Tauranga contemporary claims to get airing

Tauranga Moana tribes are getting ready for stage two of Waitangi Tribunal hearings into their claims.

Hearings finished on stage one in 2001 on stage one, and in 2004 the tribunal reported its finding that Tauranga Moana tribes were unjustifiably attacked in the 1860s and should not have had their land confiscated.

Ngati Ranginui chairman Huikakahu Kawe says the new tribunal sitting at Maungatapu Marae in Tauranga next week will hear about events after the raupatu, including health, economic and social issues and about how each hapu was affected differently.

Huikakahu Kawe says putting their issues on the table should help hapu in any future arguments with local and central government over resource mangement.

SMOKEFREE ADVOCATES START MURDER CAMPAIGN

Maori smokefree advocates are changing tack.

Sky Kimura, a spokesperson for the Maori smokefree kaupapa, says the World Smokefree day is not far off, and the anti smoking group are targetting tobacco manufacturers rather than users.

Ms Kimura was part of a recent Maori delegation that challenged giant American based tobacco manufacturer Phillip Morris about its use of Maori imagery to market tobacco product.

She says the companies are continuing to profit from the misery they cause in Maori communities.

MAORI NEED AGED CARE EARLY

A Christchurch based health worker says Maori should push for aged care services to be made available for people under 65.

Wendy Dallas Katoa is a project manager for Pegasus Health, which has more than 15 thousand Maori on its books.

She says while there are initiatives to improve the overall state of Maori health, many Maori are dying too young.

NZ FIRST PUSHES WARDEN INITIATIVE

New Zealand First law and order spokesman Ron Mark says Maori Wardens may be the answer to crime problems in many communities.

As part of its confidence and supply agreement with Labour, New Zealand First asked for $15 million to bolster the wardens and reestablish them where communities want them.

Mr Mark says Maori wardens have shown in the past they can make a positive impact on young people getting into trouble.

Ron Mark says he's heartened by moves in Masterton to get wardens back on the streets, and other communities are also showing interest.

ST STEPHENS FALLING INTO DISREPAIR

A former student and teacher at St Stephen Maori Boys School in Bombay, south of Auckland, says supporters have been duped by the Anglican Church.

Wiremu Docherty, who now heads the Maori department of the Manukau Institute of Technology, says when St Stephens closed, the church spokespeople claimed a new school would be built for Maori secondary school students.

That hasn't happened.

Mr Docherty lives close to the old school, and says former students would be horrified to see the kura falling into a state of disrepair.

He says they were too trusting of the church and allowed one of the oldest schools in the country to close.

SMOKING, HEALTH ACCESS BLAMES FOR PNEUMONIA

Smoking and poor access to health services have been given as the main reasons Maori are more likely to get pneumonia than non-Maori.

Wendy Dallas Katoa, the Maori health project manager from Christchurch's Pegasus Healthcare, says a New Zealand Medical Journal report that Maori are three times more likely to be hospitalised with pneumonia shows a multi-pronged campaign is needed to address the problem.

She says the fact one in two adult Maori are smokers is just one contributing factor, and the fact Maori present at a later stage of their illness and often don't have GP care also contributes.

Wendy Dallas Katoa says not enough resources are being put into Maori smoking cessation programmes to match the need.