government it said was running roughshod over Māori.

He says there is frustration and dissatisfaction over the way the Government is treating Māori.....
See full article HERE

‘Positive and robust dialogue’ - Luxon responds as iwi leaders walk out of forum
In a statement asking whether the prime minister was disappointed with the abrupt departure of leaders from two iwi, Luxon’s office said the following:

Today was a positive, robust and honest dialogue with the National Iwi Chairs Forum. The Prime Minister continues to welcome constructive dialogue with iwi leaders and recognises the significant and positive contribution that iwi are making to our country.

The Iwi Chairs Forum is a valuable opportunity for Iwi leaders and the Government to listen, be heard and share their solutions for improving social, economic, cultural and environmental outcomes for iwi and Māori together. It is one of many ways that the government continues to engage with iwi, which also includes one-on-one engagements.

The government is focused on turning around years of decline in Māori outcomes, particularly in health, education, employment and housing, overseen by the previous government. We believe there are rich opportunities for the Government to partner with, and devolve to, iwi to improve those outcomes.

The Prime Minister looks forward to continuing the dialogue and exploring further opportunities to achieve the shared aspiration of improving the daily lives of Māori across the country.
— Christopher Luxon | Te pirimia o Aotearoa
See full article HERE

Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei waka Te Kawau will provide water escort for America’s Cup boat Taihoro in Barcelona
Emirates Team New Zealand and Auckland iwi Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei have formed a partnership that will have Te Kawau, a traditional Māori waka, escort Taihoro and the team out to the America’s Cup racecourse each day during this year’s America’s Cup Match, which starts on October 12 in Barcelona, Spain.

This unique cultural showcase highlights New Zealand’s rich Māori heritage and maritime traditions on the global stage for local spectators and global TV audiences.....
See full article HERE

Far North council fears mining on historic Māori sites under fast-track Bill
Far North District Council is calling for part of the fast-tracking bill to be wiped due to fears it will allow mining currently prohibited in outstanding natural areas.

These areas include the district's maunga (mountains), where the kōiwi (bones) of tangata whenua ancestors are buried.

Far North District Council said the legislation risked overriding protection for the region's outstanding natural areas and features enshrined in the council's district plan.....
See full article HERE

Ngāti Manuhiri and Ngāti Whātua may fight changes to customary titles despite their court dispute
Ngāti Manuhiri and Ngāti Whātua may join forces to try to stop the proposed legislation to nullify a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act (MACAA), even though the two iwi are in court opposing each other over a giant landfill in Dome Valley.

Terrence ‘Mook’ Hohneck, chair of Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust, told Te Ao Māori News his iwi would be willing to work with the opposing iwi.

“We made no secret about it that anything that repeals the current act. Ngāti Manuhiri has a long coastline and joining that is the coastline of our whanaunga ,so we definitely have issues with that....
See full article HERE

Fighting for farming flexibility in Gore
Plans to declare the entirety of Gore District as a Site and Area of Significance to Māori could be bad news for farmers, say Southland Federated Farmers.

“This is a highly unusual approach to handling iwi interests and could have a chilling effect on ordinary farming activities,” provincial president Jason Herrick says.

The standard Sites and Areas of Significance to Māori (SASM) approach in district plans is for mana whenua and other iwi to identify sites of significance to them.

This could include marae and pā sites, urupa (burial grounds), maunga (mountains, hills), rock carvings, and waahi tupuna (ancestral sites)......
See full article HERE

Cultural histories revived through street naming
Māori place names can help reclaim the “history of our whakapapa”, an environmental planning expert told a hearing on Whakatāne District Council’s new road naming policy.

Kataraina Belshaw-O’Brien spoke on behalf of Ngāi Tamawera, a hapū of Ngāti Awa in Te Teko, to support the policy, which has been updated to consider Treaty of Waitangi principles by engaging with the appropriate iwi and hapū when naming roads.....

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Meanwhile, Kawerau District Council has also created a draft naming policy which will be notified for public consultation starting next week.

Kawerau has not had a formal naming policy in the past, instead using an informal process in that an applicant would request a name in writing and engaging with Ngāti Tūwharetoa kaumatua to ensure the name is not inappropriate.

The new naming policy would cover the naming of roads, reserves, features such as tracks, lookouts and sites of cultural significance and council facilities.....
See full article HERE

Police National Headquarters Must Explain 'Hate Speech' Training
“Police National Headquarters needs to explain why it is requiring police officers to undertake training on identifying and responding to ‘hate speech,” says ACT’s Justice spokesperson Todd Stephenson.

“As highlighted by the Free Speech Union, officers must complete a short course on identifying and responding to ‘hate speech’ and ‘hate crime’.

“Some of the examples used in the training material include, ‘There are only two genders’, a placard that says ‘Free speech’, and a billboard that reads ‘Kiwi not iwi.’....
See full article HERE

Meridian silent on Ngāi Tahu Waitaki River consent payment
Meridian Energy is not revealing the amount it has paid Ngāi Tahu as it seeks to renew resource consents for its Waitaki Hydro Power Scheme.

Last year Meridian signed agreements with Ngā Rūnanga o Waitaki (Arowhenua, Waihao and Moeraki), the Department of Conservation (DOC) and Central South Island Fish & Game which included financial settlements.

A figure of $180m had been published as the amount paid to the the Ngāi Tahu hapū and other parties by Meridian and Genesis.....
See full article HERE

Articles:
Professor Jerry Coyne: Unsettling the settler colonial university...

John McLean: Maori maladies

Propaganda:
‘The fragility is real’: Te Pāti Māori reacts to ACT MP Karen Chhour crying over personal attacks

Ngāpuhi hikoi highlights state care alternative

Debbie Ngarewa-Packer cites Govt’s threat to Māori in defence of mocking tearful Children’s Minister Karen Chhour

Frog safety at issue in tip appeal

Modern Day Confiscation - John Tamihere

Customary rights test repeat of raupatu

Removal of 7AA will have social impact on Māori and lead to higher costs for the state, consultant says  

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 2, 2024 

News:
Ngāti Whātua taking Government to court over customary marine title overhaul
Northland and Auckland iwi Ngāti Whātua has filed proceedings in the High Court, challenging the Government’s decision to tighten up the Marine and Coastal Area Act, a move which critics say will make it harder for Māori to gain customary titles over marine areas.

“The Government’s decision effectively prevents us from having our rights and interests in the Whangārei Harbour and Whangārei Coast determined under the existing MACA Act,” the statement said.

They stated their current claims for customary marine title in the Whangārei Harbour and Whangārei Coast would be overturned if the amendment passes.

The move was “an attack not only on Ngāti Whātua – but the tino rangatiratanga of all iwi”, the rūnanga statement said.....
See full article HERE

Discrimination claim in bid to evict residents from Canterbury lakeside settlement
A bid to let Ngāi Tahu bach owners stay at a Canterbury lakeside settlement while others will be evicted has been described as discriminatory.

Thirty-two bach owners at Greenpark Huts next to Lake Ellesmere have until June 30 next year to leave the Ngāi Tahu-owned site.

The iwi wants all residents out of the settlement due to unconsented wastewater systems, climate change concerns and to protect the culturally significant area.

But Taumutu rūnanga, the closest marae to the settlement, has asked Ngāi Tahu to allow iwi members to stay at the huts.

The rūnanga’s executive voted on the plan after a Ngāi Tahu bach owner Don Brown raised the issue.

The motion was passed after a close 11-10 vote by its executive hui on July 14.

Ngāi Tahu has yet to make a decision on the request......
See full article HERE

The mysterious and quiet closure of a once loud, proud charity
Te Tuinga Whānau Support Services Trust has helped thousands of people over the last three decades. But suddenly, last month, the Tauranga charity announced it was shutting down. It gave no reasons. Now, a Stuff investigation can reveal complaints from former staff about financial mismanagement, nepotism, bullying, and intimidation, while its long-time boss says “over-corporatisation” is to blame. Who’s right?
See full article HERE

Te Ururoa Flavell honoured with Waikato University Honorary Doctorate
Te Arawa Whānau Ora Chairman Honorable Te Ururoa Flavell (Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngāti Ngararanui, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Te Ata and Ngāpuhi), has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Waikato at a ceremony held at his Tarimano Marae in Ngongotahā.

"Mr Flavell has been instrumental in leading and advocating for Māori communities, education and wellbeing in New Zealand over the past 30 years, and it is my honour to confer this degree today,” said Vice-Chancellor, Professor Neil Quigley.....
See full article HERE

Iwi issues to fore at Ōrākei forum
Former Te Rarawa chair Haami Piripi says the Iwi Chairs Forum has been a great advocacy platform for almost 20 years and is a great way to find out what concerns iwi Māori.

The forum is hosted by Ngati Whatua Ōrākei started this morning, and ministers and officials will attend tomorrow.

Mr Piripi, who has been involved in the initiative since it started in 2005, says the government is not the priority.

“We’re there to focus on iwi priorities and iwi issues and the Government has its own problems and its own focus and its own priorities and it doesn’t seem to involve us very much at the moment but they have in the past. The previous Government for example was very conducive to our involvement throughout the tiers of New Zealand society whereas this Government is not,” he says.
See full article HERE

Kāinga Ora to slash Māori-focused housing team in half
Kāinga Ora has proposed halving the team it set up to meet Māori housing needs and fulfil Treaty of Waitangi obligations.

Te Kurutao Group Māori has 48 full-time staff, and the organisation is consulting with them on a plan to shed 27 roles.

It brings the total number of jobs proposed to be slashed at the agency to 232 as part of wider public sector cost-cutting measures.....
See full article HERE

Te Pāti Māori Member’s Bill Must Be Rejected
Te Pati Moris members bill would give an unelected tribunal supremacy over our elected Parliament, says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“Te Pāti Māori’s member’s bill would give an unelected tribunal supremacy over our elected Parliament,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“The Tribunal has already become increasingly activist, using its ‘partnership’ interpretation of the Treaty to intervene in democratic processes. It’s no surprise Te Pāti Māori wants to give them more power.

“The Tribunal appears to regard itself as a parallel government that can intervene in the actual Government’s policymaking process, but it should always be the voters who have the final say.....
See full article HERE

Nobby Clark fine with partner's support of Vandervis
Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark says his partner Karen Carter’s backing of Dunedin City councillor Lee Vandervis demonstrates that “in our democracy, everyone has a voice’’.

She did it without his knowledge and said she was representing herself, not the mayor or Invercargill City Council.

Clark was fine with it.

In the email, Carter said Māori were free to embrace their culture but this did not mean everyone needed to.

“Most people are sick to death of this misconception that we all have to become white Maori,’’ she wrote.....
See full article HERE

Napier council leads way in new Māori wards review
The Napier City Council took less than 10 minutes on Thursday to decide on a new Māori wards consultation forced by law changes which were passed in Parliament on Tuesday.

It follows the passing of the Local Government (Māori Wards) Amendment Bill which requires councils that brought in Māori wards without polling residents to stage a poll, or cancel the ones they had set up.

The Napier council has to decide by September 6 whether to reaffirm or revoke the decision it made in 2021 to introduce at least one Māori Ward at the triennial elections in 2025.

It will step up public consultation with submissions to close at 5pm on August 22, to provide an opportunity for the community to identify their preference and provide feedback.....
See full article HERE

Windfall for marae as Waikato Tainui harvests settlement bounty
Waikato Tainui paid out a record $55.6 million for tribal activities last year, including a special dividend of $25 million dedicated to marae.

Its report for the 2023-24 financial year presented to last weekend’s hui a iwi shows total revenue of $141.6m, up from $106.2m the previous year.

Total assets stand at $2.4 billion, up $200 million, and equity is at $1.9 billion.

Tukoroirangi Morgan, the chair of the tribal executive Te Arataura, says there are now 91,000 registered members.

He says the progress was made in the face of the most aggressively racist government to hold power in Aotearoa.

Waikato Tainui has made submissions every month since March on bills introduced to parliament that will roll back and remove hard-fought gains Maori have made over the past 30 years.

The is is waiting for a date for its high court challenge to the Government’s actions on te reo Maori, and it is also preparing an injunction on water reforms.....
See full article HERE

Strengthening partnership with Te Arawa
The government has reaffirmed its commitment to restoring the health of the Waikato River with Te Arawa, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says.

“My thanks to the Te Arawa River Iwi Trust for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial forum at Parliament today.

“Our kōrero focused on restoring and protecting the health and wellbeing of the Waikato River, which is the key priority for the Iwi accord,” Minister Potaka said.....
See full article HERE

Applications open for $10m mental health and addiction fund
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is encouraging iwi-based and other kaupapa Māori organisations to apply for the first round of the new $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund.

The minister launched the first round worth $5 million today.....
See full article HERE

‘Disrespectful and offensive’: Heated exchange on wards at council meeting
A South Wairarapa farmer's public forum presentation was cut short at a council meeting after he said the council’s Māori Ward was “racist”.

Councillor Rebecca Gray, who was chairing the meeting on Wednesday, said categorising a Māori ward as racist was “disrespectful and offensive” and that this would not be tolerated under meeting rules.

“That's the end of your time now,” she said.....
See full article HERE

Tikanga can go hand in hand with common law
A Māori legal academic says Māori law can help Aotearoa New Zealand respond to its challenges

She says reimagining the legal system to embrace Māori law and tikanga alongside state law and the English common law could form the basis for an stronger society.

“If we can draw confidently from the huge sophistication and complexity of Māori law it can really help us with today’s challenges. We have a lot of challenges around climate change and sea level rise and poverty and housing and criminal justice systems and we can draw on the Māori legal system to help us navigate forward confidently as a country,” she says.

Professor Ruru says it’s about not just training Māori lawyers to present in the Court but to train judges and the legal system to listen to arguments based in Māori law.....
See full article HERE

Health NZ drops tool that factored in ethnicity for waitlists, despite review findings
Health NZ will stop using an equity adjustor tool that prioritised ethnicity as one of five factors in non-urgent surgical waitlists after a review found it was "legally and ethically justifiable" but didn't follow "best practice".

However, the decision has been made to stop using it, which is supported by Health Minister Shane Reti.

"As I made clear last year, clinical decisions should be made on the basis of health need first," Reti told RNZ.....
See full article HERE

Propaganda:
Analysis: No, Māori aren't taking over NZ's beaches

John MacDonald: No Minister, this is not a win for democracy

Olympic effort marred by Indigenous rights slight

‘Injustice piled on injustice’: the risks in reviving customary title debate

Iwi leaders furious at Govt plan to overturn Court of Appeal ruling

Government scared of Māori says Hipkins

Bleak outlook for Māori in local government  

Thursday August 1, 2024 

News:
Controversial councillor: 'I reject all accusations of racism'
A Code of Conduct complaint against Dunedin councillor Lee Vandervis has been upheld, with a finding of a material breach.

The complaint was over a series of racist remarks he directed towards Māori.

The council is due to consider possible penalties for Vandervis in an open meeting on Wednesday.

Dunedin councillor Lee Vandervis faces censure from his own council over racist remarks he directed towards Māori, but the outspoken councillor has doubled down on those comments.

“I can not represent Dunedin citizens by singing, pretending to speak a Māori language, or by voting for more race-based funding of Māori elites and jobs,” he said.

“I reject all accusations of racism, especially coming from those who repeatedly label me ‘pale, stale, and male’ across the council table as this personal abuse really is racist, ageist and sexist.

“I vow to continue to exercise my right to free speech in the public interest and to be part of the diversity necessary for democratic representation on the Dunedin City Council.”....
See full article HERE

Interactive exhibition looking at mauri mate - Māori palliative care - opens up staff views
Mauri mate, the Māori framework for palliative care, is described by kaimahi Māori as Te Tiriti o Waitangi in action.

Mercy Hospice, which is committed to Te Tiriti o Waitangi through partnership, participation and protection, recently hosted a private exhibition created by staff and educators, which hospice chief executive Emma Maddren said aimed to deepen connections and foster comfortability and confidence in the staff.

Pierce said mauri mate was a framework created so their tākuta (doctors) and nēhi (nurses) could understand what had happened to the mauri of Māori people, and to know their responsibilities as tāngata Tiriti in how to treat Māori.

Mercy Hospice is hoping to educate and equip its staff with the skills to care for Māori.....
See full article HERE

Tākuta Ferris Enters Member’s Bill To Empower Waitangi Tribunal
The Treaty of Waitangi (Empowerment of Waitangi Tribunal) Amendment Bill will make Waitangi Tribunal recommendations binding on the Crown. This bill will also allow the Tribunal to consider all proposed legislation to ensure consistency with Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

These changes will allow the Tribunal to properly fulfil its role as the kaitiaki of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

“If the government cannot be trusted to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi on their own, we must empower the Waitangi Tribunal to keep them in line.” Said Ferris.....
See full article HERE

Te Pāti Māori wants to boost Waitangi Tribunal’s powers but NZ First and Act say there’ll be no upsizing
But NZ First deputy leader Shane Jones said the Waitangi Tribunal’s days are limited.

“Contrast Te Pāti Māori and NZ First. We want to downsize the Waitangi Tribunal; they want to give it a Big Mac approach and upsize,” Jones told the Herald.

“This bill is simply a backward-looking stunt. It feeds the mentality of victimhood.

“The high-tide mark of tribal claims is over. Economic development will trump culture wars. We must deliver practical results that improve income, skills and security.”

Jones said Māori approaching him were feeling like Martians.

“Māori Party voters are telling me they have buyer’s remorse because the rhetoric is alienating.

“I think Māori realise now there is no future in the eternal hikoi.”

Act leader David Seymour agrees.

“Te Pāti Māori’s member’s bill would give an unelected tribunal supremacy over our elected Parliament,” Seymour said.

“The Tribunal has already become increasingly activist, using its ‘partnership’ interpretation of the Treaty to intervene in democratic processes. It’s no surprise Te Pāti Māori wants to give them more power. The Tribunal appears to regard itself as a parallel government that can intervene in the actual Government’s policymaking process, but it should always be the voters who have the final say.

“New Zealanders are sick of seeing the Treaty twisted for political gain like this. It’s exactly why ACT is drafting a Treaty Principles Bill, to define what the principles actually mean and restore the Treaty’s promise of the equal rights for all New Zealanders.”.....
See full article HERE

"They've gone woke": Simeon Brown says Local Govt NZ needs to reflect on priorities
The Local Government Minister's defending controversial changes to the rules around councils' Māori wards.

The third reading of the bill has passed, which forces councils to have a binding referendum on Māori wards at next year's elections.

Local Government New Zealand is against the changes, calling it an overreach.

But Simeon Brown told Mike Hosking he disagrees, and it's about letting local communities have their say.

He says Local Government NZ has gone woke and is simply trying to push the last government's left-wing policies
See full article HERE

Te Mana o te Wai downgrade might backfire, warns council
Removing Te Mana o te Wai from resource consenting to favour economic development might backfire and make consents more difficult and expensive, the council in charge of Taranaki’s rivers has warned the Government.

The Government has pledged to overturn freshwater regulations for easier development and National’s coalition deal includes Act’s policy to “rebalance Te Mana o te Wai to better reflect the interests of all water users.”....
See full article HERE

Prickly politics in Māori Party clash
New Zealand First deputy leader Shane Jones has ruled out ever working with Te Pāti Māori.

He’s clashed repeatedly with co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiriti Waititi, including over their approach to the report of the Royal Commission on Abuse in Care.

He says they’re feeding a message of victimhood to Maori., and it’s not a message that’s in his political lexicon, in or out of his current party....
See full article HERE

Treaty principles fight international
Former Alliance and Mana Motuhake leader Sandra Lee-Vercoe says it’s time for iwi leaders to lay their cards on the table, when meeting with the coalition government.

The Iwi Chairs Forum is being held at Orakei over the next two days, with Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith set to attend on Friday along with other ministers.

Ms Lee-Vercoe says with the introduction of the Treaty Principles Bill eminent, the iwi leaders need be stern in their approach.

“The crown brought that treaty to our people. It’s an international treaty between two state parties, recognised at law, and constitutionally gave the rights of governments in this country ever to exist so if Government wants to ride roughshod over it, our fight has to be an international fight,” she says.....
See full article HERE

Hospice plants rongoā garden
Hospice West Auckland has opened a rongoā garden at the Hospice House in West Auckland for patients, whānau and the wider West Auckland community.

It says it’s a space where people from all walks of life can come to rest and reflect, reconnect with Papatuānuku and feel culturally, physically, spiritually and emotionally strengthened.

The garden will provide opportunities for education about Te Ao Māori and Rongoā Māori practices, as well as the ability for Hospice’s Rongoā Māori Practitioner to grow and harvest rongoā rākau.....
See full article HERE

Waikato District Council to hold Māori ward referendum despite opposition to Govt bill
With its hands tied, Waikato District Council has resolved to hold a 2025 referendum on the continuation of Māori wards.

It’s a move that council’s chief executive says is the best hope of waiting out the Government until after the next general election when new Māori ward legislation could be scrapped.

The council has retained its standing of strongly opposing “any legislation that has the potential to remove Māori wards from its governance model”.....
See full article HERE

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua goes to war over customary marine titles; invites iwi to join High Court case
Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua has filed a challenge to the coalition government over its plan to restrict the Marine and Coastal Area (MACA) Act, making it harder for hapū, uri and beneficiaries to get customary marine title.

Co-chairs, John Marsden and Dame Rangimarie Naida Glavish, say they want nationwide activation, arguing the government’s “arbitrary decision starkly exposes its absolute contempt towards its Treaty partner’s rights, marking a clear and unyielding stance”.

“We have had no choice but to ask the court to grant us declarations the government has breached Article 1 of the Bill of Rights 1688 and sections 27(1) and 20 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. We are also seeking Bill of Rights damages for these breaches.....
See full article HERE

Iwi plans 'the largest building' on Auckland's skyline
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei has launched a new Māori-led investment initiative, Te Tomokanga ki Tāmaki — The Gateway to Auckland.

Iwi deputy chairperson Ngarimu Blair made the announcement on Wednesday while speaking at the National Iwi Chair Forum hosted by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei on Auckland's waterfront.

It was followed by an announcement of plans to transform Auckland's skyline through the redevelopment of the contested Auckland Downtown Carpark into a 56-storey skyscraper with areas for retail and eateries.....
See full article HERE

Poll next year on Māori ward - Masterton DC
Masterton District Council will conduct a poll on its Māori ward during next year’s local government elections.

At a meeting today (31 July), councillors voted to retain the current Māori ward until the next election where it will conduct a binding poll to meet new central government requirements set out in recent changes to the Local Electoral Act 2001.

This requires councils that established a Māori ward under prior legislation to resolve to disestablish the Māori ward by 6 September 2024 or to hold a binding poll at the 2025 election.....
See full article HERE

Ngāpuhi plan hīkoi to Parliment in opposition to repeal of Section 7AA
Ngāpuhi Iwi Social Services chief executive Dr Moana Eruera is warning a repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act will encourage ongoing abuse of Māori in state care.

Children's Minister Karen Chhour is refusing to reconsider her decision to repeal section 7AA of the Act, which legally binds Oranga Tamariki to improve outcomes for Māori and consider the whakapapa of tamariki in care.

Eruera told Midday Report, Ngāpuhi vehemently opposed the repeal and the country's largest iwi would be demonstrating its opposition in a hīkoi to parliament next Monday.....
See full article HERE

Articles:
David Farrar: Useful research on Maori views on entertainment

David Seymour: My letter to the organisations who wrote the Prime Minister about Act’s Treaty Bill

Mike Butler: Maori ward vote exemption wanted?

Propaganda:
New research links domestic and sexual violence to poverty and poor housing for Māori wāhine

Beyond Pākehā paralysis

New generation of kaitiaki up against Fast-Track Approvals Bill

Māori MPs who backed ward changes have 'internalised' racism - Te Pāti Māori MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi

Councils slapped with costly bill for Māori seats

Local government loses Māori ward fight

Māori wards repealed: This is what colonisation looks like in 2024 - Lady Tureiti Moxon 

Wednesday July 31, 2024 

News:
Govt restores local decision-making on Māori wards
Local Government Minister, Simeon Brown says the Government has today delivered upon one of its key promises to New Zealanders by restoring the rights of communities to determine whether to introduce Māori wards.

“The passing of Local Government Local Government (Electoral Legislation and Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill draws a line under the divisive policies introduced by the previous government that denied local communities a say over whether to establish these constituencies,” said Mr Brown.

“The Bill restores the rights of voters in local communities to determine whether to introduce Māori wards on their councils, a decision which restores local democracy and decision making.”.....
See full article HERE

Tainui want police station site clear of ‘post-box to incarceration’
Tainui Group Holdings - owner of the site of Hamilton’s central police station - is opposing a plan for potential restrictions on what can be done with the building after the police lease ends in 2032.

Evidence from senior tribe member Rahui Papa - who’s on the Police Commissioner’s Māori Focus Forum - says the station, said to have been built in the mid-1970s, embodies Waikato-Tainui’s “painful past” under colonisation.

It’s also been a place that has historically acted as a “post-box for sending our people to incarceration and has exacerbated the grievances experienced by our people”, Papa says......
See full article HERE

Split vote fails to deliver for Māori - Hipkins
Labour leader Chris Hipkins has made a major pitch to Māori voters with a speech to the Auckland City Mission calling out the coalition Government’s efforts to wind back progress on Māori and treaty issues and promote racist and revisionist history.

Mr Hipkins told Radio Waatea Labour won the party vote in all the Māori seats but lost six of the seven seats because many Māori felt they should split their vote seats to maximise the Māori voice in parliament.

“My message is you don’t need to do that. The Labour Party is absolutely committed to a strong Maori voice around the cabinet table.....
See full article HERE

Reversal of Māori wards 'utterly shameful' - McAnulty
At Wednesday’s council meeting, elected members can either vote to consult on the disestablishment of the Māori ward for the 2025 election or they can retain the Māori ward for the 2025 election and hold a binding poll.

A report to elected members said the council had engaged with the governance members of the four local iwi entities who do not support the amendments to the Act.

"All four entities have noted their support for council to hold a binding poll at the next election," the report said.....
See full article HERE

LSD microdosing trial seeks 50 percent Maori
A trial of LSD microdosing in late-stage cancer patients is under way at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, with the researchers aiming to include 50 percent Māori participants.

The research is recruiting 40 participants, 20 Māori and 20 non-Māori, with advanced-stage cancer, who will receive either a low dose of LSD or one of three possible placebos – an inactive compound, or two active placebos Ritalin or caffeine.....
See full article HERE

Democracy and dignity restored with Māori wards referendums
ACT Leader David Seymour is welcoming today’s passage of legislation restoring the option of local referendums for new Māori wards.

“Today is a great day for democracy, local decision-making, and equal political rights,” says Mr Seymour.

“Decisions over the structure of local democracy again will once again rest with the people who pay the rates, not the handful of councillors who spend it....
See full article HERE

‘The community had its say’: Ruapehu council calls for Māori wards relief
A rural council which decided to have Māori wards in 2020 – before the removal of poll requirements – wants an exemption from new legislation set to become law on Wednesday.

Ruapehu mayor Weston Kirton says his council should not have to hold a binding referendum on Māori wards because the community had its say when a petition failed to gain the numbers needed to demand a poll.....
See full article HERE

Kaupapa schools want own show
The organisation representing Māori medium schools says a favourable Waitangi Tribunal report is just the start in trying to secure their place in the school system.

“There should be a parallel matauranga Maori, kaupapa Maori organisation set up and that would allow the government to continue to organise and manage state-run schools but it would give the matauranga kaupapa Maori stream the opportunity to grow and to reach its full potential,” Mr Wright says.

He says an independent Maori education authority as recommended by the tribunal could also cover kohanga reo and the wananga sector.....
See full article HERE

Propaganda:
Over 800 Attend Māori Governance Summit

Crown rewrite of Foreshore and Seabed legislation is going to destroy our rights - Te Pāti Māori - Tamihere

Overruling Court On Coastal Rights

Counsellor says district court goals ‘sabotaged’ by Coalition

Customary title block clears way for business

Labour draws line on racist attacks  

Tuesday July 30, 2024 

News:
Northland Māori wards’ future uncertain as new law kicks in
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown confirmed the new Māori ward legislation was due to come in on Wednesday.

The new rules will mean Northland’s councils must poll their communities at the next election if they want to keep their Māori wards.

The compulsory referendums will be binding for councils that set up Māori wards without a poll.

Far North District Council (FNDC) has already chosen to keep its Ngā Tai o Tokerau Māori ward, meaning it will have to poll its voters.

Northland Regional Council (NRC) has also already chosen to keep its Te Raki Māori constituency for the next elections, polling its voters across Te Tai Tokerau as a result.

Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo said recently his council was waiting for the law to be passed before deciding on its Whangārei District Māori Ward’s future.

Kaipara District Council Mayor Craig Jepson wants to get rid of his council’s Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori ward before the next local elections, that dependent on a council-wide decision.

Councils that choose to get rid of their Māori ward before the 2025 elections don’t have to poll their voters.

They will, however, need to hold a mini representation review, before the end of 2024.

Almost 40% of Northlanders identify as Māori, compared with about 17% nationally. That figure climbs in the Far North with 51% of its people identifying as Māori, New Zealand’s second highest percentage (after Gisborne’s 56%).....
See full article HERE

Kororāreka Marae Society explains significance of traditional name
Residents in the Bay of Islands town of Russell are still waiting to hear if the submission to change the town's name to the traditional Māori name of Kororāreka will be accepted.

In September 2021, the Kororāreka Marae Society lodged a name-change application with the New Zealand Geographic Board under the previous Labour government.

The board considered three options: an outright change to Kororāreka, the dual name Kororāreka/Russell, or the alternative names option where both have equal standing.....
See full article HERE

Vandervis faces possible censure after complaint
Outspoken Dunedin city councillor Lee Vandervis will not attend a council meeting at which he faces possible censure for comments he made about Māori.

Mr Boyle found Cr Vandervis breached the code by refusing to attend te pae Māori meetings, referring to mana whenua representatives on two council committees as anti-democratic and race-based representation, and for statements made in an email in July last year.

The July 16 email included comments about a decision-making hui agenda being "not understandable by non-Māori speakers" and the hui being held "in a tribal environment that excludes sovereign non-compliant elected representatives".

"Regarding Karitane admission requirements detailed verbally at last week's non-public meeting, I am not prepared to submit to the sexist, racist and tribal ritual requirements that have been spelled out in order for me to enter 'safely' on this marae."

Cr Vandervis responded to an invitation by Cr Bill Acklin to meet for waiata preparation by saying elected representatives should not be compelled to sing, "leave alone in a language that most of us know little of the meaning of".....
See full article HERE

Graeme Dingle Foundation And Te Uri O Hau Partner To Launch New Youth Programmes In The Kaipara District
An exciting new project will be launching at Otamatea High School, and Maungatūroto and Kaiwaka Primary Schools. On August 9, the Graeme Dingle Foundation and Te Uri o Hau will celebrate the opening of the suite of beneficial Foundation programmes with a pōwhiri held at Otamatea High School.

At the forefront of this partnership are Te Uri o Hau’s CEO Jonathan Rishworth and their head of Tangata Developments Tania Moriarty, who have been working alongside Graeme Dingle Foundation founders Sir Graeme Dingle KNZM MBE and Jo-anne Wilkinson CNZM, Lady Dingle, who, over the past two years have collaborated with their teams and alongside schools and community, to conduct a needs assessment in the Kaipara District......
See full article HERE

Te Pāti Māori Will Establish A Kura Kaupapa Māori Education Authority
“When will the Crown commit to honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi? when will they accept that Māori are more than capable of healing, caring for, and educating Māori if we are properly resourced?”

“By Māori, for Māori, to Māori is the only way forward. Te Pāti Māori will ensure that kaupapa Māori education is properly resourced and valued,” said Ferris....
See full article HERE

Ngāti Whātua appeals Dome Valley mega-dump decision in Auckland High Court
Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua is challenging an interim decision to grant resource consent to Waste Management Ltd for a mega-dump in Dome Valley in the Auckland High Court.

The Environment Court made its decision in December last year, following a backflip by local iwi Ngāti Manuhiri to support the project.

The 60-hectare, 26 million cubic metre landfill will be a stone’s throw from the Hōteo River, which runs into the Kaipara Harbour. Opponents say the environmental impacts on the health of the harbour should outweigh Auckland’s need for a place to dump its rubbish.....
See full article HERE


Sunday July 28, 2024

News:
Pāti sits by MP while she stands by her man
Te Pāti Māori is showing awhi toward former Green MP Darleen Tana who came back to parliament this week as an independent.

Ms Tana was suspended while the Greens waited for an investigation into whether she had been frank about what she knew about allegations of migrant exploitation at her husband’s e-bike business.

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa Packer says she sat with them during the debate on the bill reinstating referendums for Maori wards on local councils.

Ms Ngarewa-Packer says any invitation for Darleen Tana to join the party would have to come from president John Tamihere.....
See full article HERE

PM’s visit to Tūhoe met with protest action
Christopher Luxon’s first visit to Tūhoe as Prime Minister has been met with protest action.

The PM and government officials were in the eastern Bay of Plenty this morning to look at Tūhoe iwi authority, Te Uru Taumatua (TUT), and its work in Te Urewera. The visit included a community leaders’ breakfast at TUT in Tāneatua.

One group including Tame Iti is understood to have protested outside the TUT entrance, while a second group at Ohinenaenae was attempting to stop the delegation going up the Whakatāne River by jet boat to Te Urewera.....
See full article HERE

Labour, Bring People Together? Gotta Be Kidding!
"Today Chris Hipkins gave a speech about ‘bringing people together’. All I can say is I admire his chutzpah. Only nine months ago Hipkins led a Government that left New Zealanders more divided than ever," says ACT Justice spokesperson Todd Stephenson.

"Labour were also the ones that created division based on race in the areas of health, water infrastructure, local government and resource management. Laughably, Chris Hipkins championed these same divisive policies today, in a speech dressed in the language of unity.

"ACT says every New Zealander deserves the same rights and dignity. We can celebrate Māori culture, and every other, within the framework of a liberal democracy that unites us on the basis of our common humanity.....
See full article HERE

Propaganda:
Overturning Court Of Appeal Decision On Foreshore And Seabed Is Abuse Of Power – PSA

Cyclone Gabrielle review: Māori communities ‘disproportionately affected’ by floods

'Enough is enough' - Chris Hipkins blasts government over Māori policies  

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

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Acutally no, the iwi claiming the foreshore are the abusers of power. The nz public are not falling for their gaslighting. Let the maori party trot out the usual rent-a-mob to do some marching. No one cares. Boo hoo. If you want a house or land, save up a house and buy one like everyone else.

Robert Arthur said...

re 30th "Maori are more then capable of educating maori." So states Te Pati. But educating in what? Te reo? kapa haka performance? Matauranga?
It seems absurd that under modern magement techniques the vast volume of water in the Kaipara would be at risk from a modern dump. I do not know about Dome valley but there must be a myriad desolate poor soil sites near the railway but ultimately draining into the Kaipara and ideal dumpsites.
Various maori corporations must be sufficiently flush to invest in a dump. With suitable exchange of koha betwee tribes, barriers could then vanish.

Anonymous said...

Regarding the Govt restoring local decison making on Maori wards, no amount of self-congratulation will take away the fact that this restoration of democracy does not right the wrong swiftly enough. Places like the Far North will have maori wards councillors until at least 2028 given that the bill did not have an implementation timescale for holding the local referendums that matched the speed which Mahuta employed in junking democracy. Let's face it, if the left get back in at the next general election, they will reverse the change in a heartbeat. With a few exceptions, watching the National party implement things is like wading through mollasses.

Anonymous said...

How can you call someone a pale stale male and then the accuse them of racism just because you can? This happens in other workplaces too. If someone doesn't like you , they can make a complaint to HR of racism and they don't even have to give examples. It's all about how they feel, not anything you actually said. Remember back in the good ole days before HR?
If you went to your manager and said boo hoo, poor me, so-and-so called me a mean name, your manager would have laughed and said " Get a grip! How old are you? This does not condone actual racism, which is absolutely awful, but people should not be allowed to use that word against others when it isn't racism

Robert Arthur said...

Fri 2nd. Selecting councillors on the voting paper is always onerous. But much simplified for Dunedinites.
Waikato Tainui has granted a staggering $25 million to Insurgency Coordination Centres (marae). This additioal to the recent huge govt grant. Should all be declared as political donation.

Anonymous said...

Robert Arthur: a marae is private property, and central and local government alike have no business opening the public purse to pay for maintaining/upgrading/improving anyone’s private property.

In the real—as opposed to racist—world that’s on its owners.

Anonymous said...

Re: Anon 10.21 Spot on!. This mug has always said that the rot set in when the Personnel Dept was renamed to Human Remains (or was that Human Resources - I always get that confused). They should simply deal with basic admin and leave the woke poking in of noses where they do not belong at the door.

robert Arthur said...

it is a pity a few politcians did not decades ago, actually or figuratively, walk out on artful maori manoeuvres to acquire law which facilitates their private ownership of foreshore and waterways.
I am curious who is to pay for the waka junket accompanying the NZ America Cup team. Will some grant from a tax dodging charity support? Surely the team will not have to tolerate a bunch of hangers on there just to posture.I trust they will avoid the farce of a capsize as as been demonstrated on several occasions. The relevance of a stone age water craft, paddled and not even efficently rowed, alongside the incredible high tech of modern yatchs is debatable. I guess it demonstartes how far colonisation has advanced maori. I note one thing in common is that neither contribute to the well being of the average maori or other citizen.
Any maori name policy needs strict rules on number of syllabus. Otherwise the temptation for leg pull mana boosting umpteen syllable accent riddled try ons will triumph, as it so often does now.

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