Waatea News Update

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Friday, June 18, 2010

Sharples says says Maori Party must hang in

Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples says this week's moves towards reform of the Foreshore and Seabed Act highlight the importance of keeping an eye on the big picture.

The Maori Party claimed the deal reached with the Prime Minister on Monday as a victory, but critics, including some iwi leaders and Taitokerau MP Hone Harawira, say it still leaves an extremely high bar for Maori to succeed in claims for customary rights.

Dr Sharples says it comes down to what is possible politically, and the party has to think strategically rather than walk out if it doesn't get everything it wants.

“The only way Maori are going to have power is to be part of a coalition at this stage as an independent party and if we walk now, well who’s going to marry up with us in the future, so we’ve got to see it through. So many coalitions and stuff fall down or break up. We’ve got to hang in there and try and see it through,” Dr Sharples says.

He rates the current state of the relationship with National as healthy.

TOKM SEEKS IDEAS FOR FISH FARMING MOVES

A delegation from Te Ohu Kaimoana Maori fisheries trust and its commercial subsidiary Aotearoa Fisheries has been in Dubrovnik this week catching up on the latest in aquaculture techniques.

Chairperson Ngahiwi Tomoana says Croatia is the centre of European fish farming, and there is a lot to learn.

He says as iwi switch their focus from wild fish harvesting to what they can do closer to shore, they are looking at species other than mussels to farm.

“We're looking at fish farms and also competition for space, how fish farms support each other our here by having different types of species adjacent to each other and it’s about how we could be more adaptive at home, and not put everything into say mussel farming,” Mr Tomoana says.

KAPA HAKA ROOPU OFFERS GLIMPSE BACKSTAGE

Images of top kapa haka group Te Waka Huia in rehearsal and performance feature in a new exhibition at the Lake House Art Centre in Takapuna.

Photographer Kathrin Simon was granted unrestricted access to the west Auckland roopu as it was preparing for last year's Te Matatini national Maori performing arts festival.

The German migrant says the project gave her not only a passion for the art form but a great respect for the artists.

“At the beginning it was a few hours I was wanting to spend with them but the chemistry was we trust each other and I was invited to stay for longer. I feel very privileged and I am so happy to be able to present these photographs because I’d love people to engage with this art form because I think it’s a national treasure of New Zealand,” she says.

The pictures aren't for sale, but Kathrin Simon hopes to tour the KAPA HAKA Close up exhibition nationally.

TERMS OF NEGOTIATION SIGNING FOR WAIKATO IWI

Two south Waikato iwi are a step closer towards settling their historic treaty claims.

On Sunday representatives from the Office of Treaty Settlements will sign terms of negotiation with Ngati Haua and Ngati Koroki Kahukura at Pohara Pa near Putaruru.

Willie Te Aho, a member of Ngati Koroki Kahukura's negotiating team, says the iwi want control of resources and maunga in their rohe.

“So I look at Maungatautari and the Crown has about 75 percent ownership and we want to work through that with the Crown. The same with the river. We will continue to push for recognition of our status and an iwi of the river so we want to see that achieved,” Mr Te Aho says.

Ngati Koroki Kahukura also wants some acknowledgement of how use of its stretch of the Waikato River for power generation has affected the iwi culturally and economically.

INDIGENOUS VIEW ON WHALING TO BE PUT

Representatives from the Maori fisheries trust Te Ohu Kaimoana are on their way to Morocco to take part in the 62nd meeting of the International Whaling Commission.

Chairperson Ngahiwi Tomoana says they are there to speak up for the rights of indigenous whalers, and especially the Maori claim to whales which beach in their rohe.

“We see the whales as a koha from Tangaroa, and when we turn around and chuck it back it’s like throwing people’s koha back at them. And it’s a huge waste of resource, the blubber and bones and, if it’s fresh enough, the meat,” Mr Tomoana says.

AUCTION BRINGS TAONGA A FEATHER’S TOUCH AWAY

One of the largest collections of Maori and Oceanic art to reach the market in recent years is now in the hands of new owners ... with a few regrets around about what slipped away.

Webb's Auction House in Auckland last night sold off more and three quarters of a million dollars of taonga, with many of the items returned to the country from the Zanesville Museum in the US state of Ohio.

Sitting front row with her bidding card ready was singer Moana Maniapoto from Ngati Tuwharetoa and te Arawa.

But her hopes of picking up the prized huia feather for the sort of money such items have fetched in the past on online site Trademe were dashed in the atmosphere of the live auction, when the feather went for more than $7000.

Moana Maniapoto says she was able to pick up a taonga for her trouble.

Webb's managing director Neil Campbell says he was happy people had a chance to see such a broad range of Oceanic art assembled in one place.

DHB wants one stop shop for Maori health

The Waitemata District Health Board wants to know what front line health care Maori want.

Edith Mc Neill, the manager of Maori primary health care services, says there are currently six PHOs covering Maori in west Auckland and North Shore.

The board plans to cut that number to one or two.

She says a series of hui will be held next month on the best way to proceed.

“We don't have all the answers for Maori sitting inside the DHB which is why the process we are about to go to is very important. What we do know is we have whanau across the district we want to ensure have some consistent service delivery,” Mrs McNeill says.

TEACHERS AND WHANAU GET LESSONS IN NCEA PATHWAY

The Qualifications Authority is giving Maori teachers and whanau a better understanding of how the National Certificate of Educational Achievement works.

Daryn Bean, the NZQA's deputy CEO Maori, says many people still don't know how to get the best for their rangatahi out of the 20-year-old secondary school assessment system.

He says a series of whanau workshops is giving them a chance to catch up.

“Had a lot of new teachers coming to the workshops learning about assessment, learning about moderation, learning about what’s available on the qualification frameworks, there’s the NCEA but there’s also the Maori traditional areas and how they can incorporate those into qualifications, so there’s lots of learning happening for kaiako, and they’re really appreciating it,” Mr Bean says.

The key to handling NCEA is packaging units so rangatahi have enough credits each year to move up the levels.

MAORI WOMEN’S SEVENS GREAT TOURISM PROMOTION

The coach of the Maori Womens Sevens rugby squad says New Zealand Tourism missed out on a golden opportunity by not backing the team on its latest overseas tour.

Peter Joseph says the team has dominated the Hong Kong women's seven's tournament for several years, and its first foray to the Roma Tournament in Italy achieved a similar result.

He says their impact as they swept aside the opposition was extraordinary.

“When you see them on the field and you see not only their playing ability but that they know they are ambassadors for their whanau, their culture and their country as well, you see they put everything into it and when they achieve that result, it’s wonderful,” Mr Joseph says.

He says because of the cultural angle, the Aotearoa Maori Womens Sevens team drew extraordinary media interest during its time in Italy.

HISTORIC PLACES MOVES ON WAAHI TAPU DAMAGE

The Historic Places Trust says it's considering a prosecution over stock damage to a south Taranaki pa site.

Senior archaeologist Rick McGovern-Wilson says the trust is investigating whether permanent harm was done to earthworks at Te Ruaki Pa near Hawera when a sharemilker employed by the receivers of Crafar Farms ran cows on the site during wet weather.

He says it serves as a warning of the need to protect such areas

“This is an outstanding pa site. It’s two or three hundred metres long, it sits along the crest of a ridge. It has quite large ditch and bank defensive systems around it and it’s big enough and important enough that it’s actually marked on the Q21 topographic map, and you can see it on Google earth,” Dr McGovern-Wilson says.

The Trust will be taking the matter up with the receivers and the South Taranaki district council after a senior archaeologist has investigated the full extent of damage next week.

MAORI HIT HARDER BY DEAF AID DEFAULT

The Audiologists Society is calling on Maori organisations to make a noise about a change in Accident Compensation Commission policy that older people whose hearing is affected by noisy workplaces will have to pay for hearing aids.

Society president Lesley Hindmarsh says the ACC's decision not to pay what it considers is age-related hearing loss is unscientific.

She says it will particulary affect Maori workers.

“Those Maori workers that have worked in more manual professions and factory workers, farm, forestry, if they have any damage to their hearing, when they come to majke a claim for a hearing aid and there’s an age component, they would have to pay something towards that,” Ms Hindmarsh says.

Maori are already less likely to take up their entitlement for hearing aids, and the top-up demanded by ACC will make that situation worse.

NGA PAE O TE MARAMATANGA OFFERS FULBRIGHT SCHOLARSHIPS

Nga Pae o Te Maramatanga, the Maori centre for research excellence, has teamed up with the Fulbright Foundation to offer scholarships for travel and study in the United States.

Director Charles Royal, a past Fulbright scholar, says while the scholarships are funded by the centre, they are backed by the full resources of the Fulbright organisation.

He says the country's best students often end up in the Fulbright system.

“The excellence theme around Fulbright is the perfect fit for Nga Pae. We’re certainly interested in uplifting the participation of Maori in research but we have a specific interest to do with research excellence and pathways to excellence and Fulbright is iconic in this pathways to excellence around research and scholarship,” Dr Royal says.

Applications for the Nga Pae o Te Maramatanga senior Fulbright Scholarship close on July 1.

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Thursday, June 17, 2010

Iwi game for foreshore protests

As details emerge of what the Maori Party agreed to in reform of the Foreshore and Seabed Act, iwi leaders are preparing to resume the fight.

Party co-leaders Pita Sharples and Tariana Turia claimed Monday's meeting with the Prime Minister was a victory, with iwi again able to seek customary title through the courts.

Attorney general Chris Finlayson has since told Parliament that very little of the coast will be affected, because tribes will need to prove continuous use and occupation since 1840.

Ngahiwi Tomoana from Ngati Kahungunu says the iwi leaders went into the meeting with a demand that claims would not be denied because of past treaty breaches which severed customary ownership, such as confiscation, unjust purchase or regulation.

“We said if it wasn’t done in good faith then the government would be harassed and harangued by iwi leaders and by hapu and whanau from then on. Game on, it’s not roll over, it’s batter up again,” Mr Tomoana says.

WAITEMATA REVIEWS PRIMARY HEALTH PROVISION

The manager of primary health care for Maori in north and west Auckland wants to see one organisation responsible for services to Maori.

Edith McNeill says there are now six primary health organisations in the Waitemata District Health Board area providing a variable quality of service to Maori.

The board wants to bring that down to just one or two PHOs.

“What we're hoping the outcome will be is we will have a Maori entity, organisation that will be able to initiate services and improve for Maori that are integrated, joined up better across our whole district,” Mrs McNeill says.

Waitemata Health has discussed the plan with Waipareira Trust and Ngati Whatua, and it will conduct more extensive consultation with Maori and other groups before decisions are made.

NEW BOOK FOCUSES ON MAORI ROLE MODELS

The author of a new book on ten successful Maori hopes their stories will provide insight and inspiration to rangatahi.

Te Aorangi Harrington says questions for the book and the subjects were suggested by the young people he came across in his day job as a Maori liasion officer with the Fire Service.

Those interviewed for the book include footballer Wynton Rufer, physicist Ocean Mercer and musician Anika Moa.

CHARTS HELP PLAN MAORI HEALTH

The Health Ministry's deputy director of Maori health says a new report will help with planning for Maori economic and social development.

Tatau Kahukura is a comprehensive review of Maori health data, boiled down into simple charts about things like education and income, and use of health services.

Theresa Wall says it will help policymakers measure if they are on the right track.

“If we don't have good reliable data, we can’t track whether the things we are doing is having any impact, either negative or positive so it’s really important that we continue to collect and continue to report on this type of data,” Ms Wall says.

By giving by planners a clear picture of demographic factors like the Maori birth rate, communities will be able to ready themselves for change.

WAAHI TAPU NEGLECTED BY COUNCILS

The manager of south Taranaki iwi Ngati Ruanui says more needs to be done to protect waahi tapu from irresponsible farmers.

The iwi is up in arms about the damage to a pa site near Hawera caused by overstocking of dairy cows during wet weather.
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, who is also deputy mayor of South Taranaki, and says the iwi want to know what is being done at local and central government level on their behalf.

“Tell us as iwi what on earth you are going to do to protect and preserve our waahi tapu, what tools of the Resource Management Act are going to be put in place. It’s no good having files just to sit there to use when people want to develop land. There’s a lot more grunt out there of central and local government that can assist,” Mrs Ngarewa-Packer says.

She says the previous owners fenced off the waahi tapu, but the current owner, Crafar Farms, made no attempt to protect the pa.

NZQA BOOSTING UNDERSTANDING OF NCEA SYSTEM

The Qualifications Authority has been on the road trying to increase the understanding of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement among Maori whanau and teachers.

Daryn Bean, the NZQA's deputy CEO Maori, says eight hui have been held since April, with more planned for Auckland and Whangarei before the end of the month.

He says the assessment framework has been round in various forms for 20 years, but students may still need guidance to ensure they are taking the right combination of units to

He says whanau have appreciated the bilingual presentations and information.

Quick action needed on mobile charges

2Degrees is calling for quick action on a Commerce Commission recomendation which could slash its cost of doing business.

The mobile phone company uses frequencies made available to Maori as part of a treaty settlement, and Maori shareholders own just under 12 percent of the company.

Chief operating officer Bill McCabe says the Minister of Telecommunications, Stephen Joyce, needs to act fast on the recommendation that the amount charged to terminate a mobile call on another network be regulated.

“Every time a customer of ours calls a Telecom of a Vodafone customer, Vodafone or Telecom clip the ticket, and the Commerce Commission is saying ‘well you can clip the ticket but at the moment it’s way too much, it’s an excessive amount, and those rates have got to come down,’” Mr McCabe says.

As long as the process for determining the cost of calls is not delayed by court action, customers could benefit from lower rates across the board by early next year.

DAIRY COWS DAMAGE TARANAKI PA SITE

A South Taranaki iwi is fuming at the damage done to a waahi tapu site on land owned by troubled corporate farmer Crafar Farms.

Debbie Ngarewa-Packer from Ngati Ruanui Group Management says overstocking of dairy cows on Hillside farm at Ohangai led to what could be permanent damage to Te Ruaki Pa during recent wet weather.

Crafar was put into receivership last October with more than $200 million in debt and multiple prosecutions for illegal waste discharges from its 16 farms.

She says the iwi is talking to local government about how the mana of such sites can be protected.

“We're not just talking about rectifying it now but we’ve put this waahi tapu, our pa site on the attention list so it never ever happens again. Deliberate damage by over-stocking paddocks in wet weather is (negligent),” Mrs Ngarewa-Packer says.

Ngati Ruanui is trying to contact the Crafar Farms receiver, KordaMentha about the damage.

SOCCER DRAW INSPIRED YOUNG MAORI

A Maori sports broadcaster says tamariki will be lining up to play soccer after the All Whites' success at the 2010 football World Cup.

Te Kauhoe Wano says the performance of Maori players Leo Bertos, Jeremy Christie, Rory Fallon and especially goal scorer Winston Reid in yesterday's 1-1 draw with Slovakia will inspire young Maori boys and girls.

It's even getting to the traditionalists at Maori Television, where soccer was the only topic of conversation among the sports team.


A Maori studying in Australia has been picked as one of that country's top 100 brightest young minds.

Areti Metuamate of Ngati Raukawa, Ngati Kauwhatu and Waikato-Tainui is on Freyberg Scholarship to the National University in Canberra, studying for a masters degree in international politics, defence and strategic studies.

The former Hato Paora head boy and executive member of the Catholic Runanga says his selection over thousands of Australians shows Maori can do anything with focus and hard work.

“For so long we have been back seat, second class citizens. For so long we’ve been seen as ‘oh no, you’re not really an achiever, the Pakeha will become the doctor and so forth.’ That is complete rubbish and we have to change the thinking in that regard. We can do it not only in our own country but on the global stage. We’re competitors everywhere,” Mr Metuamate says.

The 25-year-old will attend next month's Brightest Young Minds summit in Sydney to discuss current issues with leading business and community leaders including Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

MAHUTA A ROLE MODEL FOR YOUNG WAHINE MAORI

Green's co-leader Meteria Turei has praised the promotion of fellow Maori MP Nanaia Mahuta to Labour's front bench as a result of the reshuffle brought on by the ministerial expenses controversy.

She says the Hauraki-Waikato MP is showing the way for others.

“She's got huge years of experience. She’s a young woman, a young mother. She’s an excellent role model for other young Maori women who’re starting families and things that you can be involved in politics and have longevity in politics. I think it’s long overdue that she’s been promoted like this,” Ms Turei says.

She was also impressed with the dignified way list MP Shane Jones took his demotion in the Labour ranks.

FEAST OF A LIFETIME BECOMES FEAST FOR THE EYES

It was the feast of a lifetime, and it's being recalled several lifetimes later.

The time was 1844, when Tainui and Ngati Whatua chiefs invited Auckland's 6000 Pakeha residents to feast on the slopes of Remuera, now known as Mt Hobson, to thank them for past hospitality and as a show of power.

The menu was fish and chips ... more than 9000 sharks and 11,000 baskets of potatoes were consumed over four days.

Exhibition developer Janine Love has used a watercolour by Joseph Merret recreated the amazing event for Auckland museum's Kai to Pie show.

“From that watercolour lithographs were made which we’ve reinterpreted digitally so it becomes a lithograph that on a touch screen, it’s actually a computer console, you can actually fly into the space and explore the lithograph,” she says.

Kai to Pie also features the 1854 Albert Barrack ball and banquet at which Aucklanders celebrated Queen Victoria’s birthday and the first sitting of the New Zealand parliament by dining in knee deep mud on tinned food imported from around the world.

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Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Oil exploration conflicts with customary rights

An East Coast iwi says Brazilian company Petrobas would not be drilling for oil off the East Coast if proposed changes to the Foreshore and Seabed Act had been in place.

Chairperson Apirana Mahuika says Ngati Porou intends to apply for customary title over the 22,000 sq kms covered by the exploration licence that energy minister Gerry Brownlee issued without consuliting the iwi.

He says the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a warning of what could happen in the Raukumara basin.

“Two thirds of operation is ion Te Whaanu a Apanui, a third in Ngati Porou. And I guarantee to you we will put on a massive fight to retain that because it will upset the ecosystems within Whanau Apanui and Ngati Porou and it could very well endanger the resources of our ancestors,” Mr Mahuika says.

He says if the two iwi had pushed to have their Deeds of Settlement enacted into law, rather than wait to see how National would reform the Foreshore and Seabed Act, the Brazilian company would be nowhere near the area.

MAORI MEN NEED TO DROP MACHJO ACT FOR HEALTH

An expert on Maori health says it's up to Maori to do something about the fact Maori men die from preventable diseases at twice the rate of non-Maori.

Dr Rhys Jones from men's health collective Mana Tane O Aotearoa says Maori men aren't taking the risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes seriously.

“This kind of macho attitude that we are bullet proof and we just need to be staunch and get on with it, the way we are kind of socialized into the mentality really needs to be looked at and how can we undertake a major cultural change,” Dr Jones says

Part of the solution is that health providers need to make themselves more accessible to Maori men, perhaps through the Whanau Ora model of service delivery.

MAORI OPEN DOOR TO MANY-CULTURED WORLD

A ground-breaking anthropologist says increased engagement with Maori is helping other New Zealanders break out of monoculturalism and take their place in the world.

Dame Joan Metge's latest collection of essays, Tuamaka: The challenge of difference in Aotearoa New Zealand, is being launched about now at the Auckland University Marae.

The 80-year-old says there is now widespread respect for things Maori, compared with the near total lack of respect apparent when she was growing up, and that respect is paying dividends.

“Maori have continually needled us into taking a much wider view and there is a much much larger body of people who are open to learning about other cultures, who are respectful of other cultures and if you begin with treating Maori with respect, that’s the first step on the road to treating other cultures generally with respect,” she says.

Dame Joan Metge says Maori things seem to get more respect among the general public than among political leaders.

TWO DEGREES HOPING FOR QUICK REGULATORY CHANGE

The clock is ticking for Maori shareholders in 2 Degrees, with the Commerce Commission recommending the Government regulate mobile termination rates.

Under the current unregulated environment, the new mobile phone company must hand over revenue whenever its subscribers roam or connect to other networks.

It means that even though the company has attracted 5 percent of mobile phone users, its largest shareholder this week had to put in another $11 million - diluting the stake held for Maori by Hautaki Limited to below 12 percent.

2degrees chief operating officer, Bill McCabe, says the company is keen for telecommunications minister Stephen Joyce to make a quick decision on the recommendations so the commission can come up with a price formula which encourages fair competition.

“We've said it should be what they call in the industry zero rate termination so everyone can connect to everyone at a zero rate and that happens in places like Hong Kong and Singapore and the United States and Canada and various other countries. That’s normally seen as the most pro-competitive outcome. We’re still encouraging that as a potential outcome,” Mr McCabe says.

He says Vodafone and Telecom have taken excessive profits from New Zealand consumers for more than six years because of government failure to regulate.

FORESHORE CHANGE LEAVES RAUPATU INTACT

The Green's co-leader leader, Meteria Turei, says the government's proposed foreshore and seabed reforms still amount to raupatu or confiscation.

She says the outcome of the talks between National and the Maori Party seems to that a few words in Labour's 2004 Foreshore and Seabed Act will be replaced with terms which have yet to be adequately defined.

That means little will change.

“It's still a confiscation and even if they repeal Labour’s act, which is a good thing, they are going to replace it with another act which does exactly the same thing and confiscates the foreshore so it will be very difficult when that time comes for the Maori Party in particular to vote for it,” Ms Turei says

She says it looks like the Whanau Ora social service delivery model will be the only real gain the Maori Party will get from its agreement with National.

TENANCITY AND EAR FOR DIALOGUE KEY TO STAGE WRITING SUCCESS

The first Maori Playwrights Festival kicks off in Papakura tonight with a performance of Briar Grace Smith's classic Purapurawhetu.

The festival spun out of a 2007 hui which identified a need for Maori writers and actors to have a place to hone their craft.

Grace-Smith, from Ngati Hau in Nga Puhi, says writers need a range of skills in their kete to write for the stage.

“One thing that's really important is to have an ear for dialogue and the way people speak, how important words are, the things that are said and what they don’t say, so you have to be quite a good listener and sort of tune into things and conversations that are happening around you and the other thing is tenacituy because it’s not really a career that for most of us is going to make you a lot of money so you really have to stay with it,” Grace-Smith says,

It's important for writers to have access to others who inspire them ... such as her mother-in-law Patricia Grace's stories did for her as a teenager.

The festival at the Hawkins Theatre also includes plays by Albert Belz and Whiti Hereaka.

Reform won’t deliver foreshore to Maori

Labour leader Phil Goff says the changes the government is proposing to the Foreshore and Seabed Act are superficial.

He says even the Prime Minister can't tell the difference between terms like Crown ownership, public domain and public space.

He says the only difference from the law introduced by the last Labour government is a change in the role of the High Court.

“Customary title and customary rights can be recognised through the new High Court process or direct negotiations. That’s a little bit different from the existing Foreshore and Seabed (Act). You could go to the court for a statement but not a decision. Now you can take it back but the criteria is essentially the same as it has always been, and that certainly doesn’t vest ownership of the foreshore and seabed within Maoridom,” Mr Goff says.

He says the only one speaking the truth on the deal is Taitokerau MP Hone Harawira, who says the Prime Minister is pandering to rednecks rather than giving Maori justice.

TANE MAORI SHOULD BE VALUED
A Maori public health specialist says whanau should use Men's health week to tell their men how much they are valued.

Dr Rhys Jones from Mana Tane O Aotearoa, the Maori Men's Health Collective, says Maori men are providers, protectors and keepers of important family information.

He says they are raised to put the needs of others before their own, and many fail to have regular health checkups.

“If you look at the contribution Maori men have made and continue to make, it’s huge and we need to really value that and nurture that and empower Maori men to improve their health. A lot needs to be done at a political and dressing the socioeconomic factors and other things that create huge risks, and actually doing something to improve the environments we live in,” Dr Jones says.

Maori men lag behind non Maori in most health indices, especially heart health and diabetes.

FERGUSON CLIPPING CORNISH SHEEP AT RECORD RATE

Shearing commentator Koro Mullins says Ngati Kahungunu shearer Cameron Ferguson is making the most of his first trip overseas.

The youngest ever Golden Shears open champion is heading for the World Championships in Wales next month.

As part of his warm-up he took out the Royal Cornwall show over the weekend, shearing 14 sheep in 10 minutes 15 seconds, a minute faster than the next best competitor.

Koro Mullins says many Maori shearers are being drawn to work in the northern hemisphere, where they can earn 2 euro a sheep.

REFORMS WILL MUDDY CROWN’S TREATY RESPONSE

Promoted Labour MP Nanaia Mahuta says proposed changes to the Foreshore and Seabed Act could muddy future Treaty of Waitangi claims.

Ms Mahuta was yesterday bumped to Labour's front bench because of the demotion of Shane Jones and Chris Carter for mismanagement of their ministerial credit cards while in government.

She says the National-Maori party deal to replace Crown ownership fo the foreshore with a concept of public space may not be a good thing for Maori.

“I would have thought Maori would have preserved thee Crown ownership in an outright way so that it’s clear what the treaty obligation of the Crown is. No one really knows how this public space definition may affect any kind of negotiated outcome going forward,” Ms Mahuta says.

The proposed replacement for the Foreshore and Seabed Act falls far short of the expectations raised by the Maori Party.

TAMATI STRIVES FOR NEW LOW IN GOBI MARCH

Maori ultra-distance runner Lisa Tamati is off to conquer the Gobi Desert.

The Taranaki based jeweler has run the length of New Zealand and the breath of Death Valley in the United States, and she's now taking on the Turpan Basin, the second hottest desert and second lowest place on the planet.

She must carry her own food and equipment on the 250 kilometre race, known as the Gobi March, which starts on June 27.

The lifelong asthmatic says sport is the key to a healthy life, and she wants to inspire Maori and pacifika people to physically challenge themselves.

“Most of us don’t do enough sport, we don’t take enough care of our bodies and the more exercise we do, the stronger we get. My mission now is not only to run but, especially for our Maori and Pacific Island communities, show that you have to take care of yourself and sport is the best way to do it,” Ms Tamati says.

She will wear a helmet camera one the race to record footage for a documentary.

NEW BOOK BY DAME JOAN METGE WEAVES TOGETHER STRANDS

A long time scholar of the Maori world launches her latest book at Auckland University's Waipapa marae tonight.

Dame Joan Metge says she put together the essays in Tuamaka: The challenge of different in Aotearoa New Zealand around her 2004 Waitangi Rua Rau Tau lecture, which was overshadowed by Don Brash's Orewa speech on race relations.

She says a tuamaka is a round rope with six strands, which she found in a list of the ropes Maui and his brother wove to snare the sun.

“I wanted something that was simple while at the same time saying that the two languages complement each other, because the titles of both the book and the essays are not just translations of each other, they fill each other out as we do as a nation to a certain extent, and as I would like to see more and more,” Dame Joan says.

Tuamaka is published by Auckland University Press.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Goff praises Harawira frankness on foreshore

Labour leader Phil Goff says maverick MP Hone Harawira is closer to the truth than his Maori Party leaders.

The Tai Tokerau MP broke ranks with over yesterday's deal on the reform of the Foreshore and Seabed Act, saying what Maori people were really after was Maori title

Mr Goff says that shows up the claims by co-leaders Pita Sharples and Tariana Turia that last minute negotiations had won changes to what the government intended to do anyway.

“I mean both John Key and Hone Harawira are saying the same thing. This is no difference in essence from what was already in law. The Maori Party leadership is pretending it is and of course they must pretend that because this is the reason the Maori Party was set up,” he says.

Mr Goff says the Maori Party has been rolled on the foreshore and seabed, just as it was on the GST increase, the minimum wage and Maori seats on the Auckland super city.

SPRONGBOK CAPTAIN CONSIDERED POSITIVES OUT OF PROTEST

The caption of the 1981 Springboks says the protest-wracked tour of New Zealand may have led to positive change in both South Africa and New Zealand.

Wynard Claasen told Maori Television's Native Affairs programme he's keen to return the New Zealand with some of his teammates to apologise for the disruption caused by the tour ... and he's keen to make that apology on Gisborne's Poho o Rawiri marae, if the chance were offered.

He says the protests may have had the effect of telling South African society that the apartheid policies were unsustainable.

“I think maybe the New Zealand tour had that lesson to the South African people and I think also from a New Zealand point of view a lot of Maori people I’ve spoken to over there during the time said they also haven’t got land rights, so while the tour was bad from a social point of view, maybe it was good for both countries,” Mr Claasen says.

He says the players were surprised by the strength of the protests.

WOMEN’S SEVENS CELEBRATES ROMA WIN

The coach of the Aotearoa Maori Women's Sevens says the world-beating team should be better known in its homeland.

The team won the Roma 7s in Italy last week, beating France 19-5 in the final.
Peter Joseph of Te Arawa says that capped a decade of success, and their presence generated huge interest from the start of the competition.

The team was on Italian TV every night it was there, with the media describing them as the Women Maori All Blacks.

Peter Joseph says the Roma 7 organisers were happy to pick up many of the costs of having the team at the tournament, because there was no funding from the New Zealand Rugby Union.

MAHUTA SLAMS TAINUI’S PRISON AMBITION

Labour's new associate law and order spokesperson has spoken out against her own tribe’s desire to get involved in running private prisons.

Hauraki-Waikato MP Nanaia Mahuta was promoted to number 11 in the caucus reshuffle sparked by leader Phil Goff's demotion of Shane Jones, Mita Ririnui and Chris Carter for flouting rules around ministerial spending.

Her Tainui iwi is among those who have talked with private prison operators about future investment or involvement, but Ms Mahuta says privatision won't benefit Maori.

“Some iwi have said they are open to that particular proposal but I think it’s a no go zone for Maori. We’re better placed to ensure we have good rehabilitation programmes and urban Maori who want to participate in that space I’m sure could do a really good job,” she says.

She is against the building of more prisons because they will just be filled by Maori, and it's better to spend the money on crime prevention

STUDY TO IDENTIFY RISKS TO MAORI BABIES

University of Otago researchers want to find out why Maori infants are more susceptible to preventable illnesses than non-Maori.

The Health Research Council is giving $1.2 million over three years to Dr Beverley Lawton from the department of general practice to study barriers to care for young pregnant Maori women and their infants.

She says that means examining the social, economic and policy factors that affect health.

“We're looking at why these differences are there and it’s sort of like taking the women and the infant and the whanau and putting them at the centre and we’re looking at sort of the box of things around them because it’s really the structural determinants of health that are making the difference so we want to explore them and priorities the women and their family,” Dr Lawton says.

The study may help Whanau Ora providers develop programmes to reduce mortality and disability in Maori infants.

MAORI MUSCLE IN ALL WHITES SQUAD

Tonight's World Cup clash should give the All White's four Maori players a chance to shine.

Kick-off against Slovakia at Rustenburg is at 11.30 tonight New Zealand time.
Sports commentator Te Kauhoe Wano says Maori players are starting to make an impact in a code Maori haven't traditionally been linked with.

Coming off the starting bench are striker Rory Fallon from Ngati Porou, wing Leo Bertos who has a Maori and Greek whakapapa, and Winston Reid, who moved to Denmark when he was 10 with his Maori mother and Danish stepfather.

“He's won a defending spot which has pushed Viselich into mid field. It means Jeremy Christie, the other Ngati Porou boy in the team misses out on a starting spot but I’m sure he will get game time coming off the bench,” Mr Wano says.

Foreshore decision hailed a win

Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples says allowing iwi to take their customary rights claims for the foreshore and seabed to the High Court is a big win.

Maori Party MPs and the Iwi Leaders Group met Prime Minister John Key yesterday to spell out their reservations about the Government's proposed replacement to the 2004 Foreshore and Seabed Act.

Dr Sharples says it's still a work in progress, the main issue was restoring access to the courts which was taken away by the previous Labour Government.

“This was a major breakthrough for iwi, to every iwi, whether they’ve have their claims completed, full and final of their raupatu, can still come back for their foreshore and seabed,” Dr Sharples says.

Iwi leaders are still unhappy with the term public domain, so a new name will be chosen to reflect the fact the foreshore and seabed will be owned by no-one.

MAORI MEN FEEL IGNORED IN HEALTH SPENDING

A Maori men's health advocacy group wants more attention paid to their health needs.

Joe Puketapu from Te Mana Tane O Aotearoa was at Parliament yesterday for the launch of National Men’s Health Week.

He says politicians need to take notice of the fact Maori men, particularly those in middle age, suffer in greater numbers than non-Maori from obesity, heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

“Mana Tane Ora is here to represent the interests of Maori men and make sure the issues for Maori men are kept high on the political agenda and that Maori men around the country get on board by being able to provide information to Maori men’s communities in order for them to participate and contribute in a positive and productive way,” Mr Puketapu says.

Maori men are twice as likely to die of preventable illness than non-Maori.

TIGHT FIVE KEY TO RUGBY WIN

The tight five is seen as the key to the New Zealand Maori team's prospects against Ireland in Rotorua on Friday night.

The team won the first of three centenary games in Whangarei on Saturday night when Hosea Gear dotted down in the corner in the last minute, sealing a 37-31 victory against the New Zealand Barbarians.

Commentator Te Kauhoe Wano says the Maori scrum looked vulnerable in the first half, but was strengthened at half time when Hayden Triggs, Dan Coles and Colin Bourke came off the bench.

He says the win was just the preparation coach Jamie Joseph needed for his troops in the lead up to the two international fixtures.

BOK CAPTAIN ADMITS FEAR OVER PROTESTS

The Captain of the 1981 Springboks has revealed team members feared for their safety when anti-apartheid protesters invaded the pitch at a game in Hamilton.

In an interview broadcast last night on Maori Television's Native Affairs, Wynard Claasen told reporter Julian Wilcox that the team was surprised at how strongly New Zealanders felt about the issue.’

He says it all came home to them that afternoon.

“Then we were in the changing room and we were looking through the back door or the back window and there was a whole group of demonstrators coming round the back and trying to get into the pavilion and that was quite scary, There were these huge trucks parked at the back and they tipped that over so that was a scary sight to see, them coming for us,” Mr Claasen says.

He says more than half the squad want to come back next year, the 30th anniversary, to apologise for the divisions and violence the 1981 tour created.

CO-MORBIDITY FOCUS OF CANCER SURVIVAL STUDY

The Health Research Council has given Otago University $1.2 million to find out why Maori have a lower cancer survival rate than non-Maori.

Co-ordinator Diana Safarti, from the university's Wellington-based department of public health, says the three-year study will focus on co-morbidity, when people are battling more than one illnesses at the same time.

She says that may be more common among Maori.

“People have tended to look at cancer or just look at what other single condition people have but what we are interest in is how these things interrelate. Individuals are much more complex than just individual diagnosis of cancer so we’re trying to really disentangle all this stuff to reduce the inequalities between Maori and non-Maori patients,” Dr Safarti says.

The first year will be spent collecting and analysing hospital and treatment data from across the country.

MORE WORK NEEDED TO HELP YOUNG ACTORS GROW

The producer of the biggest grossing New Zealand film of all time says its young actors need a vibrant local industry if they are to carve out long term acting careers.

Ainsley Gardiner says BOY, directed and acted in by Taika Waititi, has so far grossed more than $8 million at the box office.

She says cast members, including James Rolleston who played Boy, are keen to learn more.

“You know the more product we are able to make, the more Maori film, the more Maori drama, the more opportunities there are, but these kids are awesome and a good few of them are interested in pursuing some more acting.” Ainsley Gardiner says.

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Monday, June 14, 2010

Rotorua trust seeks to mollify Little Waihi

The Rotorua Lakes Trust has told residents of Little Waihi facing eviction that each case will be treated individually.

The trust met with 200 residents and supporters of the Bay of Plenty coastal settlement yesterday to discuss its plan to terminate about 30 leases because of concerns about contamination of the estuary by septic tanks.

Chairperson Toby Curtis says the trust had no option than to issue the strongly-worded eviction notices, but it does not mean they will be enforced in all cases.

“There are one or two properties down there, it appears at this stage no matter what they do, the place has to be condemned. There are others where they need to attend to the matter of sewerage and there’s every likelihood they will continue to stay on,” Mr Curtis says.

The trust has agreed to set up a joint committee with residents to work through the issues with individual lease holders.

MAORI MEN PRIORITY FOR MEN’S HEALTH WEEK

Maori men are being targeted for special attention during men's health week.

Joe Puketapu from Mana Tane Ora o Aotearoa says Maori men have the lowest life expectancy of any of the major population group in New Zealand.

They're twice as likely to die prematurely from heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

Mr Puketapu says tane are looking for ways to turn the situation around.

“There was a demand by our Maori men that more things be done to facilitate better access to health services and development of forums that allowed men to come together, particularly Maori men, to start debating the issue around health and social circumstances for Maori men,” Mr Puketapu says.

PALISADES MARK BOUNDARY OF ANCIENT PA

Waikato-Tainui today unveiled a palisade marking the boundaries of one of the region's oldest known pa sites.

Kaumatua Tame Pokaia says Puke-i-aahua at Ngaruawahuia, across the river from Turangawaewae Marae, is an important place for the iwi.

“During settlement time when Tainui arrived and penetrated inland from Kawhia into the area we know now as our Tainui boundary, Pukeiaahua was one of those places that was settled,” Mr Pokaia says.

The palisade beside the Ngaruawahia cemetery can be clearly seen from State Highway One.

TRANS TASMAN KAPA HAKA EXPERIENCE CELEBRATED

Australian-based kapa haka groups battled it out in Canberra over the weekend to determine who should represent Australian Maori at Te Matatini in Gisborne next year.

Isaac Cotter, the chair of Maori Performing Arts in Australia, says the standard was high and the large crowd lapped it up.

“We had multi-cultural Australia in the audience. That can only have massive benefit for us living here in Australia and it confirms our people are living away from home but we are still proud of who we are and where we come from,” Mr Cotter says.

Winner Manawa Mai Tawhiti from Western Australian will be joined in Gisborne by Victorian teams Te Waka Raukura and Poi Piripi.

FORESHORE MANAGEMENT MODEL HARD TO MATCH

Te Arawa leader Toby Curtis says there is a lot of hard work ahead for iwi if they want to make today's deal on the Foreshore and Seabed Act reform work for them.

The Maori Party is claiming victory after its meeting with the Prime Minister, alongside the Iwi Leaders Group, resulted in the government agreeing to go ahead with repealing of the Act.

Its replacement will give the foreshore and seabed public domain status rather than being in Crown ownership, and Maori can go to court to pursue claims to customary ownership.

Mr Curtis says what iwi want is the sort of coastal management powers which Ngati Porou secured through negotiations with the previous government, but they might struggle politically to put up as strong a case as the East Coast tribe.

“They said ‘well this has always been ours, we’re the only ones up here, no Pakeha come here, so hat are you worried about,’ whereas with ours, there are more people using our beaches than ours and that makes it very awkward, and most other tribes, they’re in the centre of Pakehadom, so it’s not going to be as easy establishing the same conditions as Ngati Porou has achieved,” Mr Curtis says.

MUSICIANS TURN OUT TO SUPPORT TE HAMUA NIKORA

Maori musos were out in force in Auckland last night to support of the country's most popular music hosts.

Te Hamua Nikora, who fronts television karaoke show Homai Te Pakipaki is battling cancer.

Organiser Moko Templeton says the Hearty Ngati Concert drew more than 600 people to hear entertainers like Maisy Rika, Native Sons and soul diva Annie Crummer make their musical tributes

Last push for foreshore change

The Iwi Leaders Group meets Prime Minister John Key and government officials this morning seeking last minute changes to the Government’s rewrite of the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

The group wants title to the foreshore held equally by the Crown and Maori as treaty partners on behalf of all New Zealanders.

The Government has rejected this option, preferring a model it calls “public domain”.

Ngai Tahu chairperson Mark Solomon says the group hopes it can make some progress today.

“We would like a negotiated outcome and not something that is imposed but it has to be a fairly negotiated document and at this stage it’s not fair and it’s not just what they are offering,” Mr Solomon says.

RANGATAHI BINGE DRINKING A PRIORITY

The Alcohol Advisory Council is making binge drinking among young Maori a priority for action.

Youth strategy manager Sarah Helm from Ngai Tahu says rangatahi who took part in the council’s recent youth week events were skeptical about options put up by the Law Commission to change drinking behaviour.

She says it’s important to listen to young people, rather than seeing them as the problem.

She says Maori and Pacific rangatahi are high-risk groups.

MARAE-BASED COURSES REACHING DROP-OUTS

A Whangarei Maori education provider says people need to think outside the classroom to meet the needs of many rangatahi.

Rangatahi failed by mainstream school system are described as blossoming at a Maori tertiary provider.

2Meke Training offers a marae-based catering course which gives rangatahi the basics for a career in the hospitality industry, as well as an understanding of tikanga, manaakitanga and mana.

Director Rangi Tawhiao says many of its students haven’t been to schools in years when they get referred from Work and Income or Corrections.

“It's quite amazing watching 14 and 15 year olds that have been chucked out of school but when you get them into their own environment in a marae, they absolutely blossom. I’ve taken them back to Waitangi and the students have become a well known part of the marae and the community there and the hau kainga,” Mrs Tawhiao says.

REFORMS GOING OFF COURSE WITHOUT TREATY BASIS

The Iwi Leaders Group is lined up to meet the Prime Minister this morning ahead of Cabinet considering the replacement for the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

While the repeal of the Foreshore and Seabed Act is a flagship policy of the Maori Party, detailed negotiations were left to the group, which includes Ngai Tahu’s Mark Solomon and Sonny Tau from Ngapuhi.

The group sees the meeting as a chance to salvage something out of a process which has gone off course.

In a letter to John Key, the Iwi leaders group has flagged two flaws with the current proposal which they say denies Maori true access to justice.

The first is that switching the foreshore from Crown ownership to a new “public domain” status means Maori who are able to prove customary ownership of specific parts of the coast will have fewer rights that the owners of the 12,000 private titles that now exist on foreshore blocks.

They also say the tests for customary title punish iwi for the accidents and injustices of history.

A tribe like Ngati Porou, whose coastal land was left relatively untouched by the Crown, has a strong claim for customary rights, while iwi whose relationship with the foreshore was severed by confiscation or fraudulent land deals can’t.

The leaders will propose that the test for customary title change, and that the foreshore and seabed should be held by the Treaty partners as a taonga tuku iho (treasured inheritance) that cannot be sold.

RANKIN KEEN ON PAKEHA TAX

A Ngapuhi man will this week ask the Waitangi Tribunal to recommend a tribal tax on all residents living within the iwi's rohe.

David Rankin will give evidence in the second week of the Northland claim hearings on behalf of the Kaikohe-based Matarahurahu hapu.

He wants a 9 percent flat tax administered by IRD to compensate Maori for past grievances.

“The pakeha have said, ‘if you impose this tax on us we will leave your communities and it will become a wasteland,’ and I said ‘All well and good, it will become a Ngapuhi homeland,’” he says.
DUR: 12 secs.

Mr Rankin says his ancestor Hone Heke was the first chief to sign the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, so he has authority to negotiate with the Crown.

Meanwhile a broader Ngapuhi group, Te Roopu o Tuhoronuku, today starts a second series of hui round the country to spell out how it intends to get the mandate to negotiate a settlement.

MAARIKI FESTIVAL STARTS IN TAMAKI MAKAURAU

Auckland's Matariki Festival started this morning with a dawn karakia on Maungakiekie One Tree Hill.

Festival director Lisa Davis from Ngati Whatua says today more than 70 events are planned around the city over the next month around the city.

She says communities are getting behind the idea of celebrating the Maori new year, and it is helping building capacity in whanau, hapu, iwi and marae.

The festival will draw to a close the Nga Korero Tataki symposium on cultural and economic sustainability at Waitakere in mid-July.