Move to resolve Muriwhenua impasse

Far North tribes have agreed to work together to bring home a long-delayed treaty settlement.

Representatives of Te Aupouri, Te Rarawa, Ngati Kahu, Ngati Kuri and Ngai Takoto, as well as the Muriwhenua Runanga, met ministers Mita Ririnui and Parekura Horomia in Awanui today.

The Crown has already made offers to Te Rarawa and Te Aupouri, but it's now proposing a regional forum be set up to discuss barriers to a comprehensive settlement.

Rima Edwards, the chair of the Muriwhenua Runanga, says after more than a decade of Crown officials working to fragment the claimants, it's positive they're working together again.

“There was a one voice to reunite and to complete this kaupapa as Matiu Rata and Sir Graham and the old people started it in 1986 and that spirit was very much there today. Without each other, we simply ain’t going to get to home base, and every speaker acknowledged and realised that today,” Mr Edwards says.

The forum will try to resolve any differences before a hui next month with the Minister of Treaty Negotiations, Michael Cullen.

PARATA, QUINN CANNON FODDER FOR NATIONAL

National is building up a slate of Maori candidates to fight for the list vote in unwinnable seats.

List MPs Tau Henare and Paula Bennett are contesting the west Auckland seats of Te Atatu and Waitakere respectively,

Mita Harris, a Conservation Department community relations manager, is flying the flag in Mangere, while former bureaucrat Hekia Parata takes on Winnie Laban in Mana, and former Maori All Black Paul Quinn tackles Trevor Mallard in Hutt South.

Leader John Key says they'll all have a role to play in National's future,

“They come with a wide range of skills. Hekia obviously with a wide range of experience and talent and knowledge on the public service side. Paul Quinn, lot of commercial experience. Mita, great young guy, he’s run fo us before, and there’s a few others as well, so that is all coming together pretty nicely for us and I think will allow us to present a good picture going forward,” Mr Key says.

National is not fielding candidates in the Maori seats, which it has promised to abolish if it becomes government.

MAORI BATTALION REMEMBERED ON HAKA STAMP

The Maori Battalion has made it to the mails.

New Zealand's Post's new Anzac Day stamp issue includes an image of the battalion doing a haka in Egypt in 1941.

Spokesperson James Te Puni says the issue also remembers Gallipoli, the Somme, Passchendaele, Le Quesnoy and Vietnam.

“Theme of the issue is stories of nationhood and when we think about Maori soldiers serving in the battalion and in other battalions, they have paid the price if you like for today’s generations and that’s the spirit we really want to honour,” Mr Te Puni says.

NEW MOANA WAIATA TAPS ITALIAN STORY

As we count down to Anzac day, that's a new song from Moana Maniapoto.

It's from her soon to be released fourth album ... Wha..

The Tuwharetoa entertainer wrote Te Pae o Te Riri ... which means heat of the battle ... as a tribute to the Maori soldiers from the 28 Battalion who died overseas.

They including her great uncle, Lieutenant Kupa Haniaora, who died at El Alamein.

She was inspired by an Italian partisan song with a similar theme.

“I thought it would be quite interesting to write a song from the point of view of a woman here in New Zealand whose husband or sons or brothers were going off to fight in Italy and to ask the Italians to take care of these young soldiers as if they were their sons or their family members,” Maniapoto says.

MINISTER HOPEFUL AFTER MURIWHENUA MEETING

The Crown is offering to fund a regional iwi forum to pave the way for a comprehensive treaty settlement in the far north.

Mita Ririnui, the associate Treaty Negotiations Minister, and Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia met with representatives of the five Muriwhenua tribes at Waimanoni Marae near Kaitaia today.

The Crown has already made settlement offers to Te Rarawa and Te Aupouri, but Mr Ririnui says it's come to realise that individual claims can't be settled in isolation because of the shared interests in the closely-related iwi.

“There are a number of areas they share as a collective that the Crown is wanting them to make some decision upon, as to how we progress those particular areas, like Te Oneroa a Tohe, the Aupouri forest, a few Landcorp farms, and we put to them a similar proposal as we put to the central North Island iwi, given they all have shared interests in the central North Island forests,” Mr Ririnui says.

He says the positive mood of today's hui indicates progress can now be made, more than a decade after the Waitangi Tribunal reported on the Muriwhenua claims.

HEADSTONE UNVEILING FOR DON SELYWN AT TAUMARUNUI

Maori from the world of film, television and the arts will make their way to Taumaranui on Saturday to pay their respects to the man who blazed a trail for them.

It's a year since actor, filmmaker and teacher Don Selwyn died.

His headstone, prepared by his lifelong friend, artist Selwyn Muru, will be unveiled at Taumaranui Cemetery at 1 o'clock.

Charities law could benefit marae

The Charities Commission says many Maori organisations could now qualify as charities.

Chief executive Trevor Garrett says organisations who have charitable activities have three months to register under the new Charities Act, or could lose their tax exemptions.

He says some Maori organisations like marae could benefit from the Act.

“The law in the past has been that where money has gone to blood relations, then that has not been charitable. The Charities Act has changed that. It has said that, particularly for Maori organisations and marae where the whanau does benefit or the iwi does benefit and there are blood relationships, we are saying that does not stop an organisation being a charitable organisation,” Mr Garrett says.

Registering with the commission can help marae get grants and other benefits.

IWI PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICERS MOOTED

The Public Health Association wants to see iwi appointing their own environmental health officers.

Executive officer Gay Keating says it's the kind of option which would boost community involvement in health.

But she says the new Public Health Bill goes in the opposite direction, because it excludes any reference to Maori participation or the Treaty of Waitangi.

She says Parliament should enable Maori to tackle factors which influence their health status.

“If Maori organisations want to take up the opportunity of having environmental health officers who can make sure the physical environment is healthy in Maori environments, then we’re moving a step towards improving Maori health but also increasing Maori self determination,” Dr Keating says.

The Bill's lack of a treaty reference puts it in conflict with the Local Government and Health and Disability Acts, which also affect public health.

TURIA TIPI HAERE ON TUNA TOUR

Green MP Meteria Turei is on a one woman crusade to save the eels.

The launch of Beneath the Surface ... the Tuna Tour at Te Awanga near

Napier this week draw about 40 people concerned with the impact of pollution on the eel population.

She says tuna could once again be a major food source for Maori and non-Maori, if attitudes change.

Tuna are a crucial very healthy food source that we Maori have had access to for 1000 years. They are in the process of going extinct because of over-fishing and massive pollution, treating our creeks like drains, We have to stop it if we want to protect this food source for our kids and our grandkids,” Ms Turei says.

TWO TIER WELCOME FOR SOLDIERS REMEMBERED

They'll all be lined up together at tomorrow's dawn services, but it was a different picture when our soldiers came back from the world wars.

That's a piece of the past that Maori historian Rawiri Taonui says shouldn't be forgotten come Anzac Day.

He says many New Zealanders don't realise Maori soldiers came home from risking their lives on the battlefield to face inequality at home.

“After the First World War, European veterans were given land grants for farms and returning Maori soldiers got nothing and I thinkthat’s largely been lost on the country,” Mr Taonui says.

SELF HARM SETS OFF EMERGENCY PROCEDURES

An innovative progamme is addressing the sense of cultural alienation Maori feel after suicide attempts.

Whakawhanaungatanga is a set of guidelines to help accident and emergency departments deal with Maori who present with signs of self harm.

It's one of 30 initiatives to make the finals of the Health Innovation Awards.

Nicole Coupe, the Maori advisor to the New Zealand Guidlines Group, says it was the result of intensive consultation.

“On our advisory group we had plenty of Maori members form professional mental health, clinicians, kaumatua and consumers, so they came up with whakawhanaungatanga as the model that we would use to implement the guidelines into the DHBs,” Dr Coupe says

Whakawhanaungatanga recommends the suicidal patient be a Maori clinician and follow-up be done through culturally appropriate services.

IWI CHAIRS DO NO NEWS NETWORKING

A cloak of secrecy has descended over a two-day meeting of iwi leaders at Kaikoura.

The hui was addressed by National MPs Bill English, Georgina Te HeuHeu and Chris Findlayson, and Labour's David Parker, Parekura Horomia and Mahara Okeroa.

But Mark Solomon, the chair of the Ngai Tahu Runanga, says the politicians requested Chatham House rules, with no reporting of their comments outside the meeting.

The hui was one of a series being run over the past year, as a new generation of iwi leaders look for ways to work together in a post settlement environment.

WHANAU NEED TO ENCOURAGE EXERCISE

The manager of SPARC's Push Play programme says whanau members need to encourage each other to become physically active.

Deb Hurdle says research done by the Sports and Recreation Council into obstacles to action suggests many Maori undervalue their health.
That leads to a lack of motivation to exercise.

She says often all it takes is some encouragement from another whanau member to get things moving.

“What came out loud and clear, and particularly for Maori, is that they need people to encourage them to be active, that you can’t always do it on your own, and so the best avenue to get a personal trainer is to look around you at your whanau and to get them to help you,” Ms Hurdle says.

Fisheries Minister "electioneering"

The head of a company at the centre of a row over catch limits says the Minister of Fisheries is attacking the industry for electoral gain.

Antons Fisheries successfully challenged Jim Anderton's plan to cut in this season's quota for orange roughy in the North Island fishery.

The Court of Appeal said the minister made his decision despite there being no evidence the fish stock was under immediate threat, and advice the cuts could sink the company.

Mr Anderton says the decision has paralysed the quota management system, and accuses Maori and Pakeha companies of plundering the resource.

Milan Barbarich from Antons rejects there is any plunder going on.

“The Minister is just doing some electioneering. It’s election year after all, and he wants his way, and he wants to impart his will on the masses and he believes that he’s the only one allowed to do this so he’s now refocusing the Ministry of Fisheries to attack us again and the industry for his own personal agenda,” Mr Barbarich says.

He says the industry believes in sustainable harvest, and is prepared to work with the ministry to achieve it.

PUBLIC HEALTH BILL IGNORES TREATY DUTY

There's a claim the Government is trying to duck its treaty responsibilities to Maori in public health.

Gay Keating from the Public Health Association says there's no reference to Maori participation or the Treaty of Waitangi in the new Public Health Bill now before Parliament.

She says that will cause confusion and remove incentives to improve Maori health in the community.

“It doesn't encourage either the DHB or local government to enable Maori to participate either in the delivery of services or in decision making. Both of those are important to ensure the environmental health issues which so badly affect Maori, that Maori input into decisions there are strong,” Dr Keating says.

She says the bill should allow iwi authorities to appoint environmental health officers who can act to improve the physical quality of Maori environments.

WHANGAREI IWI LIAISON MARKED SECOND CHANCE

The chair of Whangarei District Council's Maori liaison committee believes it has a real chance of influencing the way the city is governed.

Kahu Sutherland says the committee for the previous council had a tough time as both sides came to terms with the new way of consultation.

He says most Maori feel alienated from council processes, so it's important this term's committee gets it right on their behalf.

“We've overcome so many of the criticisms, of the hurdles that we experienced in the previous term, and they’ve already got recognition with credibility and all the rest of it and established positions within the community that our councilors and senior management have a high regard for and certainly respect,” Mr Sutherland says.

INNOVATIVE WAY TO ATTACK SELF HARM

A set of guidelines to help accident and emergency departments deal with suicidal Maori has made the finals of this year's health innovation awards.

Nicole Coupe, the Maori advisor to the New Zealand guidelines group, says 10 District Health Boards have picked up the whakawhanaungatanga programme.

Maori who present at A and E after a self harm incident are now likely to be seen by a Maori clinician and referred to culturally appropriate follow up services.

Dr Coupe says making the finals is a significant endorsement of the guidelines group's mahi by the profession.

“Being one of a few selected at this time is for us extremely successful and just the fact we’re in there working with emergency departments, mental health services, Maori health services, and they’re all working together, that’s a success factor in itself,” Dr Coupe says.

AUCKLAND PUSHES TO UP MAORI STUDENT ROLL

Auckland University hopes a government push to increase the number of Maori with university entrance qualifications will help it attract students.

An Undergraduate Admissions and Equity Taskforce has recommended the university increase the number of Maori and Pacific students to match the population spread in its catchment area.

Raewyn Dalziel, the academic deputy vice-chancellor, says if secondary schools succeed in boosting the number of Maori school leavers with UE to 30 percent, it will help the university's other programmes.

“We have been trying to increase Maori students over a number of years and we work with secondary schools, We also work with adult students coming into the university, and we also have a research project, the Star Path Project, that is looking at barriers that may exist to a range of students coming into the university, including Maori students,” Ms Dalziel says.

Auckland will have special admission schemes for Maori, Pacific Island and low income students.

MAORI PILOTS AN OVERLOOKED STORY

A new war documentary aims to cast light on a previously unsung group - Maori airmen.

Turangaarere, which screens on Friday morning as part of Maori Television's Anzac Day special, tells the story of Flying Officer Porokoru Patapu Pohe.

Director Julian Arahanga says the Ngati Rangi airman was one of the first Maori pilots of the RNZAF, and served in the RAF until his capture in 1943.
Mr Arahanga says people don't realise the role played by Maori pilots.

“Every time the war is mentioned in Maori terms, everyone is thinking about the 28 Maori Battalion, and I guess these guys have not really had their stories told as of yet, so maybe this story will trigger some more acknowledgement about the airmen who served,” Mr Arahanga says.

He is also working on a documentary on World War 1 pilot William Rhodes Moorhouse of Ngai Tahu.

Antons defends fish judgment

The fishing industry is kicking back at the Fisheries Minister's attacks on its activities.

Jim Anderton wants more power to cut quotas if he feels the sustainability of a fishstock is under threat ... and he wants the support of fishing companies, both Maori and Pakeha, for the move.

He says a recent judgment stopping him cutting the Orange Roughy one quota has paralysed the quota management system, because it raises the bar for the amount of scientific evidence needed to justify changes to catch levels.

But Milan Barbarich from Antons Fisheries, which took the case, says the Court of Appeal found there was no evidence orange roughy in area one was under immediate threat.

He says Mr Anderton is misinterpreting the judgment - and the intentions of the industry.

“I believe that Mr Anderton’s lost the confidence of the industry. He just seems to be on a path of direct challenge. I don’t know why. Everybody in the industry, all the stakeholders in the industry, all the people that have been around for many years are all interested in sustainable utilization and ensuring we don't damage the resource,” Mr Barbarich says.

He says Mr Anderton has refused invitations to meet and discuss the issues.

STRONG LIAISON COMMITTEE FOR WHANGAREI

Whangarei Maori now have a stronger voice on their council.

Deputy mayor Kahu Sutherland says the new liaison committee he chairs has attracted some high profile and experienced Maori who have good relations with government agencies and the community.

He says there's lots of work to do.

“We wrote up a list and the list is a mile long of some of the ideas that we as a committee felt that we need to address. We’re prioritizing that. Certainly discussion needs to take place on things like waahi tapu, on sites of significance, on decision-making and how it actually affects Maoridom,” Mr Sutherland says.

GREENSILL CONFIDENT SEAT THERE FOR THE TAKING

A boundary change has given the Maori Party's Hauraki Waikato candidate confidence she can take the seat.

Angeline Greensill lost to Labour's Nanaia Mahuta by 1800 votes last election in what was then the Tainui electorate.

She says the inclusion of part of Manurewa boosts her chances this time round.

“We won the Papakura area last time, and that and Hamiltonhold the key for me. And I’m from Hamilton, I teach in the geography department of the local university, Maori geography. I’ve got a good profile down there, lot of work to be done. I think this time, we take the seat,” Ms Greensill says.

AUCKLAND AIMING FOR ROLL TO MATCH CITY DEMOGRAPHIC

Auckland University is aiming to have the highest ration of Maori and Pacific students of any university in the country.

Raewyn Dalziel, the academic deputy vice chancellor, says an Undergraduate Admissions and Equity Taskforce has recommended enrolments match the demographics of the region.

Maori now make up 7 percent of the student population, and Pacific students are 9 percent.

“We want to achieve a diverse student body and we want to achieve more Maori and Pacific student admissions so we will be having special admission schemes and we will be looking at students from lower socioeconomic groups to try and bring those into the university. They are currently underrepresented. We want to increase that representation,” Professor Dalziel says.

The university is looking at the barriers Maori students face and working with secondary schools and adult students.

OPOTIKI EYES UP CHINA FREE TRADE FUTURE

Opotiki District Council has some big plans for the small town after a trade trip to China.

Representative of the council joined the Whakatohea Maori Trust Board in looking at aquaculture technology in Yantai City near Beijing which may be used for the board's proposed 3800 hectare mussel farm.

The council is upgrading Opotiki's harbour so it can service the farm in all weathers.

Chief executive Vaughan Payne says it's an example of how local government can work alongside iwi.

“We are there to facilitate community visions being realized and in a small place you have strong relationships with Maori, particularly when they make up a majority of our population. We can’t be successful unless we all work together, and that’s what it's all about,” Mr Payne says .

He says the mussel farm could bring 900 jobs into the Eastern Bay of Plenty town.

LEANNE BAKER STILL PLAYS INSPIRING TENNIS TEN YEARS ON

Maori tennis player Leanne Baker is still inspiring other players, 10 years after turning professional.

The Te Awamutu based player won a $10,000 ITF tournament in Mexico over the weekend.

The organiser of the annual Maori sports awards, Dick Garrett, says Baker played the three-set final with a broken toe, and she made it to the tournament without the financial support available to most of her opponents.

He says the win is a reminder of the impact Baker and former doubles partner Rewa Hudson made when they burst onto the scene as juniors.

Treaty in way of republic rush

The Prime Minister is warning New Zealand may not join Australia in the rush towards a republic.

Cutting ties with the House of Windsor was one of the ideas that emerged out of Kevin Rudd's Australia 2020 summit last weekend.

The new Australian PM is under pressure to act, with some supporters pushing for a referendum in 2010.

Helen Clark says New Zealand has to take the Treaty of Waitangi into account when it considers any constitutional change.

“Australians have never had a treaty. They declared, at an early stage in the settlement of Australia, that it was an empty continent, because they didn’t recognise the Aboriginals as being of any significance whatsoever. Now of course people who came to New Zealand recognised Maori being of enormous significance and so our nations have been on a different path over close to 200 years,” Ms Clark says.

She wishes Mr Rudd well implementing ideas from the 2020 summit, but she remembers how little came out of a similar summit held by the Lange Labour government in 1984.

OPOTIKI UPGRADES HARBOUR FOR MUSSEL FARM SERVICING

Opotiki District Council wants to upgrade the town's harbour to handle traffic from an iwi-owned mussel farm.

Eastern Sea Farms, which is majority-owned by the Whakatohea Maori Trust Board, has a licence for a 3800 hectare farm in the eastern Bay of Plenty.

Vaughan Payne, the council chief executive and a member of Whakatohea, says people settled in Opotiki because of its access to the ocean, but successive generations haven't looked after the harbour and allowed a bar to form.

“One of our Taniwha in the river, its role is to keep that river entrance open, so we’re really trying to help it do its job as well,” Mr Payne says.

The mussel farm could bring 900 new jobs and $30 million dollars a year into the town.

HOW REVIVES MEN’S WEAVING ROLE

A Ngati Kahungunu weaver is making inroads into the female dominated artform.

Nigel How is part of a weaving exhibition at IWI art in Wellington this month.

He Rerenga Raukura - the Flight of the Feather also includes work by Alexis Neal, Kohai Grace, Fiona Jones and Suzanne Tamaki.

He says in the past weaving was considered a basis survival skill that everyone learned.

“You don't have to scratch far under the surface of our history to see that men wove nets, ropes, baskets, they were involved in tukutuku. It’s just that the women were the ones who retained a lot of the knowledge and carried it on and passed it down the generations, whereas the men’s weaving, a lot of it was passed over to European items,” Mr How says.

ANDERTON DECLARES QMS PARALYSED

The Minister of Fisheries says the quota management system is paralysed because of a run of court judgments against him.

Jim Anderton has been trying to get industry support for a law change so the minister can cut quotas if he has concerns the total allowable catch of a fish stock may be set too high.

He says both Maori and Pakeha fishers are blocking him, and the courts are backing them up.

“I'm now told by the court unless I have absolutely solid scientific evidence to support my decision, I can’t make it. So I can’t make it either way (to lower or raise quotas). So the quota system in the fisheries management is paralysed, and that’s what I’m worried about, and that’s what I’ve asked Maori and Pakeha fishing companies to support me in trying to strengthen this, and neither of them will,” Mr Anderton says.

Milan Barbarich from Anton's Fisheries, which successfully challenged cuts to the Orange Roughy One quota, says the minister is misinterpreting the judgments, and the problem is he won't work with the industry.

RATANA LABOUR RELATIONSHIP IN PAST FOR FOX

The Maori Party's Ikaroa Rawhiti candidate says the strong historical relationship between Labour and the Ratana movement is no more.

Today is the anniversary of the 1936 signing of an agreement between T.W Ratana and Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage.

Derek Fox says the relationship is a shadow of what it used to be, and Maori voters won' be dictated to over their vote.

“The world has turned around many times since then and it was a very significant ceremony and signing when it first occurred and it also endured for a very long time but I think we can see just by looking at how Maori behave today in their political arrangements that many Maori have moved on. Those days when somebody dictated or even led which way you voted, I think they’re pretty much long gone,” Mr Fox says.

Prime Minister Helen Clark says Labour still enjoys a very good relationship with the Ratana movement.

WOMEN’S HALFWAY HOUSE OPENS

A Christchurch-based service for prisoners and their families has expanded to Auckland.

Pillars today opened a residential house in Balmoral where newly released women prisoners can stay for up to three months.

Manager Ana White says Pillars also offers mentoring programmes for tamariki.

She says it's an attempt to end intergenerational offending.

“When a parent ends up in prison, the child’s doing the time as well. They get bullied and everything like that at school, ostracized by their peers and they end up having a lot of behavioural problems. They are a lot of the time forgotten,” Ms White says.

Anderton takes on whole sector

The Minister of Fisheries says he's not picking on Maori in his fight for a more precautionary approach to fisheries management.

Jim Anderton came under fire from Maori fishers after he told Waatea News vessels chartered by Maori companies were plundering the resource.

He says recent court decisions have paralysed the quota management system, because he can't change quota levels without a higher level of scientific evidence than the industry can afford.

Mr Anderton wants the whole industry, Maori and Pakeha, to give him more leeway to make decisions.

“I've had some hard words to Pakeha fishers, don’t you worry, around my table if you ask Sanfords and Talleys and others, they’d tell you. I’m giving the strong message to the whole fisheries sector, Maori or Pakeha, I don’t care who they are, that if they go on without a much more precautionary approach to the fishery, they are putting their whole livelihood and the fishery at risk,” Mr Anderton

NGATI HINE CONSIDER NEW ORGANISATION

Ngati Hine is set for a shake up.

The Northland iwi met at Otiria over the weekend to address concerns it was falling behind other tribes because it lacks a robust governance structure.

Project manager Delaraine Armstrong, says the Ngati Hine Runanga is considering registering as a charitable trust.

It will hold fresh elections and overhaul its membership lists.

“We've had different existing forms of registration over the years for Ngati Hine but we want to consolidate all that data into one database so we know where Ngati Hine live, who they are, and are able to connect with them as a runanga and see what they feel about what the runanga is doing,” Ms Armstrong says.

She says iwi members living in Ngati Hine's rohe are well served by the runanga from its operations in Whangarei and kawakawa, but more needs to be done to link up with tribal members who have moved away.

AOTEA GIVES AUCKLANDERS TASTE OF BARRIER ISLAND

Mainlanders can catch some of the flavour of life Great Barrier Island at an exhibition opening tonight in Auckland.

Tihei Mauri Ora - Te Motu o Aotea at Artstation on Ponsonby Road was organised by the Maori Womens Welfare League of Aotea.

Chairperson Noelene Ngawaka-Fortzer says the branch holds an annual show on the island, and decided it was time to bring it to the mainland.

“We decided it's about time we took this to Auckland to portray what Great Barrier Island, Aotea, is about. We belong to Auckland central so it was only appropriate we bring it to Auckland Central first,” Ms Ngawaka-Fortzer says.

The works draw inspiration from island life and include painting, sculpture, ceramics and weaving.

NGATI PAOA BOARD SEEKS SUPPORT FOR URUPA ACTION

Protecting a waahi tapu on Waiheke Island has become a Tainui wide issue.

The Ngati Paoa Trust Board intends challenging a resource consent application to build two houses at Owhiti Bay.

It's on land belonging to the family of multimillionaire John Spencer.

Interim chair Joe Tupuhi says it's also on a pristine burial site in the dunes which shouldn't be touched.

He says development on Waiheke has already destroyed many of the iwi's waahi tapu, but this one warrants a strong response.

“We will consult our wider Tainui kaumatua, Pare Haurake, Pare Waikato, Maniapoto, this is a Tainui issue. For Ngati Paoa, with its limited resources to try to respond to this, it is hoped by calling inour Tainui whanaunga we will be able to address these matters from a stronger standpoint,” Mr Tupuhi says.

HELICOPTOR PILOT REMEMBERED AT SCHOOL

A Hawkes Bay school has put up a memorial to the first Maori helicopter pilot.
William Waterhouse died in a helicopter crash 40 years ago while preparing to serve in Vietnam.

His old school, Elsthorpe, unveiled the monument last week in front of students, comrades, family and friends ... and an Iraquois helicopter crew which dropped in.

Principal Kathryn Rowe says it's tried to draw some lessons from the event.
 


“We've collected the stories some of the older people have told us about him, thios make him a real person just like them and give them the motivation as an ordinary person to step out and do something great,” Ms Rowe says.

The unveiling of the memorial, which was paid for by the Waipawa RSA, was done this month to provide the children a link to Anzac day.

FLAVELL TOO GOOD TO LOSE TO RISING SUN

A leading commentator says the New Zealand Rugby Football Union would be doing the game a disservice if it let Troy Flavell go back to Japan.

Ken Laban says the Maori hardman can't be blamed for the Blues' erratic form in the Super 14 competition.

He says Flavell is the sort of player needed to win the big games.

“Big strong mean tough blokes, belting people out of the way by contact and collision dictates whether or not they are going to win the game, so these guys have got very specialist roles to play and I can’t believe the New Zealand Rugby Union are also just going to roll over and let Troy go back to Japan. In my view, he’s a marquee player, a very important player to the Super 12 competition and a very important player to international rugby,” Mr Laban says.

NZ FIRST CLAIMS FREE BUS POLICY

New Zealand First wants to get kaumatua more mobile.

Leader Winston Peters told a Greypower meeting in Christchurch the super gold card developed as part of his party's support agreement with the Government will soon allow the elderly to travel free off peak on public transport.

Maori Affairs spokesperson Pita Paraone says that will make a big difference for many Maori whanau whose kaumatua and kuia may have been confined to their homes because of lack of affordable transport.

HAURAKI IWI MAKING STAND OVER BEACH

A Hauraki Gulf iwi says it has to cling on to what's left of its legacy.

Interim chairperson Joe Te Puhi says the Ngati Paoa Trust Board will fight the building of a luxury hideaway on a burial site on eastern Waiheke Island owned by the family of multi-millionaire John Spencer.

He says the demand for coastal sections has meant the loss of many of the iwi's waahi tapu, but it can't fight every development.

“We want to respond to this one because the isolation of this particular urupa has preserved it to date so this is not a situation where people have already built and we’re coming in as an after thought to preserve what’s left, this is a pristine site, it's intact,” Mr Tupuhi says.

He says Ngati Paoa is under constant pressure to respond to the high numbers of resource consent applications from the six district councils in its rohe.

MAORI INFLUENCING FASHION DESIGNS

More New Zealanders are wearing Maori culture on their sleeves.

Historian Bronwyn Labrum, the editor of Looking Flash: a history of clothing in Aotearoa New Zealand, says Maori dress is a major influence on contemporary fashion here.

It's creating a look unlike anywhere else in the world.

“It's both to do with the materials things are made with and also the style, the koru design for example appearing everywhere, the kind of hybridized mixture of traditional elements and high fashion you see and you get designs and materials that are worn here and people wear them overseas when they travel and they stand our because you don’t see them anywhere else,” Ms Labrum says.

She says there's a popular perception New Zealanders dress badly, but the country has a rich history of clothing, both Maori dress and Pakeha.

HAWKES BAY SCHOOLS ON BORROWED TIME

Two Hawkes Bay Maori boarding schools are said to be on borrowed time unless long standing claims are resolved.

Researcher Gary Meroiti says Te Aute boys’ school and Hukerere girls are dependent on land gifted to them in the 1850s by two Ngati Kahungunu.

But the Crown sold some of the land off, and leased the rest in perpetuity to encourage Pakeha settlement of the area.

The leases are paying about $120 an acre, compared with its current market value of 14-hundred an acre.

He says last week's meeting of prominent old boys with Treaty Minister Michael Cullen was an attempt to put the issue back on the agenda, after years of neglect.

“The bottom line if we don’t resolve this issue, Te Aute and Hukarere, it’s not an if issue, it’s a when issue when the schools will close. They cannot survive unless the issue's resolved,” Mr Meroiti says.

He says the financial pressure on the schools is taking its toll on staff, and makes it hard to attract students.

ANDERTON POINTS FINGER AT POLITICAL FOES

The Fisheries Minister is blaming election year pressure for the firestorm over his claim Maori fishing companies are plundering the resource.

Jim Anderton made the comments to Radio Waatea, after dressing down attendees of a Maori fishing industry conference for refusing to back his bid to be given more power to lower or raise quota levels.

Mr Anderton says he's talking tough to the whole industry, not just Maori, because catch levels for some species are unsustainable - and the courts won't let him act.

“This beat up that I said Maori are plundering the fish is just rubbish. There’s a certain event later this year called an election which this is more to do with in my view,” Mr Anderton says.

He says some of the people making the loudest noise are supporters of the Maori Party.

EAR TRUMPET POLICY IN BUDGET

Kaumatua who have for years lived with hearing difficulties are being targeted in a new initiative by New Zealand First.

The party has negotiated an increase in funding of hearing aids for the elderly in the next budget.

Pita Paraone, the party's Maori affairs spokesperson, says a hearing aid can be life changing for many kaumatua, who have done without in the past because of prohibitive costs.

Anderton takes on whole sector

The Minister of Fisheries says he's not picking on Maori in his fight for a more precautionary approach to fisheries management.

Jim Anderton came under fire from Maori fishers after he told Waatea News vessels chartered by Maori companies were plundering the resource.

He says recent court decisions have paralysed the quota management system, because he can't change quota levels without a higher level of scientific evidence than the industry can afford.

Mr Anderton wants the whole industry, Maori and Pakeha, to give him more leeway to make decisions.

“I've had some hard words to Pakeha fishers, don’t you worry, around my table if you ask Sanfords and Talleys and others, they’d tell you. I’m giving the strong message to the whole fisheries sector, Maori or Pakeha, I don’t care who they are, that if they go on without a much more precautionary approach to the fishery, they are putting their whole livelihood and the fishery at risk,” Mr Anderton

NGATI HINE CONSIDER NEW ORGANISATION

Ngati Hine is set for a shake up.

The Northland iwi met at Otiria over the weekend to address concerns it was falling behind other tribes because it lacks a robust governance structure.

Project manager Delaraine Armstrong, says the Ngati Hine Runanga is considering registering as a charitable trust.

It will hold fresh elections and overhaul its membership lists.

“We've had different existing forms of registration over the years for Ngati Hine but we want to consolidate all that data into one database so we know where Ngati Hine live, who they are, and are able to connect with them as a runanga and see what they feel about what the runanga is doing,” Ms Armstrong says.

She says iwi members living in Ngati Hine's rohe are well served by the runanga from its operations in Whangarei and kawakawa, but more needs to be done to link up with tribal members who have moved away.

AOTEA GIVES AUCKLANDERS TASTE OF BARRIER ISLAND

Mainlanders can catch some of the flavour of life Great Barrier Island at an exhibition opening tonight in Auckland.

Tihei Mauri Ora - Te Motu o Aotea at Artstation on Ponsonby Road was organised by the Maori Womens Welfare League of Aotea.

Chairperson Noelene Ngawaka-Fortzer says the branch holds an annual show on the island, and decided it was time to bring it to the mainland.

“We decided it's about time we took this to Auckland to portray what Great Barrier Island, Aotea, is about. We belong to Auckland central so it was only appropriate we bring it to Auckland Central first,” Ms Ngawaka-Fortzer says.

The works draw inspiration from island life and include painting, sculpture, ceramics and weaving.

PAOA BOARD SEEKS SUPPORT FOR URUPA ACTION

Protecting a waahi tapu on Waiheke Island has become a Tainui wide issue.

The Ngati Paoa Trust Board intends challenging a resource consent application to build two houses at Owhiti Bay.

It's on land belonging to the family of multimillionaire John Spencer.

Interim chair Joe Tupuhi says it's also on a pristine burial site in the dunes which shouldn't be touched.

He says development on Waiheke has already destroyed many of the iwi's waahi tapu, but this one warrants a strong response.

“We will consult our wider Tainui kaumatua, Pare Haurake, Pare Waikato, Maniapoto, this is a Tainui issue. For Ngati Paoa, with its limited resources to try to respond to this, it is hoped by calling inour Tainui whanaunga we will be able to address these matters from a stronger standpoint,” Mr Tupuhi says.

HELICOPTOR PILOT REMEMBERED AT SCHOOL

A Hawkes Bay school has put up a memorial to the first Maori helicopter pilot.
William Waterhouse died in a helicopter crash 40 years ago while preparing to serve in Vietnam.

His old school, Elsthorpe, unveiled the monument last week in front of students, comrades, family and friends ... and an Iraquois helicopter crew which dropped in.

Principal Kathryn Rowe says it's tried to draw some lessons from the event.
 


“We've collected the stories some of the older people have told us about him, thios make him a real person just like them and give them the motivation as an ordinary person to step out and do something great,” Ms Rowe says.

The unveiling of the memorial, which was paid for by the Waipawa RSA, was done this month to provide the children a link to Anzac day.

FLAVELL TOO GOOD TO LOSE TO RISING SUN

A leading commentator says the New Zealand Rugby Football Union would be doing the game a disservice if it let Troy Flavell go back to Japan.

Ken Laban says the Maori hardman can't be blamed for the Blues' erratic form in the Super 14 competition.

He says Flavell is the sort of player needed to win the big games.

“Big strong mean tough blokes, belting people out of the way by contact and collision dictates whether or not they are going to win the game, so these guys have got very specialist roles to play and I can’t believe the New Zealand Rugby Union are also just going to roll over and let Troy go back to Japan. In my view, he’s a marquee player, a very important player to the Super 12 competition and a very important player to international rugby,” Mr Laban says.

Te Aute looks for lifeline through claim

Anglican Maori boarding school Te Aute is looking for a lifeline from the Treaty Negotiations Minister as it struggles with a falling roll and limited income.

A group of prominent old boys met Michael Cullen at the Hawkes Bay school on Friday to explain the school's Waitangi Tribunal Claim and seek direct negotiations.

Land given to the school by Kahungunu hapu when it opened in 1853 has been sold by the Crown or perpetually leased to farmers at peppercorn rentals.

Old boy Julian Wilcox says the financial crunch has contributed to the roll plummeting from its capacity of about 250.

“When you've only got 110 students, you can’t offer the best quality education other schools can. If you don’t offer the best quality of education, you can’t get a higher number of students to keep the school going. They’re not talking closure. They’re going to try to keep this school open anyway. But this Waitangi claim and the direct negotiation with the Finance Minister Michael Cullen is possibly a huge lifeline,” Julian Wilcox says.

Dr Cullen gave the group a good hearing, and seemed open to negotiations if resources can be found.

TUHOE SETS OWN LEARNING STANDARDS

Ngai Tuhoe has launched the country's first iwi curriculum.

Haromi Williams from the Tuhoe Education Authority says the Bay of Plenty tribe has been a leader in Maori education since the late 1970s, when Te Kura o Ruatoki and Te Kura o Tawera were two of the first bilingual schools.

She says the curriculum is already in use in 13 kura.

It emphasises the tribe's dialect and tikanga.

“He iwi tau okeoke. All I want to do is influence the generation that’s not born yet with anything we can possibly give them so that they can succeed. I roto i to ratou Tuhoetanga, first, and then the knowledge of the world later,” Ms Williams says.

RECYCLED OIL IN AMBITIOUS SMALL SCALE TRANSPORT PLAN

The price of Black Gold and Texas Tea may be on the rise... but a Far North iwi plans to run a community bus on vegetable oil recycled from fish and chip shops.

Clean Stream is a joint venture between Te Runanga o Te Rarawa and Kaitaia's Community Business and Environment Centre.

Spokesperson Abe Witana says from June, commercial and domestic cooks can drop off used oil at 12 refuse transfer stations around the Far North.

He says the project should go some way towards addressing the region's lack of public transport.

“A young back-packer living in Kaitaia and wanting to go out to Ahipara, if he can’t get a ride out there, he has to walk. There’s no bus service been provided for that type of clientele,” Mr Witana says.

Clean Stream will stop the oil being tipped down drains and polluting the moana.

MULTIPLE THREADS DRAWN FOR NGAI TAHU TRIBAL HISTORY

A manuscript found in the Alexander Turnbull Library during the Ngai Tahu land claim has formed the basis for into a new history of the South Island tribe.

Ngai Tahu, A Migration History includes interviews done with elders in the 1930s by journalist Hugh Carrington.

It's been edited and additional material added by scholars Te Maire Tau and Atholl Anderson.

Sir Tipene O'Regan, a former chair of the Ngai Tahu Trust Board, says unlike other recent histories, it's not about the claim or the tribe's struggles with the Crown.

“It's about the migrations and traditional history of our people, even though it’s got a very strong focus on 19th century and early 19th century events it’s not a book about Maori or iwi or Ngai Tahu interaction with the state or with settlement, it’s about us ourselves and in that sense it’s an absolute treasure trove,” Sir Tipene says.

Ngai Tahu, A Migration History will be launched tonight at the Bird Room in the Canterbury Museum.

GOVERNANCE CHANGE TO DRIVE NEW LESSONS HOME

Educationalist Donna Awatere-Huata says a change is school governance may be needed to address problems with education for Maori.

The former ACT MP organised last week's Waipareira education summit, which discussed ways to tackle persistent under-achievement, particularly among Maori boys.

She says there are solutions, backed by research, but principals and teachers may need to be told to make the changes in the classroom.

“I think we have to have another look at Tomorrow’s Schools, because it sure as hell ain’t working for Maori and while you’ve got boards of trustees and principals that can run their ship regardless of how well that ship sails for Maori, then I think we’ve got to look at getting some changes from the top,” Ms Awatere Huata says

She says Maori educationalists may need to come up with a Waitangi Tribunal claim to force the Crown to deliver equity for Maori in education.

COMPUTERS IN HOMES PROGRAMS TAI TOKERAU PROGRAMME

A programme to make low income families computer literate is expanding to Taitokerau.

Coordinator Di Das says Computers in Homes has already proved a huge hit on the East Coast, with more than 1000 predominantly Maori families now connected and online.

Families are provided with computers and Internet connections, as well as training and support through their local school.

Ms Das says the programme hopes to replicate that success in the north, where almost half of households with school age children still don't have Internet access.

“Just that opportunity to get up with the online world, with technology, has been taken and grasped very very vigorously and enthusiastically, and this is really what we are hoping in the far north,” Ms Das says.

Some 17 whanau from Herekino graduated from their introductory course last week, and 33 Pangaru and Broadwood families associated with school and local marae will be participating over the coming months.