ACT called two-faced on foreshore opposition

The man who could have been the next Maori MP says ACT is deliberately stirring up racial divisions in a desperate attempt to win votes.

Peter Tashkoff from Te Mahurehure and Te Aitanga a Hauiti was next on the ACT Party list to come into parliament, until he was thrown out of the party for repeated attacks on leader Rodney Hide.

He says he joined the party early on because he thought its policies could make a difference to the lives of Maori people, but under Mr Hide it has swapped principle for populism, constantly looking for the silver bullet policy that will deliver more votes.

“The foreshore and seabed is just another silver bullet they are trying to hang something off and they’re becoming quite schizophrenic when they do it because on the one hand they say ‘we totally promote property rights and we just want to give Maori their day in court,’ and then in front of a different audience they’ll start stirring up all this racial divisiveness about ‘they’re going to take your beaches,’” Mr Tashkoff says.

Like ACT he believes the Foreshore and Seabed Act should be repealed and Maori given the right to go back to court, but unlike his former party colleagues he believes Maori would succeed in winning common law property rights through that process.

LIBRARY SHOW REVEALS EARLY PENMANSHIP

One of the curators of a display of early Maori pen-work says the Maori role in shaping New Zealand's history is often overlooked.

The exhibition, which is on this week at Auckland City Library, came out of Marsden Fund research into early Maori literacy being done by Kuni Jenkins from Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi and Alison Jones from Auckland University's department of education.

Professor Jenkins says while the bulk of pre-1840 documents relating to New Zealand were written by Europeans, Maori viewers in particular are excited by seeing the handiwork of tupuna like Hongi Hika.

MAORI POTATO EXPERIENCING HEALTHY REVIVAL

The author of a new book on Maori potatoes says there has been a real resurgence of interest in the humble taewa.

Massey University horticulturalist Nick Roskruge, the chair of the Tahuri Whenua national Maori vegetable growers collective, says growers find it hard to meet demand.

He says the book, done in association with the Institute of Natural Resources, should help people avoid the more than 50 types of pests and diseases which can afflict potato crops.

“One of the problems we found was the old varieties people had kept in their home gardens had health problems, so a lot of our mahi in the last few years has been looking art what those health problems are and trying to help growers overcome them,” Dr Roskruge says.

EMINENT GROUP SHOULD REWRITE BILL SAYS HARAWIRA

Maori Party MP Hone Harawira says the replacement for the Foreshore and Seabed Act should be sent back to the drawing board.

The Tai Tokerau MP yesterday made a submission on the Marine and Coastal Area Bil to the select committee he has been stood down from.

He wants an expert panel put together to develop fresh recommendations, including people such as former Waitangi Tribunal chair Sir Edward Durie, who headed a previous review of the Act, law consultant Moana Jackson, and former National cabinet minister Sir Doug Kidd.

“They should be casting around on the basis of what’s the right thing to do, not on the basis of what’s politically acceptable, and then just come back and say ‘this is what we recommend be done.’ Because I’m a firm believer if this issue is settled on the basis of justice, Maori will be well served. If it is settled on the basis of political expedience, we will get shafted, and that’s kind of what’s happening right now,” Mr Harawira says.

PARATA EXCITIED ABOUT ENTRY TO CABINET

National list MP Hekia Parata says her experience as a senior Maori bureaucrat is good preparation for her new role as a minister, but there's no substitute for the real thing.

After her strong showing in the Mana by-election, Ms Parata was picked to take over the Women’s and Ethnic Affairs portfolios previously held by Pansy Wong, who quit as minister for breaking rules about ministerial travel expenses.

She has served a number of ministers in both Labour and National administrations through her work in the housing, Maori affairs and justice ministries.

“I was familiar with the process, the machinery of government but it has been quite a different thing to be a member of parliament, to sit on select committees, to participate in the debates in the health and I thoroughly enjoy all aspects of it and yes I am here for the foreseeable future,” Ms Parata says.

She will also hold associate warrants for Energy and Resources, Accident Compensation, and the Community and Voluntary sector.

ANTI-POACHING RESOURCES FOR KAIKOURA COAST

The kaitiaki of the Kaikoura coastal fishery are welcoming a decision to beef up fisheries surveillance in the area.

John Nicholls, the chair of Te Korowai o te Tai Marokura, says that should deter paua poachers who have plundered the 30 kilometers of accessible coastline in recent years.

He says the decision on the Minister of Fisheries, Phil Heatley, to open an office at Kaikoura for two full time officers and five honorary fisheries officers should deter them.

He says more reports are coming from the public, and as people become confident their reports will be acted on they are more likely to phone in when they see suspicious activity from the coast road.

Mr Nicholls says some parts of the coast have been completely stripped of paua and will need to be reseeded.

Attorney General says bill offers best of both worlds

Attorney General Chris Finlayson has defended the ability of the High Court to sort out whether individual Maori groups have customary rights to areas of the foreshore and seabed

Ngati Kahu negotiator Margaret Mutu says her far north runanga won't be using the mechanism in the Marine and Coastal Area Bill because Pakeha high court judges don't have training in things Maori.

Mr Finlayson says Professor Mutu's disparaging comments about the judiciary ignore the significant work Pakeha judges have done in recognising Maori rights.

He says they won't do the job alone.

“If you've got an application to the High Court for an issue to determine customary title and there are issues of tikanga, the judge can have recourse to an expert or refer an issue to the Maori Land Court so it’s all there, we’ve got the best of both worlds, and it really is quite unhelpful and destructive to come out with those sorts of headline,” Mr Finlayson says.

He says Professor Mutu's comments were on par with the statements of the Coastal Coalition, who he earlier referred to as clowns.

COASTAL COALITION URGING ROCKY ROAD TO COURT

Meanwhile, Coastal Coalition founder Muriel Newman says Maori have little chance of winning title to coastal areas through the courts ... so that's where they should go, rather than being allowed to cut deals with ministers behind closed doors.

The former ACT MP yesterday made a submission on the Marine and Coastal Bill to the Maori affairs select committee in Whangarei.

She says the bill is a dog's breakfast, and the Government should simply repeal the 2004 Foreshore and Seabed Act and let the courts decide.

Dr Newman says the Court of Appeal's Ngati Apa decision in 2003 made it clear most customary titles had been extinguished by the Maori Land Court.

“They said that it would be a hard job for any iwi to claim it and they also said that it would be more likely to be small discrete areas, reefs and rocks and shellfish beds and things like that,” Dr Newman says.

OYSTER DIE-OFF HITTING MAORI BUSINESSES

Maori communities are concerned a disease killing off juvenile oysters could affect their livelihoods.

Tom Hollings, the executive officer of the Oyster Association, says the mystery disease which has destroyed up to half the farmed oyster harvest in harbours from the Bay of Plenty to the far north.

He says it's become a big part of the Maori economy in many areas such as Parengarenga.

The disease doesn't seem to affect people who eat the oysters.

CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW STEP TOO FAR FOR KING

The Kahui Ariki representative on Tainui's parliament says King Tuheitia had little option than to sack its chair, Tania Martin.

Greg Miller has been appointed acting chair of te Kauhanganui, and he is also on the tribal executive, Te Ara Taura.

Mr Miller says Mrs Martin had failed to apologise for a report attacking the executive's spending, despite acknowledging significant errors.

He says Mrs Martin's intention to conduct an internal governance review was the last straw.

“The king's sticking to a review of the constitution and the financial performance of Te Kauhanganui and Te Ara Taura which is a good thing and it’s welcomed by Te Ara Taura but it’s a difficult situation when the chair is pushing information out that’s not correct and expecting to chair that review so that’s not a real possibility, so that’s why the king stepped in and said I want to bring some order to this,” Mr Miller says.

An independent governance review will be conducted by retired Maori land Court judge Heta Hingston and professional director Craig Ellison.

FINLAYSON KEEN FOR HELP TO GO TO NORTHERN MARAE

Treaty Negotiations minister Chris Finlayson says it's important that a treaty settlement for far north iwi be concluded as soon as possible.

A Ngati Kahu group lifted its occupation of a coastal section at Taipa yesterday, removing what could have been an obstacle to settlement.

Mr Finlayson says he toured the Ngati Kahu rohe with lead negotiator Margaret Mutu soon after taking on the treaty role, and saw first hand and saw the run down marae, houses with no proper insulation and inadequate water.

“I know that a good treaty settlement is going to do wonders up there. In fact I said to Margaret at the beginning of last year, you don’t need to wait on the treaty settlement because you can get access to marae development funds, we could get some of your guys trained up as carpenters and we could get in there and do it straight away. No one’s ever come back to me,” Mr Finlayson says.

SOUTH ISLAND IWI END BORDER BATTLE

After two decades of battling through the courts, Rangitane and Ngai Tahu have called a truce on a dispute over customary rights to parts of the top of the South Island.

Rangitane negotiator Richard Bradley says the accord was announced during the signing of his tribe's $25 million deed of settlement with the Crown at at Omaka marae near Blenheim on Saturday.

He says Ngai Tahu chair Mark Solomon was able to offer some welcome lessons from his own tribe's settlement.

“He was quite clear that what settlements are about is giving our people a hand up, not a hand out and the Crown still has responsibilities. Those mainstream government departments with programmes like Whanau Ora, to actually start distributing some of the investments that Maori people have made as taxpayers into those communities,” Mr Bradley says.

Rangitane's settlement includes an acknowledgement from the Crown that Rangitane had taken a smaller settlement because of the current economic situation.

King sacks head of Tainui parliament

King Tuheitia has sacked the chair of the Tainui parliament and installed his Kahui Ariki representative, Greg Miller, as the acting chair of Te Kauhanganui.

Mr Miller says Tania Martin had admitted that a report she wrote attacking the financial performance of the tribal executive, Te Ara Taura, was factually inaccurate, but she had failed to issue an apology.

He says the king has lost confidence in Mrs Martin's ability to chair the parliament.

“He doesn't believe that she has the confidence to take the tribe forward and she had made commitments to him prior to him taking that role on taking the tribe forward and ensuring Te Kauhanganui’s role was seen in tandem and consultation with the chair of Te Ara Taura. That didn’t happen. She did exactly the opposite to that. So it’s a confidence issue that he’s asked me to step in and chair the next meeting,” Mr Miller says.

King Tuheitia has asked retired maori Land Court judge Heta Hingston and professional director Craig Ellison to conduct an independent review of Tainui's constitution and governance processes and an audit of the financial performance of both the executive and the parliament.

FINLAYSON REJECTS CALLS TO DROP TALKS WITH MUTU

Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson is rejecting calls that he break off talks with Ngati Kahu because of its negotiator's support for the occupation of land at Taipa.

The Ngati Kahu Runanga chair, Margaret Mutu, says the younger generation has a right to fight for what she could not get in the agreement on principle which is currently on the table.

Far north mayor Wayne Brown says that's intolerable, and making the end of the occupation a condition of continuing negotiations is a way forward.

But Mr Finlayson says it won't happen.

“We're talking about a relatively small element who are just doing immense harm to the iwi and I just really want to get a good settlement up there for all the Te Hiku iwi because I think an injection of funds up there, and their getting the ability to have a say in the running of the conservation estate and so on, it is going to be so good,” he says.

TRANS PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP THREAT TO MAORI

An Auckland University law professor is warning that the Trans-Pacific Partnership being negotiated this week in Auckland is a threat to Maori rights under the Treaty of Waitangi.

The United States, Australia and three other countries are trying to join New Zealand, Brunei, Chile and Singapore in the multi-lateral trade agreement.

Jane Kelsey says the sorts of conditions that US business interests want included is a threat to New Zealand's sovereignty and the tino rangatiratanga of Maori.

“In this context we end up with an international treaty that’s basically a bill of rights for foreign investors that would trump Te Tiriti o Waitangi and any other rights that Maori have been struggling for for 160 years,” Professor Kelsey says.

FINLAYSON GOES ON ATTACK AGAINST COASTAL COALITION

Attorney general Chris Finlayson is rejecting a call by former ACT MP Muriel Newman that he step aside from the Foreshore and Seabed Act reform because he described her Coastal Coalition lobby group as "clowns".

In online articles, Mrs Newman has argued that Maori don't have customary rights because other people including Celtic, Chinese, Greek, French, Portuguese, Spanish and others were here first.

Mr Finlayson says there is argument in reputable forums that specific Maori groups retain traditional rights in some parts of the coast, and his task is to find a mechanism to recognise them properly.

“Customary title was there. It’s a question of determining where it is and who should be entitled to it. So, for all the noise and for all the ad hominem attacks by people like Muriel Newman I’m trying to stay focused on the big issues of principle,” Mr Finlayson says.

He is planning public meetings to counter Mrs Newman's claims.

Muriel Newman told the Maori affairs select committee in Whangarei today that the Marine and Coastal Area Bill would confiscate coastal land from public ownership so it can be transferred to iwi.

RANGITANE DEDUCTS RECESSION FACTOR FROM SETTLEMENT

The negotiator for a top of the South Island iwi says the size of the settlement acknowledges the tough economic times.

Rangitane signed off on its $25 million package at Omaka Marae near Blenheim on Saturday.

Richard Bradley says that's a fraction of what the iwi lost in pre-1865 land transactions, when the Crown ignored its customary rights in favour of other tribes, but it was a tough time to negotiate.

“Somehow there is an expectation on behalf of middle New Zealand that we would take less than we were entitled to for the good of all New Zealanders. That sort of choked me because South Canterbury Finance didn’t have any problem finding the taxpayer support to bail them out for substantially more than Rangitane was seeking,” he says.

Mr Bradley says Rangitane sees the settlement as a platform for its future development.

JOELLE KIND HEADS FOR CANADA FOR TOP TEN PUSH

The Maori Sportswomen of the Year, squash player Joelle King, is heading to Canada to work with another former winner.

Glen Wilson, who won the teams title with Leilani Rorani in the 2000 awards, is now head coach at a Montreal club.

Ms King, from Ngati porou, says she's hoping he can help her improve her work ranking from the current number 17 into the top ten.

Joelle King won her title for her gold and silver Commonwealth Games performance, but she was unable to repeat that form at this weekend's Women's World Championships in Palmerston North, where New Zealand was beaten into fourth by Malaysia.

Courts not up to Ngati Kahu standard

The lead negotiator for the tribe occupying a coastal land at Taipa in the Far North says it will be a waste of time going to court to test customary title under the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill.

Restoring access to the courts is one of the main reasons the Maori Party is giving for backing the bill, which is currently being considered by a select committee.

But Margaret Mutu, a professor of Maori studies at Auckland University, says her Ngati Kahu Runanga won't be going there.

“The high court knows nothing and in particular the judges in the high court, apart from the fact that they are Pakeha, the truth of the matter is they have never had any training in anything Maori, so how the hell can you expect them to get it right. They’ve not been trained. They’ve been trained for a particular job which is to carry out Pakeha law,” she says.

Professor Mutu says the right court would be the Maori land Court, as long as it does not question the tikanga or customs of individual hapu.

PESTS DEVASTATING POTATO CROP

The author of a book on Maori potatoes says imported pests and diseases are devastating the taewa harvest, just at the time demand is growing.

Nick Roskruge says a lot of work has been done in recent years to breed out viruses which were weakening old varieties of potato that had been kept going by home gardeners.

The Massey University horticulturalist says there are now new threats.

“Also now you’ve got these pests coming in, you’ve got the biosecurity problems with new pests, you’ve got this potato cylid which is around the whole North Island now, and some of the crops are 80 percent down just because these pests bring a bacteria that stops the plants producing the crop,” says Dr Roskruge, whose book is Nga Porearea me nga Matemate o nga Mara Taewa - Pests and diseases of Taewa.

POLICY CHANGE MEANS MAORI-SPRINGBOK GAME POSSIBLE

Maori rugby legend Bill Bush wants the Springboks to play against the New Zealand Maori as a warm up to next year's rugby world cup.

The South African Rugby Union has changed its policy of not allowing the Springboks to play racial selected sides, clearing the way for the much anticipated clash with the Maori team.

Bill Bush says its a pity the decision wasn’t made earlier so the Boks could have joined this year’s celebration of 100 years of Maori rugby … but all will be forgiven if they fit a game in before the World Cup.

He says the game should be played at the right venue, Turangawaewae Marae, with all the players and families of past players involved.

Bill Bush says the Springboks are such a class side that All Black coach Graham Henry should release his top Maori players to use it as a warm-up.

HOSEA GREAT TAKES BIG PRIZE IN SPORTS AWARDS

A winger and a squash player were the big winners at this year’s National Maori Sports Awards.

This year’s winner of the top men’s award was Hosea Gear from Ngati Porou, with squash player Joelle King the senior women for her gold and silver medal wining efforts at to Commonwealth Game.

Team of the year was the Maori All Blacks, with Steve Kearney taking out the best coach award for the Kiwis Four Nations’ Cup win.

DIABETES BOOMING BUT FUNDS SHRINKING

Diabetes New Zealand says district health boards are slashing diabetes services at the very time they should be doing more.

President Chris Baty says the number of people with type 2 diabetes has doubled in a decade to 200,000, with a disproportionate number of those being Maori.

She says the impact of untreated diabetes includes kidney failure, amputation, blindness and early heart disease, which will add cost to the health sector.

“Diabetes is one of the markets of lack of equity of access to good health care and I think it’s particularly reflected amongst Maori and Pasifika. One in three or four older Maori or Pasifika people are gong to probably have diabetes, and we need to help keep them well.” Dr Baty says.

A recent OECD report found New Zealand was the second worst among nations studied for lives cut short by diabetes.

MAORI MAJOR PART OF RAKIURA STORY

The author of a new book on Stewart Island says for a large part of the past 700 years it has been a Maori history.

Neville Peat wrote Rakiura Heritage for the Department of Conservation.

He says Rakiura may have been one of the first parts of Aotearoa to be settled.

He says archeologists continue to find sites of great interests.

Neville Peat says the awarding of 10,000 hectares under the 1906 South Island Landless Natives Act means Maori are now the biggest landowners next to the Conservation Department, whose National park covers 90 percent of the island.

Educator and actor Bill Tawhai dies

Te Whanau A Apanui, Ngati Awa and Te Whakatohia are mourning the loss of one of their finest educators.

Bill Tawhai has died in Whakatane at the age of 77.

Mr Tawhai started teaching in 1957 and his career included stints in England and America, and 16 years as principal at Te Whanau a Apanui Area School in Te Kaha for 16 years.

After retiring he taught at Te Whare Wananaga O Awanuiaring, worked on a thesis on the Maori lunar month, and had acting and agony uncle roles with Maori television.

Te Whanau a Apanui Kaumatua Te Kepa Stirling says Mr Tawhai's skills will be hard to replace, especially on the reo or the iwi.

Wiremu Karuwha Tawhai is at Omaia Marae

No reira e te rangatira...takoto mai, takoto mai, moe mai.

TAINUI EXECUTIVE DEMANDS APOLOGY FROM TRIBAL CHAIR

Tainui's Te Ara Taura executive is demanding an apology from the new head of the tribe's governing body for a report alleging a phenomenal increase in executive costs.

In her first report to Te Kauhanganui parliament, Tania Martin said the executive has lost perspective on their responsibilities as trustees of a charitable organisation.

Tukoroirangi Morgan, the chair of Te Ara Taura, says Mrs Martin's claim of a 30 percent in executive spending to $2.5 million is wrong, and it will come in below last year's $1.7 million.

“The information is incorrect. Here’s a new chair, exuberant and wanting to get on with things, and has got things absolutely wrong. The board can refute all of her baseless allegations and we contend that the report brings the tribe into disrepute,” Mr Morgan says.

If a formal apology is not forthcoming from Mrs Martin, the executive will involve dispute resolution procedures within the parliament.

BMX TAKES MOHI TO TOP OF WORLD

World Over-30's BMX champion Dave Mohi from Te Arawa and Tuwharetoa says he'll spend the summer mentoring young riders determined to lower their race times.

The Rotorua based builder won a nailbiting final over his French rival to win the world championship in South Africa mid-year.

His success will be acknowledged alongside 12 other world champions at tomorrow night's National Maori Sports Awards in Auckland.

Mr Mohi, who raced at the Gisborne BMX meet last week as part of the national series, says he's always had bikes and ridden on the edge.

SPENDING REPORT INACCURATE

The head of Tainui's executive, Tukuroirangi Morgan, says a report to the tribal parliament claiming over-spending is factually inaccurate and brings the tribe into disrepute.

He says the executive, Te Ara Taura, has demanded an apology from its author, Tania Martin, the new chair of Te Kauhanganui parliament.

Mr Morgan says rather than a 30 percent blow-out on last year's $1.7 million spend, the executive is on target to meet this year's budget of only $1.1 million.

Particularly galling was Mrs Martin's criticism of the $25,000 spent on a 10-day trip to Australia, which she had pre-approved.

“We have 12,000 people living in Australia. We are responsible and accountable to all of our people wherever they are. We had hundreds of people come to those hui. It was our obligation to update our people on where the tribe was heading, what we’re doing with our money, what we intend to do in the future. That is a responsibility I take very seriously,” Mr Morgan says.

He was not shown Mrs Martin's report before it went to Te Kauhanganui.

NGATI RAUKAWA SETS TONE FOR FUTURE RELATIONS

South Waikato iwi Ngati Raukawa today signed agreements with five Crown agencies on how they will work together in future.

Chris McKenzie, the chair of the Raukawa Settlement Trust, says the visit of Prime Minister John Key and five of his minister to Te Papa o Te Aroha Marae in Tokoroa was the biggest Crown incursion into the south Waikato since the Battle of Orakau.

He says the agreements with the ministries of Fisheries, Conservation, Environment, Culture and Heritage and the Prime Minister's Department, elevates the position of Ngati Raukawa within its rohe.

“What we've essentially signed today is confirmation that John Key is prime minister of New Zealand because the New Zealand people voted him in and Chris McKenzie is prime minister of Raukawa because the Raukawa people voted him in and this sets the dialogue between those two chiefs and our respective cabinets. Twice a year various ministries will come up and discuss issues of the day with Raukawa and we will drive down policy change,” Mr McKenzie says.

Ngati Raukawa has signed a settlement giving it co-management of the Waikato River in its rohe, and is finalising the comprehensive settlement of its historic treaty claims.

BENJI MARSHALL NAMED GOLDEN BOOT

The Little General has given the thumbs up to this year's Golden Boot.
Stacey Jones from Ngapuhi and Maniapoto says Kiwi captain Benji Marshall richly deserved the title of best international Rugby League player.

Previous winners include superstars like Mal Meninga, Wally Lewis, Jonathon Thurston and Jones himself, in 2002.

He says the Ruatoki-raised standoff's form was superb in both the NRL and as captain of the Four Nations Cup-winning Kiwi squad, leading from the front.

Four Kiwis made the Golden Boot World 13 ... Maoris Marshall, Sean Kenny Dowell and Jason Knightingale and Tongan Manu Vatuvei.

Wakatu closing the gulf on investments

The chief executive of Wakatu Incorporation says it's learned its lesson about trying to invest outside its home base at the top of the South Island.

A paper loss on a property development in Gulf Harbour north of Auckland contributed to the incorporation's $10.7 million loss for the year, with a drop in value of its mussel space making up the bulk of the loss.

But Keith Palmer says its property, aquaculture and horticulture businesses were all cash positive, and the continued success of its Nelson property developments points the way ahead.

“Property development has cooled down but in your own area you know the keen buyers who keep going, you know the areas people are always buying in. You go to someone else’s town, they’re just as smart as you and they know a lot more,” Mr Palmer says

Wakatu now has assets of about $250 million, up from the $11 million it started with in 1977 when it was set up to manage Maori reserved lands in Nelson and Motueka.

HAWKES BAY DHB ENCOURAGING SCIENCE STUDY

The Hawkes Bay District Health Board's Maori unit has created a science academy to encourage rangitahi to study science.

Spokesperson Dianne Wepa says the academy will connect students with local business to keep science interesting.

She says if students stop studying maths and science, they will almost certainly cut themselves off from careers in medicine.

“The drop off rate for Maori after year 10 is huge. Only 6.5 percent of Maori continue on with the science subjects until they leave high school compared to 25 percent for non-Maori students. That’s not good enough and we need to do something about that,” Dianne Wepa says.

The unit has also held a breakfast for kuia to impress on them the importance of impressing on mokopuna the importance of taking science subjects.

WHARE REQUIRES RESEARCH INTO SOUTHER WHAKAPAPA

The chair of the Rapaki Runanga based says building a new whare tipuna required members of the Lyttelton harbour hapu to do extensive research into their whakapapa.

Kopa Lee says the richly carved interior of the whare is in marked contrast to the plain 107-year-old hall it replaced.

He says carver Riki Manuel quizzed the whanau about the area's rich Maori history, so inside the whare are pou representing the key ancestors of each whanau.

The new whare, named Wheke, sleeps 50, and includes a whare taonga and meeting room.

FORESHORE OPPOSITION COMING FROM VESTED INTERESTS

Waikato - Hauraki MP Nanaia Mahuta says some of the submissions against the Marine and Coastal Area Bill show how vested interests fear Maori entry into their industry.

Ms Mahuta says there seems to be little support for the bill, with Maori concerned about the cost and difficulty of proving customary title.

But she says the real debate about the foreshore relates to aquaculture and mining, and the bill won't really help anyone in that regard.

“I know in Hauraki there’s huge potential still for Maori to participate in aquaculture and I didn’t just accept a number of submissions from those players on the aquaculture landscape saying this will create unease in the industry. I believe that Maori want to participate in aquaculture, certainly in Hauraki, that they want certainty too,” Ms Mahuta says.

The Maori Affairs select committee is hearing submissions on the bill in Auckland today.

WESBSITE TO REPORT NELSON RACISM

The people of Tasman area have set up a confidential website where people can report racist incidents in their community.

Evey McAuliffe from the Nelson Multicultural Council says the Speak Out Nelson - Tasman campaign is a response to the changing face of the community.

She says as well as having a sizeable Maori population, one in five people in the area was born outside New Zealand.

Mrs McAuliffe says people don't need an Internet connection to take part, as people in centres can help people lodge their complaints online.

INDIGENOUS AUTEURS SHARE FILM KNOWLEDGE

Maori filmmakers are getting the chance to get an international perspective on indigenous screen production this weekend.

Organiser Ella Henry symposium at the AUT University marae was the brainchild of the late Merata Mita.

She says one of Ms Mita’s oldest filmmaking friends, Montreal-based Alanis Obomsawin, who is almost 80 and still making films, will be joined by two other Canadian filmmakers and two Australian Aboriginal filmmakers.

Strokes among Maori at epidemic levels

A new research institute hopes to address what it's describing as an epidemic of stroke among Maori and Pacific island people.

Valery Feigin, the head of AUT's National Institute of Stroke and Applied Neuroscience says in some countries stroke rates are dropping, but among Maori the rate is up 19 percent and the Pacific island rate up 66 percent.

He says higher rates of abdominal obesity and elevated blood pressure are major contributors.

“Personally I believe that as far as health is concerned, smoking and McDonalds are the most terrible inventions the human being has done to kill themselves,” Professor Feigin says.

He says Maori get check ups on their cars more often than they do their bodies.

WHANAU INSPITE INTEREST IN TRIBAL AFFAIRS

The winner of a Health Ministry Te Apa Mareikura scholarship is thanking her whanau for encouraging her interest in tribal affairs.

Harata Te Amo Simeon from Tuhoe, Rongomaiwahine and Ngati Awa earned the $10,000 award for her combination of academic performance and involvement in community health.

She says from helping set up a student union at Te Whare Waanaga O Awanuiarangi to her current role managing the Matika Charitable Trust, she has always had Maori interests at heart.

She says that stems from her upbringing in Ruatoki and Ruatahuna, where she was always allowed to attend hui.

GOLDIE OF PAPARANGI DONATED TO NELSON MUSEUM

Decendants of Te Rarawa chief Pautea Atama Paparangi have welcomed the gift of a portrait of their ancestor to the Nelson Provincial Museum.

The small painting by Charles Goldie is an anonymous donation from an Auckland family, which has owned it since 1964.

Nelson architect John Palmer, one of Paparangi's many descendants who attended the opening, says his great great grandfather became a good friend of the painter and sat for him many times before his death aged 100 in 1917 ... the year before the painting was completed.

“He was a great man in lost of ways and it’s lovely to have this come down to us and I’m hugely grateful to the family who donated this and it’s not on public display,” Mr Palmer says.

Another painting of the northern chief which had been owned by Dame Kiri te Kanawa recently sold at auction for $573,000.

REVALUATIONS DRIVE WAKATU TO $10.7M LOSS

Nelson's Wakatu Incorporation says business goes on, despite a $10.7 million loss for the year.

Chief executive Keith Palmer says the incorporation's businesses, which include property, horticulture and aquaculture, remained cash positive, so there is no need to lay off any of the 425-strong workforce.

But he says a change to accounting methods meant assets are valued based on the profits produced in the current year - which are affected by factors such as exchange rates and commodity prices.

“Most of the loss comes from revaluation of water space an that’s because mussel process over the last year plummeted from $1.90 to $1.20. The auditors look at the price of the water space it comes off and say if the price of the product dropped a third, you’ve got to revalue your water space,” Mr Palmer says.

Wakatu staff have done an exceptional job containing costs, which should help the incorporation through the current tough conditions.

GOFF DOWNPLAYS DYNASTIC NATURE OF SOUTHERN BID

Labour leader Phil Goff says the selection of Rino Tirikatene as his party's Te Tai Tonga candidate means incumbent Rahui Katene from the Maori Party faces a tough challenge next year.

The 37-year-old lawyer has a background in Maori economic development, and he's also the grandson of Sir Eruera Tirikatene, who first took the Southern Maori seat for Ratana in 1932.

Mr Goff says the election will be about more than personalities and whakapapa, and more about people questiong what the Maori Party-National coalition has done for Maori.

CROWDED HOUSES LEAD TO UNSAFE DRIVEWAYS

The Safekids organisation says housing conditions are a major factor in the large number of Maori and Pasifika children injured or killed in driveway accidents.

Research published in the New Zealand Medical Journal shows on average four children a year are run over and killed in driveways, and a child is admitted to hospital every two weeks with serious injuries.

Ann Weaver, the director of Safekids, says of 93 cases in the Auckland area between 2001 and 2005, 25 percent were Maori and 43 Pacific Islanders.

“It's not because they are Maori. It’s because of maybe the higher numbers of children in the household, multiple families in the household, multiple cars on the property, the design of types of properties that they might live in where they are more busy than some other families,” Ms Weaver says.

Where possible, families should set up a safe area away from the driveway where children can play.

HOSEA GEAR TOP PROSECT FOR SPORTS AWARD

Commentator Ken Laban says Hosea Gear's outstanding performance in the All Blacks' northern hemisphere grand slam should be enough to give the Ngati Porou winger the edge to win the senior men's prize at Saturday's National Maori Sports Awards in Auckland.

He says the New Zealand Maori and Hurricanes rep made the most of his return to the ABs.

That should put him ahead of the other two finalists, football World Cup goal scorer Winston Reid and decathlete Brent Newdick.

Maori preschools threatened by $400m cuts

Labour leader Phil Goff says Maori will be particularly hard hit by $400 million in cuts to early childhood education.

He says Labour has surveyed more than 400 early childhood centres about the cut in the subsidy which was intended to increase the number of trained teachers.

He says the message has come back that fees will need to rise on average by 20 percent, participation levels will fall, and the number of qualified teachers will drop.

“That was particularly so in Maori and Pasifika centres where they said fee increases are just going to lock a lot of children out because their parents simply can’t afford increases of $30, $40 a week to keep their children in quality early childhood education,” Mr Goff says

He says more than 1000 Maori and Pasifika children will be denied early childhood education because of the cuts.

GREEN LEADER WELCOMES EMERGENCE OF WAHINE NETWORK

Greens co-leader Meteria Turei says an organisation to represent the voice of Maori women may help keep parliament's women MPs on their toes.

Te Whaainga Wahine was formed at a national hui in Thames over the weekend to help women speak out at local, national and iwi level.

Ms Turei says it's the sort of initiative that is needed in what is a time of massive economic and political change affecting Maori women and their children.

“You can't necessarily say that because a leader or a political person is a woman that thy hold the kaupapa of women or particularly Maori women at the forefront of their mind. As a Maori woman in politics, what I always need is that strong political voice telling me when I do good and telling me when I do bad,” Ms Turei says.

WATER MANAGEMENT STARTING WITH WATERWAY HEALTH

A Hawkes Bay Regional Council water symposium has been told Maori want to know about the health a water system rather than how much can be extracted out of it to feed the land.

Roger Maaka, the professor of Maori and Indigenous Studies at the Eastern Institute of Technology and a member of the Waitangi Tribunal panel which considered the WAI 262 fauna and flora claim, says most of the participants wants to debate water allocations systems.

But he says his Ngati Kahungunu iwi was more concerned about the welfare of waterways.

“Once that's healthy that will provide for people and we take it that way rather than saying what is the volume in drought conditions, what is the volume in winter conditions and how can we maximize of exploit these. Do you start from increased production of do you start from the health of the waterway,” Professor Maaka says.

SHORTENED POLICE PICK COULD MEAN MAORI TOP COP SOON

A leading Maori policeman says the appointment of Peter Marshall as the next commissioner for a shortened term has increased the odds of a Maori becoming the top cop.

Mr Marshall will come back from running the Solomon islands police force to take over from Commissioner Howard Broad, who retires in April.

Wally Haumaha, the manager of Maori and ethnic services, says his decision to take the job for three years rather than the usual five is interesting.

“On that basis the deputy commissioner in waiting, Viv Rickards, will certainly be a strong contender at the next round or in the next term the office becomes vacant,” Superintendent Haumaha says.

He's hoping for big moves from Peter Marshall to tackle the high incidence of Maori crime.

NZ’S PROGRESSIVE IMAGE PRICKED AT RIGHTS WORKSHOP

A Maori attending this week's indigenous rights workshop in Auckland says she's letting the manuhiri from around the Asia Pacific region know that New Zealand's record with Maori isn't as good as the government would like to paint it.

Debbie Ngarewa-Packer from Ngati Ruanui and Nga Rauru in southern Taranaki says there is a false perception abroad that New Zealand is a leader in respecting indigenous peoples rights.

“There are a lot of laws not in our favour and we are constantly having matters like environmental protection, our ability to use and develop our lands and resources, our inability to improve on our economic and social conditions, our inability to be consulted on things that are affecting our lands and resources,” she says.
Mrs Packer says the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which the Human Rights Commission-run workshop is considering, is a good starting point to address those issues.

ELECTORATE BID A FAMILY BUSINESS

Labour's candidate for Tai Tonga is calling on some heavyweight help from whanau to win back the seat for Labour.

Rino Tirikatene is the nephew of Whetu Tirikatene Sullican and grandson of Sir Eruera Tirikatene, who between held the seat for 64 years until 1996.

He says his aunt was the first one round with a bottle of bubbly when he won the chance to take on first term Maori party MP Rahui Katene, and with her encyclopaedic knowledge of the electorate she will be someone to bounce ideas off.

Mr Tirikatene says he knows the rohe well from the years he has spent working in Maori social and economic development in the electorate, which covers the South Island and Wellington city.

Key slams Brash over foreshore unease

National Party leader John Key says his predecessor's views on Maori and the reform of the Foreshore and Seabed Act have done nothing to raise the standard of the debate.

At the weekend Don Brash used a speech to the Orewa branch of the National Party to accuse the Government of giving special treatment to Maori through things like the consultation provisions in the Resource Management and the mechanisms for recognising customary title in the Marine and Coastal Areas Bill.

But the Prime Minister says there was no substance in the speech.

“He said 'I have a general unease about the Coastal Area and Marine Bill.’ Well, okay, but Don’s an intelligent man. If he’s got a problem, tell us what it is, but don’t tell us you have a general unease because you can’t fix general uneases and anyway, Don in 2004 I remember very vividly being the main advocate of saying Maori should be allowed to test their rights in the court. Well, that’s exactly what the coastal area and marine bill does,” Mr Key says

He says Don Brash's criticism in his speech of the Maori Party as divisive is strange, given the effort he made in 2006 to get it into a coalition government.

RINO TIRIKATENE PICKED TO WIN BACK SOUTH FOR LABOUR

Labour's Te Tai Tonga Committee has gone with tradition, picking Rino Tirikatene as its candidate for the next election.

The 37-year-old is the nephew of Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan, who held Southern Maori for Labour from 1967 until 1996, and the grandson of Erura Tirikatene, who won the seat in 1932 as the first Ratana MP.

He believes he's got a strong chance of unseating first term Maori Party MP Rahui Katene, and says he'll be pushing issues like education, employment and economic development that affect Maori every day.

“I've had a very strong background in legal, economic development, just working among our Maori economic interests so I think that’s important. Maori do have an important part to play in our economy and making sure we are creating jobs for our people so I do have a strong background in those areas and I’m known throughout the motu,” Mr Tirikatene says.

He has had past experience in campaigning, standing for Labour in 1996 in the central North Island seat of Te Puku o Te Whenua.

WOMEN’S SQUASH TRADITION MAINTAINED

Squash professional Joelle King is hoping to follow in the footsteps of other Maori players who have excelled in the sport.

The Waikato-raised 22-year-old is on court in Palmerston North about now, representing New Zealand against Malaysia at the Women's World Teams’ championship.

After winning last year's Australian Open and picking up gold and silver at the New Delhi Commonwealth, she's nominated in the senior women’s category in this weekend's National Maori Sports Awards in Auckland.

Ms King says she's inspired by Maori like Leilani Joyce-Rorani who won 15 major titles and was world number one, Shelley Kitchen and Tamsin Levy, who is also in the current team.

MARSHALL GETS HAUMAHA TICK FOR TOP COP JOB

The most senior Maori police officer is welcoming the appointment of Peter Marshall as the next commissioner.

Wally Haumaha, the head of Maori and ethnic services, says it's an astute appoinment.

Mr Marshall has been heading the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force on secondment since shortly he was lost out on the commissioner's post to Howard Broad.

Superintendent Haumaha says that will be valuable experience.

“Having somebody who has been living in the Pacific and been culturally attuned to issues far and wide in the Solomon Islands, I think that we will have somebody who is empathetic and understanding more of kaupapa Maori so on that basis alone I’m really excited about the opportunity to work alongside Peter again,” Mr Haumaha says.

He says Mr Marshall did a very good job as the officer in charge of policing the 2004 foreshore and seabed hikoi from Northland to Parliament.

GROUP PUTS ROLE OF WOMEN LEADERS INTO PUBLIC DEBATE

Prime Minister John Key says a new group which aims to give Maori women a greater say in policy could make a valuable contribution to politics.

Te Whaainga Wahine was formed at a national hui at Thames on the weekend, and immediately launched a salvo at the Iwi Leaders Group and the struggle women have to be heard in traditional Maori forums.

Mr Key says he has noticed a shortage of women in the Iwi Leaders Group.

“Nayda Glavish tends to turn up but you don’t see a lot of other women there necessarily in those leadership positions. You can always do with some more and I think there are some extremely talented Maori women that I see in a variety of forums that I go to. You can see that they are the leaders of tomorrow so we shouldn’t give up home that there is a category of female leaders coming through in Maoridom like there is in the rest of New Zealand,” Mr Key says.

SHERMAN MARCHES BACK TO KAPA HAKA STAGE

A kura kaupapa teacher from Whakatohea and Ngapuhi is swapping classical music for kapahaka.

Ramari Sherman won the Maori section of the recent New Zealand Aria competition with an original composition about taonga puoro.

But she says her priority now is to make the starting line-up of Opotiki Mai Tawhiti for Te Matatini national championship in February.

says she developed her love of music accompanying her grandmother to practices for the National Maori Choir, and she's inspired by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, the most famous Maori singer.

Taranaki incorporation bounces back to profit

Paraninihi ki Waitotara Incorporation has bounced back from its disastrous foray into Australian property development to record a $3 million profit.

Chief executive Dion Tuuta says the turnaround came through improved rents on its 18,000 hectares of leased Taranaki farmland, good returns and better cost control on its own 13 dairy farms, a good result in its crayfish business and a 13-fold return on an investment in an American biotechnology company.

He says the investment in the Gabba Central apartment and retail development in Brisbane, which led to the $31 million loss two years ago, has been written off, and the 8500 shareholders are now looking to the year ahead.

“The current season is proving to be very positive. We’re about 40,000 kgs (of milk solids) ahead of budget, which is positive although we are in the hands of the weather gods and hopefully Fonterra’s price is going to improve but looking forward we’re also looking at implementing some managed farms so moving away from the 50-50 (sharemilker) model,” Mr Tuuta says,

Shareholders rejected a plan to sell residential land, and they are keen for the incorporation to pick up any leases that come up, at a fair price.

GENETICIST SEEKS CAUSE OF BILE DISEASE IN WHANAU

A Dunedin geneticist is trying to isolate a gene he believes could be responsible for the prevelance of a rare liver disease in a Bay of Plenty whanau.

Stephen Robertson has previously tracked down a rogue gene which was leading to the deaths of boys in a far North whanau ... in the process dispelling the family's belief it was cursed by a makutu or spell.

He says his current project focuses on biliary atresia, where children are born without bile ducts.

Biliary atresia occurs among Maori at three times the rate of non-Maori.

TALENT FOUND ON TAINUI CAMPUSES

The organiser of tonight's Tainui Youth Got Talent Awards expects standing room only at the Founders Theatre in Hamilton.

Vince Hapi says the show has unearthed some wonderful budding entertainers on Te Waananga O Aotearoa's five Waikato campuses.

He says the contest has hit a chord with the region's rangatahi.

PARININIHI KI WAITOTARA GOES BACK TO DIVIDEND

Parininihi ki Waitotara Incorporation has declared a Christmas dividend for its 8500 shareholders, celebrating a return to profitability.

Chief executive Dion Tuuta says the incorporation, which owns 20,000 hectares of Taranaki farmland, made a $3 million profit from rentals, returns from its own farms, its lobster business and other investments.

It hasn't paid a dividend since 2008, when it declared a $31 million loss after writing off its investment in a Brisbane apartment and retail development.

Mr Tuuta says while the 60 cent a share will deliver an average of only $84, shareholders have made it clear they want a regular dividend.

“Dividend is important to them and it’s not necessarily the size of the dividend but it’s a recognition of their ownership interests and it’s a recognition of their link to the legacy of PKW which has been handed down to them from their families and so to a certain extent it is viewed in more than just economic terms,” he says.

This year Paraninihi ki Waitotara Incorporation intends to shift two of its 13 farms to a fully managed rather than sharemilking model, so it can capture a bigger share of the milk cheque.

SULLIVAN SEEKING TO UNLOCK NATURAL STORYTELLERS

The new head of creative writing at the Manukau Institute of Technology wants to hone the writing skills of the area's Maori and Pasifika storytellers.

Poet Robert Sullivan from Ngapuhi and Ngai tahu will run a three hour writing workshop this Saturday at Otahuhu Library covering poetry, prose, editing and presentation.

He says similar workshops which encourage people to tell their stories in their own way have brought out some interesting observations of multicultural life in Aotearoa.

“I think a lot of people with life experience are great oral storytellers. They’ve got the gift of the gab. And what creative writing brings to the mix is a way of translating that oral gift onto the page so that readers can also share in the magic,” Mr Sullivan says.

HENARE O’KEEFE MAKES NZER OF THE YEAR SEMI-FINALS

Hastings District Councillor and Flaxmere community organiser Henare O Keefe says he's humbled at making the semi finals of the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year competition.

The long time resident's activities in the low income Maori community have included holding street barbeques, developing cycleways to improve health and successfully marshaling opposition against against the construction of a Corrections Department facility in the town centre.

He says he only does what has to be done.

“You can't legislate passion and compassion and love and enthusiasm. I’m a dime a dozen. There’s some wonderful New Zealanders up and down the length and breadth of this country and they do it for the love of it and I’m no different and you do it without expectation or want of reward. You do it because it has to be done, plain and simple really,” says Mr O’Keefe, who’s from Ngati Porou, Ngati Kahungunu, Ireland ... and Flaxmere.

Clamants want answer on spectrum progress

Maori spectrum claimants will ask the Government why it is holding up efforts to work out how Maori should share in the latest reallocation of frequencies.

Piripi Walker from the Wellington Maori language board, Nga Kaiwhakapumau i te reo, says a national hui has been briefed on what has happened in the year since claimants agreed to defer their Waitangi Tribunal hearing on fourth generation spectrum and form a joint working party with Crown officials.

The latest claim was in response to the freeing up of frequencies caused by the shift from analogue to digital television.

Mr Walker says a paper was prepared to go to Cabinet in September, but the responsible ministers haven't put it forward.

“We're going to seek out a full answer from the Crown on where it’s going and our job then is to listen/ We’re in negotiations and they require good faith and then we’ll see where we go from there,” he says.

Mr Walker says the history of spectrum claims over the past 20 years is that the politicians are unwilling to accept strong findings by the Waitangi Tribunal and the courts that Maori have rights to spectrum.

TURIA WANTS COMPANIES TOP PAY FOR TOBACCO CURES

Associate Health Minister Tariana Turia says tobacco companies should be made to pay to help people stop smoking.

Mrs Turia says she endorses the editorial in the latest New Zealand Medical Journal calling for prompt action to implement the recommendations of Maori affairs select committee inquiry into the tobacco industry.

She says the costs of making New Zealand smoke free should not all fall on the taxpayer.

“Those international companies who make a lot of money out of it, they do nothing to lower the nicotine levels, they do nothing to assist. Personally I think they should be the ones who are paying for the Nicotinel, the patches, the Champix, all of the substances that can be given to people who smoke,” Mrs Turia says.

DISTINGUISHED TRADITIONAL SCHOLAR MOURNED

Ngai Tahu leader Sir Tipene O'Regan says Te Aue Davis will be long remembered not only as a great weaver but as a distinguished traditional scholar.

The Ngati Maniapoto kuia died on Sunday at the age of 85.

Speaking from her tangi at Tokikapu Marae in Waitomo, Sir Tipene says he worked closely with Mrs Davis on preparations for the Ngai Tahu claims, on building marae, and on various heritage boards.

He says she had an encyclopaedic knowledge of traditional Maori history.

“She compiled, edited and published bilingually the 1990 atlas of Maori oral histories and that is one of the great contemporary documents of traditional content of best quality,” Sir Tipene says.

INDIGENOUS RIGHTS ON AGENDA FOR WORKSHOP

Indigenous and human rights workers from around the Asia - Pacific region are in Auckland for a four-day workshop on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of indigenous Peoples.

Organiser Bill Hamilton from the Human Rights Commission says people are looking for practical ways to implement the declaration, which New Zealand adopted with conditions in may.

He says the results could help Maori frame the debate on issues like constitutional change and participation and representation in government.

The workshop started with a powhiri at Orakei Marae this afternoon.

WELFARE REVIEW IGNORING NEED FOR CONSULTATION

A member of the Alternative Welfare Working Group says the Government's official group is ignoring a fundamental principle of successful reform ... that the people affected need to be involved.

Both groups released interim reports last week, offering radically different prescriptions.

Mamari Stevens says the official report's glib treatment of Maori issues reflects a failure to properly engage with Maori.

She says based on past reviews like Puao Te Ata Tu in the 1980s, Maori expected a much higher standard of consultation than they got.

“Where is the consultation, the genuine consultation of the Maori voice in this decade for this issue. There’s no mention in these reports so far of the history of Maori dealing with and having these experiences with social welfare. You can’t clean the slate and go ahead as if nothing has happened. You must take the history into account when you are designing a way forward,” she says.

TRIP SOUTH AIDS STUDY

One of this year's top Maori scholars says he's glad his father convinced him to head south to study.

Hori Barsdell from Ngati Awa, Whakatohea, Ngai Te Rangi and Te Arawa is studying physical education, Maori and music technology at Otago University ... where his father Peter went before returning to Mataatua to teach physed at Whakatane High School.

The 22 year old says winning a $10,000 John McLeod scholarship for outstanding academic success in Maori health is inspiring and he’s keen to work with rangatahi encouraging healthy lifestyles.