Waatea News Update

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Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Harawira wants to see Big Tobacco in court

Today is World Smokefree Day, and one of the most high profile Maori anti smoking advocates says he wants to see the tobacco companies in court.

Taitokerau MP Hone Harawira says he is setting a goal of getting the tobacco multinationals out of the country.

He says that could require action on both the legal and political fronts.

"We've already got lawyers working on cases against the tobacco industry. Preliminary advice suggests that those tobacco companies are in breach of a number of New Zealand laws, and in second of cause, is a bill to make the whole production, manufacture and sale of tobacco products illegal here in Aotearoa," Harawira said.

Hone Harawira says when he first called for the sale of tobacco products to be made illegal, many Maori smokers thought he was having a go at them, but support is coming in now people realise it is the companies he is after.

TURN YOUR LIFE AROUND IN SOUTH AUCKLAND

South Auckland is the latest area to take on the Turn Your Life Around programme for young offenders.

Better known as TYLA, the Police-led programme has been running for 10-years in Avondale.

TYLA Charitable Trust chief executive Toni-Maree Carnie says troubled teenagers get extra social support to stop them drifting into crime and anti-social behaviour.

The support continues until the rangatahi enrol in tertiary study or land permanent jobs.

Ms Carnie says the programme includes camps, school and home visits, literacy and numeracy tuition, leadership activities, and a strong cultural component.

"Now the beauty of TYLA is that it reflects the local community. So, if you got a strong group of Maori people involved then it will be culturally reflected in the propgramme for Maori young people. We have local people working on the local programme content," she said.

Toni-Maree Carnie, from the Turn Your Life Around Charitable Trust.

CHIEFS FLANKER TO MAORI'S CHIEF

The surprise inclusion of Chiefs hardman Jono Gibbs in the New Zealand Maori side has been a huge boost for the team.

Coach Donny Stevenson says the omission of the blind side flanker from the extended All Blacks squad meant he could take his place as the Maori side's captain.

Gibbes will lead the team to the Churchill Cup in Canada, where they'll play in a five team tournament.

Stevenson says the the whole team has been lifted by Gibbs' arrival.

COROMANDEL HUI FAILS TO RESOLVE CUSTOMARY SPLIT

A hui on customary rights on the Coromandel Peninsula has failed to resolve disputes between Hauraki iwi and a splinter of the East Coast Ngati Porou tribe.

Ngati Porou ki Hauraki has land at Kennedy by and Mataora near Whangamata, an legacy of earlier cooperation between the tribes.

But members of Hauraki iwi Ngati Tamatera are upset Ngati porou is now claiming customary rights to the foreshore.

Spokesperson Koro Ngapo says those rights were retained by Hauraki.

He says Hauraki iwi turned out in force to a hui convened by the Ministry of Justice, but the ministry refused to allow discussion of tuku whenua , the traditional way the land was gifted to Ngati porou, and the obligations that went with that.

"The Crown was trying to say that the tuku whenua was separate from this taku taimoana issues and Hauraki said straight out no its not 'it's the founding document is suppose for Ngati Porou ki Hauraki. But certainly we're not gonna sit there we're going to start running around the iwi of Hauraki to see what we can do legally I guess."

Koro Ngapo says intermarrige has resulted in many Hauraki Maori also having whakapapa connections back into the gifted lands.

MAORI TARGET OF ALCOHOL AD REVIEW

The man heading a review of alcohol advertising regulations says the review team will be looking closely at the effect of advertising on maori communities.

Dr Ashley Bloomfield, the Health Ministry's chief public health advisor, says earlier research has indicated the way Maori consume alcohol can lead to harm.

"It's important to have Maori input and the pattern of consumption against Maori is the one that tends to be associated with the harms in other words its that higher per occasion consumption what we might call binge drinking," Bloomfield said.

The review team also includes Tim Rochford, a lecturer in Maori studies at the Wellington School of Medicine.

MAORI RURAL MOVE MAPPED

Statistics New Zealand says the trend of Maori moving back to rural areas is showing up in the latest statistics.

The department has released its first data from the 2006 Census, showing the total population at 4.1 million, up 7.8 percent on 2001.

Spokesperson Tamati Olsen many rural areas with traditionally high levels of Maori population like Whanganui, Hawkes Bay, Gisborne, Bay of Plenty high levels of growth which bucked more long-standing trends of rural decline.

Mr Olsen says the trend may not be sustainable because of moves such as the decision by Work and Income to refuse unemplyment benefiots to peole who move to rural areas where there is little prospect of employment.

Mr Olsen says more specific information about Maori population trrends will start coming out in October, and there will be extensive data available on the make-up of individual iwi.

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