Compo promised if quota cut to share

The Minister of Maori Affairs says he has received assurances that commercial fishers including iwi will receive compensation if their quotas is cut under the government's proposed shared fisheries plan.

Te Ohu Kaimoana is holding a workshop for iwi tomorrow to discuss the proposals, which cover fisheries which are in demand from both recreational and commercial fishers, including snapper, crayfish, kahawai and paua.

Parekura Horomia says Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton assured outgoing Te Ohu Kaimoana chairperson Shane Jones and himself that if there is any adjustment, a pay-out will be considered.

“It's a long way from that. It’s about a vested interest by all partiers to ensure we protect the species and supply. You know it’s no deep secrat that the fishing stock is diminishing and we’ve got to work out how to manage it and keep it sustainable,” Mr Horomia says.

The commercial sector has already shown its commitment to sustainability by making voluntary cuts in some fisheries such as East Coast crayfish.

RESEARCH ON BILINGUAL ED

New research has found Maori medium students need to remain in kura and schools for at least six years to reap the benefits.

Waikato University Professor of Language and Literacy Education Stephen May, the head researcher for the Bilingual Education in Aotearoa study, says Maori medium educators such as Kura Kaupapa and bilingual mainstream units are highly effective by international standards.

Professor May says whanau concerns that their tamariki aren't spending enough time learning English shouldn't be an issue.

“One of the concerns that often comes up is that children might be spending too much time learning in Maori, and parents and whanau in particular worry that this might detract from their ability to learn English and succeed academically. And what the research shows very clearly is that actually bilingual immersion education is highly effective,” Professor May says.

A summarised version of the research has been prepared for whanau and teachers.

MAORI COMMUNITY CENTRE REUNION MOOTED

This weekend's fundraiser for the whanau of a former member of the Maori Volcanics may lead to a reunion of the Auckland Maori Community Centre.

Maori entertainer Toko Pompey, also known as country singer Sammy Dee, says the single storey building by Victoria Park was the place where many Maori new to the city in the 1950s and 60s congregated.

He says the dances and talent quests were legendary, and the centre was where most of the Maori showbands refined their skills before heading offshore.

“We need a Maori Community Centre reunion. We’re all in our 60s, our 70s, our 80s, all those people who went to the Maori Community Centre. We will attempt to get all the Maori showbands back, because they left the Maori Community Centre to go overseas,” Mr Pompey says.

Sunday's event at the Weymouth Cosmopolitan Club will remember Richard Taite, who died last year.

NGAPUHI CHIEF WELCOMES TREATY GROUND REVIEW

Ngaphui chairperson Sonny Tau is welcoming a review of the Waitangi National Trust, but doesn't believe the Government should take over running the treaty grounds.

The Ministry of Culture and Heritage launched the review without consulting the private trust.

Mr Tau says Ngapuhi has never had a say in the trust, and the trust doesn't have a good record of working with Ngapuhi.

He says it's not right to charge for entry to the treaty grounds.

“That's a worry for the whole nation, the charge $12 to get on to a national icon or an area where the treaty of Waitangi was signed is ridiculous,” Mr Tau says.

Ngapuhi has a treaty claim over the way it lost the land now owned by the trust.

SHARED FISHERY NOT SUSTAINABLE MODEL

Te Ohu Kaimoana fears the government's shared fisheries proposals will undermine sound fisheries management.

Laws Lawson, the Maori fisheries settlement trust's policy and operations manager, says a big turnout for iwi is expected at a shared fisheries workshop in Wellington tomorrow.

Mr Lawson says iwi are concerned about the commercial stake they now hold in the industry, but they also want their people to be able to feed their families from their recreational take.

“Now to do that you’ve got to make sure all sectors work together and have an incentive to work together. The set of proposals the government’s putting out, the only incentive it provides for recreational fishers is that they beat a path to the door of the minister, not that they sit down with other fishier about managing the fishery, or about enhancing it,” Mr Lawson says.

He says the Shared Fisheries Proposal also raises doubts about whether a treaty settlement can be considered full and final, if the Crown can change it at whim.

KEY PLAYING TO WHITE AUDIENCE

Political commentator Chris Trotter says while he might not have adhered strictly to Maori protocol, the past 10 days have been a winner for John Key.

Maori have slammed the National Party leader's decision to take a 12 year old Maori girl from a state housing estate in Auckland to Waitangi, and the casualness of his attire when he was welcomed onto the lower marae at Waitangi.

Mr Trotter says Mr Key's decisions would have found favour with the political audience he aspires to represent, and they're not Maori.

“I don't think he’s seriously courting the Maori vote. At least not the Maori vote on the Maori roll. Of course there’s a very large number of Maori who’re on the general roll, and I think if he’s appealing to any group of Maori it will be to those Maori,” Mr Trotter says.

He says Mr Key's decision to press on with the abolition of the Maori seats shows his true intentions towards tangata whenua.