Waatea News Update

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Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Labour on sidelines for Tuhoe claim

Labour leader Phil Goff says the Opposition won't be dragged into Tuhoe's treat settlement negotiations.

Mr Goff has confirmed he was briefed last year on progress by Tuhoe's chief negotiator, Tamati Kruger.

Tuhoe is seeking not only the return of the land taken by the Crown for Te Urewera National Park, but full management of the park.

Mr Goff says Labour can't intervene in negotiations between the government and particular iwi, and it can only stand by the principles it followed when it was in the negotiator's chair.

“The bottom line for for the Labur Party is always that you maintain public access while respecting the mana and the customary rights of the people,” Mr Goff says.

Tuhoe also raised the October 2007 police raid on Ruatoki, but Labour had to respect the independence of the police to do their job without interference from Government.

ALAC KEEN TO AVOID MAORI BOOZE STEREOTYPES

The Alcohol Advisory Council's Maori strategy manager says a new television ad is a deliberate attempt to avoid stereotyping Maori.

Tuari Potiki says it was a response to research showing people are still unsure how to approach the topic, and it drops the shock approach of recent campaigns.

The ad shows a Maori footballer telling his Pakeha team mate to do something about his drinking.

“We didn't want these ads having the people receiving the help being Maori or Pacific or whoever. We wanted to move beyond that stereotype that we’re always recipients of these things. It was part of our strategy to include Maori and Pacific People to also ensure they weren’t at the wrong end of the conversation,” Mr Potiki says.

He says the Law Commission's recommendations to raise the drinking age and reduce the hours alcohol can be sold would benefit the wider community.

KOKIRI FLAG DUSTED OFF TO CELEBRATE WANANGA ROOTS

The country's largest Maori tertiary education provider has marked its 25th birthday by getting back to its roots.

Te Wananga o Aotearoa is now a nationwide operation, but it started as a scheme by the Waipa Kokiri Centre to build a marae at Te Awamutu College.

Chief executive Bentham Ohia says yesterday's celebration at Otawhao Marae was a chance to remember those pioneering years and the wananga's kaupapa of whanau transformation through education.

He says a new tradition has been created, with the original Waipa Kokiri flag to be flown from all wananga campuses on April 27 each year, to remember the contribution of those founders.
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LOTTERIES GRANT FUNDS CMPLETION OF ROCK ART CENTRE

Another Ngai Tahu tourism venture is all go thanks to the Lottery Board.

Maori Rock Art Centre curator Amanda Symon says the $650,000 grant announced yesterday completes fund-raising for the $2.7 million venture in Timaru.

She says it has taken eight years to raise enough money not only to fit out the virtual display centre but to identify and protect the 500 plus pre-European rock art sites in the Ngai Tahu rohe.

The Timaru centre should be open by the end of the year.

COMMISSION LIQUOR REPORT WELCOMES BY WHANAU HELPERS

A whanau violence prevention worker says changes to liquor laws can't come soon enough.

The Law Commission is recommending sweeping changes to the laws governing the sale and distribution of alcohol to combat what it calls a developing culture of binge drinking.

It proposes raising the drinking age to 20, banning sales from off licence premised after 10pm and making all bars close by 4am.

Ngaroimata Reid from Tu Wahine Trust in west Auckland says most Maori familes she works with are living with the negative consequences of alcohol abuse.

TAURA WHIRI SUPPORTS MACRON USERS ON KAPITI COUNCIL

The Maori Language Commission has stepped in to a row over Kapiti Coast District Council's use of macrons.

Some councilors say the council's use of macrons, small lines to indicate the length of vowels, is political correctness gone mad.

But macron defenders say the PC they encourage is the correct pronunciation of names such as Kapiti, Otaki and Paekakariki.

Te Taura Whiri chief executive Wayne Ngata says either macrons or double vowels are a good way to encourage correct use of the reo.

Mr Ngata says the academic debate over use of macrons or double vowels is over and either is now seen as acceptable.

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