Sharples to apologise for MTS bid secrecy

Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples will apologise to the Prime Minister and deputy Prime Minister for keeping them in the dark about Maori Television's rugby world cup bid.

Pita Sharples says as a new Minister he was naive to not discuss his ministry's commitment of $3 million towards the bid for free to air broadcast rights.

“I should have discussed it in more detail. I did write a letter to Minister English and outlined the fact Maori TV was going to bid for it and TPK might be supporting them but the detailed conversation with the Prime Minister and the deputy Prime Minister I did not and I regret that. But that’s me. I’ve only been a minister for a year and I’m still learning what you don’t do and I will apologise to them for that error,” Dr Sharples says.

Te Puni Kokiri is buying programming to encourage viewers to use Maori words and phrases, which will wrap around rugby broadcasts during the two years of build-up as well as the live games.

HENARE SLAMS TE PUNI KOKIRI SUBSIDY

Meanwhile, National MP Tau Henare says he can see no benefit to Maori from Te Puni Kokori funding Maori Television's world cup bid.

The former Maori affairs minister says government money to help Maori should go on providing jobs, but the money going to MTS won't create one new job.

“It is absolutely wrong for the government to subsidise what is essentially a commercial bid. If you agree with this, then we are going to go back to the days of subsidising and subsidies just do not work. I think we will do more damage to MTS by allowing them to dip into the government putea every time they want to make a commercial decision,” Mr Henare says.

He is a big supporter of MTS.

TRUE STORY WINS NOVELIST’S HEART

Patrica Grace has made the shift into non-fiction to capture a story more strange than the stories she invents for her novels.

Ned & Katina: A True Love Story is being launched about now at Porirua's Pataka Museum to mark the start of this year's Maori Art Market.

The book is about the love between Ned Nathan and the woman he met as a Maori Battalion soldier in Crete, and whom he later brought home to the Hokianga settlement of Waimamaku.

Patricia Grace says when Ned and Katina's sons, Alex and Manos Nathan, asked her to write the story, she was intrigued by the letters and photographs they brought with them.

“I'd heard a little bt about the love story that is at the core of it. I knew Ned and Katina, not very well, but I had met them. I realized there was a lot more to it. There was a story of war and heroism and a full range of themes really,” she says.

Ned and Katina is published by Penguin.

And Manos Nathan is one of the featured artists at the Maori Market, which runs from tomorrow night until Sunday at Te Rauparaha Arena.

SOME RUGBY TELEVISION BID CRITICISM RACIST

Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples says Maori Television's bid for Rugby World Cup broadcast rights needs to be judged on its merits.

Te Puni Kokiri has committed to buy programming around the broadcasts, which gives MTS $3 million to put towards its bid.

Prime Minister John Key says if taxpayer money is involved, he expects Maori Television to ensure its free-to-view broadcasts can be seen nationwide.

Dr Sharples says MTS should have no trouble doing that.

“Maori Television's track record is brilliant in terms of producing nationwide coverage of things as well as worldwide so they cannot fault Maori on technology and expertise. If they do, then it’s a racist call,” Dr Sharples says.

He will apologise to John Key and fellow shareholding minister Bill English for not keeping them informed about the Maori Television bid.

NEW GOVERNANCE MODEL GIVES MAORI SAY IN SOUTH HEALTH

Maori health needs in the south should be better served under a new governance model adopted by the Otago and Southland district health boards.

Tahu Potiki, a member of both boards, says representatives from iwi runanga will join a Maori subcommittee which can make funding decisions.

They will also serve on a Maori advisory group to the chief executive.
Mr Potiki says with a smaller Maori population, Maori health needs in the south are different than in other parts of the country.

“We've suffered a little from being carried along by national Maori health initiatives which have in some instances worked very well for us and in others painted with such a broad brush they miss some of the local needs,” Mr Potiki says.

The four DHB seats on the iwi governance subcommittee will include the boards' Maori members, so the weight of numbers will be favour Maori.

GAY MAORI HAVE FUN WEEKEND WITH SAFE SEX MESSAGE

A national gathering of gay Maori has stressed the continuing importance of practicing safe sex in the face of record levels of HIV infection.

The Hui Takaatapui at Te Mahurehure Marae in Auckland over the weekend drew more than 150 people to talk about issues affecting gay, bisexual, lesbian and transgender Maori.

The hui included a fashion show and a 'Tiki Toa' bus tour to parts of the city which feature in camp history.

Organiser Jordan Harris says it was a chance to emphasise healthy communities and healthy individuals.

“The rates of HIV are high among Pakeha and non-Maori in particular, Maori tend to have some of the lowest HIV rates. However, it’s still an issue for our community,” Mr Harris says.

Next year's Takataapui hui will be in Wellington.

Pariroa Pa unveils Waionui monument

Ngati Ruanui today celebrates its oldest pa and the tupuna who created it.

Pariroa Marae spokesperson Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says a monument will be unveiled to Tutange Waionui, who started the pa 115 years ago as a way to rebuild a Ngati Ruanui presence in south Taranaki after three decades of war, land confiscation and exile.

She says Waionui was credited for killing flamboyant Austrian mercenary Gustavus Von Tempsky at the battle of Te Ngutu o te Manu, but it was his diplomatic and political activities after he returned from imprisonment in the South Island that laid the foundation for the tribe's survival.

“I believe that he was round at a time he could see what these changes were going to mean for us culturally, for us as whanau and hapu, and he preserved a lot of whakapapa. He’s documented in the Maori Land Court and all those sorts of things as recording how we got to this stage and who this land belonged to and which family whakapapa was here and all of that was really significant,” she says.

Guests at Pariroa Marae this morning include Prime Minister John Key and Te Tai Hauauru MP Tariana turia.

RUGBY REO WILL BE NON-THREATENING

Maori Language Commission chief executive Huhana Rokx says Pakeha New Zealanders have nothing to fear if Maori Television wins the chance to air rugby world cup games.

MTV says if it secures free to air broadcast rights in 2011, up to 10 percent of the commentary could be Maori terms and phrases.

Ms Rokx says this would be a great way to promote te reo.

“The incorporation of any phraseology may occur at the beginning, the end, and sprinkled through the game itself we might have some exciting phrases go through, where the way you might explain things the listener is involved in the flow of the discussion, the korero,” Ms Rokx says.

Visitors will be coming for more than the games and would greatly enjoy the unique broadcasts incorporating Te Reo Maori.

WOMEN WOOLHANDLERS SHOW THEIR STUFF

The president of Golden Shears says Maori women play an essential role in the profitablity of the wool industry.

Mavis Mullins from shearing contractor Paewae Mullins says the dominence of wahine Maori in last weekend's South Island Merino Shears event is a sign of their importance.

Tina Rimene took the open fine woolhanding title, while Ngahuia Thwaites from Masterton was top junior woolhandlers.

Ms Mullins, a former champion woolhandler, says their job is to remove any faults from fleeces and class the wool as it comes off the sheep at speed.

DREPRESSION, SUICIDE UNCOVERED IN TAURANGA TEENS

Tauranga Moana iwi Ngaiterangi is concerned at the high level of depression and suicidal tendencies it has detected among Maori teenagers.

The iwi's new mobile health unit, which includes a doctor, nurse and several social workers, has been traveling the city in a caravan offering services to rangatahi.

Manager Paul Stanley has been shocked by what the late night consultations have uncovered.

“The single issue young people present with is depression and on a weekly basis we deal with at least one potential suicide case a week. It’s devastating, the amount of sadness that’s happening with these young people and it’s certainly consistent with other research around the country but I didn’t know it would be that bad,” Mr Stanley says.

Three quarters of the unit's clients are young Maori men, who typically are least likely to visit a GP.

MAORI LANGUAGE COMMISSION KEEN ON RUGBY REO

The Maori Language Commission says use of Maori phrases during broadcasts of the 2011 rugby world cup would greatly enhance the experience for New Zealanders and visitors alike.

Chief executive Huhana Rokx says indications up to 10 percent of the commentary will be in te reo if Maori Television wins the free to air rights is exciting.

She says it will be loved by visitors who want to see what makes New Zealand different in the world.

Pakeha will also benefit by having Maori put before them in an accessible manner.

MAORI PLAYERS STEP UP FOR KIWI LEAGUE TEAM

Young Maori playing their rugby league across the Tasman have forced their way into the new look Kiwi team to play Tonga next week.

Selector Tony Kemp says Australian-born Bulldogs' winger Bryson Goodwin qualifies through his grandmother's Waikato whakapapa.

Warrior Kevin Locke of Hauraki and Ngapuhi and Manly Sea Eagles back rower Jared Waerea-Hargeaves are also in the 23=man squad.

“He's a big raw boned Maori from Rotorua, someone who the selectors saw as having a bright future for New Zealand.

“The other one is Kieran Foran, he moved away from Auckland when he was 12, he is seen as one of the best halfback prospects we’ve seen come out of our country for a long time,” Kemp says.

Maori returning to the squad include captain Benji Marshall, Greg Eastwood, Lance Hohaia, Isaac Luke and Sam Perrett.

The Kiwis go into camp in Auckland today before moving to Rotorua on Saturday to prepare for a one-off Test against Tonga before flying to England for the Four Nations competition.

Police delays irk land protester

A Northland man arrested at a land occupation near Kaeo says police have failed to disclose information he needs for his defence.

Allen Heta was arrested last month during a protest against Juken Nissho's plans to log a Crown-owned block near Omahuta forest, and spent five days in jail.

Heta says his Te Whanau Pani hapu never ceded the land and retains aboriginal title.

He says the Human Rights Rights Act and the Official Information Act require the police to say on whose authority they were acting.

“It’s three weeks now. Police are acting in ignorance of the law. As far as those acts go, the law requires them to give full disclosure at the time of arrest or operation and none of that has happened. We are now asking them, was the operation lawful. Was the arrest lawful,” Heta says.

The officer in charge was unavailable.

Allen Heta reappears in the Kaikohe District Court on a wilful trespass charge on October 27.

NZRFU INACTION LEADS TO BREAKAWAY TALK

The author of a history of Maori rugby says calls for a breakaway from the NZRFU will grow if the Maori team isn't given top class games in 2010.

Malcolm Mulholland says supporters are concerned no fixtures have been confirmed for next year's centenary.

He says that leaves the door open for iwi to take a more active role in Maori rugby.

“There is becoming more opportunity for iwi to be involved, provide some financial backing. I guess the crux of that discussion is how much control and leverage would iwi want for their investment. I certainly think there is room for movement. NZRFU and iwi should at the very least be talking about it,” Mr Mullholland says.

Some players may turn down a chance to join a rebel Maori squad because it could hurt their chances of making the All Blacks.

WAKA RESTORATION READY FOR WAITANGI REGATTA

Waka builder Hekenukumai Busby is racing the clock to get Taitokerau's two historic war canoes back in the water by Waitangi Day.

Mr Busby is restoring the 30 metre Ngatokimatawhaorua, which is housed at Waitangi, and a 16 metre waka with the same name which has been on land at Otiria since it was used for the 1940 New Zealand centennial celebrations in the Bay of Islands.

He says there was a small amount of rot in the larger waka where water leaked through the roof of its storage shed, but the smaller waka was quite badly affected by spending its first 30 years in the open.

“We've taken all the rot out of the gunwales and we had to cut the front part of and replace them. All the rot’s been taken out of that,” Mr Busby says.

Restoration should be finished by November, so crews can practice over the summer.

SPECTRUM THE LAND OF THE FUTURE FOR MAORI INVESTORS

Two Degrees chair Bill Osborne says Maori land-based organisations need to widen their investment horizon.

Through Hautaki Limited, the commercial arm of Maori spectrum trust Te Huarahi Tika, the new mobile phone operator is raising more capital from Maori to fund the roll out of its network.

Mr Osborne says Maori have the right to own up to 20 percent of the company, but many of the trusts, incorporations and iwi groups approached so far have trouble seeing the opportunity.

“Maori in general have been really focused on land based assets. This radio spectrum is the land of the future and it’s the stuff that modern platforms of technology and communications are going to be built on. I think it’s good for Maori to be involved in this asset class which is about the future and is about enhancing communication in a modern environment,” Mr Osborne says.

The Maori investment is helping to give Two Degrees a uniquely New Zealand culture.

WAHINE DOMINATE IN WOOL HANDLING COMPETITION

Maori women took top honours at the 48th New Zealand Merino Shears in Te Wai Pounamu over the weekend.

Tina Rimene pulled off a notable double... having already won the Golden Shears open fine woolhanding title in Masterton earlier in the year.

Ngahuia Thwaites from Masterton took the junior woolhandlers title.
Mavis Mullins, the president of Golden Shears and a former champion woolhandler herself, says Rimene's win was expected.

“She knows her stuff. She is a wool classer by trade so she knows the intricacies of wool,” Ms Mullins says.

The New Zealand competitions are qualifiers for the upcoming World Champs in Wales next July.

REGISTRATION TRUMPS EX WIFE FOR NZ SHOWS

An original member of the Maori Volcanics says he registered the name in New Zealand so he could give a nostalgia show for returned soldiers.

That's sparked a fight between Nuki Waaka and Mahora Peters, who kept the band going after their divorce in the 1960s.

He says he invited his Australian-based former wife to be involved in the Labour weekend concert for the Malayan Veterans Association, but she declined.

“She really didn’t want us to use that name because she still operates under that name even though I don’t think she had registered it for all those years for 20 years, so o decided we better register it so we can use the name. There’s still a little bit of raruraru going on abut it but we’ve decided we’ll go ahead and use it, but I did give her the opportunity to be part of it in the beginning,” Waaka says.

Political tit for tat in TV bid

A Labour Maori MP says Maori party co-leader Pita Sharples is using his ministerial budget to score political points against the National Government.

Shane Jones says spending $3 million of Te Puni Kokiri's money to back Maori Television's bid for free to air broadcast rights to Rugby World Cup games isn't a sensible use of Maori development funding.

But he says it gives Dr Sharples a chance to look like he's in charge, after the Maori Party's humiliation over the Auckland super-city and its botched response to National's emissions trading scheme.

“There is a disconnect between what Pita Sharples is up to and what the rest of the Government is doing. I rather suspect that Pita Sharples is showing John Key ‘you didn’t give me my Maori seats, well I’m taking this, and if you don’t give me my Maori TV bid then I’m not going to give you your ETS.’ I think what we’re seeing now is tit for tat politics,” Mr Jones says.

He says Tourism Minister John Key has failed to ensure Maori are part of New Zealand's response to the World Cup.

PROFESSIONAL VS AMATEUR LOOK TO BOUT POINT WAY AHEAD

Commentator Ken Laban says Saturday's bout between David Tua and Shane Cameron was like watching the Melbourne Storm playing Wainuiomata at League.

He says the Mountain Warrior from Rongomaiwahine was never in the hunt against Tua, who used experience gained from a decade fighting in the United States to outclass Cameron at Mystery Creek In Hamilton.

He says Cameron should take a lesson from a second round knockout.

“He's a powerful boy. He just had the wrong programme, the wrong strategy, and to be honest, he’s been in the wrong country. I hope he can recover from this and then in a month or so jump on a plane, head over to the states and start again and see if he can get a good eight or nine years. I’m sure he can. He looks to me to be in great shape,” Mr Laban says.

WHAKAIRO RAKAU COULD BENEFIT FROM POUNAMU INPUT

For the first time Te Puia arts and crafts institute in Rotorua is bringing together jade and wood carvers.

The institute yesterday opened a pounamu development and training unit, headed by master carver Louis Gardiner of Ngati Pikio and Ngai Tahu.

Chief executive Te Taru White says Mr Gardiner and four other greenstone carvers will work alongside Te Puia's kaimahi whakairo rakau.

“There's a wonderful synergy between out wood carvers and jade carvers. Some whakairo carvers will spend sme time now working with our jade carvers to learn carving in the medium. Likewise there could be reciprocity the other way. We have two master carvers in Clive Fugill and James Rickard who have been at Te Puia for 45 years, since it first started,” Mr White says.

Te Puia is investing in growth despite a downturn in visitor numbers caused by the recession.

MAHY SERIES GETS INTERNATIONAL INTEREST AT JUNIOR CANNES

International buyers are queuing up for Maori Television's new 13-part children's drama.

Kaitangata Twitch by Margaret Mahy was launched at the MIP junior film and television festival at Cannes at the weekend.

Speaking from France, director Yvonne Mackay said the Te Mangai Paho-funded series caught the attention of buyers from many countries, keen to see what the acclaimed children's writer had come up with.
IN:
“It's the very first stepped into the world of Maori and she’s done that very tentatively, with great respect, and I just think maybe the world was looking for something a wee bit exotic from downunder and they’re really responding well,” Ms MacKay says.

Kaitangata Twitch, which will screen on Maori Television towards the middle of next year, has already been bought by Australia's ABC TV.

MAORI RADIO PROGRAMME DIRECTORS SCHOOL UP

The first ever hui for iwi radio programme directors aims to boost professional standards in the far flung network.

Reno Wilkinson from Nga Iwi FM in Paeroa says the hui this week in south Auckland allows the people who oversee what goes out on Maori radio to share ideas and discuss new technologies.

He says Maori stations need to cater for audiences right across the age spectrum, from kohanga kids to kaumatua, and do it in two languages.
Many of the attendees are relatively new to the role, and are keen to learn.

Maori radio umbrella group Whakaruruhau wants the hui to be an annual event.

TE PUIA LAUNCHES COMPETING MARK OF AUTHENTICITY

Te Puia institute of Maori arts and crafts has broken away from the Creative New Zealand-backed Toi Iho scheme to launch its own mark of authenticity.

Chief executive Te Taru White says the Te Puia mark will guarantee items sold at the Rotorua tourist attraction are made by craftpeople on site or trained by the institute.

He says since the institute was set up in the 1960s, expanding the carving school established by Sir Apiranga Ngata in 1926, it has trained more than 100 carvers and carved more than 40 ancestral meeting houses for hapu around the country.

“With 45 odd years as an institution and 600 years of legacy since we arrived behind the mark, we’re pretty excited about the mark. We think it’s about time. It augurs well for our traditional art form to be given an authority it richly deserves,” Mr White says.

The launch of the mark coincides with opening of a pounamu carving school on the Whakarewarewa site, which will allow Te Puia to upgrade the quality of greenstone souvenirs in its shop.

Language excuse for entrepreneuship

Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples says a Maori Television broadcast of the Rugby World Cup can be justified if the coverage is used to promote Maori language and culture.

Maori Television submitted a bid for the free to air broadcast rights for up to 16 of the 48 matches, based on getting additional funds of up to $3 million from the Ministry for Maori Development, Te Puni Kokiri.

Prime Minister John Key told breakfast television today that if there was a taxpayer subsidy involved he'd expect the broadcasts could be viewable by all New Zealanders - something Maori Television can't currently deliver on,

But Dr Sharples, who has been working on the bid for several weeks out of sight of his fellow ministers, says that's not something his ministry needs to be concerned about.

“Te Puni Kokiri has the responsibility to protect Maori language and it does so thorugh Te Taura Whiri I Te Re, the radio stations television, all this things, and this is probably just another opportunity to promote Maori language and Maori culture,” Dr Sharples says.

Maori Television has had to fight perceptions it is a second class service.

INVESTORS KEEN TO KEEP MAORI IN TWO DEGREES MIX

The chair of Two Degrees says the company's international shareholders are keen to retain Maori investment in the insurgent mobile phone business.

Maori trusts and iwi are being offered a chance to buy shares to keep the Maori stake at 20 percent.

Current investors include the Maori spectrum trust, Te Huarahi Tika, which has also provided radio spectrum to the venture, and two central North Island land trusts.

Mr Osborne says sales have been slow because it's a new type of investment for Maori, but the other shareholders are giving them time to buy in.

“The other Two Degrees investors really value Maori participation in this network. They say it gives a really uniquely New Zealand flavour to the business. And they think it’s really important that cultural values like that exist in the Maori culture are somehow engrained in the value f the network, so I think that’s particularly important,” Mr Osborne says.

Two Degrees is exceeding its targets for acquiring customers, and it's studying use patterns to see where it should build out its network.

CARVERS PART OF TE PUIA’S PLANS

Greenstone carvers have been welcomed on to the staff of Te Puia Maori arts and crafts institute in Whakarewarewa.

Chief executive Te Taru White says the new pounamu development and training unit will be open to the public later this month.
He says it adds a new dimension to the historic institute.

“It marries very with our whakairo school, our carving school, and also our weaving school traditions. It’s another opportunity to extend and build the profile of our wonderful traditional arts so we are pretty excited about that,” Mr White says

He says all items made at the institute will carry a Te Puia mark of authenticity, replacing the Toi Iho mark promoted by Creative New Zealand's Te Waka Toi.

RUGBY COVERAGE BID ASTONISHING

Labour MP Shane Jones says Maori shouldn't have to buy their way into the hosting of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

A row has broken out over Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples using his budget to subsidise Maori Television's bid for free to air broadcast rights, with Prime Minister John Key saying he'd be unhappy if the taxpayer-subsidised broadcasts couldn't be seen across the whole country.

But Mr Jones says Dr Sharples' bid points to deeper problems with the tournament preparations.

“The rugby union in New Zealand does not have a flash reputation in respect of Maori rugby, the National Government has not made much of an effort to elevate the Maori personality in preparing for the world cup. It’s just astonishing the Maori affairs budget is being used to ensure Maori aren't left out,” Mr Jones says.

He says Pita Sharples needs to prove how a $3 million gift to the International Rugby Board is the best use for funds set aside by parliament for Maori development.

UNTREATED THROATS LEADING TO HEART PROBLEMS LATER IN LIFE

A Starship hospital cardiologist wants action to fight alarmingly high levels of rheumatic fever among Maori.

Nigel Wilson says Maori contract the illness, which can lead to heart problems later in life, at 10 times the rate of Pakeha.

He says rheumatic fever can be prevented by the timely application of antibiotics to bacterial throat infections.

“The government have been saying mot sore throats are viral, which don’t respond to antibiotics, therefore don’t give antibiotics to people who come along with sore throats and that’s fine in some communities but it’s not fine where people are at risk of rheumatic fever,” Dr Wilson says.

Doctors in upper North Island areas where rheumatic fever should take swabs when Maori and Pacific Island children present with sore throats.

MAORI COACH ABLE TO HANDLE LEAGUE BOYS

A Maori touch is being credited for giving the Melbourne Storm the extra edge needed to put the Parramatta Eels in the hinaki on the weekend.

Commentator Ken Laban says assistant coach Steve Kearney from Te Atiawa and Ngati Toa was critical in the Storm's National Rugby League premiership win for the way he has managed the increasingly diverse cultural makeup of the Melbourne team.

He says when Kearney eventually moves on to a head coaching role, Storm coach Craig Bellamy has a replacement in mind.

“He fully intends to replace Ste en Kearney with another Maori or Pacific Island coach because he said (Kearney) has got a way about the players, a lot of the other clubs have had trouble with their Maori or Pacific Island boys but with Steen their, the influence of our Maori boys over there is not going to decrease, it’s only going to increase,” Mr Laban says.

The Storm has more Maori players in its development ranks ready to join Adam Blair from Ngapuhi in the top team.

Sharples ready for flak on rugby rights

The Minister of Maori Affairs says he always expected to cop flak over his backing for Maori Television's for the 2011 Rugby World Cup's free-to-air broadcast rights.

The millions of dollars needed would come out of Te Puni Kokiri's Maori development budget and does not need Cabinet approval.

Pita Sharples says the best way for Maori Television to fight the perception it is a second class service is by innovative programming such as its Anzac Day broadcasts and its sports cover.

“I'm really in favour of Maori Television growing because it will give us a chance, if we get in on that bid, to show Maori talents. It will give us a chance to show Maori businesses and our products. Our language will be right up there. It can be in two languages. I just think there’s every advantage in Maori Television taking that up,” Dr Sharples says

Te Puni Kokiri has a responsibility to support Maori language and culture, and support for Maori Television is part of that.

SMOKING STATS USED AS EXCUSE FOR MAORI-BASHING

The head of the Auckland Tobacco Research Centre says Maori are blamed for their high rates of smoking while outside influences escape criticism.

Marewa Glover says the inquiry into the tobacco industry to be held by the Maori affairs select committee next year should bring some long overdue scrutiny to unscrupulous industry practices.

She says for generations Maori have been manipulated by those who profit from tobacco sales, including government.

“It’s just such a great Maori-bashing football this one for all the racists out there to use against us but if you know the inside story you know how little dedicated funding has gone that has gone to develop Maori-specific programmes that will actually work for Maori,” Dr Glover says

She says average New Zealanders continue to invest in tobacco companies.

STANDARDISED RULES SOUGHT FOR KIORAHI FOR EURO TOUR

The captain of the national ki-o-rahi side is in Europe negotiating rules for next year's first ever international tour of the traditional Maori ball game.

The game, which is played on a circular field by teams of up to 50 members, was taken to Europe by the Maori Battalion during World War II.

Coach Harko Brown says up to now teams have agreed on the rules before kick off under a process called tatu.

“We’re just trying to standardize the rules so when we go to Britain it will be the same as France and Germany and Holland. But there’s always that process of tatu. No country has to say they have to go along with standardization. They can say ‘we want to play our rules,” Mr Brown says.

Many schools are now fielding ki o rahi of teams for either the tackling or touch versions of the game.

TIME EXTENDED TO BUY IN TO TWO DEGREES

Maori organisations have been given extra time to invest in new mobile phone company Two Degrees.

The company has been raising extra capital from shareholders to fund its rollout, which includes a process to allow the Maori shareholding to remain at 20 percent.

Chairman Bill Osborne says the Maori shares are currently held by Hautaki limited, the commercial arm of the Maori radio spectrum trust Te Huarahi Tika, and two central North Island land trusts, Tuaropaki and Pouakani.

He says other trusts and iwi have been cautious about investing in a type of asset they are unfamiliar with, but the United States and European shareholders are giving them more time to do due diligence.

“If Maori don’t invest the money the other shareholders will so we have already got that commitment. What they are doing is giving us more time to keep our proportional share of the business up. We’re very grateful for that opportunity,” Mr Osborne says.

Hautaki and Te Huarahi Tika Trust are considering changes to their structure to make it more attractive for other Maori investors to come on board.

NZRFU SHOWING NO SIGN OF PREPARING PARTY FOR MAORI 100

While Maori Television is preparing to spend millions of dollars on broadcast rights for the 2011 rugby world cup, a rugby historian says little is being done to mark next year's centenary of Maori rugby.

Malcolm Mulholland, the author of Maori rugby history Beneath the Maori Moon, says the window is closing for the NZRFU to line up the talent for a suitable celebration.

“We know that Ireland and Wales are coming next year so you would think NZRFU would be talking to them. The longer they leave it, the less likely t is that NZ Maori are going to be playing some top level opposition, and that saddens me,” Mr Mulholland says.

Meanwhile, Maori Affairs Minister is defending his support for the Maori Television bid as in line with Te Puni Kokiri's mandate to promote Maori language and culture.

FUNDING NEEDED TO DEVELOP IWI STRATEGY TO FIGHT CRIME

A leading Maori policeman says lack of funds is preventing development of an iwi strategy to fight Maori crime in Auckland.

Wally Haumaha, the national manager of Maori, Pacific and ethnic services, says iwi want to get involved in crime prevention.

He says Auckland University's James Henare research centre has been on stand-by for two years to write a strategy that would identify whakapapa patterns among offenders and set up support systems to discourage criminal activity.

“The difficulty that we face is the funding and the resourcing. Talks we are having at the ministerial level, it’s talks that we have had with different government departments but I think at the end of the day we are going to have to rely on our own people, on iwi, being the drivers of this programme in getting it off the ground,” Mr Haumaha says.

Statistics out last week show a slight drop in the level of overall crime in Auckland, with the district's crime resolution rate remaining steady on 39 per cent.

Parihaka Peace festival opens ticket office

Pacific reggae pioneers Herbs and Moana and the Tribe are among the first acts confirmed for the fifth Parihaka International Peace Festival in the historic Taranaki settlement from January 7 to 11.

Festival director Te Miringa Hohaia says more than 30 acts are being lined up for the festival, including some of the top names in New Zealand music.

He says there will again be speakers and workshops drawing on the legacy of non-violence developed at Parihaka during the land protests of the 1870s.
IN:
“Part of our goal is to create responsible communities, helping people feel empowered and get to the point of being self funding so in a sense we’re holding out in front of us the same aims Te Whiti and Tohu did in the 19th century,” Mr Hohaia says.

The Parihaka international Peace Festival hopes to attract more than 6000 attendees.

PEACE MARCHERS SET OUT WITH MORIORI BLESSING

Also striving for world peace is a group of marchers who set off this morning from the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Wellington to walk around the globe in 92 days.

There will be supporting marches in 300 cities around the world today, which is Gandhi's birthday.

The march was preceded by a blessing ceremony earlier this week at Kopinga Marae in Rekohu - Chatham Islands - to acknowledge the tradition of non-violence developed by Moriori during their 500 years of isolation from the rest of Maori society.

Moriori spokesperson Maui Solomon says the march instigator, Spaniard Rafael de la Rubia, was presented with a tokotoko carved from whalebone to help him on his journey around the world.

The international marchers were also given a Moriori flag.

“That will be taken with them as well and signed in each country they are going to and then we hope to get the flag back in the Andes in Argentina. We also hope one or two of us can go there and participate in the final leg of the journey, just to close the circle,” Mr Solomon

WHARF DESIGNS LACK MAORI OR PACIFIC CONTENT

An Auckland iwi is upset none of the finalists to redevelop Queens Wharf have a Maori or Polynesian perspective.

Eight finalists have been selected from 237 entries to build what's been called party central for the 2011 Rugby World Cup on Auckland's waterfront.

Ngati Whatua environment manager Ngarimu Blair says there were no Maori on the judging panel, and the omission is telling.

“I can't see any place that distinguishes that place as being in the South Pacific with a rich mix of Maori, Pakeha, Polynesian, Pacific Island people,” Mr Blair says.

Ngati Whatu declined a place on the judging panel because it was presenting its own plans for a Maori and Pacific cultural heritage centre on the wharf.

CAMERON TAKES MAORI HOPES INTO BOXING RING

The hopes of Maori boxing lie with Shane Cameron when he takes on David Tua in at Mystery Creek in Hamilton tomorrow night.

The 31-year-old Rongomaiwahine heavyweight is ranked seventh in the world by the World Boxing Organisation and has lost just one of his 24 professional bouts.

David Tua is six years older with a record is 49 wins ... 42 by knockout... three losses and a draw.

Former boxer Lance Revill, who will be reffing bouts on the undercard... says the fight is too close to call.

“Shane Cameron's done well to start boxing late in life, I think he was 20 when he put his first pair of gloves on. He’s done very well and he’s got a huge ticker, he’ll never back down, and neither will David Tua, so it’s going to be a classic fight,” Revell says.

KI O RAHI MORE EASY ON THE RULES THAN RUGBY

The coach of a traditional Maori ball game with no set rules says many players are taking up Ki-o-rahi because it's better organised than rugby.
Ki-o-rahi can be played by teams of anything from three to 50 players, on fields of varying size, and with no set time intervals.

Harko Brown is putting together a national team for a tour next year to Europe, where the game was taken by the Maori Battalion over 60 years ago.

He says under the traditional process of Tatu the teams sit down before the game and decide on the rules.

“You know the shambles with rugby, no one knows what’s happening, the rules change every year. This is a more open way of getting people to acknowledge their knowledge for their own rohe so it’s not about rule changes, it’s about allowing the different tribes to have their own tikanga when they play in their own areas,” Mr Brown says.

New Zealand captain Matt White is in Europe talking to officials about the rules for the tour, as the game has developed in different forms since the second world war.

CANADIAN CARVER BOOST FOR MAORI ART SHOW

A Native Canadian master carver has arrived in Aotearoa to help carve a pou pou ... or perhaps that should be a totem pole.

Tamahou Temara from arts' promoter Toi Maori says Dempsy Bobb is coming for next weeks annual Maori art market at the Te Rauparaha Centre in Porirua.

He says Maori art has become international by nurturing such relationships with other first nations artists over the past three decades.

“The premise for us was the Te Maori exhibition which opened up the way but in order to do that there needed to be interaction with first nations people and our artists have been carrying on that interaction with indigenous people for the past 30 years or so.” Mr Temara says.

work by more than 200 artists will be on show in Porirua next week.

Electoral agencies merger "largely administrative"

Acting Prime Minister Bill English is promising to listen to the Maori voice on electoral reform.

The proposed amalgamation of the electoral commission and the electoral office has come under fire from lawyer Moana Jackson, who says it could affect the outreach to Maori voters.

He says the merger should be included in the constitutional review promised by National in its agreement with the Maori Party.

Bill English says Maori were consulted on the move.

“It's largely an administrative change and it would be stretching it a bit to call it a constitutional change. But I think to the credit of the electoral agencies they’ve gone to a great deal more trouble in the last 10 or 15 years to get Maori enrolment up and I think that has had a big impact on the political system,” Mr English says.

He says the proposed electoral agency merger is still open for consultation.

INQUIRY NEEDS TO SHEET HOME BLAME FOR INACTION OVER SMOKING

A Maori health researcher says next year's inquiry into the tobacco industry should also call successive governments to account for their failure to address Maori smoking rates.

Marewa Glover, the director of the Auckland Tobacco control research centre, says the Maori affairs select committee should boost prevention efforts.

She says others besides the tobacco industry should be made to account for their inactivity in the face of a public health disaster.

“What has been done so far to reduce Maori smoking. That’s what we need an inquiry into. Why have the interventions to date been too slow and at too low a level to stop Maori smoking sooner and in greater numbers,” Dr Glover says.

EXPERIENCED ARTISTS HELP SET PRICE FOR ART EXPO

New artists exhibiting at next week's Maori Art market in Porirua are getting help to ensure their prices are realistic.

Tamahou Temara, the operations manager for organiser Toi Maori, says Maori art now has an international market.

That's why it helps to have a panel of experienced artists and curators vetting the work.

“Based on the experience of people like Darcy Nicholas, Coleen Urlich, Manos Nathan, artists who have exhibited internationally over a period of 30 years or so, they will look at the pricing and see if it fits the range of the artwork that is for sale,” Mr Temara says.

More than 200 Maori artists have signed up to show their wares at the Te Rauparaha Events Centre.

HOKI BOOST GOOD START TO FISHING YEAR

Iwi are looking ahead to a good year in the fishing business.

The season started yesterday, and most iwi asset holding companies will be leasing out their quota over the next couple of weeks.

Tony Magner from Hamilton-based brokers Tahi Marine says the sector has settled down now iwi own quota rather than leasing it year by year from Te Ohu Kaimoana.

He says they will also be bouyed by a 22 percent boost in the total allowable catch for hoki, the largest commercial species.

“It'll improve returns. You’ve got a bigger volume of fish to work with. Five, six years ago it was 250,000 tonne. Various biological things has meant it was reduced down to 90,000 tonne but the fish stock was proven to be quite buoyant now so they’ve increased it to 110,000 tonne this season,” Mr Magner says.

Up to 40 percent of iwi fisheries earnings could come from pan-Maori seafood company Aotearoa Fisheries, which is required to pay a dividend for the first time this financial year.

POOR ADVICE PUTTING MAORI IN PENAL SYSTEM

Labour's Maori affairs spokesperson says many Maori aren't getting good advice from legal aid lawyers when they end up in court.

Former social welfare director general Dame Margaret Bazley is conducting an inquiry into the legal aid system.

Pakekura Horomia many young Maori are pleading guilty and ending up with criminal records because lawyers won't look for mitigating circumstances or push for alternate sentences.

“A lot of advice given to our people who are up on charges isn’t of top quality and I know of some court areas where people are just getting them to plead guilty or whatever and I don’t believe a lot of our people are getting decent service,” Mr Horomia says.

NGATI WHATUA DESIGNE OVERLOOKED IN WHARF CONTEST

Auckland's Ngati Whatua iwi is upset its Queens Wharf redevelopment proposal has been ignored.

The iwi wasn't one of eight finalists chosen to tart up the wharf for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Environment manager Ngarimu Blair says Ngati Whatua wants a Maori and Pacific Island cultural centre built on the site.

He says none of the finalists reflect the Maori and Polynesian heritage of Tamaki Makaurau.

“So we were unsuccessful with our idea and I guess we’re hoping for an Auckland one day that will be open to embracing their Maori and Pacific Island brothers more so than just writing it down on a strategic planning document stuck away in a council office somewhere,” Mr Blair says.

Ngati Whatua's vision was for a place where visitors and cruise ships would get a welcoming powhiri from the city's best performers.

Legal aid lawyers stirring iwi conflict

Labour's Maori affairs spokesperson is accusing lawyers on legal aid of fuelling Treaty disputes within Maoridom.

Former Minister Parekura Horomia says the four biggest recipients of legal aid are big law firms doing treaty settlement work.

He says it's an unhealthy situation.

“Tensions are running high between groups of people in settlements, like part of the new business in settlements is people who are getting legal aid and then all sorts of unnecessary setting to between each other and iwi and hapu,” Mr Horomia says

He supports a review of the legal aid system being headed by former social welfare director general and Waitangi Tribunal member Dame Margaret Bazley.

BROADBAND ROLLOUT COULD HELP RURAL IWI

Acting Prime Minister Bill English says the roll out of broadband throughout the country will have huge benefits for Maori in rural areas.

He says a factor in the $1.5 billion commitment to high speed broadband wan an acceptance that commercial telephone companies would not make the investment needed to give rural areas the most up to date communications infrastructure.

Mr English says the response from Maori has been extremely positive because they realise a commercial telephone company would not have made such a commitment to people living in rural areas.

“I've been pretty impressed in the discussions I have been having with different iwi around the country how quickly they have got a sense of the opportunity and some of them have got themselves pretty organised to see if they can participate in the roll out,” Mr English says.

The government is pleased at the positive response to the roll out announcement.

UAWA SEEKS TO BE CENTRE OF CELESTIAL ACTIVITY

It will be be another three years before Venus passes between the earth and the sun... but a tono is already going out from the people of Uawa to commemorate New Zealand's part in an earlier transit.

A 30-strong group from Te Aitanga a Hauiti is headed for Europe to visit sites significant to East Coast whanau, such as the trenches and tunnels of the world wars.

Tolaga Bay school principal Nori Parata says the group will also visit Whitby, where James Cook trained as a sailor, and the Natural History Museum in London.

“Because in 2012 the next transit ov Venus will be visible and that’s the reason James Cook came out here and so we’re hoping to host the national focus for the transit of Venus here in Uawa,” Ms Parata says.

PROMISING START TO NEW IWI FISHING SEASON BY HOKI

It's the first day of the new fishing season, and the phones are going overtime as iwi asset holding companies work out who is going to fish their annual catch entitlement.

Iwi now own quota outright, rather than lease it year by year from fisheries settlement trust Te Ohu Kaimoana.

Broker and consultant Tony Magner from Hamilton-based Tahi Marine says there's a sense of maturity in the sector, after years of fighting about how the settlement would be allocated.

“Most people have prepared or organised themselves into direct relationships or gathered themselves together into groups or consortia and have established arrangements with existing players or established their own operations,” Mr Magner says.

This season iwi can look forward to a boost on the balance sheet from a 22 percent increase in the hoki total allowable catch and the first dividend from pan-Maori company Aotearoa Fisheries.

ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION AGENCY COULD STREAMLINE MAORI

An iwi environmental manager fears the Environmental Protection Agency launched today will work against Maori best interests.

Ngarimu Blair from Ngati Whatua says the government's record on resource and representation issues so far is not good.

He says the fact the EPA has been set up to streamline resource consent processes rings warning bells with the Auckland iwi.

“We're already streamlined out of resource management consultation processes under existing legislation so if there is further streamlining through the EPA all I can imagine is we are even further away from having any real impact on major projects and resource management issues that affect our harbours, rivers and communities,” Mr Blair says.

Ngati Whatua wants to see some form of Maori decision-making power at a similar level to the Environmental Protection Agency.

MAORI SOUGHT FOR HEALTH SCHOLARSHIPS IN SOUTH AUCKLAND

The South Auckland Health Foundation and Counties Manukau District Health Board are on the hunt for Maori who want a career in health.

Scholarship project coordinator Nicki Winn says the aim is to get a workforce that reflects the community.

She says more than 60 scholarships are on offer each year to Manukau residents, with Maori typically taking up about a third.

The scholarships can be for nursing of full medical degrees to shorter courses like nutrition.

Nicki Winn says scholarship recipients will be encouraged to seek work in Manukau after their training.

Wellington settlement trust weighs up options

The new Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust will soon be considering whether it should take up its option to buy the Wellington Railway Station.

Elections for five open spots on the 11-member trust have finished, with chair Sir Ngatata Love polling top of the 18-strong field.

He says as well as considering development plans for some of the surplus school properties that came back last month as part of the multi-iwi settlement, the trust has a two year window when it can buy more than a dozen significant Crown properties around the capital.

One of the most appealing is the railway station.

“Morning and night it‘s packed with people. It’s an exciting precinct and a lot could be done with it. It has appeal. There are great tenants. Half of it is occupied by Victoria University on a long term basis and you’ve got Kiwirail there,” Sir Ngatata says.

ADDICTION SPECIALISTS KEEN TO SEE INQUIRY WIDENED

The Maori Party's inquiry into tobacco is winning support from those working with addiction.

Professor Doug Sellman from Otago University's National Addiction Centre says he'd like to see a similar investigation into the activities of booze barons.

He says the liquor industry targets young and vulnerable people, and the scale of the problem requires a government response to take on the global companies.

Public attitudes change over time, as can be seen with the smoking debate.

TE AITANGA A HAUITI TRAVEL WORLD TO SEE ANCIENT POU

A carving from an 18th century meeting house is drawing travellers from the East Coast to Germany.

A group of 30 from Uawa has headed for Europe to visit the battlefields of world war one and two.

Nori Parata from Tologa Bay Area School says the Te Aitanga a Hauiti ope will also visit the Tubingen University museum in western Germany to see a pou taken from the area by Captain Jemes Cook in 1769.

It’s the only known piece from Hinemateoro’s whare.

It's the second year a Te Aitanga a Hauti group has visited Tubingen, and many individual members are also structuring their travel plans around the pou.

EDUCATION MINISTER FIGHTING SELECT COMMITTEE INQUIRY

Labour MP Kelvin Davis says Education Minister Anne Tolley is trying to block a select committee inquiry into Maori educational under-achievement.

Mr Davis says that makes her calls to education sector union conferences this week to improve outcomes for Maori and Pasifika students ring hollow.

He says National is putting pressure on Maori Party members to vote against an inquiry.

“With Anne Tolley saying the sector needs to cooperate and work smarter and more together, I think it’s a bit rich that she can say that one week when the previous week she has prevented National, Labour and the Maori Party working together on Maori under-achievement,” Mr Davis says.

A vote on an inquiry will be made at the next meeting of the Maori affairs committee.

BRADFORD GEARING UP FOR TOUGH AUCKLAND CITY FIGHT

Retiring Green MP Sue Bradford will continue to fight for Maori representation in the new super city when she leaves parliament.

As a member of select committee considering the Auckland governance legislation, Ms Bradford was disappointed the Government refused to allow Maori seats.

She says that doesn't mean the right wing agenda of asset privatization will be successful, and it's important to organise.

“We're going to need to mount a really strong local government campaign next year and I hope we can find friends and allies and work across old lines and between Maori and tauiwi to try and stop that worst case scenario happening because we are at real risk in our region,” she says.

Sue Bradford leaves parliament at the end of the month.

PEACE MARCH ORGANISERS ON REKOHU FOR MORIORI BLESSING

A world march for peace and non-violence has been blessed at one of the remotest places in the world, Kopinga Marae on Rekohu ... Chatham Islands.

Maui Solomon from the Hokotehi Moriori Trust says the ceremony acknowledges the tradition of non-violence established on the island during their 500 years of isolation from the rest of Maori society.

He says Moriori were honoured the World Peace March international team accepted their invitation to come to their marae.

“To hear the voices from the different peace traditions around the world sharing their stories and their words and their peace gifts that they left with our traditions of peace was really fantastic and they were extremely moved by the whole occasion and we were too, so it is a dream come true.
Mr Solomon says.

Rafael de la Rubia, the Spaniard who instigated the march, was given a carved whalebone tokotoko to take with him around the world.

The New Zealand leg of the march starts at the Mahatma Gandhi statue in
Wellington on Friday morning, and the march will finish in the Andes on
January the second.