Bob Edlin: A Treaty signed in 1840, sovereignty and genetic engineering....

.....Maori want a bigger slice of the action

An item on the Scimex website – drawing attention to a new research paper on the history of genetic modification in New Zealand – mentions “Maori” just once.

The paper to which attention is drawn, on the other hand, makes much of the role of Māori (or lack of it, we are led to believe) in the shaping of GM policy over the past 50 years.

The abstract says the authors trace five consistent threads across the complex history of GM,

Bob Edlin: Can you recall what the Maori Health Authority was meant to do?....

Can you recall what the Maori Health Authority was meant to do? The Treaty should come first in your considerations

PoO’s attention was drawn to a headline on the Scimex website which told us: Groups endorsed a Māori Health Authority because it would honour te Tiriti.

That means they endorsed it for ideological reasons.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 16/9/24

Just a village of 100 (or so) people – but Parihaka is a potent force when it comes to winning govt funding

The Parihaka settlement – founded about 1866 – by the end of the 1870s had a population of about 1500 and was being described as the most populous and prosperous Māori settlement in the country.

Wikipedia says it had its own police force, bakery and bank, used advanced agricultural machinery, and organised large teams who worked the coast and bush to harvest enough seafood and game to feed the thousands who came to the meetings.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 4/7/24

And when food-producing land makes way for housing, don’t fret – there’s plenty of kina to be harvested

More regulations are being shredded or rewritten as the government steps up development and eases back on environmental concerns.

Paving the way for more houses is likely to be the big headline-grabber among the latest announcements.