Wairarapa flood fears

It's an anxious time for Maori who whakapapa to the Wairarapa as they worry whether their kainga and their marae could be affected by the floods covering large parts of the region.

Makuini Kerehi, one of the people behind the wairarapa maori dot com website, says the reaction to the site shows how keen people are to stay in touch with whanau.

Ms Kerehi says the floods are affecting everyone.

DURIE DEFENDS ETHNIC TARGETING IN HEALTH

Maori health expert Mason Durie says health funding can be wasted if ethnicity isn't taken into account.

The National Party has pledged to end all race-based funding, but the current health minister, Pete Hodgson, says he takes ethnicity into account if it can be proven to improve outcomes, such as in the meningococcal meningitis vaccination campaign.

Professor Durie told the Public Health Associations' national conference this week that the evidence is clear that beliefs, and culture and environment all affect health, in addition to socioeconomic factors.

“There's quite a lot of studies done that show even when you compare people whose social circumstances are the same, that is they have the same income and the same level of education and the same sort of housing, there is still a difference between outcomes for Maori and outcomes for other New Zealanders. That suggests that race or ethnicity is itself a determinant of health,” Durie said.

Professor Durie says a long term study by his team at Massey University has found the overall health of Maori is improving.

NEW AWARD FOR KURA

Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori, has created a new award for Maori immersion schools for this month's Maori language week.

Chief executive Haami Piripi, says the Maori language commission gives awards to acknowledge the work done by community groups, government departments and businesses promoting te reo Maori.

But he says kura kaupapa use the reo everyday, so a separate award has been created to recognise efforts that reach beyond the classroom.

MAATUA WHANGAI HEAD SKEPTICAL ON ADOPTION BILL

Former top social worker Ossie Peri says Green MP Metiria Turei's proposed amendment to the Adoption Act will entrench a cultural practice which is not right for Maori.

The Adoption (Equity) Amendment Bill will allow same sex and unmarried couples to adopt children.

Mr Peri says there was no such thing as adoption in traditional Maori society, and what is needed is a revival of the Maatua Whangai scheme he ran during the 1980s.

Maatua Whangai provided funding and support for the traditional practice of whangai, where children are placed with relatives if their own birth parents can't raise them.

Mr Peri says it was far more appropriate for Maori children, because their whakapapa or geneology was protected.

“You can whakapapa to your beginnings, you can whakapapa to your support. When there is anything goes wrong, the person coming in those maatua whangai days, he looked to the whole whakapapa surrounding that child. When they look at the whole like that, they are not seeing what is going wrong but how they can help,” Peri said.

PIRIPI DEFENDS WEEK ARGUMENT

The chief executive of the Maori language commission says Maori Language Week later this month is still relevant.

Haami Piripi says he hears criticism that the week is tokenistic, and every week should be Maori language week.

He says while that is true for many Maori communitities, there are others who benefit from a special focus on te reo.

NGAI TAHU EXHIBIT GOOD NEWS SHOW

Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia says an exhibition of taonga from Ngai Tahu is a reminder of the good things happening in Maoridom.

Hundreds of people are expected at Te Papa Tongarewa museum in Wellington at dawn tomorrow for the opening of the exhibition, which runs for the next two and a half years.

Mr Horomia says recent events may have have created a public perception Maori communities are in a state of turmoil, but the South Island iwi has shown how Maori are focussing on the future, while honouring the past.