Maori Wardens calm commuter trains

Auckland rail commuters have been able to get home today thanks to Maori wardens.

The Rail and Maritime Workers union had planned a stop work this afternoon over safety issues which would have disrupted train services in the city.

But co-ordinator Todd Valster the meeting was called off when train operator Veolia agreed to provide more Maori wardens on late night trains.

He says the workers appreciate the wardens' mahi.

“They do have a presence and a mana and are able to keep things under control, as opposed to minimum wage security people that often don’t keep things under control,” Mr Valster says.

Previously the wardens rode on school trains and then came back on around 8pm, but for a two month trial they will be on all evening trains.

MORE CO-MANAGEMENT DEALS LIKELY AFTER WAIKATO RIVER

There may be more natural resource settlements involving co-management with Maori.

Parliament yesterday passed the Waikato-Tanui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill, which gives iwi a say in how the river is cleaned up and used.

Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples says the law points the way ahead by focusing on outcomes rather than ownership, providing a basis for cooperation.

“There's no doubt that this could inspire other iwi and other rivers to be considered at least in terms of some of the ways it was done, so really pleased about that,” Dr Sharples says.

A similar arrangement could be considered for the Whanganui River.

BELLBIRDS REINTRODUCED TO HAMILTON AREA

The call of the bellbird will ring again in Kirikiroa.

On Sunday 50 korimako will be released into Te Parapara, Hamilton City Gardens.

Wiremu Puke from Nga Mana Toopu o Kirikiriroa says the birds have been absent from the city for decades, as development wiped out the stands of kahikitea and the swamps where they fed.

He says an urban planting programme is making the area more attractive for other species of maanu.

“There are already significant gains in the planting programme as kahikitea and tawa and miro are reestablished, it may be time to look at the reintroduction of kaka and other birds,” Mr Puke says.

The korimako will come from Tiritiri Matangi Island and Tawharanui Regional Park north of Auckland, and some may eventually find their way to the forests of Mt Pirongia and Maungatautari.

MANUFACTURING RISE PULLS MAORI OFF DOLE QUEUE

An uptick in manufacturing appears to be helping Maori off the dole.

Benefit figures out today show the number of people getting an unemployment benefit in April dropped by nearly 500, compared with a rise of more than 4000 at the same time last year.

Welfare Minister Paula Benefit says the majority of those moving into work were Maori.

Bill Rosenberg, the economist for the Council of Trade Unions, says sectors like manufacturing, agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors are all high employers of Maori, and they are hiring again.

“Manufacturing has been deep in the doldrums, hit very hard by the recession, now just starting to bottom out and rise again, may be starting to take on more people and Maori are starting to benefit from that,” Mr Rosenberg says.

He says manufacturing is far from its peak of two or three years ago, so the high rate of Maori unemployment is likely to continue for some time.

FRESH TOUR TAKES POETS TO BAY OF PLENTY SCHOOLS

Three Maori poets and songwriters are at the Ballroom Cafe in Wellington to hone some of the skills they hope to pass on to secondary school students.

Tarah Rudolph-Ah kiau, Rawiri James and Troy Hunt are the team for this year's Fresh Tour organised by Toi Maori Aotearoa's literary committees.

Mr Hunt says next week they'll be in Bay of Plenty schools, encouraging rangatahi to create their own stories and perform them in public.

Troy Hunt says the Fresh format is for a one-hour performance at each school followed by workshops on storytelling and presentation.

AOTEA COMPETITIONS END TE MATATINI REGIONAL CONTESTS

The rise of Patea Maori Club's Poi E back up the charts after a 25 year break will be a source of pride for contestants in tomorrow's Aotea region kapa haka championships in Whanganui.

Nine teams will take the stage of the Springvale Stadium, including one from the Patea club, two from Te Reanga Morehu o Ratana, and three from Te Matapihi, the roopu led by kapa haka icon Morvin Simon.

Willie Te Aho, the event manager for Te Matatini, says while a team from the region is yet to win the national championships, Aotea's distinct style is always valued and has taken kapa haka round the world.

Aotea will complete the regional championships, and teams will start preparing new material for Te Matatini in Gisborne in February.

Teachers needing lessons on smoking

A Maori tobacco researcher wants smoking cessation resources put in to help teachers who smoke to quit.

Marewa Glover from Auckland University's school of population health says a survey of more than 2000 teachers found Maori figured prominently in the 9 percent of teachers who still smoke.

She says 88 percent of teachers agreed they can influence students' attitudes to smoking, and 79 percent believe teachers should set a good example by not smoking.

Dr Glover says quit services are most needed for staff at low decile schools and those with large Maori and Pasifika rolls.

“They don't have time to get out during the day because they’re there at school teaching and if services are only operating 9 to 5 a lot of people working like that can’t get to them so we need to find ways of getting the cessation support to workplaces and schools and to staff and teachers that need it,” she says.

More than 60 percent of teachers supported last week's tobacco price hike.

PSA FEARS QUALITY LOSS FROM WHANAU ORA UNDER-FUNDING

The Public Service Association is concerned the allocation of only $37 million a year to Whanau Ora will mean job losses and poorer quality.

National secretary Richard Wagstaff says Whanau Ora needs to be a new way of delivering social services, not just privatisation with a Maori name.

He says in the past when when programmes such as disability services have gone from state providers to non-government organisations, under-funding meant wage cuts, high staff turnover and casualised workforces.

“Nobody wants Whanau Ora to fail but unless we have real commitment to decent quality jobs, decent training, decent conditions of work, that’s a real risk and we don’t want to see that happen,” Mr Wagstaff says.

The PSA has been unable to get answers from a departmental or ministerial level about which services will be cut to fund whanau ora.

MAORI PLAYWRIGHTS GIVEN STAGE IN PAPAKURA

Maori playwrights are being given a chance to hone their craft at next month's Taonga Whakaari Festival in Papakura.

Organiser Graeme Bennett, the manager of the Hawkins Theatre, says the inaugural festival includes play new and old by Albert Belz, Briar Grace Smith and newcomer Whiti Hereaka.

He says young Maori youth in the area are passionate about performing arts, and the festival provides an opportunity for them to see some of the top Maori writers, directors and actors at work.

“We're trying to provide employment opportunities and this is also a great way to get Maori involved in theatre at all levels. We’ve seen great opportunities, we see great story lines, and they haven’t reached their full potential,” Mr Bennett says.

The Taonga Whakaari Maori Playwrights Festival also includes a 24 hour challenge, in which five teams of Maori playwrights, directors and actors will be given 24 hours to write, rehearse and perfom 15-minute plays.

WHANAU ORA OFFERING WAYS TO MEASURE REAL RESULTS

The head of a west Auckland Maori social service provider says the new Whanau Ora delivery model will shake up the welfare sector.

John Tamihere says Te Whanau o Waipareira wants to be one of the 20 Whanau Ora providers, and it has been training its staff to be community navigators under the new model.

He says Whanau Ora has built in outcomes-based reporting, so people will no longer be paid just to manage problems.

“You got to be paid and resourced to fix the problem and so Whanau Ora for the first time allows that assessment so you know the quality of your spend, you know the bang for your buck for a change. Mainstream organisations don’t have it, nor do mainstream government department. They have an input output compliance but wouldn’t know after all those inputs and outputs whether it was really working among the tougher parts of their clients,” Mr Tamihere says.

He says the $37 million a year set aside for Whanau Ora is enough to start changing the system.

MAORI DADS PROUD OF ROLE

A research project looking at young Maori families in the Wairarapa has challenged previous reports on working class fathers.

Doctoral candidate Gareth Rouch from Massey University's school of psychology says academic literature on working class fathers was based on studies of African-American men.

His research involved lengthy interviews with 23 Wairarapa fathers, either Maori or with a Maori partner.

He says the fathers valued their home and family more than possessions, and believed being a father gives them more respect in the community.

“Becoming a dad meant these men were able to have a legitimate emotional relationship, they were about to talk about aroha, they were able to talk about compassion, they had a reason for doing that, and they truly enjoyed that,” Mr Rouch says.

The research was an extension of his earlier work which led to the book Boys Raising babies; Adolescent Fatherhood in New Zealand.

HOMAI TE PAKIPAKI BACK ON AIR

One of Maori TV's most popular shows is back on air tonight.

Homai Te Pakipaki producer Erina Tamepo says the weekly live to air talent quests succeed because it's great fun and it's accessible for singers and audience alike.

Entry is not restricted to Maori and anyone wanting to participate should turn up at Maori Telelvison's newmarket studios by 4 PM for auditions.

Erina Tamepo says the show going into its fourth season attracts many non-Maori viewers who love its spontaneity and Maori kaupapa.

Bipartisan support for river settlement

Politics was set aside as today as Parliament passed the Waikato-Tanui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill.

The galleries of the debating chamber were jammed with kaumatua and kuia who had traveled down to Wellington to witness the birth of a new management body for the awa.

Labour's Maori Affairs spokesperson, Parekura Horomia, says Treaty Negotiations minister Chris Finlayson has done a good job refining the co-mangement model developed under the previous Labour government, and it's now up to iwi and other stakeholders along the river to make it work.

“Maori have given plenty to get into this position and now it’s up to the other partners whether it’s the environment people or the local authorities and Paheha farmers and I think Maori need to be really proud about today’s management model because I think it’s a serious model for the future,” he says.

Mr Horomia congratulated Tainui's negotiators Tukuroirangi Morgan and the late Lady Raiha Mahuta for their vision.

ACCESSIBILITY OF REO IMPORTANT TO TAURA WHIRI HEAD

The Maori language commission's new chief executive wants to make sure te reo is accessible to all who want to learn it.

Glenis Philip-Barbara from Ngati Porou is currently heading the Business and Development programme at Te Tairawhiti Polytechnic in Gisborne.

She says while Te Taura Whiri's main function is to ensure Maori have the resources they need to maintain their language, she's conscious many non-Maori are also keen to learn the language.
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“Their thinking is quite simple. To them te reo Maori is the language of Aotearoa New Zealand and so they want a part of that. They want to participate in a valid way in a language that is the heart beat of Aotearoa,” Ms Philip-Barbara says.

She takes up her new role in July.

WAIHEKE URUPA IN NEED OF PROTECTION

Waiheke Maori are keen to get on with protecting urupa which has been turned into a picnic ground.

The island's community board has committed up to $20,000 to scope out what is needed to tidy up the area on the Matiatia foreshore.

Sally Smith, the treasurer of Piritahi Marae, says the board only acted after Ngati Paoa complained the site was being neglected while money was spent upgrading the Pakeha pioneer cemetery above Te Matuku Bay.

“It's in a very sad state. The picket fence around the existing grave is rotten. You can pull it apart with your hands if you so wish. There are rubbish tins in the path and picnic tables sitting directly over known graves, and vehicles are allowed to drive over the area,” Ms Smith says.

A good start would be removal of the picnic tables and some signs so people know the area is sacred.

PRESENCE AT PARLIAMENT BRING SETTLEMENT HOME

Parliament this afternoon echoed to the sounds of ancient moteatea as Tauinui marked the passing of the bill settling its claims to the Waikato River.

In a rare concession to parliamentary protocol, former MPs Koro Tainui Wetere, Tukoroirangi Morgan and Michael Cullen were joined by King Tuheitia on the floor of the house.

Waatea reporter Mania Clarke says as a younger member of the iwi, she felt privileged to witness the moment.

“If you date it back to 1863 when Waikato was invaded and the land and the river taken, to come to this time this generation feels privileged to see this come about.

“I feel proud of those who have worked like Tukoroirangi Morgan, like Lady Raiha Mahuta, like Te Arikinui right back to the Kingitanga being established to eventually get our land that was raupatu and our river retruned back to us
This is history being made for our generation of Waikato uri so a very proud day and a very happy day,” Ms Clark says.

START OF THE WHANAU ORA REVOLUTION

The head of one of the likely whanau ora deliverers says today's announcement of a $134 million investment in the policy is a victory for Maori.

John Tamihere from West Auckland's Waipareira Trust says while the Budget sum, to be spread over four years, is lower than many hoped for, it's enough to start a major shift in the way health and welfare services are delivered to communities.

He says once providers start providing wraparound care for whanau, they will be able to draw other resources into the programme.

“The only risk to Whanau Ora is the senior doyens of the bureaucracy ensuring that it won’t work. The only way that it will work is if they start to accept they have to unbundle and they have to talk with us, that we are part of the solution and not part of the problem,” Mr Tamihere says.

The outcomes-based reporting around whanau ora will mean for the first time people will be able to see whether money spent out welfare can have a positive effect.

POI E STUNT TO KEEP BUZZ ABOUT FILM ALIVE

Promoters of the box office hit Boy are trying to create a flash mob to re-enact the film's title song in Wellington next week.

Trevor Shailer from advertising agency GSL Network there's a lot of Maori out there who'd live to take part in a spontaneous rendition of the Patea Maori Club hit Poi-E.

They'll be able to find out the date, time and venue for the reeneactment by social media.

“Maori are huge users of technology and there is a real opportunity to use the Internet and social media space and get the message out about Poi E and the awesome film that Taika's done,” Mr Shailer says.

BOY has already netted $6million at New Zealand cinemas and Poi e is riding high in the charts.

Waikato signing marks new era for river

Waikato-Tainui is looking forward to having a say in managing its awa.

A large contingent from the iwi will be arriving in Wellington in the next few hours to witness the third reading of the Waikato-Tanui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill just after three this afternoon.

Spokesperson Moko Tini-Templeton says once the ink is dry and the celebratory cup of tea is drunk, the real work begins cleaning up the river for future generations.

The settlement creates a management body for the river, including iwi and local government representatives.

INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION OF WEASEL WORDS

The Greens' leader Metiria Turei is welcoming international condemnation of the Government's lack of commitment to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Ms Turei says even though New Zealand has affirmed the document, respected indigenous commentators have noticed its emphasis that the declaration is aspirational and non-binding.

She says this country needs to do better when taking on international human rights commitments.

“We need to have that international condemnation of the lack of commitment by the Government to adhere to the declaration, to work through its precepts and look at how our domestic policy needs to change, and the more international condemnation of its weasel words, the better,” Ms Turei says.

FRENCH PARLIAMENT VOTES TO LET TOI MOKO GO HOME

National museum Te Papa Tongarewa hopes some of the 20 toi moko held in French museums will be back in Aotearoa by Christmas.

The French Parliament this week voted 577 to 8 in favour of allowing the mummified tattooed Maori heads to be repatriated.

Museum acting director Michele Hippolite says it's been a long campaign, and Te Papa is applauding the realisation that for Maori toi moko are not curios or artefacts but ancestors.

She says more work is needed to find what the museums hold and how they might have got the items, as well as where the toi moko came from.

TAINUI ON HAND TO WITNESS RIVER SETTLEMENT

A large ope from Waikato-Tainui is in Wellington today to witness the passing of a bill settling the iwi's river claims.

Three bus loads of kaumatua headed out of Huntly, Ngaruawahia and Hamilton last night, and many more are expected at a powhiri at Pipitea Marae this morning.

Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson says after the third reading about 3.30 pm, there will be a special ceremony for the iwi at Parliament.
He says once the bill is given the royal assent, Tainui and other tribes along the river will become part of a new authority charged with cleaning it up.

“It's not going to happen in the first 100 days. It’s not going to happen in the first 1000 days. It’s going to take many years to restore the health of the river. But both the tribe and the regional government say let us begin,” Mr Finlayson says.

There is sadness that Lady Raiha Mahuta was not able to live long enough to see the passing of the settlement she negotiated on Tainui's behalf.

NGAI TAHU BUSINESS LOOKS TO CHINA FOR GROWTH

Delegations from Ngai Tahu are off to the Shanghai World Expo to advance the South Island iwi's commercial interests in China.

Greg Campbell, the chief executive of Ngai Tahu Holdings, says the company is a key sponsor of the New Zealand pavilion, alongside companies like Zespri, Fonterra and Air New Zealand.

He says 80 percent of the tribe's fish exports go to China, and it's also keen to promote its tourism activities to the Chinese market.

“We are primarily there to grow our business contacts and our relationships and understandings around doing business within China We’ve identified that as a tremendous opportunity for our businesses and for the wealth of the iwi ultimately,” Mr Campbell says.

NGATI POROU APPOINTED TO TOP TAURA WHIRI ADMIN JOB

Ngati Porou educationalist Glenis Philip-Barbara has been appointed the new Chief Executive of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori, the Maori Language Commission.

She is currently director of business development at Gisborne's Tairawhiti Polytechnic.

Ms Philip-Barbara says it's her dream job.

“The reason I took this job is because I love the Maori language strategy and I like the direction Taura Whiri is moving and that’s really about taking our reo and putting it back into the homes of our people, embedding it in the framework of our nation as a normal part of our everyday lives. I mean that’s the vision that had me apply for the job in the first place. That’s where my heart is,” Ms Philip-Barbara says.

As a teacher and researcher she has seen the powerful positive impact that learning te reo Maori has for Maori and the insight gained by non- Maori people who take the time to learn.

Waikato signing marks new era for river
Waikato-Tainui is looking forward to having a say in managing its awa.

A large contingent from the iwi will be arriving in Wellington in the next few hours to witness the third reading of the Waikato-Tanui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill just after three this afternoon.

Spokesperson Moko Tini-Templeton says once the ink is dry and the celebratory cup of tea is drunk, the real work begins cleaning up the river for future generations.

The settlement creates a management body for the river, including iwi and local government representatives.

INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION OF WEASEL WORDS

The Greens' leader Metiria Turei is welcoming international condemnation of the Government's lack of commitment to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Ms Turei says even though New Zealand has affirmed the document, respected indigenous commentators have noticed its emphasis that the declaration is aspirational and non-binding.

She says this country needs to do better when taking on international human rights commitments.

“We need to have that international condemnation of the lack of commitment by the Government to adhere to the declaration, to work through its precepts and look at how our domestic policy needs to change, and the more international condemnation of its weasel words, the better,” Ms Turei says.

FRENCH PARLIAMENT VOTES TO LET TOI MOKO GO HOME

National museum Te Papa Tongarewa hopes some of the 20 toi moko held in French museums will be back in Aotearoa by Christmas.

The French Parliament this week voted 577 to 8 in favour of allowing the mummified tattooed Maori heads to be repatriated.

Museum acting director Michele Hippolite says it's been a long campaign, and Te Papa is applauding the realisation that for Maori toi moko are not curios or artefacts but ancestors.

She says more work is needed to find what the museums hold and how they might have got the items, as well as where the toi moko came from.

TAINUI ON HAND TO WITNESS RIVER SETTLEMENT

A large ope from Waikato-Tainui is in Wellington today to witness the passing of a bill settling the iwi's river claims.

Three bus loads of kaumatua headed out of Huntly, Ngaruawahia and Hamilton last night, and many more are expected at a powhiri at Pipitea Marae this morning.

Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson says after the third reading about 3.30 pm, there will be a special ceremony for the iwi at Parliament.
He says once the bill is given the royal assent, Tainui and other tribes along the river will become part of a new authority charged with cleaning it up.

“It's not going to happen in the first 100 days. It’s not going to happen in the first 1000 days. It’s going to take many years to restore the health of the river. But both the tribe and the regional government say let us begin,” Mr Finlayson says.

There is sadness that Lady Raiha Mahuta was not able to live long enough to see the passing of the settlement she negotiated on Tainui's behalf.

NGAI TAHU BUSINESS LOOKS TO CHINA FOR GROWTH

Delegations from Ngai Tahu are off to the Shanghai World Expo to advance the South Island iwi's commercial interests in China.

Greg Campbell, the chief executive of Ngai Tahu Holdings, says the company is a key sponsor of the New Zealand pavilion, alongside companies like Zespri, Fonterra and Air New Zealand.

He says 80 percent of the tribe's fish exports go to China, and it's also keen to promote its tourism activities to the Chinese market.

“We are primarily there to grow our business contacts and our relationships and understandings around doing business within China We’ve identified that as a tremendous opportunity for our businesses and for the wealth of the iwi ultimately,” Mr Campbell says.

NGATI POROU APPOINTED TO TOP TAURA WHIRI ADMIN JOB

Ngati Porou educationalist Glenis Philip-Barbara has been appointed the new Chief Executive of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori, the Maori Language Commission.

She is currently director of business development at Gisborne's Tairawhiti Polytechnic.

Ms Philip-Barbara says it's her dream job.

“The reason I took this job is because I love the Maori language strategy and I like the direction Taura Whiri is moving and that’s really about taking our reo and putting it back into the homes of our people, embedding it in the framework of our nation as a normal part of our everyday lives. I mean that’s the vision that had me apply for the job in the first place. That’s where my heart is,” Ms Philip-Barbara says.

As a teacher and researcher she has seen the powerful positive impact that learning te reo Maori has for Maori and the insight gained by non- Maori people who take the time to learn.

Rush to sell water before treaty issues settled

The Greens say there should be no contracting out of water services until Maori rights to own and manage water have been resolved.

Local Government Minister Rodney Hide has introduced legislation to allow councils to contract out water services for up to 35 years.

Greens leader Meteria Turei says as well as transforming water services from public good to a source of private profit, the bill ignores Maori and treaty interests.

“Issues around who owns water or who has the right to manage water from a tikanga Maori point of view has not been settled yet so any attempt to start the process of charging for water needs to be preceded by a proper sorting out of the Maori interest in water,” Ms Turei says.

PHONE GAMES HELP MAORI TEENS TACKLE DEPRESSION

Auckland University psychiatrists are working with Maori computer game developers and kaumatua to develop high tech games which can help adolescents overcome depression.

Professor Sally Merry says one in five Maori women will have suffered a bout of depression by the time they are 18, and psychiatrists need to find culturally appropriate interventions.

She says game developer Maru Nihoniho worked with doctoral student Matt Stewart and kaumatua Rawiri Wharemate on Internet and cell phone games which make use of Maori mythology.

“There's a particular need for Maori adolescents because they are at particular risk for depression, but also we have protocols to actually work in partnership with Maori and I have been fortunate to have a kaumatua we have worked with for years to try to ensure anything we do is appropriate for Maori,” Professor Merry says.

The team has been fired up by the enthusiastic response the games got from this week's congress of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists congress in Auckland.

LAND TRUST LOOKS AT GETTING PROPERTIES THAT PAY WAY

A successful central North Island Maori land trust is on the hunt for poorly performing farms it can turn around.

Chairperson Andrew Kusabs says Rangatira 8-A 17 used profits from subdividing what used to be a sawmill's rubbish dump to buy the 220 hectare dairy farm at Reporoa, which is a finalist in this year's Ahuwhenua awards for Maori farming excellence.

He says the trust, which represents 1500 owners from the Rauhotu hapu of Ngati Tuwharetoa, still owns 15 hectares of land around Taupo.

Some of that land could be swapped for farm land once market conditions improve.

“It's possible we could subdivide that and do the same thing we’ve done in this case, purchasing a farm or other properties. I don’t care what we buy as long as it’s self-sustaining,” Mr Kusabs says.

An Ahuwhenua open day will be held on Rangatira 8-A 17's Reporoa property tomorrow.

TAINUI EXPRESS HEADS FOR WELLINGTON

It's all aboard the Tainui Express, as members of the tribe head to Wellington to witness the third reading of a bill giving the iwi a say in the management of the Waikato River.

Spokesperson Moko Tini-Templeton says three buses of kaumatua are traveling down overnight, and dozens more people are traveling by car.

They'll be welcomed by Taranaki Whanui on to Pipitea Marae at 11 before heading over to Parliament.

The Waikato-Tanui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill is due to be passed about 3.30pm

THREE STRIKES BILL OUTWEIGHS THE POSITIVES

The Greens say the three strikes bill which passed its second reading yesterday shows the government is out of touch with Maori.

Leader Meteria Turei says the criminal justice system is already weighted against Maori in arrests and sentencing, and the bill is likely to subject many Maori to extremely long sentences.

She says that will harm Maori whanau and communities.

“This is a government that on one hand is going out and doing their best to schmooze Maori in all sorts of areas and then at the same time where it counts, where the policies directly affect us, they’re quite happy to have corrections policy that is more likely to put us in jail for longer,” Ms Turei says.

She says Corrections and Police Minister Judith Collins has taken a narrow and conservative approach and refused to engage in real dialogue on Maori issues.

GREAT BARRIER IWI NOMINATES TOKI FOR UN ROLE

A woman from one of New Zealand's most remote communities will represent indigenous people will represent the indigenous peoples of the Pacific on the United Nations permanent forum on indigenous issues.

Valmaine Toki is from the Ngati Rehua hapu of Ngati Wai, based on Aotea-Great Barrier Island.

The Auckland University law lecturer says she's had a keen interest in global and indigenous issues, so she saw the opportunity of a three-year term on the 16-member council as a great way to encourage Maori participation in the forum.

She spotted the notice of the election while scanning the UN site for information for a research site, and brought it to the attention of her iwi trust board which nominated her.

Valmaine Toki says her nomination was in before New Zealand finally affirmed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples, but the timing could have helped her case.

Frequencies irk iwi radio leader

A Northland iwi radio station says Maori radio is still being treated as second class by the Ministry for Economic Development's radio spectrum management division.

Ngati Hine Radio is being forced to switch from its 96.4 and 96.5 FM frequencies to 99.1 and 99.6 as part of a rearrangement of spectrum in advance of the shift to digital broadcasting.

Station manager Mike Kake says even though Maori won their case in the Privy Council for radio spectrum to help the promotion of Maori language and culture, they were dealt a bad hand by the ministry.

“The frequencies that were given to iwi radio were what I call the rats and mices – frequencies that are low powered, that are nowhere near the power of the mainstream commercial stations, so we’ve got that battle, and we’re continuing to have that battle,” Mr Kake says.

Radio Ngati Hine was top iwi station in the 2010 Radio Awards.

MENTAL HEALTH CAMPAIGNS HELPING MAORI SEEK TREATMENTS

A Maori psychiatrist says campaigns aimed at destigmatising mental health are helping many Maori sufferers.

Rhys Tapsell says having high profile people like footballer John Kirwan talking about their battles with depression has opened up conversations and allowed people to seek treatment.

He says Maori often need that sort of outside stimulus to seek treatment.

“Depression affects at least as many Maori people as non-Maori and possibly more. It is a big problem for us. It causes lots of disability, it causes lots of difficulty for people who suffer depression and often of course people who become depressed don’t know where to get help,” Dr Tapsell says.

A new series of ads will be premiered at this week's conference in Auckland of the Australasian College of Psychiatrists.

GENERATIONAL TRANFER INSPIRES EDUCATION LEADER

The head of Te Wananga o Aotearoa says he's a beneficiary of his father's belief that education can bring multi-generational benefits.

Bentham Ohia will today accept on behalf of the whanau the PhD his late father Monte Ohia earned from Auckland University.

At the time of his death in 2008, Dr Ohia was running as the Maori Party candidate in Te Tai Tonga, and the university was examining his thesis on whanau transformation through education.

Mr Ohia says his father devoted his life to Maori education.

“He's put all those elements as the thrust and the foundational platform for the PhD programme he completed and it’s his position in terms iof Maori leadership and the importance of education and the positive effects education has in transforming our families,” Mr Ohia says.

After the university graduation, the whanau plans a celebration on its Tauranga marae.

BILL BIRD OF NGATI MANAWA TO BE LAID TO REST

Ngati Manawa will today lay to rest the rangatira who brought home its treaty claim.

Bill Bird died on Sunday after a long battle with cancer.

Kaumatua Maanu Paul says the former teacher and forestry worker put in a huge effort not only to negotiate the deed of settlement signed in December, but to repair relations with neighbouring tribes in the eastern Bay of Plenty with potentially overlapping claims.

He says with the settlement still waiting enactment, there are parallels with Tainui's lead negotiator, the late Sir Robert Mahuta.

“The pain everybody felt while they hadn’t quite completed things, that same pain is felt here. The reverence with which people work with him and the government departments that worked against him, the respect and the mana is the same that they gave to Bob,” Mr Paul says.

The funeral service for Bill Bird at Ngati Rangitahi Marae in Murupara starts at 11 this morning.

MAORI MODEL INSPIRES INDIGENOUS BROADCASTERS

Maori Television's use of Maori journalists is proving an inspiration to other indigenous broadcasters.

Te Anga Nathan, the channel's manager of news and current affairs, was a featured speaker at a World Press Freedom Day forum at Queensland University attended by 150 indigenous journalists from round the world.

Organiser Heather Stewart says finding and training staff is a challenge for most indigenous broadcasters.

“Te Anga Nathan’s model is fantastic. To have an all-indigenous staff is stunning. In Australia, the federal government has asked the public broadcasters to meet a quota of indigenous broadcasters in its workforce by 2015,” Ms Stewart says.

GRAVE STORY CAPS EXTRAORDINARY CAREER IN MUSKET WARS

The author of a biography of one of the most colouful of the Pakeha Maori says it's fitting no one knows the location of Cannibal Jack's grave.

Trevor Bentley says Jacky Marmon was an Irishman who jumped ship in the Bay of Islands in the early 19th century, and ended up fighting for both Hongi Hika and Hone Heke.

He says when Marmon died in the 1880s, he was accorded the respect shown to rangatira and buried secretly in a cave overlooking the Hokianga.

“He had known and advised many of the great chiefs and fought beside them including Hongi Hika and Muriwai, Hone Kingi Raumati, Patuone, Tamati Waka Nene, but he’d always shown an unusual, an enormous amount of respect and enthusiasm for Maori customs and religious practices,” he says

Marmon had five wives during his lifetime, and Mr Bentley will go to Tauranga next week to give copies of the book to some of his descendants.

Ngati Manawa rangatira Bill Bird dies

The Minister of Treaty Settlements has paid tribute to Ngati Manawa chair Bill Bird, who died at the weekend after a long illness.

Negotiations between Chris Finlayson and the Murupara-based iwi through last year resulted in the signing of a deed of settlement in December.

The minister says Mr Bird was determined to achieve a settlement for his iwi, at great personal cost.

“My abiding memory of him is waiting to have a meeting with him in Rotorua at a hotel one afternoon late last year and he was in absolute agony. He’d got out of his bed to come into town and it took about 10 minutes for him to have the strength to get out of the car he was taken to the meeting in, and he was in absolute agony but his concerns for his iwi motivated him to do that,” Mr Finlayson says.

Legislation enacting the Ngati Manawa settlemement will be introduced to Parliament soon.

Bill Bird's tangi is at Rangitahi Marae in Murupara ends tomorrow.

NO SENSE IN NEW ZEALAND TREATMENT OF INDIGENOUS DECLARATION

Maori lawyer Moana Jackson says New Zealand's sleight of hand over the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has been noticed by indigenous people overseas.

Sheryl Lightfoot, an influential Native American academic, has complained that New Zealand's use of the terms "aspirational" and "non-binding" represents a lack of commitment, and the president of British Columbia's union of Indian chiefs, Stewart Phillip, says limited support of the declaration threatens its integrity.

Mr Jackson says Prime Minister John Key's claim that the declaration would have no effect on what New Zealand does has upset people who fought for it over 20 years.

“They ignore the fact that it is an international human rights document, that human rights are a minimums set of standards are supposed to aspire to, so to sign it and say it makes no difference is really just a nonsense,” Mr Jackson says.

COLOURFUL TALE OF IRISH CANNIBAL EXPOSED

The life of an Irish ship-jumper who fought alongside both Hongi Hika and Hone Heke has been chronicled in a new book.

Author Trevor Bentley says Jacky Marmon, known as Cannibal Jack, was one of the more colourful Pakeha Maori to settle in the north before the Treaty of Waitangi.

As well as serving as a trader and taking on five wives, Jack fought in the musket wars and in Heke's 1845 Flagstaff war.

“He had been trained to fight rakau Maori by his chiefs but he established his reputation as a Pakeha toa or white fighting man with the flintlock muskets. Chiefs like Hongi Hika recogNised his potential as a marksman and a gunsmith so he took Jacky along with him on his great campaigns of destruction,” Mr Bentley says.

Cannibal Jack's story was one that couldn't be fully covered in his earlier bestseller, Pakeha Maori.

MAORI LAWYER MAKES INDIGENOUS FORUM

Auckland University law lecturer Valmaine Toki has been appointed to the United Nations permanent forum on indigenous issues for 2011 to 2013.

Eight members of the forum are elected by the UN's Economic and Social Council from candidates nominated by governments, and eight including Ms Toki are nominated by indigenous peoples’ organisations.

The appointment comes just weeks after New Zealand finally affirmed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples.

Ms Toki, from Nga Puhi, Ngati Wai and Ngati Rehua, teaches contemporary Treaty and Maori Issues, and previously worked for Te Ohu Kai Moana on Maori fisheries, aquaculture and asset allocation issues.

Fellow lawyer Moana Jackson, who in the past served on the committee writing the declaration, says it's great to see a Maori in such a senior position, and Ms Toki should be given tautoko and support.

IDLE YOUNG ALARM GOFF

Labour leader Phil Goff says having a third of Maori boys not in work or education is a recipe for disaster for New Zealand.

Mr Goff says the Government is failing to provide viable alternatives for rangatahi who leave school early and can't get work.

He says right now 37 percent of 15 to 19 year old Maori boys are doing just that.

“That is absolutely unacceptable, we’ve got to have a situation where every one of our kids up to age 18 have got to be in school, education, some form of training, or in work. To have more than a third of our kids out of work and not in education, with time heavy on their hands, no aspiration, no hope, that’s a recipe for disaster,” Mr Goff says.

MUSICIAN TAKES ROAD CRASH BLUES TO SCHOOLS

Musician Billy TK Junior is taking his road safety programme for rangatahi nationwide.

The bluesman developed his Driving Towards the Future programme five year's ago after a friend's 15-year-old daughter was severely injured while driving drunk.

He's already visited 60 schools, and says the combination of hard hitting international road safety ads and a 9-minute video of teenager Tamati Paul, left disabled after being hit by a drunk driver on the East Coast, is having an effect.

He encourages rangatahi not to drink, not to speed and to exercise peer pressure responsibly.

Big gaps in cancer death figures

The latest figures on cancer deaths show a significant gap between Maori and non-Maori deaths for some cancers.

In 2006, the latest year for which full figures are available, Maori mortality rate of 217 per 100 thousand of population was 72 percent higher than the non-Maori rate.

John Childs, the national clinical director for the Ministry of Health's cancer programme, says high Maori smoking rates explain why more than twice as many Maori men and three times as many Maori women will die of lung cancer than non-Maori.

He says more research is needed on some cancers to explain the difference, and there are also issues about treatment quality and access which the health systems must address.

“There clearly do appear to be patterns of differential treatment depending on a number of factors, whether you are Maori or non-Maori. There would also appear to be differential according to socioeconomic status and there are also differential according to where people live,” Dr Childs says.

Maori living in rural areas may find is harder to get cancers detected and treated promptly.

PAPAKURA ON PATHWAY TO SUCCESS

Papakura High School is trying to get more of its Maori and Pasifika students to University.

It's taking part in Auckland University's Pathways pilot, which gives students one on one counseling about their options through their secondary school years.

Project manager Di Corban says while NCEA offers students more choice, it can also lead them off the path.

She says the aim is students pick the right subjects by year 11 or 12 to be able to do the university course they are interested in.

kusabs farm
The head of a Taupo Maori land trust wants to see more professional Maori farm managers.

Andrew Kusabs chairs Rangatira 8-A 17, which runs dairy cows on 220 hectares near Reparoa on behalf of 1500 owners from the Rauhoto hapu of Tuwharetoa.

It's a finalist in this year's Ahuwhenua Trophy for Maori faming excellence.

Mr Kusabs says its success is down to keeping distinct lines between management and governance, and seeking out the best managers.

“A lot of Maori farms growing along the same lines as us are using good expertise, and I don’t care who the expertise is, from Maori or Pakeha, as long as we have the best and I am hoping Maori will play a full role in these things from now on, and I’m sure they're there,” he says.

An Ahuwhenua Trophy field day will be held at Rangatira 8-A 17 on Thursday.

MAORI ART ON THE LEVEL AT SYDNEY BIENNALE

An ope of Maori artists is across the Tasman this week installing their works in the 17th Sydney Biennale.

The nine New Zealanders among the 400 artists in the three month event include sculptor Brett Graham from Tainui, painters Shane Cotton from Ngapuhi and Reuben Patterson from Ngati Rangitihi, and photographer Fiona Pardington from Ngai Tahu.

Graham's show at the Museum of Contemporary Art includes almost life scale models of a stealth bomber and a Russian scout car, carved with Maori surface patterns.

He says Biennale curator David Elliot has put indigenous and western art on an equal footing.

“The curator's quite keen to promote indigenous art or art that looks at indigenous issues and put it on a parallel with western art, which is a bit of a change. We’re used to western art pinching ideas from indigenous art sources but at least this is an attempt to address that an in western art there are hierarchies between arts and craft which don’t necessarily exist in te ao Maori,” Graham says.

The Sydney Biennale opens on May 12.

MAORI NURSES GROOMED FOR LEADERSHIP POSITIONS

Auckland District Health Board is leading a new Health Ministry-backed programme to help Maori become leaders in nursing and midwifery.

Taima Campbell, the board's executive director of nursing, says more Maori are needed in clinical leadership roles.

The programme to be launched in Tamaki Makaurau later this week, Nga Manukura o Apopo, will help develop those leadership skills.

“If you have more Maori in leadership positions they are more likely to have some influence about the way that systems work, the way we desing the care we give and supporting the workforce as well, and because we have more Maori in nursing and midwifery positions, that was thought to be a good place to start,” Ms Campbell says.

Other health disciplines will hold similar programmes.

COMPUTER GAMES TACKLE ADOLESCENT DEPRESSION

Maori-designed computer games could help young people fighting clinical depression.

Developer Maru Nihoniho and kaumatua Rawiri Wharumate have been working with Sally Merry from Auckland University to develop high-tech therapies.

At the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists congress in Auckland yesterday, Professor Merry unveiled an online fantasy game, Spark, and a mobile phone game, Memo Positive Space, which features four teenage characters and a dog.

She says by talking to young people the developers found they preferred a Bro’town look to the animation, so one of the Bro’town animators helped create the characters.

Professor Merry says 22 percent of Maori girls are likely to suffer depression in the high risk years between 15 and 18, compared with 15 percent of non-Maori girls.

Wahine toa cited as smoking models

Hone Harawira wants prominent Maori to spread the message about being smoke free.

The Maori Party MP says the tax hike on tobacco pushed through last week will put a financial burden on low income Maori families if they keep smoking ... so people need help to quit as soon as possible.

He says young Maori women are particularly likely to smoke, but there are wahine toa they can look up to.

The more we promote these people and say to young women in particularly, if you really want to get to the top of the world like June Jackson, like Jacqui Te Kani, like Naida Glavish, then knock it off now,” Mr Harawira says.

He wants to eventually limit places cigarettes and tobacco can be sold.

MONTE OHIA TO RECEIVE DOCTORATE POSTHUMOUSLY

Four generations of the Ohia Whanau will gather at Auckland University this week to accept a doctorate for the late Monte Ohia.

The educator and Maori Party candidate for Te Tai Tonga died two years ago, while his thesis on Maori values and how they could be used in development was being examined.

His son Bentham, the pouhere or chief executive Te Wananga O Aotearoa, says Dr Ohia's mother Tutekawa, widow Linda, children and grandchildren will be the ceremony.

The whanau also intends to celebrate the achievement at Monte Ohia's home marae in Tauranga.

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT FLOWS THROUGH TO POLYTECHS

Still on education, the principal of Rotorua's Waiariki Institute of Technology is seeing the effects of improved Maori achievement at secondary school through the increased number of rangatahi coming through to tertiary level.

Pim Borren says the number of Maori in level four to seven courses at Waiariki is up 20 percent on last year.

He says teacher development programmes like Te Rangatahi as well as the increased flexibility of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement are making a dent in what looked like intractable problems.

“We've been trying to close this gap and what we’re really seeing is both a greater focus on achievement by Maori themselves but also an improved teaching style in terms of the way we are teaching our Maori students so that they are succeeding much more closely to Pakeha,” Dr Borren says.

Young Maori increasingly understand that better education can open the door to a better quality of life.

NGA OHO WHAKAARI HOSTING DIGITAL WORKSHOP

Maori in film and television, Nga Aho Whakaari, is getting ready for the next broadcasting frontier.

Along with Script to Screen and CoLab, it's planning a workshop next month in digital media.

Executive director Pita Turei says up to nine teams will spend a weekend producing a 2-minute story-based project for the mobile phone or
Internet.

He says the cellphone could be the television of the future, and the media allows people to say what they want to say to a wider audience, with no one controlling what is said.

Applicants need to submit a project outline to Nga Oho Whakaari by May 14.

FORWARD PLANNING SETTING STUDENTS ON TERTIARY PATH

Papakura High School is finding improved relationships are lifting academic performance by Maori and Polynesian students.

The school is one of eight in the region involved in Pathways, an Auckland University research project involving academic counseling and mentoring for students.

Project manager Di Corban says in the past secondary school life has been disconnected from tertiary study, and many Maori students have discovered they have no transition path.

She says everyone in the school needs to be involved.

“To do really specific subject targets to ensure that the students are meeting their goals, so they have a goal of what they want to get out of the school, but we have to link it in to what they do on a day to day basis,” Ms Corban says.

Papakura High has a high Maori and Pasifika roll.

SCOTTY MORRISON GETS TOP MAORI JOB AT UNITEC

Boosting Maori research is on the agenda for the new head of the Maori department at Unitec Institute of Technology.

Te Karere presenter Scotty Morrison from Te Arawa has been an adjunct professor at the Auckland polytechnic for the past three years, and he's looking forward to replacing Tui Ah Loo of Ngai Tuhoe, who now heads up Te Wananga o Awanuiarangi's Auckland campus.

He says even though Unitec was denied university status, he's keen to encourage research in matauranga Maori.

“To really build the reputation of our lecturers through postgraduate study, through getting them to present at high profile conferences, submitting papers, writing papers, all of those kinds of professional development areas I am looking at to build the reputation of our lecturers so they become leaders in their field and that in effect will lead to us becoming a leader in our field of Maori education,” Mr Morrison says.

He's keen to work with other universities, polytechs and wananga so educational resources are used most effectively.

Nanny Pita takes smoking credit

Those Maori who’ve managed to give up smoking since last week’s tax hike may want to give thanks to the nanny state.

The term was widely used by National before the last election to attack Labour government policies.

But Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples says the Maori Party isn’t afraid to intervene to improve people’s lives, and smoking is an area that affects a disproportionate number of Maori.

“There is always that nanny state sort of idea behind something when you push it but I want people to know the Maori Party has always been very strong about that. We haven’t all been smokers in the past. I know I have. I’m not sure about the others. So we’ve taken that stand now, this is our fourth, fifth year, we’re carrying on with that stand,” he says.

Dr Sharples accepts there is a risk some addicts may spend money on tobacco rather than making sure their children are fed properly.

KAUMATUA DRAWN INTO HEALTH AND WELFARE SERVICE

A new marae-based health service in south Auckland aims to use the marae’s kaumatua and kuia to help families in difficulty.

Manurewa Marae last week opened its new whare oranga or clinic in a joint venture with Counties Manukau Health.

Marae deputy chair Alec Tairua says it’s part of a wider service, Te Rau Korowai, which will use the practical experience of older residents.

“We have kuia, kaumatua that can go to homes and help these whanau that are struggling not only in health but finance wise, abuse, all those sort of things,” Mr Tairua says.

WEALTH OF GAMES STILL TO BE FOUND

A teacher who is reviving old Maori games says there is a wealth of pastimes to be rediscovered.

Harko Brown says space restrictions meant his first book, Nga Taonga Taakaro, contained only 20 activities, including the ball game ki a rahi.

He’s working on a comprehensive follow-up, drawing on 30 years of interviews with his own relatives and with kaumatua from around the country.

“A lot more information can be put in, whakapapa related to the game. I think a lot of people looking for the sources, and building that themselves by being able to whakapapa to the areas that release the knowledge and information,” Mr Brown says.

His interest in old games was sparked as a child talking to his six uncles who had served in the Maori Battalion.

MAORI A HURDLE TO OPENING MINING FLOODGATES

Greens’ leader Meteria Turei says the government’s decision to extend submissions on mining conservation land is a victory for Maori.

Ms Turei says the obligation to consult with Maori on aspects of resource management has been written into law … and it looks like the government initially overlooked that obligation.

She says that’s why it’s important iwi and individual Maori make their views known by the end of May.

“They know that they haven’t talked with Maori enough. Government hasn’t properly consulted with any iwi about what their real plans are and that has shut Maori out of the decision-making process of being aware of what the Government’s genuine plan is, so that process is going on now because the Government realises they have made a really big mistake,” Ms Turei says.

She was heartened to see so many Maori including representatives of Coromandel iwi taking part in Saturday’s anti-mining march down Auckland’s Queen St.

TOBACCO INDUSTRY CURSED FOR CUSTOMER DISDAIN

A leading tohunga has taken the anti-smoking campaign to a new level by putting a curse on tobacco manufacturers.

Amster Reedy from Ngati Porou has served as a cultural advisor to many groups, including the New Zealand team to the Beijing Olympics.

He unleashed the makutu in response to industry submissions to the Maori Affairs select committee inquiry into tobacco.

Mr Reedy says industry representatives seemed to be saying they reserve the right to sell their drug to the poor, black and the stupid.

“To me that was a slight to Maori. There’s nothing worse than not seeing how we could reply and the traditional Maori response would be the one I adopted which was to look up an old chant and send it on its way,” Mr Reedy says.

He says the makutu is a potent tool for change from traditional Maori culture which should not be ignored.

HARP WITH KOAUA IN MEMORY OF ARAWA HISTORIAN

A taonga puoro player is keen to take a composition written for the late historian Don Stafford out on the international festival circuit.

Horomono Horo played Legends of Rotorua by English composer Paul Lewis at two concerts with the Rotorua Chamber Ensemble at the city's Museum of Art and History.

It draws on the story collected by Mr Stafford of Te Arawa ancestor Ihenga and the patupaiarehe fairy people of Ngongotaha.

Mr Horo says it was a great to play traditional Maori instruments alongside the ensemble's harp, violin and cello.

“It's been a wonderful journey collaborating taonga puoro with the different genres, not only from New Zealand or from the different point of view but also from the western world and contemporary music’s,” Mr Horo says.

He will also perform at the New Zealand Pavilion during the Shanghai World Expo.