KiwiSaver a start, not the whole deal
The chair of the Maori affairs select committee, Dave Hereora, says the Maori Party's refusal to back the Kiwi Saver scheme is short sighted.
Maori Party MP Hone Harawira says his party isn't supporting the scheme because it doesn't apply to beneficiaries, the mininum contribution of 4 percent of gross wages is too much for the working poor, and the Maori are likely to die before they reach 65 so won't collect anything.
But Mr Hereora says the government was trying to be realistic in creating a scheme which would help people into first homes as well as save for retirement.
”It's aimed primarily at working families. I have a fear that if beneficiaries are expecting to go on the scheme, they’re on limited incomes, and the fear is they will not be able to keep up with their mortgages,” he said.
Dave Hereora says the government also wanted to promote a savings mentality.
BILINGUALISM KEY TO FUTURE
New Zealand needs to take a lead from countries where growing up speaking more than one language is the norm.
That's the view of Haami Piripi, chief executive of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori, the Maoiri language commission.
Mr Piripi, says as immigration continues to shape New Zealand society, it makes sense for our tamariki to be bilingual or even multilingual.
Commenting on yesterday's official launch of Maori language week, he says te reo Maori is a good place to start.
“We're living in an international environment, cosmopolitan environment in Aoteaora here, so monolingualism is no longer the key. What we’re encouraging young Maori people to learn their language as their first language, and young New Zealanders to learn Maori as their second language,. There’s no reason we can’t have two languages that are learned equally by New Zealand children and New Zealand citizens,” Piripi said.
RAKAUMANGA CLINCH SCHOOLS’ TITLE
Huntly's Te Wharekura o Rakaumanga drew on its experience to take out the national secondary schools kapa haka competiton at Mystery Creek near Hamilton.
Te Wharekura o Ruatoki from the Tuhoe heartland was second, but the surprise performer was Te Piringa, a composite team from Palmerston North Boys and Girls High Schools, which took out the third spot.
Waatea News reporter Mania Clarke, says the standard set by the 31 schools was high, and bodes well for the future of the language.
MUSEUMS GETTING OUT OF BURIAL BUSINESS
Te Papa's kaihautu or Maori leader Te Taru White says New Zealand's national museum has been showing other museums the way in terms of treatment of human remains and other sacred items.
Aberdeen University's Marishal Museum has agreed to return nine toi moko or preserved heads to Te Papa, and Liverpool Museum is also going through the steps required to return four heads and other skeletal remains to this country.
Mr White says it has taken a lot of work by Maori and by this country's museums to change the thinking of overseas institutions.
“A lot of the hard work up front is working with international institutions that have a traditional, colonial perspective about taonga, and of course they count these as part of their collections. We don’t consider these part of our collections. We consider them respected elders to be revered that way,” White said.
DIALECTS TO FORE AT SCHOOL COMPS
The growing interest in preserving the different Maori dialects or mita was at the fore at this week's national secondary schools kapa haka competitions at Mystery Creek near Hamilton.
Waatea News reporter Mania Clark says the overall standard of the 31 competing groups was high, and kept the huge audience enthralled.
She says by using the traditional mita or each area, the groups made each performance unique.
“The good thing about this is being able to keep alive the different mita from each rohe, so this is good platform for keeping the dialect alive and the tikanga from each rohe,” Clarke said.
The top three teams were Rakaumangamanga,from Huntly, Te Wharekura o Ruatoki, and Te Piringa, a composite group made up of students from Palmerston North Girls and Boys High Schools.
FAT TARGET FOR HARKNESS RESEARCH
The director of Auckland University of Technology's centre for Maori Health Research is packing her bags to take up a Harkness Fellowship at the Harvard School of Medicine in the United States.
Associate professor Mihi Ratima from Whakatohea and Ngati Awa intends to study the way obesity is tackled in indigenous and minority communities in the United States, and look for ideas which can be applied back here.
Dr Ratima says obesity is a worldwide epidemic, and it is of particular concern to Maori and Pacific people in New Zealand.
She says the causes are complex and the cures aren't simple.
“The most important thing to think about is this is not something we should blame individuals, this is not an individual thing. You need to look much more broadly for the sources of obesity, particularly environmental factors like poverty, racial discrimination, access to facilities that help you become more physically active,” Ratima said.
Maori Party MP Hone Harawira says his party isn't supporting the scheme because it doesn't apply to beneficiaries, the mininum contribution of 4 percent of gross wages is too much for the working poor, and the Maori are likely to die before they reach 65 so won't collect anything.
But Mr Hereora says the government was trying to be realistic in creating a scheme which would help people into first homes as well as save for retirement.
”It's aimed primarily at working families. I have a fear that if beneficiaries are expecting to go on the scheme, they’re on limited incomes, and the fear is they will not be able to keep up with their mortgages,” he said.
Dave Hereora says the government also wanted to promote a savings mentality.
BILINGUALISM KEY TO FUTURE
New Zealand needs to take a lead from countries where growing up speaking more than one language is the norm.
That's the view of Haami Piripi, chief executive of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori, the Maoiri language commission.
Mr Piripi, says as immigration continues to shape New Zealand society, it makes sense for our tamariki to be bilingual or even multilingual.
Commenting on yesterday's official launch of Maori language week, he says te reo Maori is a good place to start.
“We're living in an international environment, cosmopolitan environment in Aoteaora here, so monolingualism is no longer the key. What we’re encouraging young Maori people to learn their language as their first language, and young New Zealanders to learn Maori as their second language,. There’s no reason we can’t have two languages that are learned equally by New Zealand children and New Zealand citizens,” Piripi said.
RAKAUMANGA CLINCH SCHOOLS’ TITLE
Huntly's Te Wharekura o Rakaumanga drew on its experience to take out the national secondary schools kapa haka competiton at Mystery Creek near Hamilton.
Te Wharekura o Ruatoki from the Tuhoe heartland was second, but the surprise performer was Te Piringa, a composite team from Palmerston North Boys and Girls High Schools, which took out the third spot.
Waatea News reporter Mania Clarke, says the standard set by the 31 schools was high, and bodes well for the future of the language.
MUSEUMS GETTING OUT OF BURIAL BUSINESS
Te Papa's kaihautu or Maori leader Te Taru White says New Zealand's national museum has been showing other museums the way in terms of treatment of human remains and other sacred items.
Aberdeen University's Marishal Museum has agreed to return nine toi moko or preserved heads to Te Papa, and Liverpool Museum is also going through the steps required to return four heads and other skeletal remains to this country.
Mr White says it has taken a lot of work by Maori and by this country's museums to change the thinking of overseas institutions.
“A lot of the hard work up front is working with international institutions that have a traditional, colonial perspective about taonga, and of course they count these as part of their collections. We don’t consider these part of our collections. We consider them respected elders to be revered that way,” White said.
DIALECTS TO FORE AT SCHOOL COMPS
The growing interest in preserving the different Maori dialects or mita was at the fore at this week's national secondary schools kapa haka competitions at Mystery Creek near Hamilton.
Waatea News reporter Mania Clark says the overall standard of the 31 competing groups was high, and kept the huge audience enthralled.
She says by using the traditional mita or each area, the groups made each performance unique.
“The good thing about this is being able to keep alive the different mita from each rohe, so this is good platform for keeping the dialect alive and the tikanga from each rohe,” Clarke said.
The top three teams were Rakaumangamanga,from Huntly, Te Wharekura o Ruatoki, and Te Piringa, a composite group made up of students from Palmerston North Girls and Boys High Schools.
FAT TARGET FOR HARKNESS RESEARCH
The director of Auckland University of Technology's centre for Maori Health Research is packing her bags to take up a Harkness Fellowship at the Harvard School of Medicine in the United States.
Associate professor Mihi Ratima from Whakatohea and Ngati Awa intends to study the way obesity is tackled in indigenous and minority communities in the United States, and look for ideas which can be applied back here.
Dr Ratima says obesity is a worldwide epidemic, and it is of particular concern to Maori and Pacific people in New Zealand.
She says the causes are complex and the cures aren't simple.
“The most important thing to think about is this is not something we should blame individuals, this is not an individual thing. You need to look much more broadly for the sources of obesity, particularly environmental factors like poverty, racial discrimination, access to facilities that help you become more physically active,” Ratima said.
posted by Adam | 11:05 pm
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