Waatea News Update

Maori Party blamed for Environment fee hike

2009-12-08T21:48:00.001+13:00

The Greens are blaming the Maori Party for letting through a 900 percent increase in Environment Court fees.

Co-leader Metiria Turei says the jump in the filing fee from $55 to $500 is a disaster for iwi, hapu and whanau who want to object to damage to their rohe.

The Greens, the coalition of Environment and Conservation Organisations ECO and Forest & Bird challenged the increase as illegal, but the Maori Party voted with the Government on the Regulations Review Committee allowing the rule change to go through.

“This is simply a policy of shutting us out and that’s why I think the Maori Party response to this has been such a shock because that is the only justification for increasing the filing fees is locking out Maori and locking out those who don't have heaps of money,” Ms Turei says.

Most Environment Court cases got to mediation rather than a full hearing, but if they are not parties Maori groups won't get to take part in that mediation.

GOFF SEEKING ASSURANCES BEFORE LABOUR COOPERATION

Phil Goff says Labour would need an assurance of good faith from prime minister John Key before the party could agree to work with the government on changes to the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

Mr Key yesterday said the government would announce the Act's replacement in the new year, and promised it's way of dealing with such customary rights claims would be is far more elegant and acceptable to New Zealanders

Mr Goff says Labour's previous attempts to work with National on the emissions trading scheme, superannuation and ACC all ended when the government refused to talk through the issues.

“We would want more guarantees of acting in good faith than we got last time when they broke their word, they broke their undertaking, they acted in bad faith so we’d want some reassurance around the fact they might be prepared in future not only to act in god faith but to continue doing so rather than playing political games,” he says.

Despite speculation beforehand, there were no major fireworks at Labour's caucus today in which Mr Goff's speech last week on the foreshore and seabed issue was discussed.

MUSIC INDUSTRY PIONEER ELDRED STEBBING DIES

A music historian says many Maori musicians owe a debt of gratitude to recording industry pioneer Eldred Stebbing.

Mr Stebbing died at the weekend at the age of 86, ending a recording career that started in the 1940s.

John Dix, the author of the classic New Zealand music history Stranded in Paradise, says the producer and label boss gave a break to artists like the Howard Morrison Quartet, Daphne Walker, and Bunny Walters.

Eldred Stebbing's Funeral is All Saints Church in Ponsonby on Friday.

NEW TESTS IRK TAI TOKERAU PRIMARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS

Primary school principals in Te Tai Tokerau will refuse to implement the new National Standards.

Around 80 tumuaki met at Kawakawa Primary last week to discuss Education Minister Anne Tolley's signature reform.

Moerewa principal Keri Milne-Ihimaera says similar testing regimes in other countries have done little or nothing to raise student achievement.

She says the standards are a step back from the new Ka Hikitea education strategy, which spoke of valuing Maori knowledge and raising Maori achievement.

“This year National Standards sends quite clearly the message that what’s really important in this country is measuring students against standards in literacy and numeracy that are in English only and that don’t value any of the educational experiences our Maori learners might bring to school with them and it does nothing to acknowledge or measure Maori knowledge,” Ms Milne-Ihimaera says.

Schools already provide parents with good information on how their tamariki are faring.

FEE RISE SQUEEZES MAORI OUT OF MEDIATION PROCESS

A leading resource management lawyer says a 900 percent increase in Environment Court filing fees will rule most Maori out of the planning process.

Parliament's regulations review committee turned down a complaint against the fee increase after the Maori Party sided with National on the issue.

Maori Law Review editor Tom Bennion, who made submissions to the committee, says in the past he would have advised people concerned with developments to lodge an appeal, but the new $500 fee will put off most applicants.

“If an iwi group files and says ‘We’ve got a section 6e issue linked to ancestral land being affected,’ any application for resource consent will say ‘Okay, let’s sit down and talk about it.’ So for $5 you have a mediation under way and you often get, most appeals are mediated to a settlement, about 70 percent. That simple option kind of gets taken off the table,” he says.

Maori will also be adversely affected by amendments allowing developers to demand security for costs, and by one which says an appeal can only consider issues raised in the original territorial local authority consent process.

GOFF SAYS MAORI PARTY DOESN’T REPRESENT MOST MAORI

Labour leader Phil Goff has stepped up his attacks on the Maori Party, saying it has failed to represent the Maori view on issues like climate change and Accident Compensation.

Mr Goff says the Maori Party's deal with National on the emissions trading scheme was shoddy and would benefit a small group of iwi corporates rather than Maori generally.

He says the Maori Party is polling at just over 2 percent, and it needs to stop pretending it speaks for all Maori.

“Their answer to criticism can’t be ‘If you’re criticizing us you’re criticizing Maoridom and that must be racist.’ That’s a nonsense. They’ve got to grow up and be mature enough to debate the issues on the merits and not hide behind the name of Maori Party which simply reflects one aspect of one group of one group of people and one political party that’s behaving very much like a political party,” Mr Goff says.

He says the media shouldn't buy into the idea the party represents the Maori point of view.

Short term thinkers upsets Tamaki kaitiaki

2009-12-08T08:56:00.000+13:00

A representative of Auckland's Waiohua people is slamming what he calls the short-sighted nature of the super city plans.

Eru Thompson has won the support of other mana whenua groups for a claim he's lodged with the Waitangi Tribunal over the reforms, especially the government's refusal to include Maori seats on the council.

He says Maori who have looked after Tamaki Makarau for 900 years have a duty to protect it from short - term decision makers who won’t be in office for long. .

Eru Thompson says Local Government Minister Rodney Hide has no understanding of the concerns of tangata whenua, yet he has deliberately silenced the Maori voice within his new council.

GREENS CO-LEADER LOOKING TO MAORI ENVIRONMENT LESSONS

Greens co-leader Russel Norman says New Zealand needs to wake up to the lesson of kaitikitanga learned by Maori.

The party is celebrating 10 ten years in Parliament, and Dr Norman says during that time its commitment to tangata whenua and the Treaty of Waitangi has got stronger.

He says while early Polynesian settlers played a part in the extinction of the moa, over time they adapted to their new environment until their culture became sustainable.

“It’s a lesson that Maori learned on these beautiful islands and it’s a lesson the whole human race has to learn. It’s not an easy lesson. It seems to be in our nature to want to expand more and more and to have more and more but at a certain point we need to learn to live within the limits of the natural world,” Dr Norman says.

He says as well as sensitivity to the environment, the Greens share with Maori a commitment to fair allocation of society's resources.

LUXURY LAKESIDE DEVELOPMENT BACK ON TRACK

A Taupo Maori trust hopes a controversial lakeside development can now go ahead after the developer changed the way it is leasing out sections.

Rather than have a rent review every seven years, Symphony Group is offering to sell the 22 Acacia Bay sections with a three and a half percent rent rise every year until 2028.

Andrew Kusabs from the Hiruharama Ponui Trust, which leased the land to Symphony for 80 years, hopes that will give buyers more confidence.

He says the occupation by a group linked to a minority of Ngati Rauhoto landowners is now over, and their claims the land was a waahi tapu proved baseless.

“The investigations done in the past as to the historical significance of the site showed it was where hey had gardens. The areas that were of historical value were on the foreshore which is not part of the lease,” Mr Kusabs says.

Hiruharama Ponui Trust needs the development to go ahead because it's missing out on income.

NGATI WHARE SIGNING ON DOTTED LINE FOR NEW FUTURE

Bay of Plenty iwi Ngati Whare will today sign a full and final settlement for its historical claims.

Iwi members are gathering about now at Murumurunga Marae at the edge of the Whirinaki Forest Park to welcome Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson.

Iwi chair James Carlson says the tribe's commercial redress was tied up in last year's Central North Island forestry settlement, and today's activities will focus on cultural redress, including a Crown Apology for breaches of the
Treaty of Waitangi during and after the land wars of the 19th century.

“We'll be signing with the Crown in front of our tribe and for me it’s just a beginning of Ngati Whare finding their own destiny, not so much taking care of article three but in trying to build back what was lost in article two, that’s what was taken, our taonga and our rangatiratanga,” Mr Carlson says.

He says the settlement will acknowledge Ngati Whare’s unique relationship with the Whirinaki forest, and includes funds for replanting parts of the forest clear-felled by the Forest Service in the 1980s.

SUPER CITY CLAIMANT CONFIDENT OF SUCCESS

Meanwhile, the man who has a claim before the Waitangi Tribunal over lack of Maori representation on the Auckland super city is confident of success.

Eru Thompson from Waiohua says he's heartened by support which came out of a local government hui in the city last Friday.

He says the claim will be amended to reflect the continuing rejection of Maori concerns by government.

“Mana whenua, both Tainui and Ngati WHatua as well as Maori in general do want to signal to this nation that this sort of stuff shouldn’t be happening today We are supposed to be working together to carve a new future and working under the unity banner but once again we continue to be attacked because of the history in our region,” Mr Thompson says.

He hopes his claim can be heard before next year's local body elections.

ROTORUA PLANNING IMPRESSIVE NORTHERN ENTRANCE

Ohakune has its carrot and Te Kuiti has its shearer.

Now Rotorua is planning an elaborate new entrance.

Rotorua District Council's landscape architect Joby Barham says the northern gateway will feature several pou over a 2 kilometre stretch.

Visitors will first see traditional carvings by Rob Rika, followed by the more contemporary stylings of Lewis Gardiner, who incorporates aluminium into his wood sculptures.

T he new northern entrance will cost $182,000 and should be completed by next June next year.

Dial a powhiri off the hook

2009-12-07T23:23:00.000+13:00

Civic powhiri could be off the agenda for the Auckland super city.

Ngati Whatua o Orakei trust board member Ngarimu Blair says if mana whenua can't take part in making decisions about the future of where they live, they have no stake in welcoming people to the city.

He says the hapu has been patient with city leaders over the past couple of decades, but it's not prepared to have a merely ceremonial role.

“We've done hundreds if not thousands of powhiri and karakia and welcoming dignitaries and so on in this city and I think that’s something else we are going to have to question, whether we are going to continue to do that, continue to be at their beck and call,” Mr Blair says.

TREATY COMMITMENT POINT OF PRIDE FOR GREENS

The Green Party is citing its commitment of the Treaty of Waitangi as one of the highlights of its first decade in parliament.

Co-leader Russell Norman says it's 10 years today since Jeanette Fitzsimons won the Coromandel seat on special votes and brought the party into parliament in its own right.

He says whole it shares principles of sustainability, democracy, peace and fairness with other parties in the international Green movement, the principle of respect for the Treaty makes it unique.

“We're a Green party which has to come to terms with the fact there was a colonizing experience here, it had a dramatic impact on the first peoples and we need to make sure that any policies, whether they’re to do with social policies or environmental policies, actually accommodate that and respect the treaty,” Dr Norman says.

He says in the past decade the Greens have won ground on issues like climate change and sustainable development.

MAORI ALL BLACKS LOOKNG FOR TOP EUROPEAN OPPONENTS

The New Zealand Maori rugby team could get a crack at both England and Wales next year.

Commentator Ken Laban says that's the itinerary emerging to mark 100 years of Maori rugby.

The New Zealand Rugby Football Union has been under fire for its lack of support for Maori rugby, but Mr Laban says he's heard from the top that progress is being made on lining up European opponents.

Ken Laban says with the All Blacks already having a packed international agenda, there's plenty of scope for the Maori team to increase its playing commitments.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT FIGHT GOES BACK TO TREATY SIGNATORIES

Auckland mana whenua groups say they don't want to settle for anything less than they're getting already from local government.

The groups are fighting back against plans to corral them into a Maori statutory advisory body, rather than allow Maori seats on the Auckland super city council.

Tracy Davis from the South Kaipara takiwa of Ngati Whatua says his group has developed a constructive relationship with Rodney District Council which includes monthly meetings with the mayor and councilors where governance level decisions are made.

He says it's taken years to reach that point, and the iwi doesn't want to go back to a mere advisory role or worse.

“Every generation we get more and more. That’s what the fight’s about. From the days my tupuna Te Reweti and Apihai Te Kawau signed the treaty, they’ve been arguing for these rights since then, 1840, and it continues and I don’t think it will stop today. It will continue until it happens,” Mr Davis says.

He says Local Government Minister Rodney Hide is only in the job for three years, while the iwi will be there forever.

RESO STRUGGLE FOR SUSTENANCE OVER DITCH

A researcher into Maori migration says Maori moving to Australia will struggle to sustain their reo.

Paul Hamer from Victoria University's Institute of Policy Studies says at the 1986 census about 15 percent of the 26 thousand Maori in Australia spoke the language in their homes.

While the number of Maori across the ditch has tripled since then, the percentage of speakers has halved.

“Now we've got 6500 Maori speakers in the home and 93,000 Maori officially so that’s more like 7 percent so while the numbers are going up there there’s also a shift away from Maori language use in Australia which is what you‘d expect. It would be a surprise for Maori language use to be growing in Australia given the separation from New Zealand,” Mr Hamer says.

It's not possible to tell from the Australian census questions how often or how well te reo is used by Maori in Australia.

AUCTION BUY MAJOR COUP FOR NORTHERN MAORI COLLECTION

Whangarei Art Museum's plan for a survey show of early Maori contemporary artists has been boosted by the discovery of an important work by the late Pauline Kahurangi Yearbury.

Museum director Scott Pothan says the painting, Hatupu and the Bird Woman, was featured in a ground-breaking exhibition of Maori art at Canterbury Museum in 1966.

It turned up at auction last month.

Mr Pothan says Yearbury, who died in 1977, and Katerina Mataira were the first Maori women to study modern art at Auckland's Elam School of Art.

They both became art tutors in Northland in the experimental Northern Maori Project developed by educationalist Gordon Tovey, alongside artists like Ralph Hotere, Arnold Wilson, Selwyn Wilson and Selwyn Muru.

“You could argue that the whole of contemporary Maori art really devolved from that period in the 1950s with a quite small group of artists who were really the first to step into the Pakeha realm and study modernist art and then develop their own voice from that,” Mr Pothan says.

The Whangarei Museum hopes to show its collection of northern Maori artists towards the end of 2010.

IHI gearing up for long fight on local bodies

2009-12-07T08:30:00.002+13:00

Organisers of a hui on Maori in local government are expecting a tough fight ahead.

Helen Te Hira from the Iwi Have Influence group says Friday’s hui was unhappy with the statutory Maori board proposed for the Auckland super city, and Maori will continue to push for seats at the council table.

She says the government has shown it intends to sideline Maori, so it’s important Maori unite to protect what they’ve already got an push for more.

“As Maori we know we don’t keep or attain things in this country without a struggle and without a fight. That fight can be on the streets or it can be in the boardroom. But it’s got to be done together and it’s got to be about strengthening each other individually,” Ms Te Hira says.

She says the invention of the Maori statutory body has worrying implications for local government throughout New Zealand.

LANGUAGE SPEAKERS DISAPPEARING ACROSS TASMAN

Maori are taking more than their job skills with them when they head across the Tasman.

Paul Hamer from the Institute of Policy Studies says one in six Maori now live in Australia.

He says just over 6000 or 7 percent of the 93,000 Maori identified in the Australian census said they spoke Maori in the home.

“Often when people talk about skills they forget about other skills which are equally valuable to New Zealand and one of those is te reo Maori of course,” Mr Hamer says.

It will be harder for Maori speakers in Australia to maintain and pass the language on.

MINISTER CALLS EXPATRIATES HOME

Meanwhile, Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples want older Maori expatriates to come home.

He says reports one in six Maori now live in Australia are disturbing.

Dr Sharples says New Zealand is missing out on their talents, and on recent trips over the Tasman he’s been telling kaumatua their marae are crying out for them.

"Get your mokopuna and go home. Leave your kids there if they want to stay there. I am one who wants to come back to Aotearoa and build and support out people there. It’s sort of like they’ve escaped, and there’s a bit of a downturn for them now over there because of the recession but we do need our people back home,” Dr Sharples says.

MAORI TV CLAIMS TOP SPOT IN RUGBY BROADCAST TUSSLE

Maori Television is again claiming the lead broadcaster title for the 2011 Rugby World cup.

Chief executive Jim Mather says the pending deal with the Rugby World Cup board will give the channel rights to show all 48 games, including 16 live broadcasts.

He says those 16 games will also be simulcast with a Maori commentary on the Te Reo Channel, with the commentary also going out on the iwi radio network.

He says the other free to air broadcasters, Television New Zealand and TV3, will also broadcast the games, so all New Zealanders should be able to watch the games.

“On our own we reach 90 percent of New Zealand through our UHF analogue transmission. Through the satellite transmission 100 percent but certainly having TVNZ, TV3 on board will guarantee 100 percent cover or as near to it as is possible,” Mr Mather says.

Following on from the three David Tua fights Maori Television will show this year, the World Cup coverage should make the channel more attractive to mainstream advertisers.

CONSULTATION PROCEDURES NEED OVERHAULING

Maori party co-leader Pita Sharples has admitted the party isn’t meeting its members’ expectations of consultation before major policy decisions are made.

In the past MPs have used breaks between parliamentary sittings to get around the country and hold hui, but its support arrangement with National means the caucus is under huge pressure.

Dr Sharples says that has led to MPs flying on their own on issues like the emissions trading scheme, Accident Compensation changes and the super city.

“We’ve got to find a way of getting our people involved in the decision making. Some of the academics have kicked up about some of the decisions, say ETS, ACC, but the rank and file aren’t involved in that discussion and somehow we’ve got to find a way to channel the discussion back to them and the understanding so they know exactly what it’s about,” Dr Sharples says.

In hindsight the party could have dealt better with the furore over Hone Harawira’s trip to Paris and subsequent email, but he’s happy the Tai Tokerau MP is continuing with the party.

SPORTS STARS LAUNCH MENTORING SCHEME FOR GISBORNE

East Coast sports stars are working together to help local tamariki stay out of trouble.

Former New Zealand Maori captain Rua Tipoki, All Black Hosea Gear and boxer Shane Cameron hope their mentoring scheme will help build leaders of the future.

Tipoki, who has recently returned to Gisborne after playing in Europe, says his own background was similar to many troubled youngsters, being brought up by a solo dad in a low income part of town.

Rua Tipoki says it was only the presence of a couple of strong role models who stopped him becoming another crime statistic.

Sharples defends statutory board concept

2009-12-04T21:54:00.001+13:00

Maori Party leader Pita Sharples says a statutory Maori board is the best he could do for Maori representation on the Auckland super city, but Maori should still push for seats on the council.

The Tamaki Makaurau MP told a local government hui in Auckland today that Maori should continue pushing for representation as of right.

Auckland iwi have threatened to boycott the statutory board, which would include seven mana whenua representatives and two representing Maori from outside the rohe.

Dr Sharples says Local Government Minister Rodney Hide was adamantly opposed to any Maori presence at all, and the board was the best that could be done in the circumstances.

I just felt obliged in Cabinet to fight for that statutory body because one, Rodney was having a lot of power and he wanted nothing and so Cabinet moved in the middle and so were looking at an advisory group, so we moved above that and looked at a statutory body which is going to go through,” Dr Sharples says.

He says Auckland is a test case for the rest of the country.

WATER BEING PRIVATISED BY STEALTH

A Maori lawyer says Maori are being shut out of the management of the country's fresh water resources.

A national hui next week will hear from iwi leaders who have been working with government officials on water policy.

Willie Te Aho, who has been involved in a similar exercise on climate change policy, says concerted action is needed before it's too late ... and it may already be too late.

“People have assumed like the foreshore and seabed that there is no ownership but the reality is that there are others who have played I guess a government rights game, consents or permits for water, effectively have ownership of water and it’s long overdue that this matter be addressed,” Mr Te Aho says.

He says few water permits are in the hands of Maori incorporations or iwi.

DUTCH SANTA GETS FOXTON MAORI WELCOME

The Dutch father Christmas is getting a Maori welcome.

Sinterklaas will get a powhiri from Horowhenua hapu tomorrow to mark the launch of a $12 million project to build a Dutch arts and crafts museum in Foxton.

Hayley Bell from Ngati Raukawa says in the Netherlands Sinterklaas traditionally arrives on a steam boat, so the people of Foxton have come up with their own version, a waka.

Hayley Bell says the Dutch families who settled around Foxton fitted in well with Maori.

IWI LEADERS TOUTED AS CONDUIT FOR LOBBYING PUSH

Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples is urging Maori to work through their iwi leaders to get more representation in local government.

Dr Sharples told a hui in Auckland today organised by the Iwi Have Influence lobby group that the proposed Maori statutory board to advise the Auckland super city was the best he could manage against the determined opposition of Local Government Minister Rodney Hide.

Hui participants said the board, which will include seven mana whenua members and two representing Maori from elsewhere, falls far short of what they are seeking.

But Dr Sharples says it's a start, and the issue is larger than Auckland.

“This is an opportunity for this group that is meeting today to call together iwi saying ‘look you’re doing well, you’ve got a front door to the Prime Minister and to government in negotiations, you’ve got the support of the Maori Party in most things you’re doing there, how about now you support this principle of mana whenua and rally around and put total iwi support from throughout New Zealand in behind this move,’” Dr Sharples says.

Maori should also push mayoral candidates to support Maori seats if they are elected.

MAORI TELEVISION ON TRACK FOR THREE TUA FIGHTS

Maori Television will broadcast the next three David Tua fights.

Chief executive Jim Mather fronted a media conference today with boxer David Tua and American promoter Cedric Kushner to announce the first fight will be on February 7 against former World Boxing Association heavyweight champion Bruce Seldon in Seldon's home town of Atlantic City.

It will be followed by a bout in New Zealand in March and another in Hawaii in May against as yet unnamed opponents.

Mr Maher says Maori Television is branding it the Tua de Force, and it will attract the channel’s largest ever audiences.

David Tua told the press conference his relationship with Maori Television is more than just a business arrangement, and the channel's support for his fight against Shane Cameron was crucial for his bid to become world champion.

CHAMPIONS GALORE IN MAORI AWARDS

And Maori Television will this weekend celebrate a group of Maori who are already world champions.

It will carry delayed coverage of tomorrow night's Maori sports award at the Telstra Clear Events Centre in Manukau.

Eight of the world's best will be honoured, including woodchoppers Jason and Karmyn Wynyard, rower Storm Uru and cage fighter James Te Huna.

Commentator Ken Laban says Maori have made major contributions to New Zealand's sporting legacy, and the awards are a way to highlight that.

Hide defends Maori appointment plan

2009-12-03T21:47:00.002+13:00

Local government minister Rodney Hide is defending the final plan for Maori representation at Auckland super city.

The ACT leader resisted calls for dedicated iwi seats on the council because representatives would not be appointed rather than elected.

Now Cabinet has now approved a Maori statutory board to advise the council, with mana whenua iwi Ngati Whatua and Tainui controlling the appointments.

“Well there is going to be a process by which the local Maori will choose who will represent them and so they will be going through a process. It won’t necessarily be a voting process but there will be a mechanism overseen by the Minister of Maori Affairs by which they will be chosen,” Mr Hide says.

He says members of the super city council have to represent all of Auckland, while those on the statutory board will represent specific interest groups.

HUI AIMED AT INCREASING MAORI INFLUENCE

Meanwhile, Maori hoping to increase their influence in local government are meeting in Auckland today.

The hui at Unitec's at Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae is hosted by the IHI or Iwi Have Influence group, which was formed to protest the exclusion of Maori from Auckland's super city council.

Member Rau Hoskins says it hasn't given up on guaranteed Maori representation.

“Looking at the whole breadth of different opportunities to increase Maori participation in local government and of course one of those should be through guaranteed representation on the super city. That has not come to pass as yet but we would hope there would be some support for some legislation in future that would look to move in that direction,” Mr Hoskins says.

CHAMPIONS AND CAGE FIGHTERS MARSHALLED FOR AWARDS

Eight Maori world champions will be acknowledged at the Maori Sports Awards in Manukau tomorrow night.

Organiser Dick Garrett says Maori athletes are competing in a huge range of sports.

As well as their historic strength in rugby, league and netball, Maori players are making contributions to football and cricket. as well as having success in individual sports.

Among those being honoured will be action pistol shooting champion Tiffany Piper from Ngati Kahungunu and Ngati Tuwharetoa.... and cage fighter James Te Huna, also from Tuwharetoa.

Other Maori world champions include woodchoppers Jason and Karmyn Wynyard, karate-ka Shayne Taupo, powerlifter Tohora Harawira, rower Storm Uru and wheelchair racer Matthew Lack.

HIDE EXPECTING CRITICISM ON MAORI BOARD PLAN

Local government minister Rodney Hide says he expected criticism by iwi of his plans for a statutory board to represent Maori on the Auckland super city.

Mana whenua groups are considering boycotting the board, which Ngarimu Blair from Ngati Whatua says is toothless and powerless.

Mr Hide says the super city council will need to interact with local Maori, so the government has come up with a mechanism to allow this.

“Now ultimately yes it’s true the council will be making the decisions, but that is as it should be because they are the people the people of Auckland have elected. You can’t suddenly overturn that democratic ideal and say here’s a bunch of people will make decisions, have the power but not be subject ot the discipline of getting us to vote for them,” Mr Hide says.

He worked closely with Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples on the board proposal, and he hopes over time other Maori will see its merits.

AUTONOMY SUITABLE OUTCOME FOR TUHOE STRUGGLE

The author of a new history of Tuhoe says autonomy for the Urewera region is not a far fetched idea.

Judith Binney's Encircled Lands covers the tribe from 1820 to 1921, including the period of the rohe potae when the iwi was supposed to have self government within Te Urewera.

She says it remains a core element in the way Ngai Tuhoe see themselves, and it's sure to be part of the current treaty settlement negotiations.

“There is very clear evidence tracking through of the way in which they have consistently held for this and held this for a long period of time and I think it is reasonable they could develop a form of self government in negotiation which would not threaten any of us,” Professor Binney says.

Countries like Spain have shown it is possible to include regional self-government within a democratic national structure.

WYNYARD LOOKING TO MORE YEARS SWINGING AXE

Hitting his mid-thirties is not slowing down a Maori champion.

Jason Wynyard... from Nga Puhi and Ngati Maniapoto... has won eight world titles in his 13 years as a professional axeman.

He says, unlike rugby and league, which tends to take a toll on the body, woodchoppers can still compete into their forties and fifties.

Both Jason and his wife Kamryn will be recognised as world champions at tomorrow's Maori Sports Awards at the Pacific Events Centre in Manukau.

Auckland sub-council not enough for mana whenua

2009-12-03T21:47:00.001+13:00

Mana whenua groups are considering boycotting Auckland super city's proposed Maori statutory board.

The board is will contain up to nine members, seven of them mandated representatives of recognised mana whenua groups within the Auckland Council boundaries and two taura here representatives appointed by those seven members.

It will be able to appoint persons to sit on Auckland Council committees that deal with the management and stewardship of natural and physical resources.

Ngarimu Blair from Ngati Whatua o Orakei says it's no substitute for having Maori seats on the full council, as the Royal Commission on Auckland governance recommended.

“The best they could come up with was a toothless powerless advisory board which they’ve tried to beef up with some kind of status by calling it a statutory board but at the end of the day we haven’t moved out of the 1990s,” Mr Blair says.

He understands Tainui is considering boycotting the committee, and Ngati Whatua could follow suit.

HARAWIRA SENTENCE SOFT OPTION AS MATES DROWN OUT CRITICS

Labour's Maori issues spokesperson says the way Taitokerau MP Hone Harawira has been allowed to keep his party status is an indictment of the Maori Party.

Mr Harawira yesterday apologised to any New Zealander who may have been offended by the language and sentiments used in an email to a party supporter, and he's been told to stay in his electorate until the New Year.

Parekura Horomia says the party's leaders have demonstrated they can't manage the maverick MP.

“The membership ignored the direction of the leadership. Hone’s outspoken mates have got their way. It’s a real Clayton’s fixture but it’s their choice and Hone seems to be settled with it but the public was expecting more. That’s a pretty soft option – don’t come back to Parliament until next year and don’t say anything more. That’s one think I know Hone won’t recognise because that's not his line,” Mr Horomia says.

MANUKAU LIBRARIES GET MORE TAMARIKI THROUGH THE DOORS

A programme to keep kids reading during the summer holidays is winnning over Maori in south Auckland.

Manukau Libraries has adopted a Mission Possible theme to set challenges for five to eleven year-olds.

Jolene West, the learning and literacy co-ordinator, says the number of Maori and Pacific kids taking part is 50 percent up on last year, many of whom haven't been as regular library users as those in higher decile ares.

She hopes the programme will continue once Manukau is absorbed into the new Auckland super City.

AUSTRALIANS MISINTERPRET DATA TO BASH OBVIOUS NZERS

A Victoria University demographer says the Australian media has misrepresented his work to paint Maori across the Tasman as bludgers.

James Newell's analysis of census data found Maori were migrating to Australia at a greater rate than Pakeha, and migrants also tended to be less skilled than those who headed further afield.

He says the fact Maori are more likely to be machine operators and labourers than accountants or lawyers doesn't mean they're not contributing.

“They're skilled. They work hard. They probably work harder than their Australian counterparts. They don’t put such a burden on their tax system and they have the benefit of the training they have had in New Zealand, so it would be good to get that message across in the Australian media at the moment,” Mr Newell says.

Maori have been targeted because they are so visible particularly, on Brisbane streets.

FRESH WATER CONCERN FOR GREENS LEADER

Greens co-leader Metiria Turei says management of the countrys fresh water could be as contentious issue Maori as the foreshore and seabed.

Iwi leaders have called a national hui in Wellington next week to update people on work they have been doing with government officials about freshwater policy.

Ms Turei says pastoralists, agriculuralists and recreational users are competing for the nation's streams and rivers, but economic interests can swamp Maori cultural expectations.

“Iwi have to be able to express their mana over freshwater sources in their area and if Maori aren’t right central in the middle of it along with environmentalists who are trying to keep these areas clean for future generations too, we can see some real damage being done to our freshwater sources,” Ms Turei says.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT HUI TO DISCUSS MARGINALISATION

A hui in Auckland tomorrow is likely to come down hard on the government for its treatment of Maori in the Auckland super city

Ngarimu Blair from Ngati Whatua o Orakei Trust Board says the local government hui at Unitec's Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae is well timed, with Minister Rodney hide today revealing how Maori will be represented in the city.

A nine-member statutory board, including seven mana whenua representatives, will promote social, economic, environmental, and cultural issues of significance for Maori.

Mr Blair says the structure leaves Maori toothless and powerless.

“I think all the tribes will be looking at Auckland now and wondering where it leaves them in Wellington and Christchurch and on the East Coast and so on. If anything, Maori in local government is a strong issue now,” Mr Blair says.

Ngati Whatua is considering boycotting the super city Maori board.

Maori Party slated for delay in settling with Harawira

2009-12-03T09:28:00.000+13:00

Maori activist Titehai Harawira is angry at the Maori Party's treatment of her son.

She says the party leadership went public about its problems with Taitokerau MP Hone Harawira without first talking to him.

Mr Harawira yesterday apologised for an expletive-filled email to a party supporter, and he's been told to stay away from parliament until the New Year.

Mrs Harawira says the issue would have been resolved much earlier if the party leadership had met her son kanohi ki te kanohi.

“I'm really disappointed in the leadership, that it took them five weeks to sit down and talk to the man and yet they’ve been out there with the media and out there doing other things rather than sit down and talk to the man, so I’m really disappointed with the so called leadership of the Maori Party,” Mrs Harawira says.

She says one positive to come from the saga is that the Maori Party have been forced to put policies in place to deal with similar situations in the future.

RAUKAWA RESEARCHERS JOIN CALL FOR EELING BAN

Researchers from Te Wananga o Raukawa are backing calls for a moratorium on the commercial harvesting of longfin eels.

Caleb Royal of Ngati Raukawa, who has been studying eels and their habitat for eight years, says the species is in a perilous state.

He says a new goup, Manaaki Tuna, is bringing together Maori and environmental groups to push for the protection measures.

He says while commercial eeling isn’t solely responsible for the depletion, a moratorium is a feasible first step.

Caleb Royal says a moratorium would need to be accompanied by efforts to clean up streams and rivers, or the traditional Maori food will vanish completely.

TRUST WINS CHARITY AUCTION FOR LOCKWOOD HOUSE

The Rotorua Maori trust which was the successful bidder in a charity auction for a house says there are winners all round.

The two-bedroom Lockwood house was built in 32 hours to raise funds for the Life Education Trust's drug prevention programmes.

The house, valued at $130,000, went under the hammer for $108,000, with the deal also including $40,000 of landscaping, carpets and drapes, solar water heating, decking and other fixtures.

Mamuku Trust chair Tom Walters says it will go on the trust's 145 hectare farm behind Rotorua as housing for its workers.

Mr Walters got a personal thrill from the auction because as an architecture student in the 1960s he worked on plans for the first Lockwood aluminium home.

NEW BOARD TO TAKE NATIONAL LOOK AT HEALTH SPENDING

A Maori member of the new National Health Board denies it's an unnecessary layer of bureacracy.

The board, announced yesterday by Health Minister Tony Ryall, will sit above district health boards.

Hayden Wano, a former Taranaki board chair, says it will improve the way the country's 21 DHB's spend $10 billion a year on hospitals and primary health care.

“I would personally like to think it’s an opportunity to provide a sharper focus for the sector around spending at a national level,” Mr Wano says.

The National Health Board also includes Ngati Hine Hauora chief executive Rob Cooper, a member of the Auckland DHB.

MINING PLANS INSULT TO IWI DENIED CONSERVATION LANDS

Green Party co-leader Meteria Turei says the government's plans to open up conservation land is an insult to maori claimants.

Ms Turei says up to 20 percent of the 350,000 hectare Mt Aspiring National Park is about to be opened up for prospecting, and Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee is reviewing the status of other conservation land.

She says this comes after years of Maori being told such lands if off limits for settlements.

“There's strong Maori opposition to it, particularly those iwi whose major areas were taken are now in conservation land or iwi who live in areas where the only available public land is conservation land so that hasn’t been resolved at all. ‘Why should the miners get it but not the iwi?’ is a legit question,” Ms Turei says.

BRASH BACKS MINING PUSH

But former National leader Don Brash says mining conservation land is a way New Zealand can catch up with Australia.

The idea was canvassed in Dr Brash's 2025 Taskforce report released this week.

He says while ownership issues including Maori treaty rights would need to be addressed, it doesn't make sense not to investigate the potential.

“A lot of modern mining techniques are so unobtrusive you can barely see them. Someone said to me if you hover in a helicopter 100 metres above the latest Pike River coalmine you can barely see it. I think there are very sensitive ways you an mine and there may be some areas New Zealanders decide we never want to mine at all but it’s hard to believe that applies to about 40 percent of the country,” Dr Brash says.

PUKUNUI GETS CHANCE TO GO INTERNATIONAL

A series of children's books featuring a Maori boy and his pet moa are going international.

James Waerea has signed a contract with American virtual animation company, Fire Hydrant Creative Studios, which wants to publish his Pukunui series and create spin-off games, merchandise and animations.

Mr Waerea, from Ngati Kahungunu and Te Arawa, wrote the first draft of Pukunui in 1962 when he was working as a primary school teacher, but took years to find a publisher because of concerns about its use of Maori words.

“I was very frustrated we were teaching kids a value system that belonged to a country 12,000 miles away and there were no actual books about New Zealand – well, very very few. So I thought why don’t I write a book,” he says.

Mr Waerea says the five Pukunui books have sold over 50,000 copies since the first one was published 30 years ago.

MP hopes apology will end internal exile

2009-12-02T23:40:00.001+13:00

Maori Party MP Hone Harawira says the apology delivered this morning was his own initiative and not demanded by the party.

Mr Harawira says the comments he made in an email to former Waitangi Tribunal director Buddy Mikaere were senseless and undermined the credibility and goodwill the Maori Party has built up a good deal its first four years in Parliament.

He also apologised to young Maori for the bad example he set and to any others, particularly women, who were offended.

The MP, who has spent the past two weeks holding meetings in his Taitokerau electorate, says the apology followed a session with the Maori Party caucus.

“Actually I haven’t been rapped over the knuckles at all. The apology was something I offered to do because I felt the pain they’d gone through. Never really felt it until we met last night to talk about it, but I’m comfortable with the statement I made at Parliament this morning,” Mr Harawira says.

He will remain with the party but he won't return to Parliamentary duties until the new year.

HARAWIRA WARNED OFF BAD LANGUAGE

And if you hear a lot more reo from Hone Harawira, it may be because he's heeding the advice of his kaumatua.

Radio Waatea host Kingi Taurua interviewed the MP in Maori today on his three weeks in the political wilderness.

He says the abusive language contained in the email exchange with Maori party member Buddy Mikaere turned out to be a bigger source of concern that Mr Harawira's unauthorised trip to Paris.

“What the old people were saying to him is he’s got to watch his language from now on, especially the swearing. If he wants to swear, then don’t swear in English but swear in Maori because there’s only one swear word in Maori an that’s pokokohua and if he gets angry use that word, if he gets angry, ever never swear in English but try to use the Maori language,” Mr Taurua says,

The Ngapuhi kaumatua says many of Mr Harawira's supporters in the north are still angry at him and will pressure him to behave in future.

EEL POPULATIONS IN DECLINE

Researchers from Te Wananga o Raukawa are warning Maori could soon lose longfin eels as a traditional source of kai.

Caleb Royal says an urgent moratorium on commercial eeling is needed if the iconic species is to survive, and in the longer terms streams and rivers need to be cleaned up.

He says before commercial eeling began in the 1960, eels were a plentiful source of food, but what's caught now are mostly juvenile, skinny and diseased.

“For Ngati Raukawa, our iwi were known for the tuna we would put on the table It was a reflection of mana. It’s more than just kai for Maori katoa. It’s huge, the importance of tuna,” Mr Royal says.

Manaaki Tuna, which also includes environmental groups like Forest and Bird and Greenpeace, has an online petition calling for an immediate stop to commercial eeling.

MAORI PARTY PUTS BRAVE FACE ON HARAWIRA DISCIPLINING

Maori Party whip Te Ururoa Flavell says the party's caucus is still tight despite an enforced stand down for Hone Harawira.

The Taitokerau MP apologised this morning to the party, young Maori and all New Zealanders who may have been offended by the language and sentiments contained in an email sent to former Waitangi Tribunal director Buddy Mikaere.

Mr Flavell says the party has accepted the apology, and it will work on ways to manage the renegade MP.

“We've had renegades in our whakapapa ever since Maui Tikitiki so that’s not a problem. What we do have to do is have some internal disciplines. We’ll be working amongst ourselves and with our council to have those place, We don’t envisage this sort of thing happening again, and if it does you can be sure we will be a lot wiser and a lot clearer about what needs to be done to address it,” Mr Flavell says.

HIGH WAGES BLAMED FOR YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT

Former National Party leader Don Brash is blaming the abolition of youth wages for high Maori youth unemployment.

Dr Brash's 2025 Taskforce report released yesterday called for youth wages to be reinstated as part of a wide-ranging plan to catch up with Australia.

He says the number of unemployed 15 to 19 year olds has jumped because employers have to pay an inexperienced worker the same as an adult.

“We're getting a lot of anecdotes that 15, 16, 17 year olds simply cannot get jobs and it’s especially true if they are not very well educated. I suspect there are a lot of Maori kids in their late teens who simply cannot get jobs right now. Why would an employer choose someone with no work experience if he can get an adult for the same wage. He won't,” Dr Brash says.

The Taskforce believes it is important for young people coming out of school or polytech get work rather than spend two or three years on the dole.

WANO WANTS WHANAU ORA MODEL FOR HEALTH

A Maori representative on the new National Health Board will be pushing a whanau ora approach.

The board, announced today by health minister Tony Ryall, is supposed to provide clinical leadership and supervise the $10 billion in public health funding which goes to district health boards.

Maori members include Hauora Taranaki PHO chief executive Hayden Wano and Ngati Hine Health Trust chief executive Rob Cooper.

Mr Wano says he's been part of the move by iwi into healthcare, and he supports moves by associate health minister Tariana Turia to encourage cooperation between health and social services.

“I support that broader approach to health and if that drives a different way of delivering care then I’m very much support of it,” Mr Wano says.

He will personally look at issues around Maori access to health and the level of care they get.

Common stand sought on freshwater management

2009-12-02T09:51:00.001+13:00

Iwi leaders will gather in Wellington next week to thrash out a common position on development of the government's freshwater management policy.

Toby Curtis from Te Arawa says a small group of leaders have been talking with the Crown about the policy, and they now want to report back to the rest of Maori.

He says the current government seems willing to talk about ownership of water, but there are language difficulties.

“The trouble is when you’re dealing with it in the English language, Pakeha people have the ability to make it mean what they want, so I go back to how our people spoke about the water and how it was part of us and we were part of the water and we use te reo as the basis for what we mean by ownership, you have a totally different outcome,” Mr Curtis says.

Maori would reject the recommendation in the Brash taskforce report that a system of tradable water rights should be introduced to help this country catch up with Australia.

LOOK FOR SECOND HELPING IN FAT FIGHT CHALLENGE

A whanau weight loss challenge which saw south Auckland Maori lost more than 1300 kilos is likely to be repeated next year.

Organiser Tahuna Minhinnick says 50 teams of 10 took part, with the overall individual winner shedding 32 kilos and the winning team 135 kilos lighter at the final weigh in.

He says everyone who took part felt like a winner, and there is strong demand for second helpings, so people who try again have 12 weeks of experience they can apply to the next challenge.

Mr Minhinnick says the contest will have significant health benefits for whanau who took part.

TANGATA WHENUA EMBRACE DUTCH MONUMENT

The decendants Foxton's Dutch settlers are uniting with Maori in an ambitious project to reflect the township's cultural heritage.

Hayley Bell from Ngati Raukawa says the nine mana whenua hapu are joining with a national Dutch collective to build a $12 million arts and crafts museum and library.

It's near a windmill that is already a major attraction in the Horowhenua town.

“We're having korero, we’re trying to talk to people and I think it’s been great not only for our Dutch community but also for the other members of our community to learn about our tangata whenua groups because it’s enabled a lot of the history of the mana whenua to be brought out into the open,” Ms Bell says.

Stage one of the project should be open to the public by 2011.

DAMNING REPORT IGNORES POLICE CONTRIBUTION TO CHAOS

A lawyer who works in South Auckland is blaming poor police work rather than poor defence for delays in the court system.

Catriona MacLennan says Dame Margaret Bazley's review of the legal aid system which slams lawyers working out of the Manukau Court ignores the difficult conditions many of their Maori and Pacific Islands clients face.

She says clients would be better served if the courts were more efficient, and there is little defence lawyers can do about that.

“There has been a problem in recent years in that quite a large number of inexperienced police offices have come into the force and of course they’re not experienced to know what would be the appropriate charges to lay and that can result in quite a waste of time,” Ms MacLennan says.

There aren't enough judges to hear the number of cases, and the system is also clogged by sticking with a paper rather than an electronic records system.

OLDER MEN BECOME SUICIDE RISK GROUP

A Rotorua Maori suicide prevention group says the problem of self harm is shifting from rangatahi to middle aged Maori men who feel they have lost their mana.

Kia Piki Te Ora project leader Michael Naera says more Maori men over 35 are taking their own lives.

He says family break-ups and a change in economic circumstances are factors, along with alcohol and drugs.

“Our people were quite reliant on the men as the kai gatherers, the person who sustained the household with income, that’s changing now where the men’s role isn’t as prevalent,” Mr Naera says.

He says men's behaviour can also lead to incidents of self harm among women.

Kia Piki Te Ora, which is backed by Te Runanga o Ngati Pikiao, has won funding from Lakeland Health to address the issue at community level.

BRASH CALL FOR QUOTA SALES RINGS ALARM BELLS

Don Brash's call for fishing quota to be made available for sale to foreign investors has rung alarm bells with Maori fishing interests.

The recommendation to include quota in what Dr Brash calls the most liberal feasible foreign investment regime is included in the 2025 Taskforce report on how New Zealand can catch up with Australia.

Morrie Love from Te Atiawa says Maori didn't fight for a stake in the industry only to see the prime assets pass into foreign hands.

He says the current regime hasn't stopped foreign investment on terms favourable to New Zealand participants.

“There always have been foreign vessels involved. In fact they developed the deepwater industry. But the important thing is ownership says indigenous and we are able to have some significant say in the large foreign markets where we have to sell,” Mr Love says.

He says the New Zealand fishing industry needs to move to move towards a single desk seller model - which Dr Brash is totally opposed to.

Brash report wants hurry up on water rights

2009-12-01T22:34:00.001+13:00

The head of the Rotorua Lakes Trust says the Government can expect rough sailing is it adopts a recommendation from former National Party leader Don Brash to create a system of tradable water rights.

The recommendation is part of Don Brash's 2025 Taskforce prescription for closing the income gap with Australia.

Toby Curtis says iwi have been talking to successive Governments about ownership and allocation of water, and the issue is too important to get diverted into another political agenda.

“Well hopefully we can get some protocols so we don’t get everybody like Don Brash and others thinking the water is there for the pickings and in terms of the water being an asset and a treasure, we want to make sure that’s what it is and it doesn’t just become another commodity for sale,” Mr Curtis says

The issue of tradeable rights is sure to be a topic of spirited debate at next week's iwi Maori national summit on freshwater management in Wellington.

IHI TRYING FOR GREATER SAY IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Maori concerned at their exclusion from local government will meet in Auckland this to plan their next move.

Friday's hui is being organised by the action group Ihi ... or Iwi Have Influence... which organised the super city hikoi down Queen Street.

Rau Hoskins from Nga Puhi, Ngati Wai and Ngati Hau says Maori need strong representation in local government.

“This hui will be the beginning of what we hope is national concerted action of increasing Maori participation in local government. By that I mean meaningful participation rather than the usual Maori liaison officer and occasional mana whenua committees that are sometime consulted and some times are ignored,” Mr Hosking says.

The all day hui will be at Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae at Unitec

WEIGHT CHALLENGE ADDED UP AS EVERYONE A WINNER

More than 1300 collective kilos have been shed during the 12-week whanau weight loss challenge in South Auckland.

Organiser Tahuna Minhinnick from public health group Mana Whenua ki Tamaki Makaurau organiser says three quarters of the 500 Maori who took part in teams of ten were weighed in at the weekend and the rest will be put on the scales over the next three or four days.

The biggest weight loss was 32kg. The winning team lost 135 kg.

Tahuna Minhinnick says everyone who took part and lost weight felt they were a winner, even it they didn't get the top prize of $21,000.

SOUTH AUCKLAND LAWYERS ANGERED BY BAZLEY BASHING

A lawyer who works the south Auckland courts says Maori clients could be disadvantaged if the government over-reacts to Dame Margaret Bazley's criticism of the circuit.

In her report on the legal aid system, Dame Margaret claimed 80 percent of lawyers working the Manukau court were gaming the system, and she slammed so-called "car boot" lawyers ... who often only see their clients on the steps of the courthouse

Catriona MacLennan says if the former Social Welfare head has evidence lawyers were corrupt or incompetent, she should give it to the police or the law society.

She says Dame Margaret didn't talk to lawyers working in the court and failed to appreciate the people they act for don't have organised lives.

“We deal with a lot of people who have drug and alcohol addictions, mental health problems personality disorders. It would make life so much easier if we could make an appointment for someone to come and see us in an office and they would turn up at that time but it’s just not going to happen. Eighty percent of our clients don't have cars,” Ms MacLennan says.

Appointing more judges and switching to electronic files would greatly speed up the delivery of justice in South Auckland.

BRASH PLAN ROBBING FROM POOR FOR RICH

Labour leader Phil Goff says the Brash 2025 Taskforce recommendations would have a devastating effect on Maori.

He says the former National Party leader's recipe for New Zealand incomes to catch up with Australia is to take money out of the pockets of the poor and give it to the rich.

He says it will push the Maori families who benefited from Labour's Living for Families package back under the poverty line.

“Low income workers have had their pay frozen for five years according to Bill English and worse still what if the National Party actually does act on this Brash report, that is going to have a huge impact, a devastating impact on Maoridom,” Mr Goff says.

He says it looks like the Key government commissioned the Brash report so its own measures don't look so extreme.

ROTORUA GROUP ADDRESSES MAORI SUICIDE SURGE

A Rotorua iwi health organisation says drugs and alcohol abuse is a major factor in suicide and self-harm among Maori.

Kia Piki Te Ora, a suicide prevention group set up by Te Runanga o Ngati Pikiao, has just won funding from Lakeland Health to tackle the problem.

Project leader Michael Naera says Maori are often reluctant to ask for help, so the group will work at community level to break down the stigma.

He says Maori suicide rates are 50 percent higher than non-Maori, and the percentage is even higher in the greater Rotorua area.

“Drugs and alcohol leads to things like family violence which in terms affects the children, wanting to take their life. There are issues with our wahine, because of family violence, wanting to take their life,” Mr Naera says.

Problem gambling and other mental health issues are also major factors in suicide.

Ground broken for Tainui Airport hotel

2009-12-01T22:32:00.001+13:00

Maori King Tuheitia has broken the ground for Tainui's new hotel at the entrance to Auckland Airport's international terminal.

Tainui Group Holdings chief executive Mike Pohio says yesterday's dawn blessing was a significant milestone for the project, with construction starting early in the new year and the 12-storey hotel due for completion in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Tainui will own 70 percent of the four star hotel, with the Auckland Airport Company owning 20 percent and multinational hotel operator Accor the remaining 10 percent.

Mr Pohio says it's an excellent time to be building, with construction companies providing keen pricing.

“We'd done a lot of work developing a budget and it’s fair to say we are marginally under budget so it’s a good time to be building, We see over the next 18 months as we start the opening it’s a good time to be on the uplift if you like of that economic bounce back,” Mr Pohio says.

The hotel is on a 100 year lease, and Tainui sees it as an excellent long term income stream for the tribe.

OFFSHORE NOT FORESHORE MANTRA FOR NEW FISHERIES CHAIR

The new chair of Te Ohu Kaimoana says Maori need to focus on marketing their goods and services internationally.

Ngahiwi Tomoana from Ngati Kahungunu says that could be done as part of a Hawaiiki brand, which also draws in their Pacific cousins.

The kaupapa will be a key feature of the fifth Maori Fisheries Conference early next year.

He says while Maori have put a huge amount of passion and energy in recent years fighting for the foreshore, the real prize is offshore.

“We need to be kotahi about going offshore and presenting Maori Pacific Hawaiki in the most positive light. That’s what we’re doing next year, we’re calling the Pacific in to our conference and we’re saying kotahitanga offshore for sure,” Mr Tomoana says.

He says New Zealand doesn't make enough of Maori in its branding, so Maori need to do it for themselves.

MAORI LANDOWNERS USING GRANTS FOR EROSION CONTROL

Maori landowners have picked up more than half this year's grants to plant trees on the East Coast.

The fund was set up after Cyclone Bola in 1992 to encourage erosion control measures in the catchment.

Randolph Hambling from the Ministry of Agriculture says more than 1000 hectares of Maori land will be planted over the next three years at a cost of $1.8 million.

“The successful grantee is given the right to go ahead and plant or to revert the land, put up fences and things like that to keep stock out. When they’ve done that work they will get the grant payment,” Mr Hambling says.

The grants will be particularly useful for Maori land owners wanting to gain carbon credits as part of the emissions trading scheme, as most of the planting to be radiata pine, douglas fir and eucalptus.

KATENE DEFENDS MAORI INVOLVEMENT IN PRIVATE PRISONS

The Maori Party says iwi groups lining up to help run private prisons.

Justice spokesperson Rahui Katene says while she can't name the groups because of commercial confidentiality, the Maori Party supported a low change allowing private management because of the likelihood of Maori participation.

“If there is money to be made, why shouldn’t Maori be making money and the other thing is that once you get a Maori prison, a Maori unit, you get Maori running it then you are gong to be bail to get those programmes in place so you can reduce reoffending,” Mrs Katene says.

She says the Corrections budget has swelled to more than $1.5 billion a year, and the time is overdue for complete review of the justice system through a royal commission.

PROPERTY BOUNCE BACK HELPING TAINUI PROSPECTS

Tainui's commercial arm is enjoying a bounce back in residential property sales.

Tainui Group holdings chief executive Mike Pohio says only 16 sections were sold last financial year at its Huntington subdivision at the northern edge of Hamilton, but twice that many have gone this year.

He says while prices have come back from the highs of the property boom, the tribe is not offering the deep discounts some other developers have been forced to make.

It's also dusting off some plans that stalled as the slump hit.

“There were two residential developments we did put on hold, one at Ruakiwi Rd, it was a townhouse development, and another in Queens Ave just by the train station. We’re starting to pull those plans off the shelf and dust off the resource consents and consider the marketing for the timing on those,” Mr Pohio says.

Tainui Group Holdings is concentrating on the next stage of development of the Base retail complex at Te Rapa and the Auckland Airport hotel, which is due to be completed in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

MOHI EXCITED BY MOTEATEA UNCOVERED FOR SHOW

Musician and television producer Hinewehi Mohi wants to give viewers a better appreciation of the poetic craft that keeps Maori oral traditions alive.

She's now putting the finishing touches on the seventh Moteatea series for Maori Televison.

Over the years the programmes have delved into the stories and composers behind old waiata.

She says the new series will get viewers even closer to the waiata she's uncovered in the Radio New Zealand archives.

“We have Apirana Ngata singing famous moteatea from the coast. To hear these old voices and their original way of performing waiata koroua has just been fantastic,” Mohi says.

Preserved heads welcomed back to Te Papa

2009-11-30T23:42:00.001+13:00

Te Papa is working on finding where the latest repatriated koiwi and toi moko originally came from.

A powhiri is being held at the museum about now to welcome the remains of 30 ancestors from five museums in Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Sweden.

Acting chief executive Michelle Hippolite says the museum is now researching how the bones and four tattooed preserved heads ended up so far from home.

“We seek to understand more about the people that received or collected or gifted the skeletal remains and the toi moko to the museums we’re repatriating them from. That can often tell us the place they were uplifted from It doesn’t always tell us they were from this iwi or that hapu but at least it gives us a sense of the area they were uplifted from,” Ms Hippolite says.

If the remains can't be identified and returned to their iwi, Te Papa has a special storage area for them.

CALL FOR ROYAL COMMISSION ON JUSTICE SYSTEM

The Maori Party is calling for a royal commission of inquiry into the criminal justice system.

Justice spokesperson Rahui Katene says both National and Labour take a "lock them up" approach to offending.

She says a commission, as was first suggested by Ombudsman Mel Smith two years ago, will allow fresh ideas to come into the debate.

“We need to have a new justice strategy, a kaupapa Maori justice strategy where we look at doing things from a Maori value base. We want to look at restoring and transforming, not imprisoning and forgetting,” Mrs Katene says.

She says because of a looming crisis in prisons the Maori Party has reluctantly supported legislation to allow the holding of prisoners in police cells.

TUHOE OPUS VALUABLE FOR TRIBAL STRATEGY

Tuhoe kaumatua Wharehuia Milroy is hailing a new history of the iwi as a significant contribution to the tribe's future.

Encircled Lands by Judith Binney covers Te Urewera for 1820 to 1921, detailing how the Crown stripped Tuhoe people of their land and and autonomy.

Professor Milroy says it's the culmination of years of intense research and will be of great benefit for Tuhoe now and in the future.

“They will be much clearer as to their own history and relationships to the Crown and the way forward for them is to understand those relationships and how they begin to deal with the Crown and everyone else within this country," Professor Milroy says.

Much of the material Professor Binney prepared for Tuhoe's Waitangi Tribunal hearings is included in the book.

Encircled Lands was launched today at Waikerekere marae in Ruatoki, and it's available in bookshops now.

MINISTER SLATED FOR LEAVING MAORI OUT OF RUGBY PLANS

The new chair of the Maori fisheries trust says official attitudes are some of the biggest impediments to creating a Maori brand.

Ngahiwi Tomoana from Ngati Kahungunu wants to see iwi work together to market their seafood to the world.

He says creating Maori branding around exports and tourism would help sell New Zealand as a whole, but the government's position can be seen from the way it is handling the current major opportunity to showcase the country, the Rugby World Cup.

“There's a 40 to 50 page commentary from the Minister for Rugby, Murray McCully There’s not one single mention of the word Maori in it. That’s what we’re up against when we’re looking at a Maori brand. Maori, Pakehja, Hainamana, when they eave here they love dropping into a haka when they’re in Europe or America but when it comes to take the Maori with them, then they don't want to know,” Mr Tomoana says.

SCHOOL TRIES NEW WAYS OF REACHING PARENTS

The manager of a programme aimed at lifting Maori and Pacifica students’ achievement through parental involvement says what's taught at school needs to be complemented by what's learned in the home.

Ariana Williams says the ASB Trust has promised to fund the Mutukaroa pilot at Auckland’s Sylvia Park Primary School for five years.

It includes development of a resource centre at the school so parents can track their child’s progress and learn how assessment works.

She says school report cards are a poor substitute for an ongoing relationship with parents.

Ariana Williams, who is originally from Taipa in the far north, has been working at Sylvia Park Primary for the past three years.

MERRY XMAS BABY CD BRINGS IN DOLLARS FOR PLUNKET

Plunket fundraising CD Merry Xmas Baby has gone platinum.

The collection, which includes contributions by House of Shem, Wirimako Black, Annie Crummer, Hollie Smith and other, was launched at the end of September and has already sold more than 15,000 copies through music stores, online and through Plunket's 550 branches.

National cultural advisor Danial Hauraki says the artists responded to the violent death of Rotorua toddler Nia Glassie and wanted to help the organisation to do more to help young Maori mothers.

Emissions scheme trade-offs deliver little

2009-11-30T08:18:00.001+13:00

Labour leader Phil Goff says the supposed concessions the Maori Party gained for its support of National’s emissions trading scheme are far outweighed by the long-term cost of the scheme to Maori families.

The Maori Party is trumpeting a cut in the amount fuel was supposed to rise and the potential involvement of iwi in afforestation schemes as proof of its effectiveness.

But Mr Goff says Treasury figures show changes voted through under urgency last week will cost $110 billion more than the Labour scheme it replaced.

“What the National Party is saying, we’ll put a slight discount on power prices and petrol prices for the next two an a half years. What they’re not saying is what everybody else recognises, that this puts a burden on us outs a burden on our kids, and we’re not talking about saving $4 a week in power prices. We’re talking about tens of billions of dollars that will be paid by the taxpayer when they should be paid by the polluter,” he says.

Mr Goff say the ETS will cost every New Zealand family $92,000 during the life of the scheme.

ASB TRUST FUNDS SCHOOL OUTREACH PROGRAMME

While the Government is relying on new national standards to lift achievement in schools, an Auckland primary school is investing in stronger relationships with its mainly Maori and Pacific Island parents.

Sylvia Park School is using a grant from the ASB trust to hire a full time manager to liaise with parents and develop strategies for both home and school to lift performance.

Principal Barbara Alaalatoa says the Mutukaroa programme, named after the maunga next to the school, aims to cut through the jargon of assessment criteria.

“All assessment is is telling us what they know and what they need to learn next. It’s about sharing that stuff out of traditional files and stuff in our rooms and our offices and with our parents. Because it’s not rocket science and we have already trialing some of this data with our parents and they get it,” Mrs Alaalatoa says.

WHANAU THINNING COMPETITION UP FOR SECONDS

The winners of a whanau weight loss challenge will be announced at a gala event in Manukau tonight.

Public health advocate Anton Blank says the challenge, created by Ngati Te Ata health promoter Tahuna Minhinnick, has been a huge success as families combined to cut the kilos.

He says while the $21 thousand in cash prizes was an incentive, whanau support was the driving force.

“Getting one person in a whanau ain’t going to work because they’re going back to their whanau whose diet isn’t good, who are not exercising so you need to change the behaviour of the whole family and what we’re hoping is that this will become a national programme early days yet. Tahuna though he would get 60 people, he got 500 and they’re going to run the competition again in south Auckland again from next April,” Mr Blank.

GOFF DEFENDS ATTACKS ON MAORI PART DEALMAKING

Phil Goff is denying he’s playing the race card in his criticism of Maori Party support for the government’s changes to the emissions trading scheme.

The Labour leader told a Grey Power meeting in Palmerston North last week the Maori Party had put the treaty settlement process at risk by making special treatment of Ngai Tahu’s corporate arm a condition of its support.

It then attacked him for criticising what he calls a shabby political deal.

“They've got to show the maturity. They’ve got to debate the issue on the issues and not the smokescreen of ‘this must be a play for the race car’. I reject that. I haven’t played it. I won’t play it. But I will not shut up and not criticise things I know to be wrong or believe to be wrong,” Mr Goff says.

He says National’s changes to the emissions trading scheme shifts the burden of tackling climate change from polluters to taxpayers at a costs of $92 thousand for every New Zealand household over the life of the scheme.

CRASH CASTS DOUBT ON RALLY ROUTE

A Maori-organised charity rally around Northland will change its route next year after an accident in the Waipoua Kauri forest over the weekend.

The White Ribbon motorbike and classic car rally raised awareness and money to fight family violence.

Organiser Phil Paikea says about 300 cars and bikes took place, and it was going well until it headed into the forest.

“The road’s pretty narrow there and tourist van happened to cut the corner and there was nothing the rider could do but drop his bike and hope for the best, but the riders are okay and they’re keen to get their bikes fixed ready for the next run next year,” Mr Paikea says,

By shortening of the circuit, more time can spent in communities getting the message that violence against women and children is not on.

IDOL WINNER TO SING AT MAORI SPORTS AWARD

Organisers of next weekend's Maori Sports Awards feel they’ve already won big by getting Maoridom’s latest international winner to sing for them.

Dick Garratt, the executive director of Te Tohu Taakaro o Aotearoa Charitable Trust, says the performance of Australian idol winner Stan Walker to perform will complement the world-class field of finalists and champions.

Stan Walker will join Maisey Rika, Homai Te Pakipaki winner Roland Williams and world champion hip hop dance crew ReQuest on the stage.

Competitions to watch include whether Stephen Kearney or Yvette McCausland-Durie will be judged top coach of the year netball, and whether lawn bowler Shannon McIlroy can edge out rugby player Issac Ross and league star Benji Marshall as top sportsman.

Kotahitanga sought by fisheries chief

2009-11-27T22:31:00.002+13:00

The new chair of Te Ohu Kaimoana wants to see more iwi working together to manage and grow their fisheries businesses.

Ngahiwi Tomoana from Ngati Kahungunu replaces Sir Archie Taiaroa, who stepped down from the chair but remains a member of the trust.

Mr Tomoana says 95 percent of Maori fisheries settlement assets are now in the hands of iwi, so the challenge is to see they are used to their full potential.

“We've got to put a compelling case to all those iwi to whakakotahi nga raua, to collectivise efforts and energies First of al it save internal expenses but it could also add value at the other end so it’s about looking at unifying the collective package of iwi now,” Mr Tomoana says.

He says too many iwi still behave like fringe players rather than being part of a group which controls 40 percent of the industry.

BIKERS RRALLY TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

More than a thousand bikers and car enthusiasts decended on Takahiwai marae south of Whangarei today for a powhiri to mark the start of the annual Bream Bay motorcycle and classic car rally.

The rally, which visits communities throughout the north, is part of the white ribbon campaign encouraging men to take action against violence against women and children.

Organiser Phil Paikea says last year's rally helped get the anti-violence message across, and helped generate a sense of anticipation at the marae.

The rally has no alcohol, no drugs and no gang patches.

The rally heads to Whangarei at first light, then on to Moerewa, Kaikohe, Opononi, Dargaville and back to Ruakaka.

TRIBUTE TO TEACHERS OF CELESTIAL ARTS

Astronomy and sailing have been to the fore in Wellington this week as Maori navigators shared their experiences at the Mata Ora Living Knowledge festival.

Waka revivalist Hekenukumai Busby says he's heartened by the degree of interest in Maori and Polynesian knowledge of the heavens.

The builder of Te Aurere and other voyaging waka says the art of sailing by the stars was almost lost to Maori, but it had been preserved in remote parts of the Pacific.

“We had lost it and if it wasn’t for our Hawaiian whanungas and our teacher from Micronesia it would probably have been gone for good but let’s hope now we won’t lose it again,” Mr Busby says.

Mata Ora finishes tomorrow with a rocket building and launching event for kids throughout the morning at Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua.

TREATY LEGAL AID FAIR SPEND FOR TOUGH PROCESS

A leading treaty lawyer says high legal aid bills for treaty claims is an inevitable response to the system, and spending can be expected to tail off on future years.

Charl Hirschfeld says he has seen no evidence of treaty claimants or lawyers were double-dipping or triple-dipping, as implied in a report on the legal aid system by Dame Margaret Bazley released today.

He says the rules for claiming legal aid are stringent, and while there has been public concern in recent years about the cost of litigating claims, there is a political will to drive the process of historical treaty claims to a conclusion.

“If you want hundreds and hundreds of claims resolved and settled within a certain time frame it needs to be done in such a fashion that these things won’t come back to haunt you and if that is so then the resourcing needs to be available in the first instance,” Mr Hirschfeld says.

He says overall the Bazley report is a fair summary of the legal aid situation and contains some useful recommendations.

SMALLER CAR BUT LEAVE MAORI FARMERS ALONE

One of the team who negotiated changes for Maori in the emissions trading scheme says individuals need to do their bit to address climate change.

Lawyer Willie Te Aho says the recession meant the ETS passed last year by Labour had become untenable.

He says including agriculture in the ETS from January the first would have harmed Maori farming interests, and the issue of iwi who had received pre-1990 forest land in their settlements also needed addressing.

Mr Te Aho says rather than criticise the Maori Party's deal on the bill people should ask what they can do.

“We need to change our cars. I’ve gone from a V6 to a 1.3 litre Suzuki. I’m doing my part in terms of my personal role and integrity or reducing the impact on our environment. I don’t need anyone else in the world to show me the way. I know the way and that’s reduce my energy intake. Those are the things I can do, that every iwi should be doing, and not just focusing on the polluters,” Mr Te Aho says.

MARAE FATE UP TO TRIBAL PARLIAMENT

The fate of a busy Hamilton West marae will be decided at a meeting of the Tainui's Te Kauhanganui parliament tomorrow.

Tainui Group Holdings wants to develop land used by Rangimarie Te Horanganui Marae Trust.

Marae trust member Tangaroa Whitiora says when the land came back to Tainui as part of its 1995 settlement, negotiator the late Sir Robert Mahuta said it was for a marae.

He says even though it was never given official marae status, the facility has a 37 percent usage rate, and other Tainui marae use it as a Hamilton base.

Tainui Group Holdings says if the parliament wants it to continue as an urban marae it will need to pay the company for the land, which is valued at $1.8 million

ETS deal squalid politics - Moore

2009-11-27T10:27:00.003+13:00

Former prime minister Mike Moore says the deal done to win the Maori Party's support for National's emissions trading scheme is squalid politics.

Five iwi whose treaty settlements included land with pre-1990 forests will be allowed to plant trees on Crown land to offset their carbon liabilities.

Mr Moore says treaty settlements can't be reopened every time future governments make changes which affect everybody.

He says good government means treating people even-handedly.

“Picking and choosing businesses because of politicians’ representations will end in tears. It creates what economists call a moral hazard. And the idea the government can decide this business will get this money despite its Maori competitors, despite its non-Maori competitors, I think takes us down a very dangerous road. I don’t think it’s right and I suspect New Zealanders don't think its right either,” Mr Moore says

He says the emissions trading scheme fails to give businesses the predictability they need to invest and grow.

FLAVELL DEFENDS MAORI PARTY AS ONLY ONE WILLING TO DEAL

But Maori Party whip Te Ururoa Flavell says the party's ETS deal was in line with the normal parliamentary process of negotiation and compromise.

He says the Maori Party is taking flak, but it won valuable concessions, including a Treaty of Waitangi clause which allows future review.
He says if the party hadn't stepped up, National would have looked elsewhere.

“And that might have been to ACT, and they’re pretty firm in their agenda that they don’t believe climate change is all around us or it would have gone to the Labour Party and what would they have got to gain, they already had their scheme in place so the would be staying where they were. Would they have gone to the Greens, no so if they had not been able to get agreement anywhere else they would have had to stop everything,” Mr Flavell says.

He says not doing anything would have created problems for the future.

PUBLICITY ABOUT FIND COULD PUT ARTIFACTS AT RISK

Otakou Runanga is concerned the find of an extremely rare pre-European waka outrigger beside the Papanui inlet could put the site at risk from illegal fossickers.

Manager Hoani Langsbury says the outrigger, only the third found in this country, was uncovered in an official archaeological excavation.

But he says any remaining taonga Maori may now be at risk from unofficial fossicking.

“Within the last year we’ve had a site identified that had both cultural and European archaeological material in it and as soon as the media made the local community aware of the find the material disappeared in 24 hours. People just came through and stripped the site bare,” Mr Langsbury says.

Runanga representatives will patrol the area and won't hesitate to take action against scavengers who try to steal artifacts.

TOMOANA GETS TOP JOB AT TE OHU KAIMOANA

Ngati Kahungunu leader Ngahiwi Tomoana is the new chair of Te Ohu Kaimoana, after Sir Archie Taiaroa from Whanganui stepped down from the post.
Sonny Tau from Ngapuhi becomes the deputy chair of the trust.

Mr Tomoana says in his three years in the job Sir Archie had advanced the work of previous chairs Sir Tipene O'Regan and Shane Jones, with 95 percent of the Maori fisheries settlement assets now allocated to iwi.

He says the job ahead is to position Maori at the front of the industry and get iwi to work together.

“Iwi collectively own 35 to 40 percent of the assets but they don’t act like it. We all act like we’re one or two percenters and fringe players and it’s about uniting the efforts and energies, recognising the mana motuhake of every iwi as well,” Mr Tomoana says.

The allocation process should be complete by the middle of next year, with Cook Strait iwi Ngati Toa this week becoming the 50th iwi out of 57 to receive settlement assets.

ACC REFORMERS DEAF TO MAORI NEED

The country's audiologists says cutbacks in ACC funding of hearing aids will have a particularly harsh effect on Maori.

A bill before parliament would remove ACC cover for people whose noise-induced hearing loss is judged to be less than six percent.

Lesley Hindmarsh, the president of the New Zealand Audiological Society, says Maori make up a high percentage of the workers in noisy industries such as forestry, construction and manufacturing.

She says they are already poorly served by the accident compensation system.

“They just find the process of applying to ACC too difficult. They just don’t have that help to help them find their way through the paperwork to get their claims initiated in the first instance,” Mrs Hindmarsh says.

Without hearing aids, sufferers won't be able to distinguish consonants like s,t, f and th which are critical for understanding, especially in noisy environments.

BEATLES TUNE WILL RAISE MONEY FOR THERAPY CENTRE

The force behind Auckland's Hineraukatauri Music Therapy centre is humbled by the generosity of two leading Maori entertainers who have rerecorded a Beatles track to raise funds for the centre.

Hinewehi Mohi says Che Fu and Boh Runga's cover of Come Together should be out early next week.

Ms Mohi says the centre, which is named after her teenage daughter who has cerebral palsy, touches the lives of dozens of disabled people who find relief and inspiration from working with musicians and sound.

She says Runga, a patron, has brought a lot of other musicians on board.

Poutama Trust celebrates business development

2009-11-26T23:04:00.001+13:00

The Poutama Trust celebrates its 21st anniversary today.

The trust was one of the initiatives that came out of the 1984 Hui Taumata, acting as an initial source of advice and support for Maori seeking funding from the Maori Development Corporation.

Once the MDC folded it refocused itself on providing advice to small and medium size Maori businesses.

Chief executive Richard Jones from Ngati Maniapoto, Ngati Whakaue and Ngati Pikiao says it has has helped dozens of businesses get started.

He says Maori entrepreneurs are better prepared than when he started 15 years ago, and far more likely to have a professional business plan.

Tonight's celebration is at an innovative Auckland Maori business the trust has worked with, the Big Picture Wine Adventure.

PROFESSIONAL APPROACH ENDEARS MAORI PARTY TO SMITH

Environment Minister Nick Smith is praising the Maori Party for helping National get changes to the emissions trading scheme through parliament.

Dr Smith says while every private discussion he had with Labour on the ETS appeared in the media the next day, the Maori Party MPs conducted themselves impeccably throughout their talks.

“The Maori MPs conducted themselves with total integrity. Yes they bargained hard, yes they had issues they felt strongly about but there was an integrity and a mana there that I think too many in the media in the broader community underestimate,” Dr Smith says.

Without Maori Party support, National would have had to do a deal with ACT and action on climate change would probably have been deferred for a year.

MAORI BETRAYED BY ETS – HOROMIA

Meanwhile, Tairawhiti MP Parekura Horomia says the Maori Party has betrayed its supporters by voting for the bill.

The former Minister of Maori Affairs says it failed to tell the public where the money for the scheme will come from.

“When you put up $110 billion over a short time, it’s things like health, education, and you can already see tinges of that now, things being clawed back, and that's the issue,” Mr Horomia says.

In her newsletter to supporters yesterday, Maori Party MP Rahui Katene said the party still preferred a carbon tax, but accepted the reality that there would be an emissions trading scheme which the public would pay for through either higher taxes or higher prices.

POU OF ANGLICAN CHURCH JANE MARSDEN DIES

A stalwart of the Maori Anglican church and pou of Ngati Kuri and Ngai Takoto from the far North has died.

Jane Marsden was the widow of the late Reverend Maori Marsden, and worked alongside him at Maori missions throughout the country.

MP Shane Jones says his aunt was a gutsy women who gave a lot of support to young people, especially those who got involved in land claims.

“Jane and her husband worked tirelessly to see the establishment of the Pihopatanga which is the Maori Anglican church with its own bishop. She was a tireless campaigner alongside Sir King Ihaka, Bishop Vercoe, Bishop Bennett, she goes right back to the days of Bishop Panapa. Embodied in her really was an entire history, starting from the missionaries in the far north, of Maori involvement or dare I say entanglement with the Anglican church,” Mr Jones says.

Jane Marsden is being taken back to Maemaru Marae at Awanui.

Haere atu ra e te whaea, ki taha o nga tupuna, ki reira oki oki ai.

CONTEST ORGANISERS REFUSE TO CENSURE TOBACCO BARONS

Organisers of tonight's best practice workplace awards have refused to withdraw the nomination of tobacco giant British American Tobacco despite protests from Maori and other anti-smoking organisations.

Te Reo Marama says the company contributes to the deaths of 600 Maori a year.

John Robinson from organisers JRA says nominations come from staff within companies, and it would not be appropriate for JRA, a management consultancy, to exclude nominations for ethical reasons.

John Robinson says he's a non-smoker.

OUTRIGGER FIND ELEVATES SIGNIFICANCE OF PAPANUI SITE

The kaitiakitanga of Papanui inlet on the Otago Pensinsula wants the area recognised as a site of national significance after the discovery of an extremely rare outrigger from a pre-European waka.

Hoani Langsbury, the manager of the Otakou runanga, says a series of archeological digs were undertaken says the discovery two years ago of Koiwi and other objects which were more than more than 200 years old.

This led to the unearthing of an eroding oval wooden structure which has now been confirmed as being made from both local totara and adzed timber from elsewhere.

“One of them is associated with a waka outrigger of which there has only ever been two other finds in New Zealand so indications are this site is of national significance,” Mr Langsbury says.

The runanga will meet Historic Places Trust and DOC representatives next month about the finds.

Waitangi Tribunal to hear East Coast raruraru

2009-11-26T09:48:00.000+13:00

East Coast iwi see an urgent Waitangi Tribunal hearing next month as a chance to put their histories on the public record.

Te Aitanga a Hauiti, Ruawaipu and Ngati Uepohatu are challenging the settlement between the Crown and Te Runanga o Ngati Porou.

Tui Marino from Te Aitanga a Hauiti says because the Statistics Department lumped the other three iwi in with Ngati Porou when it started recording iwi affiliation in the 1992 census, the runanga has been able to capture the bulk of resources for itself.

He says iwi on the coast were historically self-sufficient and independent.

“You know we ran our own affairs. The bottom line of everything is one, our obligation to maintain the mana of our matua tupuna so that our tamariki and mokopuna can share in the benefits whether they are small or large, that they can have their place under the sun they can call their turangawaewae,” Mr Marino says.

Attempts to negotiate a better relationship between Te Aitanga a Hauiti and Te Runanga o Ngati Porou have been unsuccessful.

POUTMA CELEBRATES 21ST BIRTHDAY

The chief executive of a trust set up to help small and medium Maori business says a new partnership with Kiwibank will help its clients get the funds they need to grow.

Poutama Trust celebrates its 21st anniversary today with a dinner for the clients it has worked over the years.

Richard Jones, from Ngati Maniapoto, Ngati Whakaue and Ngati Pikiao, says many Maori small businesses have been struggling over the recession, and would benefit from having a better relationship with their bankers, which Poutama can help them with.

He says the partnership may eventually change the trust's role.

“I'd like to see Poutama move into the area of providing venture finance, loans and that. It’s not an area we’ve been in yet but hopefully this relationship with Kiwibank will give us that experience to move into areas such as lending to businesses,” Mr Jones says.

KEEN INTEREST IN CELESTIAL NAVIGATION

Master waka builder Hekenukumai Busby is surprised at the level of interest in celestial navigation.

The Ngati Kahu kaumatua was a star attraction at Mata Ora, a Maori astronomy and navigation hui in Porirua, along with Hoturoa Kerr, Jack Thatcher and Frank Andrews.

He says it was a chance to share some of what they learned from Hawaiian and Micronesian navigators as they revived the art of finding a way across the Pacific by using the night sky.

Mata Ora ends on Saturday with a kids' astronomy day and rocket launching at Te Rauparaha Arena.

RACISM MOTIVE ALLEGED IN CHRISTCHURCH SCHOOL CLOSURE

Te Tai Tonga MP Rahui Katene says Education Minister Anne Tolley's decision to close Aorangi Primary School in Christchurch comes across as race based.

Mrs Tolley says she's closing the school once attended by Prime Minister John Key because of a falling roll and the need for major investment.

But Mrs Katene says a more likely reason for closing the 90-student school is that 40 percent of the roll is Maori and it has the only bilingual unit in the north east of Christchurch.

“The immediate community of course is very supportive but just outside of that area is another community entirely and you get the feeling they don’t quite approve of a school that looks the way Aorangi is, that has children and a community that’s not quite the same as them, it’s not just quite done,” Mrs Katene says.

No other community in the area has expressed interest in having either a kura kaupapa or bilingual unit.

BAT NOMINATION BATTY SAYS ANTI-SMOKING CAMPAIGNER

A Maori anti-smoking organisation wants the nomination of one of the country's largest tobacco companies to be withdrawn from tonight's Best Workplace Awards.

British American Tobacco is up for a prize in the small to medium workplace category.

Te Reo Marama director Shane Bradbrook says the company is a key player in an industry that will kill 5000 New Zealanders this year, including 600 Maori.

“To be singled out and nominated for an award that reflects a good workplace, ethics and behaviour is just a complete anathema and contradiction,” Mr Bradbrook says.

He says the nomination is part of a sophisticated campaign by British American Tobacco to pretend it's a normal business.

WHANGANUI IWI SUPPORTING MAYOR’S PROPERTY RIGHTS GRAB

A former ACT MP says a local bill setting up a Wanganui District Council-controlled port company shows mayor Michael Laws will pander to Maori when it suits his political objectives.

Lawyer Stephen Franks says the bill, which iwi are supporting in exchange for a couple of directorships and the return of some ancestral land, will confiscate the perpetual lease his client River City Port Limited holds over the facility.

He says it's the same confiscation Whanganui Maori protested about in the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

“I voted against that bill on principle because it was taking away people’s rights to go to court and have their property rights determined and to have property rights. At the same time that’s being unwound, you have iwi, possibly unknowingly, being drawn into a bill that does something even worse. It’s taking away an absolutely certain vested property right,” Mr Franks says.

River City Port took on the lease 20 years ago because the council did not want the burden of keeping the port operational.

Schools have role in fight against violence

2009-11-25T23:23:00.001+13:00

A campaigner against domestic violence says schools can do more to fight abuse of women and children.

Hone Kaa, the chair of Te Kahui Mana Ririki trust, says many children aren't taught appropriate behaviour in the home.

He says anti-violence education should become a formal part of the curriculum.

“It's certainly what I would ask off the kohanga and the kura kaupapa because of the high incidence of abuse amidst our iwi Maori. It’s not just them of course. Across all sectors of primary and secondary education, because I do believe we can start this from primary school level,” Dr Kaa says.

He says anti-violence programmes in Maori communities are starting to work.

Te Kahui Mana Ririki held a breakfast in Auckland today to mark White Ribbon Day, which raises awareness of violence against women.

PARTY NEEDS TO TAKE STOCK OF INTERNAL SYSTEMS

A Maori academic says the Maori Party has a big fix up job to do if rebel MP Hone Harawira returns to the fold.

Rawiri Taonui, the head of Maori and ethnic studies at Canturbury University, says the blow up between Mr Harawira and the party leadership was a dispute waiting to happen.

He says despite the lessons of history such as the failure of the New Zealand First-National coalition, the Maori Party didn't seem ready for the internal strains which come from being in an alliance.

“Hone Harawira's remarks aside, I think there’s really a reflection about some internal tensions within the party about the cost of working with National and they need to focus on that and get the waka back on track,” Mr Taonui says.

He says keeping Mr Harawira in the party is the right way forward.

Mr Harawira will meet party members in west Auckland tonight as part of his consultation over his future.

WIDER SCOPE SOUGHT FOR CARBON FOREST OFFSET PLAN

Iwi leaders have their eyes on 200,000 hectares of conservation land for afforestation to offset the effects of the emissions trading scheme on land with pre-1990 forests.

Willie Te Aho, an advisor to the Climate Change Iwi Leadership Group, says the group has until February to come up with a mechanism under which forest landowners can plant carbon sink forests on DoC land.

He says the Department has been asked to identify suitable land with low conservation value, on top of the 35,000 hectares already earmarked for five iwi whose 10-year-old treaty settlements will be affected by the ETS.

“To really make it worthwhile, we’d be looking at 200,000 hectares and access to that 200,000 hectares but I understand that work is still being undertaken,” Mr Te Aho says.

Maori forest owners could use the New Zealand Unit carbon credits they receive from existing forests to fund the planting, which is estimated to cost between $1000 and $2000 a hectare.

WAITANGI TRIBUNAL TAKE URGENCY ON EAST COAST DEAL

The chair of an East Coast iwi is celebrating the Waitangi Tribunal's decision to look into the proposed settlement between the Crown and Te Runanga o Ngati Porou.

Tui Marino says the Crown and the runanga have been riding roughshod over his Te Aitanga a Hauiti people, as well as Ruawaipu and Ngati Uepohatu.

He says Ngati Porou's traditional rohe is around the Waiau River and Ruatioria, but it has used its favoured status to take the rights and interests of the other three tipuna groups.

“It's an out and rip off and we’ve got to do something about it, otherwise our young people, the generation to morrow, will be called Ngati Porou and we really don’t want that. That’s alright for Ngati Porou but we are Aitangi a Ahuiti and we need to and we wish to maintain that mana,” Mr Marino says.

The urgent hearing in Wellington the week of December 14 will give the other three iwi the chance to show how they have separate and distinct identities.

LEAGUE HARDMAN TALKS AGAINST VIOLENCE TOWARDS WOMEN

Former rugby league hardman Ruben Wiki says his experience allows him to be brutally honest when talking about the need for men to stop violence.

The Otara raised community worker is the ambassador for white ribbon day, which draws international attention to violence by men against women.

Mr Wiki, who gained a formidable reputation in the NRL and as New Zealand's most capped international player, says he's proud to stand up for women today.

“I've spread my story, growing up with violence, watching mum get beaten up by her partner, so it’s not acceptable. Women bring life into this world, our kids, and they shouldn’t be treated like that so just trying to get a message out and hopefully all the men can get behind and support the white ribbon campaign,” Mr Wiki says.

SENTIMENT OUTWEIGHS HISTORY IN FLAG CHOICE

A Ngapuhi academic is overcoming personal loyalty to endorse the tino rangatiratanga flag as the official Maori flag.

Rawiri Taonui from Canturbury University says his preference was for the Confederation of United Tribes flag which came out of relations between northern Maori and Europeans in the lead up to the Treaty of Waitangi.

But the more modern tino rangatiratanga flag which Cabinet is expected to endorse on the recommendation of Maori Affairs minister Pita Sharples may have wider appeal for today.

“It has Maori mythology embedded within it, it reflects that whole struggle of the 80s and 90s that led to the renaissance and it’s widely recognised, particularly by young people,” Mr Taonui says.

He's looking forward to seeing a Maori flag alongside the New Zealand ensign next Waitangi Day.

Goff slams iwi forum as selfish

2009-11-25T09:46:00.001+13:00

Labour is accusing the Climate Change Iwi Leadership Forum of buying into pork barrel politics with its support of the Government's emissions trading scheme.

Leader Phil Goff says the changes going through parliament this week with the support of the Maori Party will benefit a few large iwi corporates.

Forum chair Api Mahuika says the scheme is far better than the one passed by the Labour government.

But Mr Goff says at the deal is at the expense of taxpayers.

“If you are only looking at the narrow pork barrel politics of your own business and not the overall well being of the community, Maori and Pakeha, you’re not worried about the taxpayer who’s paying for it and you’re not worried about the legal opinions that are ignored to suit a dirty political deal, then you might say that,” Mr Goff says.

He says the scheme is not sustainable and a future Labour Government will repeal it.

CHANCE TO OFFSET LIABILITIES FROM MAORI FOREST SECTOR

But an adviser to the Climate Change Iwi Leadership Forum says it's a great opportunity to offset the liabilities which would have owners of pre-1990 forestry land.

Willie te Aho says the five iwi covered in the deal going through this week we facing the prospect of their treaty settlements forests plummeting in value without the change.

He says the forum is continuing to work on a system to allow other pre-1990 forest owners to plant forests on conservation land.

This will take account of the fact the Kyoto regime requires landowners to pay if they don't replant the same blocks.

“It's basically saying that we will grow carbon on Crown land without the cost of leasing the land and we will use that profit to offset the cost of deforesting lands on other pre-1990 (forests) so it’s about creating a fund that can offset the costs of deforesting pre-1990 forest lands,” Willie te Aho says.

Maori own about 70 percent of pre-1990 production forests.

WHITE RIBBONS MESSAGE AGAINST VIOLENCE

If you see white ribbons around today, that's a call for men to end violence against women.

Child advocacy group Te Kahui Mana Ririki is hosting a men's breakfast at St Johns Theological College in Auckland to highlight the challenge in Maori communities.

Spokesperson Anton Blank says campaigns like It's Not Okay are changing attitudes, but there is a long way to go, with rates of violence again Maori women still far too high.

“Maori women are seven times as likely to be hospitalised as a result of being battered than other groups of women but what’s good to see is we have an emerging group of men who are taking responsibility for this issue and figuring out how to work with other men to achieve those changes,” Mr Blank says.

Speakers at this morning's breakfast include It's Not Okay frontman Alfred Ngaro and Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand.

FOREST OFFSET DEAL COULD WIDEN

Iwi leaders have thrown an olive branch to other forestry owners left out of the Government's emissions trading scheme.

The deal struck between National and the Maori Party this week will allow five iwi whose settlements included pre-1990 forests to plant trees on DOC land and collect the carbon credits.

Willie Te Aho from the Climate Change Iwi Leadership Group says the next step is to provide a framework for other Maori landowners with pre-1990 forests to also plant on DoC land.

He says that could be extended to other forest owners.

“I've been approaching other pre-1990 exotic forest landowning groups to see how we can work together. Ultimately by the time this gets to Cabinet in February we want to see a wider approach if possible but the discussions are just beginning,” Mr Te Aho says.

He met yesterday with the Forest Owners Association, which had branded the iwi deal as unjust, and he'll be meeting its chairman again later in the week.

QUINN UPSET ELECTORATE WORKSHOP CHECKED FOR RULE BREACH

A National list MP has hit out at one of the country's most senior department heads for investigating him for breaching parliament's rules.

Ministry of Social Development chief executive Peter Hughes Is investigating a complaint from Labour MP Grant Robertson that Paul Quinn was using Work and Income to promote National Party policies.

Mr Quinn from Ngati Awa says he invited business leaders and community groups in the Hutt South electorate to a workshop to address the needs of young Maori unemployed.

He says by issuing public statements, Mr Hughes is giving legs to false accusations.

“What I find concerning is that Grant Robinson (sic) has been given a lot of wasted airtime because very senior public servants have given him some credence in his allegations,” Mr Quinn says.

He says the workshop was the sort of thing MPs should be supporting.

YOUNG SAILOR SETTING SUMMER ASIDE FOR LASER FOCUS

A top young Maori sailor from Te Teko leaves for Australia today for two months of competition.

Sixteen year old Rawiri Geddes from Ngati Awa and Ngaitai won last year's national winter champs in the laser radial class, and last Labour weekend took top honours in the open laser division in the Bay of Islands regatta.

He is set to race in the Australia Down under series in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne and the Laser Open in Adelaide in before returning for the New Zealand Nationals off Timaru.

He says many rangatahi are put off by because they think it's an expensive sport, but it doesn't have to be.

He started sailing in club boats and borrowed boats, and only got his own boat last year.

Rawiri Geddes says his ambition is to race for New Zealand in an America's Cup.

EMS won’t last change of government

2009-11-24T20:04:00.000+13:00

Phil Goff is promising a future Labour government will repeal National's emissions trading scheme.

The Labour leader says the changes, which are expected to be pushed through this week, will be bad for Maori and Pakeha alike.

Despite expressing grave concerns about the overall scheme in its minority select committee report, the Maori Party will vote for the bill because of concessions including a top-up of five treaty settlements done by National in the 1990s.

Mr Goff says history shows rushed legislation leads to higher costs for the country.

“This legislation is not sustainable. This legislation will be changed with the change of government. And that’s a real pity because it would have been preferable to have had certainty, to have sought a fair degree of consensus. Labour offered that, and the National Party broke off negotiations in bad faith to reach a deal that gives it a majority of only two in the House. That's not sustainable,” Mr Goff says.

He says the five iwi who stand to benefit from the deal will do so at the expense of ordinary Maori.

ETS A TROJAN HORSE FOR PRIVATE INVESTMENT IN STATE LAND

Meanwhile, Green co-leader Metiria Turei says Maori are being used as a wedge to open up publicly-owned conservation land to overseas companies.

Under the deal the Maori Party struck with National in exchange for supporting changes to the emissions trading scheme, five iwi will be able to plant trees on conservation land to offset forests cleared from land they received in their treaty settlements.

Ms Turei says those iwi will inevitably enter into partnerships with foreign companies that will be the real winners.

“The deal that the government is doing to allow other private interests to do this planting and to reap the benefits is another way of sucking money out of the public because this could be a public investment, jobs for New Zealanders and the public purse gaining the advantage of the carbon credits which could then be used to help pay for some of the social services that especially the poorest communities so desperately need,” Ms Turei says.

In the past the Crown has refused to include conservation land in treaty settlements.

MANA MOTUHAKE HISTORY IGNORED IN FLAG CHOICE

A Muriwhenua kaumatua says the Government is making an historical error in its choice of a Maori flag.

The prime minister has indicated he's about to take the Maori Party's recommendation to Cabinet, and the flag will be flow next Waitangi Day on the Auckland Harbour Bridge, at Waitangi and on other government buildings.

The choice is widely expected to be the tino rangatiratanga flag designed for competition run in 1990 by Hone Harawira's Kawariki protest group.

‘But Rima Edwards says the flag chosen in the 1830s by the Confederation of United Tribes is the right symbol.

“1835 is important because it’s a declaration to the world that the mana motuhake of this land belongs to the rangatira of the hapu, that’s the significance of that flag,” Mr Edwards says.

ETS A RETURN TO MULDOONIST SUBSIDIES

National's changes to the emissions trading scheme are being described as a return to Muldoonism.

Labour MP Shane Jones says the controversy over concessions given for Maori Party support for the bill is overshadowing the economic backwardness of the approach.

He says rather than using economic signals to encourage New Zealand firms to invest in technology and innovation which would reduce their carbon footprint, National is dipping into the playbook of the late Sir Robert Muldoon.

“Muldoon used to have a system where you could grow as much milk and wool as you liked, he would guarantee you a set of payments and in many respects the taxpayer is now guaranteeing payments to industry to create in the same way they have always been doing which whilst it is good for wealth creation for that sector it’s bad if the taxpayers have to subsidise it all,” Mr Jones says.

He says the main beneficiaries of National's changes will be farmer and other big carbon emitters, rather than Maori.

FLAG ISSUE A DISTRACTION BESIDE MAORI UNEMPLOYMENT

Labour leader Phil Goff says the flying of a Maori flag is unimportant alongside the real issues facing the country.

Prime Minister John Key has promised the will be flown widely from government buildings around the country next Waitangi Day.

A recommendation from Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples on the preferred flag is ready to go to Cabinet for ratification.

Mr Goff says it seems inevitable the tino rangatiratanga flag will be chosen, but it's an empty gesture for many Maori.

“Flying a flag isn’t compensation for the fact you’ve lost your job, that your real income has gone down, that Maori unemployment has doubled, that families are struggling to make ends meet,” Mr Goff says.

Any excitement over the flag will be short lived.

MAORI VOICE ON POLYTECHS STILLED

A student leader says dropping student representatives on polytech councils is a threat to Maori education.

An amendment to the Education Act now before Parliament will trim the number of council members and get rid of guaranteed seats for students, staff and unions.

Rawa Karetai, the president of the Albany Massey Students Association, says the bill gives the education minister direct political control of tertiary institutions.

He says Maori students don't receive the support they need now, and the bill will make things worse.

“Maori students comprise a large number of students in the polytechnic sector and without student representation their voices would be lost in the decision-making processes,” Mr Karetai says.

HAURAKI OPENS HAUORA IN HOTEL

One of the country's most famous hotels is switching from haurangai to hauora.

Te Korowai Hauora, the health arm of the Hauraki Maori Trust Board, is turning the Brian Boru in Thames into a health centre.

General manger Whiu Kininmonth says the 1868 building will be a useful addition for the organisation, which has more than 5000 clients registered and clinics right around the Coromandel peninsula.

As well as health services, the Brian Boru will house an arts centre and a wananga.

Climate change deal leaves out major stakeholders

2009-11-24T09:53:00.002+13:00

The Federation of Maori Authorities is feeling shortchanged by the Maori Party's deal on the Government's emissions trading scheme.

The Party will vote for the scheme to go through this week in exchange for concessions including more money spent on home insulation, the issuing of carbon credits to fishing quota holders rather than fishers, and allowing five iwi the opportunity to plant trees on Conservation Department land and harvest the carbon credits.

FOMA chief executive Rino Tirikatene says this still leaves most Maori forest owners out in the cold.

“Maori are disproportionately represented as pre-1990 forest owners, plus we believe it’s a treaty breach issue in terms of locking a huge amount of Maori land into forestry use and being unable to apply those lands to a higher and better use,” Mr Tirikatane says.

He says this could end up costing Maori $6 billion over time.

HARAWIRA FATE IN HANDS OF ELECTORATE

The Maori Party is waiting on feedback from rebel MP Hone Harawira's Taitokerau electrorate before deciding on his political future.

A hui was held in Otaki over the weekend to plot a way forward following the controversial MP's unsanctioned trip to Paris and expletive laden email sent to a Maori Party supporter.

That prompted calls from president Whatarangi Winiata for Mr Harawira to consider a future as an independent MP.

Mr Flavell says the hui agreed to leave the ball in the electorate's court.

NGATI WHATUA FESTIVAL RANKED A SUCCESS

Ngati Whatua is hailing its first combined iwi festival a success despite losing the major sporting fixture to Ngapuhi.

Uri from 34 Ngati Whatua marae gathered at North Harbour this weekend for kapa haka, kai, crafts, a kaumatua ball, inter-takiwa touch... and a rugby league match against their northern neighbours.

Organising committee member Ngaroimata Le Gros says it was a great chance to focus on Ngati Whatua-tanga, and led to a determination to revive specifically Ngatu Whatua waiata.

Feedback from festival goers is that they'd like a gathering every year, but they'll have to wait and see what the runanga and the funders have to say.

ETS DEAL COULD COME BACK TO HAUNT MAORI PARTY

Labour Party Maori MP Shane Jones is predicting doing a deal with National over the ETS will be fatal for the Maori Party.

Mr Jones, who headed a number of large Maori businesses before entering parliament as a list MP, says Maori taxpayers will see little benefit from the deal with their cost of living going up and the Maori Party will be called to answer.

He says Maori business won’t benefit either as the deal mainly benefits South Island iwi Ngai Tahu iwi at the expense of other Maori.

“The Maori Party has sold Maori families, Maori taxpayers out to enrich an narrow privileged range of corporate interests. This isn’t pork barrel. This is pork bone politics, a concession that has been made available to Ngai Tahu may be good for Ngai Tahu but it will be fatal for the Maori Party and it’s certainly not good for Maoridom,” Mr Jones says.

He says rebel Maori Party MP Hone Harawira must be looking at the deal out in disgust from his Te Tai Tokorau electorate because he would never have agreed to support such a deal.

HAWEA VERCOE A LOSS TO BAY OF PLENTY POLITICS

Waiariki MP Te Ururoa Flavell says Hawea Vercoe was poised to have significant political influence in the region.

The 36 year old died after an altercation outside a nightclub in Whakatane in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Mr Flavell says the kura kaupapa principal was in the early stages of his political career, having stood as a candidate for Destiny Church in the 2005 general election, and was a sitting Environment Bay of Plenty member and a former member of Rotorua District Council’s Te Arawa standing committee.

He assumed Mr Vercoe would one day challenge him for the Maori Party candidacy in the Waiariki electorate.

HAURAKI HAUORA BUYS BRIAN BORU

Hauraki has taken ownership of one of the country's most historic pubs... the Brian Boru hotel in Thames.

It’s been brought by the Hauraki Maori Trust Board’s health arm Te Korowai Hauora to use for health services, a Maori arts centre, and a venue for Hauraki wananga.

General manager Whiu Kinimonth says the hauora has limited scope to modify the building, but it can change the name from honouring an Irish king who lived 700 years ago.

“It is an historic building so we’re limited to what we can actually change but certainly the kaumatua are putting their thinking caps on now about a Hauraki name for it,” he says.

Stan Walker wins Australian idol in front of whanau

2009-11-23T18:30:00.001+13:00

The live feed of whanau watching Stan Walker win Australian Idol made the small Tauranga marae of Tamapahore seem even more sparsely populated than usual.

Most of the whanau had hopped on a plane and headed to the live final at the Sydney Opera House.

Speaking from Australia, Molly McLeod says Stan is very close to his Nga Potiki and Ngaiterangi whanau, and many McLeods, Walkers and Ohia were in the audience.

Stan Walker won a Sony recording contract, $200,000 to develop his skills and a brand new car.

MAORI BUSINESS FOCUS OF AUCKLAND STUDY

Maori business is emerging as an area of study in its own right as distinct from mainstream business studies.

The associate dean of Maori and Pacific development at Auckland university's business school, Manuka Henare, says the new discipline is undergoing major growth.

“There is a thing called maori business and over the last 20 years we’ve all been focused on that, giving it an identity trying to describe its characteristics and then develop courses and programmes that prepare people for a Maori commercial world,” Dr Henare says.

He says the university’s plan to have at least 10 PhD graduates in the next couple of decades will be helped by a new scholarship kicked off by businessman Owen Glenn. Undergraduates studying Maori business can get help from a $1 million fund donated by Paul Kelly.

GUILDFORD EMERGING AS STAR OF TOUR

Rugby commentator Ken Laban predicts that a rugby super star of the future has emerged during the All Blacks tour.

He says Ngati Kahungunu winger Zac showed skill and composure in the All Blacks 19-6 win over England at Twickenham on Sunday morning, belying his 20 years.

The Hawkes Bay flyer was picked ahead of Hosea Gear because he can cover both wing and fullback and is confident under the high ball.

If as expected Guildford gets the nod for the final test against France it will show the selectors see him as front runner for World Cup left winger.

ETS DEAL LEAVES MAORI DIVIDED

The Government's Emissions trading scheme has exposed divisions across Maoridom.

The Maori party's support for the deal to push the ETS through parliament this week under urgency will see an addition $24 million to insulate 8000 more low income family homes... many of them Maori.

In exchange for its support the Maori party says it has won a halving of power and petrol price rises in comparison with previous estimates.

Other Maori specific initiatives in the deal include a Treaty of Waitangi clause in the legislation, the government paying for iwi representatives to travel to Copenhagen for world climate change talks next month, and a bigger allocation of carbon credits for the fishing industry and agreement that they will be paid to quota holders which includes many iwi instead of fishing vessel owners.

Minister of Maori Affairs and Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples hails it as a win for all New Zealanders saying it will allow the creation of large-scale permanent forests.

Under the deal announced this afternoon by Prime minister John Key around 35,000 hectares of Conservation land will be set aside for some iwi - notably big South Island tribe Ngai Tahu - to plant for carbon credits under the deal, while other iwi will also work with the government to facilitate indigenous planting.

However the Greens and Labour have questioned this saying despite the concessions ordinary Maori families will not only pay through across the board price increases but by funding not being available for health and welfare where Maori are in need of help.

The say Maori foresters are getting special treatment and big business polluters are being sheltered sending the wrong signals in the stated aim of cutting greenhouse gas.

Five iwi which signed treaty agreements prior to 1990 which are getting access to plant on DOC estate as part of the deal.

IWI LEADERSHIP FORUM SALIVATING AT FOREST DEAL

The iwi leadership forum has given the thumbs up to the Government’s scheme.

Speaking from Gisborne today chairman Apirana Mahuika says the forum supports the inclusion of treaty clauses, and is satisfied the relationship between the government and Maori interests paves the way forward to address climate change and economic implications for Maori.

He says the forum supports the five iwi who settled early, and the iwi Crown forest partnership

“Our discussions with Nick Smith have been very constructive and positive, I’d say far more than with the previous administration, and we are absolutely confident that in our discussions with him we can actually move forward and benefit not only Maori but the nation as a whole,” Mr Mahuika says.

FOMA CONCERNED MOST MAORI LANDOWNERS LEFT OUT OF DEAL

However the Federation of Maori Authorities is concerned about the Maori landowners who are not covered by the deal announced today.

Rino Tirikatene, FoMA's chief executive, says Maori will be the biggest owners of land with forests planted before 1990 once all treaty settlements are complete.

Government figures indicate that close to 300,000 hectares of that land is suitable for a higher and better use, but Mr Tirikatene says the cost of changing from forestry to farming or market gardening will be prohibitive.

“We support the arrangements and the deal that have been done with the five iwi. They were specific contractual issue they had around their treaty settlements with the Crown and it’s good they’ve managed to find a resolution to those issues. However our concerns were more general and broader than that in that they relate to the many other private Maori land interests who own pre-1990 forest lands and they haven’t got anything out to the bill before the House,” Mr Tirikatene says.

LABOUR ATTACKS SOUTHERN TOP UP IN EMISSIONS DEAL

Labour party intends to strongly oppose any special deal for Ngai Tahu to compensate the South Island iwi for the impact the emissions trading scheme may have.

Environment spokesperson Shane Jones says Labour does not agree with Ngai Tahu's claim that the scheme as currently proposed could cost them $70 to $120 million by changing the terms of the terms of the iwi's treaty settlement negotiated by former National treaty negotiations minister Sir Douglas Graham.

“The government seems to be convinced by the special pleading strategy from Ngai Tahu that their settlement will be eroded if ETS goes ahead. That’s not a view that Labour has. We had a QC look into the matter. There’s no ways Doug Graham who negotiated the settlement with Sir Tipene O’Regan misled or lied to Ngai Tahu and we don’t agree with the scheme at all as proposed by Nick Smith and we certainly won’t be agreeing with any special deal for Ngai Tahu,” Mr Jones says.

He says the Maori Party has sold Maori short in supporting National to push emissions trading scheme legislation through Parliament under urgency this week.

Hawea Vercoe killed in Whakatane street

2009-11-23T10:39:00.000+13:00

Bay of Plenty Maori are devastated with the death of Hawea Vercoe who was killed in a scuffle in Whakatane on Saturday night.

Te Arawa trust board chairman Toby Curtis says even though only 36 years old, the Rotoiti Kura Kaupapa principal had already established himself as a leader of his people as an Environment Bay of Plenty councilor and a member of Rotorua District Council's Te Arawa standing committee.

“Hawea was at the very forefront in terms of some of the educational initiatives that were sorely needed in Te Arawa. What he has achieved to date has surely benefited the whole of New Zealand. We’re going to miss him intensely because he’s one of the people who the whole of Te Arawa was starting to nurture, foster, in order that he would advance the great works of the past by our previous leaders and take us well into the future,” Mr Curtis says.

He says Mr Vercoe was just getting over a difficult period including the break up of his marriage, a court case over an altercation his former wife's new partner, and a shoplifting charge which was thrown out of court.

MAORI WRITTEN OUT OF SCRIPT FOR POLYTECH PLANNING

Labour's tertiary education spokesperson says Education Minister Anne Tolley's overhaul of the way polytechnics are governed could be the next big test of the Maori party's allegiance to National.

Maryan Street says a bill now before parliament gets rid of Maori representation on polytech councils.

That's despite the fact polytechs are the major provider of training for industries which employ large numbers of Maori, such a forestry, fishing and agriculture.

“For all that they talk about their relationship with the Maori Party and how well that’s going, they cannot make any distinctive provision or even appropriate provisions for Maori in education where it counts,” Ms Street says.

Maori should put pressure on the Maori Party to stand up for their interests.

NGAPUHI SEEKING GREATER ROLE IN SERVICE DELIVERY

Ngapuhi is looking forward to an overhaul of social service delivery which will give a greater role to iwi.

Runanga chair Sonny Tau says uncertainty in the sector, including government agencies cutting contracts after the election, means Ngapuhi Iwi Social Services had a $400,000 shortfall last financial year.

He says the whanau ora policy being developed by associate health and social development minister Tariana Turia should spell an end to the current situation where several government agencies can deal with the same whanau with no coordination between them.

“Tariana's approach is that combined iwi organisations will be used as a banking service and the service providers will be chopped back because there will be no duplication of administration. A lot of the money that is being duplicated on organisational structures will be chopped out. It’s not about the provider any more. It’s about the whanau,” Mr Tau says.

While Ngapuhi is waiting for the new policy to come through, it is watching costs and cutting back on activities so it can manage its way through the tough economic environment.

POLYTECHS LOSING MAORI SAY IN GOVERNANCE

The government is giving polytechnics the super city treatment.

Guaranteed Maori representation on polytech councils has been cut in the version of a reform bill reported back to parliament last week by the Education and Science select committee.

Maryan Street, Labour's tertiary education spokesperson, says Maori need a place at the top table when important strategic decisions are made.

“Cutting iwi representation out of polytech councils, taking away this guaranteed position, is a slap in the face for iwi and a slap in the face for all those Maori who are trying hard to better themselves to overcome disadvantages they had first time round in education and having another crack,” Ms Street says.

Maori representatives have helped steer polytechs to provide training in many of the sectors which are big employers of Maori, such as farming and forestry.

KURA CHILDREN SUPPORTED OVER DEATH OF PRINCIPAL

The kura kaupapa where Maori leader Hawea Vercoe was principal will be open today to look after the children who simply loved their tumuaki.

Te Kura Kaupapa o Te Rotoiti board member Justin Roberts says the kura considered closing for the day following the tragic death of Mr Vercoe during an altercation in the streets of Whakatane night.

He says those among the schools 90 students who have heard about his death are absolutely devastated as are the elders faced with consoling them.

“With the tragedy that has taken place the difficulty of informing many of our whanau because they’re spread over such a wide area, we want to make sure everyone is informed and to sit with the children and support them through the grieving process,” Mr Roberts says.

The tangi for Mr Vercoe, who was of Te Arawa and Ngati Awa descent, is being held in Te Teko.

MAORI DOCTORS ATTACK EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME CHANGES

Doctors who have attacked National's proposed emissions trading scheme say they're getting massive support from colleagues and the public.

The climate and health group Ora Taiao told politicians last week the changes would be disastrous to Maori health.

Coordinator Rhys Jones says the only criticism of their lobbying has come from climate change skeptics, and health professionals are queuing up to join the group.

"Some of the price shifts and some of the costs re going to adversely impact on Maori whanau and some of our more vulnerable communities, mostly because the extra funding our government and taxpayers are going to have to put into the emissions trading scheme means that there is going to be much less for some of the critical health and social services,” Dr Jones says.

A responsible emissions trading scene would penalise polluters rather than put the cost of tackling climate change on ordinary people.

Ngapuhi scrapes through with meager surplus

2009-11-20T19:49:00.000+13:00

Cuts in government funding have hit Ngapuhi's bottom line at the same time the iwi is being asked to take a greater role in provision of social services to its people.

Te Runanga a Iwi o Ngapuhi's results for the year to June 30 show a surplus of $141,000, 87 percent down on last year's 1.1 million.

Chairperson Sonny Tau says it was a good result in a tough year, and the iwi is trimming back on its costs in anticipation of another tough year ahead.

He says funding from community trusts and government sources was down, with revenue for Ngapuhi Iwi Social Services dropping 15 percent to $1.5 million but operating costs rising to $1.9 million.

“That was not due to the operations. It was virtually due to the change of government when the contracts were allocated before National came in and then National chopped a few of those out and we were left short of funds there, we had to make up through the iwi. We’re still running the programmes. That's what the iwi demanded,” Mr Tau says.

Ngapuhi Iwi Social Services delivered programmes to almost 4000 tamariki and whanau, including youth justice work, Social Workers in Schools, truancy, Parenting and Violence Prevention Programmes.

TANGATA WHENUA SOCIAL WORKERS ASSOCIATION FORMED

Meanwhile, Maori social workers have formed their own association.

About 100 of the country's 1000 Maori social workers gathered at Pukaki Marae in Mangere day to launch Tangata Whenua Social Workers Association.

Kaumatua Taotahi Pihama says the group will support Maori working for mainstream and iwi providers, and help train new kaimahi to operate effectively with Maori whanau.

He says it will build on work done by previous generations since the first Maori graduate social worker, John Rangihau, in the 1950s.

MINISTER PLEASED AT TAKE UP OF MARA KAI GARDEN GRANTS

Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples is pleased at the uptake of grants to plant gardens for marae.

The mara kai scheme was launched last month, offering marae $2000 seed money.

Dr Sharples says in some areas the allocation has already been fully taken up from Te Puni Kokiri.

“TPK is trying to find other money to give out to marae because it’s just great, that people are returning back to a garden. It was a good idea,” Dr Sharples says.

SHARPLES GRUMPY AT MAORI MEDIA TREATMENT

It's been a tough week for the Maori Party, and co-leader Pita Sharples is blaming the media.

Dr Sharples says coverage of the Hone Harawira saga has highlighted how the media dramatise fights and ignore positive things, such as his grants for marae gardens.

He's disappointed the Maori media is piling on as well.

“Sometimes I think our Maori media treat us pretty hard, not just the Maori Party but Maori leaders out there, Maori initiatives, instead of just getting all the facts about the good side of things, because that’s what we should be about, developing ourselves instead of shooting each other down,” Dr Sharples says.

CARBON PROPOSAL WAY OUT OF LEGAL STOUSH

A Maori negotiator is defending a plan for iwi to plant trees on Crown land and harvest the carbon credits.

The plan is critical to securing the Maori Party's support for National's changes to the emissions trading scheme.

Willie Te Aho says the five iwi ... Waikato-Tainui, Ngai Tahu, Te Uri o Hau, Ngati Awa and Ngati Tuwharetoa ki Kawaerau... bought forest land as part of their settlements before the emissions trading scheme was announced.

He says they could sue for breach of contract if the ITS devalues those properties ... so the plan shouldn't be seen as offering preferential treatment.

“It's actually settling of a legal dispute iwi would have won, in an innovative way that doesn’t cost the Crown because the Crown lands they’re looking to afforest have nothing on them now. It’s doing the country a favour and the benefit that the iwi get out of this is they’re able to trade the carbon to offset the liabilities they will incur when when they deforest their lands,” Mr Te Aho says.

NGATI WHATUA CELEBRATING UNITY

Uri from Ngati Whatua will be heading to North Harbour stadium for this weekend's iwi festival.

Organising committee member Richard Nahi says the festival incorporates the Kaipara Festival and brings together the whole iwi from Orakei to Dargaville.

There will be food, craft and educational stalls, kapa haka and sports during the day, and a gala ball tomorrow night.

On Sunday afternoon Ngati Whatua will take on northern neighbours Ngapuhi in rugby league.

NEW WRESTLING SHOW FEATURES MAORI WARRIOR

The mantle of Maori Warrior has been passed from one generation of kiwi wrestlers to another... with the launch of a new wrestling show on Prime.

Off the Ropes picks up where On the Mat left off in the 1980s, and features a Te Arawa tane who goes by the name "Whetu the Maori warrior"

Janine Carline from Kiwi Pro Wrestling says Whetu is coached by the original Maori Warrior, Juno Hunia, and he’s a natural athlete with a fantastic future.

Off the Ropes screens on Sundays on Prime.