Option vote no confidence in Tariana party
Labour list MP Shane Jones says a low uptake of the Maori Electoral Option is a vote of no confidence by voters in the Maori Party.
The Maori Party MPs are on the road this month encouraging Maori to switch from the general to the Maori roll in sufficient numbers to generate an additional seat.
Mr Jones says party co-leader Tariana's declaration that there could be 14 or 15 Maori seats if all Maori switched over was reckless and arrogant, and there are a significant number who instead are moving from the Maori to the general roll.
He says the Maori Party's post election overtures to National has backfired.
“And the only reason the Maori seats will continue to exist is if more and more Maori see them as a legitimate way for the Maori voice to be heard in Parliament. Now, if the legitimacy was a big as Tariana insists it is, they would double in size. They’re not going to double, and I doubt if there will be one single additional Maori seat. Labour lost these seats before, and they are quite capable of coming back to Labour again,” Jones said.
The Maori Option ends on August the second.
HUI CALLED ON SOUTH AUCKLAND STRIFE
A Mangere community worker says financial benefits for Maori need to be more responsibly managed.
Sharon Wilson, the chief executive of Tamaki ki Raro Trust, says the social welfare system is destroying some families.
Ms Wilson has called a hui in south Auckland this month to discuss how government and private agencies serving the community can do a better job.
She says the death of twins Chris and Cru Kahui have highlighted gaps in the system.
“ I don’t necessarily believe the solutions can be found for our take here in Mangere and places like us in Wellington. I think they need to here what all these providers have to say about a system we can see is clearly not working for out people. And I do not believe there is one policy which meets all the needs of all the people in all the parts of the country,” Wilson said.
Sharon Wilson says she has invited Government ministers Parekura Horomia and David Benson-Pope to the hui to hear from the people doing the work day to day.
PLUNKET SERVICE NEEDED BY MAORI
Plunket head Kaye Crowther says Maori mums would be particularly affected if the Plunketline phone advice service can't find the money to continue.
The board of Plunket is digging into the organisation's reserves to keep the service going until Christmas, after the government gave the contract for a 24 hour helpline to American-owned call centre operator McKesson New Zealand.
Ms Crowther says most Maori mums have their babies checked by Plunket, and they know and trust Plunketline.
“We see about two thirds of Maori families in facer to face calling. It’s about the same in Plunketline calling. And we want the service to be available for them. It’s very important,” Crowther said.
Kaye Crowther says the Government failed to commit the necessary funding to allow Plunketline to cope with demand.
MENINGITIS CAMPAIGN SUCCESSFUL
The meningococcal B vaccine campaign is winning the battle to eradicate the disease.
Bernard Te Paa, general manager of Maori services for Counties Manukau District Health Board, says there have been no meningococcal B deaths nationaly so far this year compared with an estimated 80 last year.
Mr Te Paa says 90 percent of Maori school age children have been immunised, there has also been a 90 percent drop in cases of the strain this year.
TUREI SAYS NUMA BENEFIT SCHEME ILL ADVISED
Green Party Maori Affairs spokesperson Metiria Turei has slammed a proposal by the National Urban Maori Authority to give control of welfare benefits to social service providers.
The authority says it can make sure essentials like rent and food are covered, before parents spend the money at the pub.
But Ms Turei says there are better ways to address the financial and budgeting issues faced by beneficiaries.
She says the authority hasn't through the issues through.
Metiria Turei says what might help beneficiaries is allowing them to keep more of what they can earn from part time work, so they have an incentive to get extra income into the household.
TARAWA VOWS CHURCH COLLEGE FIGHT
One of the men involved in the construction of Hamilton's Mormon high school is vowing to keep the school open.
US-based church elders have ordered Church College at Temple View be closed and the money needed to keep it going be redirected to evangelical work in Africa and Eastern Europe.
Matiu Tarawa says Church College has played an important role in the lives of many Maori Mormons, and he will seek support from former students and supporters to ask the church to reconsider.
Mr Tarawa who is now in his eighties, says the school was built in the 1950s through the good will and hard work of the people, and more consideration should have been given to their wishes.
The Maori Party MPs are on the road this month encouraging Maori to switch from the general to the Maori roll in sufficient numbers to generate an additional seat.
Mr Jones says party co-leader Tariana's declaration that there could be 14 or 15 Maori seats if all Maori switched over was reckless and arrogant, and there are a significant number who instead are moving from the Maori to the general roll.
He says the Maori Party's post election overtures to National has backfired.
“And the only reason the Maori seats will continue to exist is if more and more Maori see them as a legitimate way for the Maori voice to be heard in Parliament. Now, if the legitimacy was a big as Tariana insists it is, they would double in size. They’re not going to double, and I doubt if there will be one single additional Maori seat. Labour lost these seats before, and they are quite capable of coming back to Labour again,” Jones said.
The Maori Option ends on August the second.
HUI CALLED ON SOUTH AUCKLAND STRIFE
A Mangere community worker says financial benefits for Maori need to be more responsibly managed.
Sharon Wilson, the chief executive of Tamaki ki Raro Trust, says the social welfare system is destroying some families.
Ms Wilson has called a hui in south Auckland this month to discuss how government and private agencies serving the community can do a better job.
She says the death of twins Chris and Cru Kahui have highlighted gaps in the system.
“ I don’t necessarily believe the solutions can be found for our take here in Mangere and places like us in Wellington. I think they need to here what all these providers have to say about a system we can see is clearly not working for out people. And I do not believe there is one policy which meets all the needs of all the people in all the parts of the country,” Wilson said.
Sharon Wilson says she has invited Government ministers Parekura Horomia and David Benson-Pope to the hui to hear from the people doing the work day to day.
PLUNKET SERVICE NEEDED BY MAORI
Plunket head Kaye Crowther says Maori mums would be particularly affected if the Plunketline phone advice service can't find the money to continue.
The board of Plunket is digging into the organisation's reserves to keep the service going until Christmas, after the government gave the contract for a 24 hour helpline to American-owned call centre operator McKesson New Zealand.
Ms Crowther says most Maori mums have their babies checked by Plunket, and they know and trust Plunketline.
“We see about two thirds of Maori families in facer to face calling. It’s about the same in Plunketline calling. And we want the service to be available for them. It’s very important,” Crowther said.
Kaye Crowther says the Government failed to commit the necessary funding to allow Plunketline to cope with demand.
MENINGITIS CAMPAIGN SUCCESSFUL
The meningococcal B vaccine campaign is winning the battle to eradicate the disease.
Bernard Te Paa, general manager of Maori services for Counties Manukau District Health Board, says there have been no meningococcal B deaths nationaly so far this year compared with an estimated 80 last year.
Mr Te Paa says 90 percent of Maori school age children have been immunised, there has also been a 90 percent drop in cases of the strain this year.
TUREI SAYS NUMA BENEFIT SCHEME ILL ADVISED
Green Party Maori Affairs spokesperson Metiria Turei has slammed a proposal by the National Urban Maori Authority to give control of welfare benefits to social service providers.
The authority says it can make sure essentials like rent and food are covered, before parents spend the money at the pub.
But Ms Turei says there are better ways to address the financial and budgeting issues faced by beneficiaries.
She says the authority hasn't through the issues through.
Metiria Turei says what might help beneficiaries is allowing them to keep more of what they can earn from part time work, so they have an incentive to get extra income into the household.
TARAWA VOWS CHURCH COLLEGE FIGHT
One of the men involved in the construction of Hamilton's Mormon high school is vowing to keep the school open.
US-based church elders have ordered Church College at Temple View be closed and the money needed to keep it going be redirected to evangelical work in Africa and Eastern Europe.
Matiu Tarawa says Church College has played an important role in the lives of many Maori Mormons, and he will seek support from former students and supporters to ask the church to reconsider.
Mr Tarawa who is now in his eighties, says the school was built in the 1950s through the good will and hard work of the people, and more consideration should have been given to their wishes.
posted by Adam | 9:59 am
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