Waatea News Update

News from Waatea 603 AM, Urban Maori radio, first with Maori news

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Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Monday, February 02, 2009

Te Karere unveils new look at 25

Television New Zealand's flagship Maori news programme Te Karere celebrates its 25th birthday today, with plans to reach a broader audience in the years ahead.

Marae presenter Shane Taurima has taken over production, and says the programme has come a long way since the first two and a half minute broadcast as part of Maori language week in 1982.

A new half hour format was launched this afternoon, and Mr Taurima says live subtitles are now under active consideration.

“We will get to a stage where we will get those subtitles, but it will be an option. For example 6 O’clock News now, if you have got Teletext you can dial a number into your remote and up pop the subtitles. Something along those lines, we’re definitely considering at the moment,” Mr Taurima says.

The nightly news service exists both to tell news from a Maori perspective and to promote te reo Maori.

MUTTON BIRDERS CULLING OUT THE COMMONERS

In Invercargill man is fighting a bid by a faction in Ngai Tahu to strip him of his mutton birding rights.

Tommy Ashwell, has been birding on Taukihepa for more than 30 years, and built a house there for use in the season.

But Invercargill woman Lowana Clearwater challenged his rights are part of a campaign to restrict the island to direct descendants of the 15 descendants named in the 1864 Rakiura Deed of Cession.

Mr Ashwell says Mrs Clearwater's campaign is an abuse of tikanga.

“The chiefs would have signed but it wouldn’t have just been for their sons and daughters and grandsons. It would have been for the tribe. But that’s not the way they look at it. You’ve got to descend from one of those 15 chiefs,” Mr Ashwell says.

He was related to one of the 15 rangatira, Mary Newton, but a Maori Land Court mix-up traced his descent to another woman with the same name who did not have birding rights.

Lowana Clearwater refused to comment.

A hui will be held in Invercargill next week to discuss the rights.

WAITANGI PREPARES FOR CEREMONIES

It's all action at Te Tii Marae this week as tribes prepare for this week's Waitangi celebrations.

A forward party from Tainui arrived today to put up tents for Wednesday's powhiri for King Tuheitia and a fleet of Waikato waka.

Marae chairperson Kingi Taurua says the Ngapuhi haka group has been polishing its moves, ready for the arrival of the Maori king and the Rarotongan queen who is expected tomorrow.

The first order of business tomorrow is the traditional kawe mate, when Ngapuhi will remember those who have died during the year.

GANGSTERS SHOWING NO RESPECT FOR KAWA

Waiariki MP Te Ururoa Flavell says gangs are making no attempt to respect tikanga Maori.

Mr Flavell is calling for gang members to be denied tangi on marae, after Mongrel Mob members allegedly ran down a Murupara teenager in retribution for a fight during a gangster's tangi.

The boy, 16-year-old Jordan Herewini, was not a gang member, but his school T-shirt was yellow, a colour associated with town's Tribesmen gang.

Mr Flavell says the gang members couldn't even behave themselves at the boy's tangi.

“We come out and buried this young boy on Saturday, came back to the marae and had a hakari, everybody in the community, some gang members from the Tribesmen who were there, hullo, go out to the carpark, here were the fellows dakking up, and blowing through pipes in the carpark. I couldn’t believe it. All very well to say ‘I respect the marae,’ but when you get down to the nitty gritty, we’ve got to face some serious issues here,” Mr Flavell says.

His calls for a debate on the issue are attracting widespread support.

HARAWIRA KEEN TO SEE PROTEST AT WAITANGI

Tai Tokerau MP Hone Harawira wants to see protest at Waitangi, even thought his Maori Party supports the government which will be protested against.

Before entering Parliament, Mr Harawira was one of the leaders of Te Kawariki, which maintained the Waitangi protest tradition started in the 1970s by Nga Tamatoa.

He says by bringing issues to the fore, protesters can give the Maori Party ammunition to push for change from inside the system.

“I value protest and protest doesn’t die because Hone Harawira’s in the House. Protest dies when we get too bloody lazy, so I hope there’s going to be more,” Mr Harawira.

Advance crews from Ngapuhi and Tainui were today preparing Te Tii Marae for the week's events, which start tomorrow with a Ngapuhi kawe mate or remembrance of the dead.

FASHION SHOW PLANNED FOR BREAST SCREENING AWARENESS

Breastscreening Aotearoa's Waitemata and Northland branches and West Fono are dressing up for breast and cervical screening awareness.

They are planning a fashion show in August featuring Maori and Pacific designers.

Organiser Nelda Taurua says as well as ordinary women from within the community, the models will include cervical and breast cancer survivors.

She says the women want to show their commitment to others in the community.

“Part of this is celebrating that we are women and together as wahine we can support each other like we did in the old days when we lived in communities,” Ms Tauroa says.

The hunt is now on for Maori and Pacific designers who want to be part of the event.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

The southern Titi Islands were set aside for the Chiefs and their descendants! Whatever information you are getting is wrong. If it were true that the Titi islands were open to all Rakiura Maori you would have over 50,000 people trying to go. There are Crown Islands for those people who don't descend from the chiefs and can prove they are Rakiura Maori can go to! Thats what this is all about, the court gave people a right to go to privately owned land! Would you let the court allow people to build on your land?

8:42 pm  

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