Waatea News Update

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Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Matauri X shareholders still unhappy on lease

A Matauri X shareholder says there is still considerable suspicion among landowners about a plan to prevent a mortgagee sale of the Northland seaside land.

The Far North District Council has granted resource consent for a 139 lot subdivision, which will be leased out to allow the Maori land incorporation to repay a $6 million debt incurred as the result of a failed investment by its previous board of management.

But Nau Epiha says the result may be the owners have as good as lost their best land.

“When it comes to whenua, someone can come onto your whenua and they do an improvement, and it’s an improvement that you cannot pay back after 52 years, do you think that’s a lease. I know once I put my house on the whenua, it’s mine forever,” Nau Epiha said.

WHANGANUI PROTEST NOT NECESSARY

The Prime Minister says the theatrical protest by Whanganui claimants is unnecessary.

Over the weekend a group led by Ken Mair ploughed up lawns on Crown surplus properties and planted pumpkins,.

Mr Mair says he took his action because the Office of Treaty Settlements was not consulting with claimants over the way the land was managed.

But Ms Clark says Mr Mair did not need to take such extreme measures

“He knows the way to go about talking to the Crown about these things. There’s just being quite a historic handover of say the courthouse site, in Wanganui to the local iwi, they’re trying to progress the Wanganui River claim, there’s ways of doing things, and there’s ways of drawing attention to yourself through protest, and I think we all know what the most effective way of doing things is,” Clark said.

TUUPEKA KORE NOW THE ANTI SMOKING WORD

A change in wording of the Maori anti-smoking message is on the cards.
Shane Bradbrook of the Maori Smokefree Coalition says rather than auahi kore or smoke free, the aim is to be tuupeka kore or tobacco free.

He says tuupeka - a transliteration of word tobacco - is more appropriate, because auahi was traditionally associated with the special significance of fire.

Mr Bradbrook says the anti smoking message will be become more powerful.

“While the auahi kore smokefree message has made an impact on our people, having something like tuupeka kore as a concept is very clear, unambiguous, our people understand the concept around what tuupeka is and it gets to the gusts of it, it is ultimately around tobacco, and that is the product that is hurting, harming, killing our people,” Bradbrook said.

WYLLIE LANDS FISH IWI LIAISON JOB

Former New Zealand First MP Tutekawa Wyllie has been hired to boost commercial relationships between Sealord Group, Aotearoa Fisheries and their iwi shareholders.

Aotearoa Fisheries chief executive Robin Hapi says Mr Wyllie's role as chair of the Treaty Tribes Coalition during the height of the battles over allocation of fisheries settlement assets did not play a factor in the appointment.

He says the companies believe they need to develop better relationships between iwi who want to get more value out of the quota they have been allocated.

“Tu knows about those sorts of things and we believe that he can act as quite a valuable coordinator of activity within our group,” Hapi said.

Robin Hapi says Tu Wyllie has just returned to New Zealand after completing a three year Masters in Business Administration at Henley Management College in England.

CIG SHOPS TO GET SHAKE UP

Maori anti-smoking advocate Skye Kimura says shops need a shake up over the way they push cigarettes.

The study by Otago's School of Medicine has found most retail outlets aren't displaying cigarettes in the manner set out by law, and the worst offenders tend to be in lower socio economic communities.

It found some stores displaying cigarettes next to children's products, while others failed to show smoking kills sign within 2 metres of cigarette displays, as required by law.

Ms Kimura says she welcomes indications from associate Health Minister Damien O'Connor that the Health Ministry will take a stronger stand on enforcing the rules.

“It already has started and I think once the minister gives the OK to his ministry to be doing something about this, we will see a change in terms of point of sale,” Kimura said.

KING TUHEITIA TO VISIT MURIWHENUA

A visit by the newly crowned king Tuheitia to the far north later this month will rekindle the whakapapa connections between Tainui and the north.

Te Aupouri kaumatua Kingi Ihaka says there has always been a strong bond between the iwi, and that has been strengthened by the marriage of Tuheitia s father, Whatumoana Paki, to the late maori queen.

Mr Ihaka says as soon as the new king was crowned, the Te Aupouri Trust Board contacted Tainui with an invitation for him to visit.

“He'll be going up to meet with the confederation of far north tribes. That’s Ngati Kuri, Te Aupouri, Ngai Takoto, Te Rarawa and Ngati Kahu, So it will be an opportunity for the people of the far north to meet the new king, as well as an opportunity for him to rekindle his links, so to speak, with the tribes of the far north,” Ihaka said.

Kingi Ihaka says King Tuheitia's grandmother is from Te Aupouri.

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