Waatea News Update

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Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Waste not want not

A prominent Maori actor turning his hand to politics is calling on Maori to vote strategically and give their party vote to the Greens.

Maori actor Rawiri Paratene who has announced he is standing for the Greens in the Auckland electorate of Maungakeikei says Maori will waste their party vote if they give it to the Maori Party.

“There will be nowhere in this campaign where I will be denigrating the Maori Party. To the contrary, and see the Maori Party and its MPs as a fantastic addition to Parliament but I do think a party vote for Maori by Maori for the Maori party could be a wasted vote,” Mr Paratene says.

The Whale Rider star says in order for the Maori Party to get just one more member in parliament they would need to get something like 8 percent of the party vote and he says it is not going to happen.

TURIA REJECTS GREEN ENTREATY

However Maori Party Co leader Tariana Turia says Maori don't come first for the Greens.

The MP for Te Tai Hauauru says while she has a lot of respect for actor Rawiri Paratene, Maori should not be swayed by his call for them to give their party vote to the Greens.

“This is not a political party that believes in treaty relationships, because if they did it would be reflected in their list, and it’s not. They’re quite happy to go out and get significant people to stand for them, to try and influence our people that this party has their interests at heart, and I know that at the end of the day we don’t come first,” Mrs Turia says.

She says the Greens do not support the return to Maori of the DOC Estate, and plans for marine reserves would deny Maori access to kaimoana.

TE ATIAWA IDENTITY JACK KNUCKEY DIES

The loss of Taranaki sports stalwart Jack Knuckey will be felt not just on the league fields but also the dining rooms of Taranaki marae.

That's the view of Te Kauhoe Wano, a sports broadcaster from Taranaki, one of many to pay tribute to the former New Zealand Maori rep who died over the weekend after a long battle with cancer.

Mr Wano says Jack Knuckey commanded a lot of respect from the Taranaki Sporting Community for his unwavering support.

He says that support wasn't confined to the sports fields.

“Jack was a great kaimoana gatherer. Any of the tangis, especially around the Waitara New Plymouth area, he would be there, because his lines of descent are Te Atiawa-Puketapu, so he was well known in all those circles back home but bringing back all the paua and the kina to the tangihanga was something Jack Knuckey was well known for,” Mr Wano says.

The funeral service is at Kairua Marae on Wednesday at 11am.

MANU KORERO STARTS IN ROTORUA

Over three thousand people are expected through the doors at Nga Manu Korero, the annual Maori secondary school speech competitions which start in Rotorua today.

Event organiser Makoha Gardiner says for over 40 years the speech contests have been a stepping stone for orators who have gone on to make significant contributions to the Maori community.

They include Hekia Parata, Shane Jones, Donna Awatere Huata and more recently, Maori Television presenters Julian Wilcox and Matai Smith.

Ms Gardiner says four representatives from fourteen affiliated regions will vie for top honours in both the junior and senior sections where they speak in either te reo or English.

JONES WINS SUPPORT FOR GANG STAND

Labour MP Shane Jones says he has recieved strong support for his stance that gang treaty claims should have no place in New Zealand.

Following news that Black Power had lodged historical claims under the Treaty of Waitangi the MP for Northland said treaty claims belong to iwi and gang involvement in the Treaty process would find no public sympathy.

“I just fear that it makes a mockery of the claims process. I accept that they think they have a story to tell about how colonisation and urbanisation has ruined a lot of Maori families, but where’s free will? Where’s choice? To suggest that until we address the ills of British imperialism and colonisation there’ll be no more child abuse, there’ll be no more Maori on Maori violence, there’ll be no more woman abuse, there’s be no more gangsterism, I just can’t agree with that and I won’t be,” Mr Jones says.

There is nothing to be gained by giving legitimacy to criminals in the gangs through the Treaty process.

MCCARTEN THINKS POLLS SLIPPING BEHIND PUBLIC MOOD

A political commentator with close ties to the left says political polls are weighted against Labour for a number of reasons which makes the election closer than many think, with the Maori Party likely to decide who forms the next government.

Former Alliance president Matt McCarten says polls are traditionally under-estimate the centre left vote and this could be even greater today.

Young people tend to vote centre left. They don’t have home phones. They tend to have cellphones. And of course poorer people tend not to have home phones as well, 10 percent don’t have home phones. In one sense it’s not a lot but also people are working long hours so the worker is out during the day and night, they’re working shift work, they wouldn’t be home when the phone goes,” Mr McCarten says.

He says only the Maori Party which can deal with both major parties, which is putting it in a very strong position.

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