Gap a degree of concern

There's a growing education gap between Maori men and women.

A report on university graduates by the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors' Committee found that in 1999 about 5000 Maori women and 3000 Maori men completed a tertiary qalification.

By 2006 more than twice as many Maori women than men completed degrees.

Linda Tuhiwai Smith, the pro-vice chancellor Maori at the University of Waikato, says Maori women are now pursuing tertiary study at about the same rate as Pakeha.

But Maori men have gone missing.

"There might be different opportunities that men have that are alternatives to education. They might get more job opportunities than women do which takes them away. Or their aspirations for themselves are really really different, and we don't really understand that. I don't think there's enough research that tells us what's going on in the men's minds, how they are making decisions," Professor Smith says.

Getting a degree doesn't  translate into a bigger pay packet for women, with Maori male graduates earning on average 50 percent more than Maori women with degrees.
 
HEALTH SYSTEM RACISM IDENTIFIED

A Maori health researcher of says racism is thriving in the health system.

Matire Harwood, the Medical Research Institute's director of Maori health, has been invoved in workshops to make mainstream providers aware of ways to address inequalities.

She says there are three levels of racism which need to be tackled.

"We have our systematic racism, which drives a lot of inequalities in health determinants. We have one on one racism, within the doctor-patient interaction. And there's also the level of internalised racism. We might feel we don't deserve to have certain procedures," Dr Harwood says.

Mainstream health providers can learn from Maori providers, who have developed patient-based approaches to care within te ao Maori.
 
NOW TRANSTASMAN VOTING HUNTING THIS TIME ROUND

The Maori Party plans to stay at home this election season.

In 2005 the fledgling party put considerable effort into campaigning in Australia, but got very few special votes from across the ditch.

Tai Tokerau MP Hone Harawira says the plan this time is a basic two tick campaign.

"Last time we tried to be all things to all people and this time we're trying to be very focused about just concentrating on winning the seven Maori seats. The party vote as well, but the seven Maori seats and particularly here in Aotearoa," Mr Harawira says.

His team will try to knock on every Maori household in his electorate to get the Maori Party message across kanohi ki te kanohi... or face to face.

MAPUA PESTICIDE PLANT CLEAN-UP BOTCHED

Government agencies are coming under fire from tangata whenua for the botched clean-up of a former pesticide plant at Maapua.

The Parliamentary commisioner for the Environment says work done on the former Fruitgrowers Chemical Company site near Nelson may have released toxins into the surrounding environment.

Rahui Katene, the Maori Party's Te Tai Tonga candidate and a member of Ngati Koata, says central and local governemnt agencies have failed to properly communicate the extent of the hazard.

"You have this utter contempt for the people. They seem to think we don't need to know what's going on, whether it's poisoning the air, whether it's poisoning the soil, the water, whatever. We try to show kaitiakitanga towards the resource and we're not being supported by the authorities," Mrs Katene says.

The plant destroyed an important mahinga kai or food gathering area.
 
TARANAKI IWI FINALISE FISH SETTLEMENT BOUNDARIES

Four Taranaki iwi have agreed on boundaries with their neighbours and taken delivery of the balance of their fisheries settlement assets.

Ngati Ruanui, Ngaruahine, Te Atiawa and Taranaki received the population-based part of the settlement more than a year ago, totalling about $17 million in cash, quota and shares in Aotearoa Fisheries.

The coastline-based assets add another $2.2 million to the pool.

Peter Douglas, the chief executive of Te Ohu Kaimoana, says nine iwi have now completed the allocation process, and the pace is accelerating.

"There's been quite a lot of groundwork done and there are agreements. Some people have reached agreement with their northern neighbours but are still to complete the agreements in the south end. And there are situations like that which are very close all around the country. So I'm very confident about the way people are moving," Mr Douglas says.

He says having all their fishing assets will help iwi maximise their participation in the fishing industry.
 
EDUCATION CHALLENGE FOR NEW CENTURY

Maori educationalists are meeting in Christchurch to discuss challenges to Maori education in the 21st Century.

Norm Dewes, the chief executive of urban Maori authority Nga Maata Waka, which is hosting the hui, says there has been huge investment into a system which successfully educates Pakeha and the wealthy, and fails Maori and the poor.

He says Maori have developed alternatives, but they can't put them into practice.

"The system is too tunnel-visioned and it thinks 'this is the way we teach you an that's the only way to learn.' We say there's more than one way to skin a cat. We're saying a lot of our children and a lot of our people are missing out on opportunities, simply because the system in refusing to be flexible," Mr Dewes says.

There will be major social and economic problems unless the Maori who make up 20 percent of the school population get a proper education.