tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278632412024-03-08T12:59:52.021+13:00Waatea News UpdateNews from Waatea 603 AM, Urban Maori radio, first with Maori newsAdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.comBlogger2365125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-48248730758791791792015-09-17T23:55:00.000+12:002015-09-18T00:12:52.182+12:00Maori Land Court judges slam reform bill<style>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">A major rewrite of
Maori land law has been slammed by the judges who will administer any new
legislation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The bench of the Maori
Land Court has laid out its concerns in a 163 page submission to the
ministerial advisory group on Te Ture Whenua Maori Bill.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Waatea News editor
Adam Gifford says the confidential submission is a blow to a piece of law Maori
Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell wants to make a centrepiece of the Maori
Party’s reform agenda.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The judges say they
support the stated objectives of the reform to empower Maori landowners, simplify
procedures and enhance protection of Maori land as a taonga tuku iho or
treasure handed down.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But the bill as
drafted won’t achieve those objectives, and in many cases will do the opposite.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">They say it will
undermine core property rights of Maori landowners, transfer a surprising level
of authority over Maori land to Crown officials, and contravene fundamental
elements of tikanga Maori.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The judges says the
bill should not proceed in its current form, and the stated policy objectives
can be better advanced by a significant rewrite of the bill or by targeted
amendments to the current legislation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The judges say the
drafters of the bill don’t seem to understand how the existing Act works in
practice.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Some of its initiatives
will bring back previous policies that have failed or have been the subject of
treaty claims and settlements that recognise those failings.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The bill was
originally the project of Attorney General and Associate Maori Affairs Minister
Christopher Finlayson, with the rationale that the existing law was holding
back the development of Maori land to the tune of billions of dollars.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Maori Development
Minister Te Ururoa Flavell wrested control as part of his support agreement
with National, but the critique from the bench may cause him to question
whether it’s worth pursuing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Download the Maori Land Court submission here: <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8Coyh1Gj6K9Y0ZTWnduakdHVUE/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8Coyh1Gj6K9Y0ZTWnduakdHVUE/view?usp=sharing</a></span></div>
Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-84274643240048406732012-03-10T08:50:00.001+13:002012-03-10T08:55:46.213+13:00Collective keeps culture alive in Auckland<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioanmnDlRgUVhqT8KnaYFAmxMN1mRpJwZ-8PNnX7wmfh6BK2J_9EeUiBcZ88502_IFipoFRZcSOuW6AXWmCLzFhPNQdhAYu9k87qMifHQzxTqa6bYjD1wQre4Vt4i9FHE_MzIT3Q/s1600/2012-02-21+10.42.36.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioanmnDlRgUVhqT8KnaYFAmxMN1mRpJwZ-8PNnX7wmfh6BK2J_9EeUiBcZ88502_IFipoFRZcSOuW6AXWmCLzFhPNQdhAYu9k87qMifHQzxTqa6bYjD1wQre4Vt4i9FHE_MzIT3Q/s400/2012-02-21+10.42.36.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5717988244349363970" /></a><br /><br />One of the first things Lolohea Tupouniua and her husband Sitili did when they moved to Auckland in 2003 is build a falehanga in the back garden of their family’s Mount Roskill home. <br />That’s a women’s space. It’s where Lolohea sits with many of her 15 grandchildren and other relatives a couple of times a month passing on the skills and customs around making tapa, or as it is called in Tonga, ngatu.<br />In the garden is a hiapo, the mulberry tree whose bark is peeled and beaten with four-sided mallets into a strong paper.<br />Sitili, a former mayor of Nukualofa and MP who now ministers a branch of the Free Constitutional Church of Tonga, wants to see if the trees will grow in Auckland’s climate.<br />Until some local source can be found, collectives like the Tupouniua’s Fahina Group must get the raw material from relatives back in Tonga as ‘opo’opo, white sheets about 50 centimetres square. They then koko’anga or felt them together to make the large tapa that are then painted on with juice extracted from the bark of the koka tree.<br />Lolohea has various traditional patterns she teaches, such as a chevron used in the king’s houses or markings for individual chiefs, but there is also scope for the makers to add their own designs.<br />“We have the patterns and the meaning of patterns. As a girl I learned it from my mum. The main work of women was making tapa and weaving,” she says.<br />Tapa and fine mats are the fabrics underpinning the social fabric of Tongan life, wherever they live. <br />They are an important part of funerals. They are given at birthdays and wedding. When a bride gets married, she is expected to have a large ngatu as part of the bedding in her dowry.<br />Tapa is used for dance costumes, such as the robes the young men wear for the ma’e tu’u paki or paddle dance.<br />Lolohea’s granddaughter Lauren says since her grandparents moved over, the family has been bound more tightly together, with the sessions in the falehanga a big part of that.<br />“You not only get familiar with the customs but with the Tongan language as well, because the majority of us grandkids are kiwi born and bred,” Lauren says.<br />She spent time as a child back in Tonga and remembers her great grandmother leading similar sessions.<br />“I guess it’s a way of staying in touch with loved ones who have passed, because as you do it you recall memories and you talk about it. You would not normally do that over a cup of tea.”<br />The family’s ngatu production, and the weavings it makes, all find a home within the group or within their church and school commitments, although some collectives have started producing tapa for sale.<br />The Fahina Group has held public demonstrations of tapa making, and Sitili is seeking funding for lessons to teach New Zealand-based Tongans how to make traditional crafts like lei and costume elements.<br />“We want to help them learn and carry on with what their parents and grandparents were doing,” he says.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-77285828365431366832011-09-27T10:45:00.002+13:002011-09-27T10:56:00.258+13:00ART HOUSEPublished <a href-"http://msn.co.nz/article.aspx?id=701166">Metro magazine</a> September 2011<br /><br /><br />Suspended high up in the atrium of the reopened Auckland City Art Gallery, a sculpture of a giant bunch of flowers welcomes visitors into the expanded space.<br />It’s a wonderful bouquet, but has the gallery earned it? What can we expect from this leasing art institution in the months and years ahead?<br /><br />Before the main gallery closed three years ago for the rebuild, the Auckland Art Gallery was struggling. <br />Some artists, gallery owners, former staff and other members of the arts community believed the organisation lacked a coherent strategy.<br />Some artists and educators said it had become irrelevant to their needs. There was a litany of missed opportunities. A Bill Hammond retrospective was declined, and so was a show by the great German conceptualist Joseph Beuys.<br />The main complaints were of a failure by the gallery to engage and communicate.<br />It’s there in the numbers. Even before the main gallery closed, the place was averaging just 190,000 visitors a year.<br />In contrast, over the past year 130,000 people have trekked out to the Pah Homestead in Hillsborough to see exhibitions drawn mainly from James Wallace’s collection of New Zealand art.<br />The two brief showings from New York hedge fund billionaire Julian Robertson’s “promised gift” of paintings by Matisse, Picasso, Dali and other masters have been the ACAG’s biggest draws. They attracted 1000 people a day during the month in 2006 when they were first on display and 1400 a day during a one-week hang of five works in 2009.<br />The next best draws were the Rita Angus retrospective toured from Te Papa which drew 450 people a day, and the Colin McCahon: A Question of Faith show back in 2003, which drew 400 people a day after its return from the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.<br />Both those shows were free, which highlights the problem that the gallery, and more particularly the New Gallery which is now closing, was saddled with for many other shows – a 1980s-style policy that people needed to be charged or they wouldn’t value the art.<br />Most shows have drawn fewer than 200 people a day, and the Walters Prize, which is supposed to be a biannual snapshot of the best in New Zealand contemporary art, gets a risible 70 people a day through the door.<br /><br />A lot has changed since the scaffolding went up.<br />There is 50 percent more exhibition space, as well as workshop and storage areas, labs and administration offices that are planned out rather than shoved into any available space.<br />The heritage buildings on the site and the new construction have been integrated into three levels, rather than seven, which has meant floating the floor of the East Gallery a metre and a half above the original plate.<br />A tour of the collection can now be done as a series of loops, including a rooftop promenade and coffee kiosk, instead of dead-ending in spaces that didn’t lead anywhere.<br />And rather than director Chris Saines reporting to senior management of the old Auckland City Council, the gallery is now under Regional Facilities Auckland.<br />Sir Don McKinnon, chairman of the council-controlled organisation, acknowledges there may have been criticism of the gallery in the past but “we start with a clean sheet”.<br />“Let’s work on the basis the board is expecting the gallery management to be outward looking and outwardly engaged.<br />“We will give Chris Saines breathing space after the opening to clear his mind and then look at ways to actively engage.”<br />The gallery is opening with more than 800 works from the almost 15,000 in its collection, as well as a two-month run of all 15 works in Robertson’s promised gift.<br />That programme, which was planned to get around any scheduling difficulties that might have arisen by delays in the construction schedule, gives the public a chance to acquaint or reacquaint themselves with the gallery’s collections.<br />The future programme hasn’t been revealed, although McKinnon says the board has been asked to support hosting a large traveling show next year.<br />So what does this “world-class public art gallery” that will “transform the cultural heart of our city” – as the gallery describes it - look like.<br /><br />The entry is impressive. Instead of the previous crabwise shuffle into the corner of the building, visitors now cross a generous space fronting on to Kitchener St.<br />At the top of the kauri-clad columns holding up the porch are new sculptures by Arnold Wilson, one of the original Maori modernists and still going strong in his 80s.<br />The ground floor galleries tell the story of New Zealand art history through its collection, from early 21st century works back to early colonial and even pre-European times.<br />Themes and references are picked out. Harsh light landscape paintings by Brent Wong, Don Binney and Robin White and a Lawrence Aberhart photograph hang together, Pat Hanly and Rob Ellis rub painterly shoulders, and works by Gordon Walters, Fred Graham and Theo Schoon, all derived from koru and kowhaiwhai patterning, stand side by side.<br />With Maori curator Ngahiraka Mason on board, the gallery has sought to build up a significant collection of Maori modernists.<br />It has bought early works from artists like Graham, Wilson and Para Matchitt, and is now showing them as part of the main current of New Zealand modernism rather than being off to the side where Maori artists, with the exception of Ralph Hotere, have tended to be placed.<br />The gallery has large holdings of work by several significant painters, including McCahon, Walters and Francis Hodgkins.<br />The original plan for the New Gallery was for there always to be McCahons on show, but this fell away after a few years. This is going to be fixed.<br />“We have the space now to ensure that artists like McCahon and Walters are not on occasional display but are constantly at the forefront of what the gallery shows,” says Saines. <br />There is also a permanent space for the Goldie and Lindauer paintings the gallery counts as a drawcard for international visitors.<br />The gallery is using the opening to rehang some of its benefactor collections, starting with most of the 53 works gifted in 1885 by former Governor and Premier Sir George Grey, including the Henry Fuseli painting that formed the start of the gallery’s internationally-important collection of the Swiss-British artist’s work.<br />Curator Mary Kissler has put together an exhibition showcasing the wealth of international material from the Mackelvie Trust, such as the Guido Reni Saint Sebastian.<br />So, from the collection, that’s the great Maori moderns, other New Zealand greats, international highlights and some of the collection’s themes, all getting a renewed commitment to their presentation.<br />But what about the contemporary art – the new stuff?<br /><br />Upstairs in the new space opening onto Albert Park is what Saines describes as the only gallery space in the country that will be dedicated to changing exhibitions of international contemporary art.<br />While there are a couple of recently-done works in the first bay, around the corner is a set of 50-year old prints by Eduardo Paolozzi, an Ed Ruscha painting from the mid-1980s, a row of Jim Dine cast aluminium flowers - hardly contemporary.<br />“There are undoubtedly modern things that are part of the story of contemporary art,” says Saines.<br />“There are absolutely contemporary works and a few earlier works but let’s take some latitude here. Our collection is what it is, we do not have hundreds of contemporary international works.<br />“We are not a museum of contemporary art. That is not our exclusive remit.”<br />The Auckland Gallery holds collections that cover an incredibly broad cross-section of the history of art, from the 15th century t the 21st, as well as the country’s largest New Zealand collection. And therefore it faces one of the biggest questions for any public gallery or museum with a collection: how does it manage its collection so it doesn’t get trapped in the past and can move forward? This underlies other questions: what should the gallery show, for example, and what should it buy?<br />Saines can point to a number of works commissioned for the reopening that might suggest they have the matter in hand, yet it is hard to see how the gallery has really approached the complex and confusing world of contemporary art in a way that serves the people of Auckland.<br />Tim Walker, a former director of Lower Hutt’s Dowse Gallery, says while the Auckland gallery describes itself as “world class”, a better option may be to seek to be “globally relevant”.<br />In that light, he describes the new building as “looking like a really good Australian gallery … circa 1983”.<br />He means there’s a sense of catch-up around the rebuilding project, and playing catch-up isn’t a game Auckland can win. <br />The market for good modern and contemporary works is such that a New Zealand gallery will struggle to compete against much-better-heeled trophy hunters.<br />Barring pieces of luck, like endowments or a billionaire falling out with his New York neighbours, the gallery is not going to get the items it may be wanting.<br />The alternative would be to focus on what it can access, art of New Zealand and the Pacific.<br />That’s what being globally relevant means: identifying potential strengths or unique advantages and pursuing them.<br />What better place to showcase Auckland artists, New Zealand artists, Maori artists, Pacific artists, putting them in context and giving the public a chance to see the way the culture is evolving. <br />While Ngahiraka Mason is continuing with the project kicked off in the 1980s by Alexa Johnson of bringing the Maori modernists into the fold, the gallery is long overdue for a show cataloguing and contextualising the various strands of contemporary Maori practice. As for Pacific artists, they are even less visible.<br /><br />Public art galleries have an important role to play in an artist’s career, serving to establish or validate their place in the wider culture through a hierarchy of opportunities – acquisitions, inclusion in themed shows, installation invitations, surveys, retrospectives, posthumous retrospectives.<br />There’s a high degree of subjectivity involved, and it’s never without controversy. After all, status and money are at stake. But it’s part of a gallery’s function that Auckland hasn’t been doing well in recent years.<br />In the past decade there have been only 10 large single-artist shows of living New Zealand artists and four of dead ones – and several of those were curated elsewhere.<br />Saines believes the gallery does connect with New Zealand contemporary art and artists. “Among the gallery stakeholders are contemporary artists themselves and we do work very closely with the contemporary art community,” he says.<br />“We are a museum that dedicates and commits itself to the acquisition and programming of contemporary New Zealand art, and we do it in the context of international practice through the agency of things like the triennial (a three-yearly survey of contemporary art), we do it through the agency of the Walters Prize, we do it through the very strong commitment we make to purchasing New Zealand art and overwhelmingly what we buy is contemporary New Zealand art.”<br />But artists are more than stakeholders. They’re the people who create what will be in the gallery in future, who feed off what’s on its walls, who live and breathe art, and who can be expected to have an awareness of what’s going on and what’s important.<br />While the Auckland Art Gallery doesn’t have as strong a record with contemporary artists as it might, it does appear to know how to look after benefactors. Galleries have been renamed, so today’s big spenders like Alan and Dame Jenny Gibbs, Trevor Farmer and Michael Friedlander get equal billing with Sir George Grey and James Tannock McKelvie.<br />Still, the largest contribution to the $121 million rebuild was $56.1 million from Auckland City Council ratepayers, with $30 million coming from the government.<br />That should give Aucklanders a sense of ownership of the new space and some high expectations.<br />There’s all that wall space, not to mention the loading dock and jumbo sized lift, just waiting for action.<br />Now we need a programme worthy of the expense.<br /><br /><br /><B>GREAT BUILDING, SHAME ABOUT THE WALK UP</B><br /><br />The new entrance to the Auckland City Art Gallery is impressive, but step back too far and you’ll fall down Khartoum Place.<br />That’s because, rather than a broad Spanish Steps-type approach rising up from Lorne St – or even through the arcade to Queen Street - the architects were barred from touching the tile mural bisecting the cramped alley.<br />That mural, ostensibly marking the centenary of women’s suffrage, was thrown up without consultation in 1993.<br />Council officers, who had been lobbied to take the project by tile maker Jan Morrison, sought to mollify the gallery and the architects designing the adjoining New Gallery by saying it was temporary.<br />But any attempt to remove the eyesore and create an elegant working public space integrated with the gallery access is now decried as an attack on feminism.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-62360862109331326902011-07-16T09:12:00.002+12:002011-07-16T09:17:05.937+12:00Waatea News archive relocatesAs Waatea News no longer supplies content to Radio New Zealand National, we have decided to suspend this service. The daily Waatea News bulletins can be accessed on the station's own site, <a href="http://waatea603am.co.nz/News/default.aspx">waatea603am.co.nz</a>. Thanks for looking. <br />Adam GiffordAdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-72989108016375630242011-07-01T00:07:00.001+12:002011-07-01T00:07:50.122+12:00Maori strategy sidelined by standardsThe country's school principals say the Ministry of Education is damaging the prospects of Maori students by soft-peddling the Ka Hikitia Maori education strategy for mainstream schools.<br /><br />A State Services Commission review has found the ministry is failing to address under-achievement by Maori students.<br /><br />Federation president Peter Simpson says that’s because the ministry’s focus is implementing national standards.<br /><br />“Here’s a key resource that shows when implemented properly and understood by schools it does make a huge difference for Maori students achievement yet national standards is seen as the silver bullet and that seems to be soaking up a lot of the ministry’s resources and focus,” he says.<br /><br />Mr Simpson says the ministry’s standards approach, as laid down by Education Minister Anne Tolley, is doomed to failure.<br /><br />KEEN DEMAND FOR TE TAURA WHIRI RESOURCES<br /><br />The Maori Language Commission is being overwhelmed by requests for resources for Maori Language Week next week. <br /><br />Spokesperson Debra Jensen says this year's theme is manaakitanga or hospitality.<br /><br />She says the aim is to get everyone on board to care for the language, whatever their level of fluency. <br /><br />“The key message for Maori Language Week in any year is to speak the language. It’s the easiest form of language revitalisation. It may mean learning te reo Maori or using the language you have more regularly. Pronouncing words properly is a really good start,” Ms Jensen says. <br /><br />RUGBY TEAMS IN FOR MARAE WELCOMES<br /><br />Marae across the country are preparing to host international rugby teams for the Rugby World Cup in September. <br /><br />Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples says 15 marae from Northland region down to Invercargill will host teams including those from Namibia, South Africa and the USA. <br /><br />Kingi Taurua from Waitangi’s Te Tii marae at Waitangi says the whanau is looking forward to talking about more than just rugby with the Canadian team and IRB match officials. <br /><br />They will also be given the history and a Maori perspective of the Treaty of Waitangi.<br /><br />The welcome for the All Blacks will be on Turangawaewae Marae in Ngaruawahia.<br /><br />GOVERNMENT SEES PEOPLE AS DISPOSABLE SAYS SYKES<br /><br />Mana Party spokesperson Annette Sykes says Aotearoa is under threat as never before from government policies. <br /><br />She says the proposed shift of more than 1000 Defence jobs from uniform to civilian positions is unprecedented.<br /><br />She says it will cost many Maori service people their livelihoods.<br /><br />“I am really worried about where that kind of ideology is taking the nation. It‘s almost like everyone is disposable. No one is really valuable for our society,. No one has an intrinsic heart or right to be part of this society, and I think that is where Hone has appealed in this by-election,” says Ms Sykes, who is fronting Mana while leader Hone Harawira takes a break after the te Tai Tokorau by-election.<br /><br />She says the party aims to reflect the anger of the nation about such changes.<br /><br />WAIPUKERAU FREEZING CHAIN CLOSES<br /><br />Labour Maori affairs spokesperson Parekura Horomia says Maori farmers should use their economic muscle to protect Maori jobs.<br /><br />He says a large percentage of the 250 freezing workers laid off at Waipukerau yesterday were Maori.<br /><br />He says farmers should send their stock elsewhere.<br /><br />“It’s one simple way Maori can influence where businesses stay open and where they don’t and I’m afraid we breed the animals and them let everyone else jockey for position about where the meat goes,” Mr Horomia says. <br /><br />MATARIKI ON SCREEN FOR MATARIKI FESTIVAL<br /><br />Matariki is drawing to a close, so Films on Marae is showing the film Matariki on two Auckland marae.<br /><br />Co-ordinator Hinurewa Te Hau says another feature, Hugh and Heke, and a number of short films will also screen at Te Mahurehure Marae in Point Chevalier and Mataatua Marae in Mangere.<br /><br />She says it’s a way to bring the community together and to find new ways to make the most of marae.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-35059029811333637592011-06-30T08:34:00.000+12:002011-06-30T08:35:29.446+12:00Taumarunui reserved land gets catch-upThe Crown has paid $250,000 to a Taumaranui land trust to compensate it for being forced to charge peppercorn rents.<br /><br />Rakai Taiaroa from the Karanga Te Kere Whanua Trust says the trust was overlooked when the Maori Reserved Land Act was amended in 1997.<br /><br />That means it was denied fair value for its land.<br /><br />“With this added resource we are able to plan things a little better and hopefully provide a good development platform for the trust,” Mr Tairoa says.<br /><br />The settlement was one his late father Sir Atawhai Taiaroa had fought for. <br /><br />FREE TRADE DEAL WITH INDIA COULD LIFT ALL BOATS<br /><br />Labour leader Phil Goff says Maori businesses stand to win big winners if New Zealand can negotiate a free trade agreement with India. <br /><br />Prime minister John Key is in Delhi trying to nail down the agreement Mr Goff set in train as Labour’s trade minister.<br /><br />He says tariff barriers are keeping New Zealand exports out of what could be a huge market.<br /><br />“You’re paying a huge amount to sell your wine, to sell your dairy product, to sell your land into India and if we can negotiate an FTE to reduce those barriers that creates and tremendous opportunity including for Maori working in those sectors,” Mr Goff says.<br /><br />Maori tourism ventures could also gain from any increase in Indian visitors.<br /><br />TARANAKI MAORI TAKING UP BOXING<br /><br />Taranaki-based boxer Sam Rapira says young Maori are flocking to the ring.<br /><br />The Ngapuhi slugger is the number two amateur light heavyweight behind Reece Papuni of Ngati Porou and Nga Rauru.<br /><br />He says their success is inspiring rangatahi to join his Bell Block Box Office club, and probably half its members are Maori.<br /><br />Sam Rapira fights Australian number two Jake Carr in New Plymouth on Saturday.<br />.<br />VOTE FOR MMP ADVANCES MAORI INTERESTS<br /><br />A Victoria university politics lecturer says Maori need to vote for MMP to continue in November’s referendum.<br /><br />Maria Bargh from Te Arawa says MMP has meant more Maori in parliament.<br /><br />She says a return to a first past the post system could slash the political representation of Maori.<br /><br />“The issue of the Maori seats isn’t on the table with this referendum but it seems to me it’s a slippery slope once you start going down options that are worse for Maori and looking at those who are against MMP suggests to me MMP definitely needs to be retained,” Dr Bargh says.<br /><br />She says there is room to improve MMP without destroying its essence of giving minorities a say.<br /><br />MOMENTUM FOR NOVEMBER WITH DAVIS IN NORTH<br /><br />Labour leader Phil Goff is confident Kelvin Davis will topple Hone Harawira in Te Tai Tokerau in November.<br /><br />He says contrary to Mr Harawira’s claims Labour spent up big trying to oust him, Mr Davis’s campaign was financially modest but high energy.<br /><br />He says the 86 percent reduction in the Mana leader’s election night majority shows the momentum is with Mr Davis.<br /><br />“Hone took that from being the safest Maori Party seat in the country to being the most marginal and Kelvin on the other hand lifter his vote from 29 percent of the vote to 41 percent. That is a great effort and we’ll build on that,” Mr Goff says.<br /><br />ANCIENT MISTAKES AFFECTING MODERN SCHOLARSHIP<br /><br />Maori academic Rawiri Taonui says students are getting Maori history wrong because they rely in early Pakeha accounts rather than Maori oral traditions.<br /><br />Mr Taonui says early Pakeha writers often got what they were hearing wrong, but because they wrote it down it is now accepted uncritically as being correct.<br /><br />He says a classic example is the way creation whakapapa is tought at university level.<br /><br />“The usual order in pre-European whakapapa was Te Po te Kore te Ao and what happened was when some Europeans translated the terms around 1900 their translations suggested to them the order should be different so they changes it and they published it in books and when Maori started coming through the university system they were taught from those books. Mr Taounui says. <br /><br />He will present his findings at a UNESCO conference on oral history in Portugal next week.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-89763696636719672462011-06-29T23:58:00.000+12:002011-06-29T23:59:01.343+12:00Army dumps uniforms for cheaper civviesA former army officer says today’s Defence restructure will threaten future recruitment.<br /><br />The Defence Force is making more than 300 uniformed instructors, photographers, logistics and administrative staff redundant and reassigning the positions as lower-paid civilian roles.<br /><br />Hector Matthews of Te Rarawa and Te Aupouri says while the Defence Force may need to reprioritise its expenditure, the loyalty of its soldiers isn’t being reciprocated.<br /><br />“It's a pretty cold message for a lot of our rangatahi because I think by and large the services have served our people well, given them god qualifications and experience, but it will make them think twice so it may well harm recruitment in years to come as those who have been made redundant advise their whanau it’s not the way to go so it’s a risk for the military,” Mr Matthews says.<br /> <br />Personnel who choose not to apply for the newly civilianised roles or are not appointed will receive redundancy.<br /> <br />KAHUI BOOK SPARKS FACEBOOK OUTRAGE<br /><br />A Facebook site calling for a boycott of book by Kahui twins’ mother Macsyna King has drawn 24,000 members.<br /><br />Site creator Jo Hayes says she’s outraged by the book Breaking Silence, which was written in collaboration with publisher Ian Wishhart.<br /><br />She says it’s not okay to profit from the killing of children.<br /><br />“This is not anything to do with race. This is about two babies who were murdered in my view and no one is being held accountable,” Ms Hayes says.<br /><br />She's planning a silent protest at Christchurch bookstores when the book is released next month.<br /> <br />RAPIRA WANTING CRACK AT TOP SPOT<br /><br />Ngapuhi boxer Sam Rapira says he’s ready to take on the country’s best.<br /><br />The number two light heavyweight has a repeat bout against Australian number two Jake Carr in New Plymouth at the weekend<br /><br />He says he’s rather be fighting Reece Papuni of Ngati Porou and Nga Rauru, who’s the New Zealand champion.<br /><br />If Rapira says if he can make the top in his grade in the world championships in Azerbaijan in September, it means automatic entry into the Olympics.<br /><br />NORMAN KEEN TO WORK WITH HARAWIRA<br /> <br />Greens co-leader Russell Norman says he is looking forward to working with Hone Harawira where the Greens and Mana share common ground.<br /><br />Dr Norman says one area will be in the creation of environmentally friendly jobs.<br /><br />“Up in the north there is a lot of unemployment so I think there is common ground there. In terms of cleaning up rivers, there’s clearly, having seen what happened at Waitangi Day this year where there was so much faeces in the water you couldn’t swim in it, there’s common ground there, and the Greens have been very focused on getting children out of poverty so there is also some common ground there,” Dr Norman says.<br /><br />He expects Hone Harawira will be fully occupied until the November election with making Mana a national organisation.<br /> <br />GOFF SEEING LIMITED ROLE FOR MANA LEADER<br /><br />Labour leader Phil Goff says Mana leader Hone Harawira is politically irrelevant because he can’t be trusted.<br /><br />Mr Goff says even if Labour is in a position to form a government after November’s election, Mr Harawira won’t be invited to join any coalition.<br /><br />“I don’t believe he can ever be part of a formal coalition because he simply isn’t reliable as a partner. He has found it very hard to work with other groups over time, most recently the Maori Party, and if you are gong to have a coalition government it needs to be stable and it needs to be built on a relationship of trust and reliability,” he says.<br /><br />Mr Goff says in the event Hone Harawira retains Te Tai Tokerau in November, he will be welcome to work with Labour in areas they can find political agreement … as they have done in the past.<br /> <br />MAORI NURSES ENTERING SOUTH AUCKLAND WORKFORCE<br /><br />Manukau Institute of Technology's Puora Matatini Maori Workforce Initiative today celebrated the graduation of 12 more Maori nurses.<br /><br />Bernard te Paa, Counties Manukau Health’s general manager of Maori health, says the scheme has made a real impact since it was launched three years ago.<br /><br />He says it giving many wahine the chance of a career they may not have expected otherwise, as most of the women have come from being on a benefit.<br /><br />Counties Manukau Health hopes to employ all of today's graduates as part of the overall strategy to grow the number of Maori working in the health sector.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-86724588052260368622011-06-29T08:00:00.000+12:002011-06-29T08:03:55.403+12:00Harawira told to stop swearingNew Zealand First leader Winston Peters says now he's a leader of a political party, Hone Harawira needs to stop swearing.<br /><br />Mr Peters says now the Mana leader is back in parliament, he needs to mind his language.<br /><br />“There are no swear qwords in the Maori language so you are selling yourself out as a Maori speaker and also as an English speaker. If your only choice of words is to swear you are letting yourself down and you are letting your people down,” Mr Peters says.<br /> <br />FAR NORTH BUS SERVICE UNDER THREAT<br /><br />A far north bus service says without subsidies its service to many isolated Maori communities will have to end.<br /><br />Manager Cliff Colquhoun says the Busabout Kaitaia service has been possible because of a recycling partnership with Te Runanga o te Rarawa which allows it to run its buses on a high percentage of biofuel created from recycled cooking fat.<br /><br />But he says the service doesn't fit the Land Transport Agency's criteria for support, despite it providing a low cost alternative to private cars.<br /><br />Busabout Kaitaia is looking for $40,000 ... less than 10 percent of the subsidy for Whangarei's bus system.<br /> <br />MARAE GETS WHANAU TO THE GYM TO COUNTER DIABETES<br /><br />An Opotiki hapu is mounting its own campaign against the diabetes epidemic which has the World Health Organisation ranking New Zealand as among the worst in the world for the disease.<br /><br />Waihi Leabourn from Mataatua Sports Trust says two dozen members of Ngati Patumoana are taking part in the 12-week health and fitness challenge, which includes nutritional workshops, power training and health education.<br /><br />She says their attitudes to sugar, salt and saturated fat are being challenged, and they are bengtold what to do to prevent type two diabetes.<br /><br />The hope is their example will inspire others connected to Waiaua marae.<br /><br />MANA WORKING UP POLICY PLATFORMS<br /><br />Mana steering group member Annette Sykes says the new party's big difference from the Maori Party will be policy.<br /><br />Ms Sykes has been working with fellow lawyers Moana Jackson and Jane Kelsey and social justice campaigners John Minto and Mike Treen on ideas that will be put to the inaugural conference.<br /><br />She says the Maori Party was always reacting to the mainstream parties rather than coming up with its own ideas.<br /><br />“They had some very lovely values like kotahitanga, manaakitanga, whnaungatanga and rangatiratanga. What Mana has been very clear about is that we want to give substance to those very important principles. Doing that requires us to set in place some clear foundational principles and key policy planks,” Ms Sykes says.<br /><br />Policies already released during the Te Tai Tokerau by-election included Mana's approach to treaty settlements, employment, the cost of living and its Hone Heke tax on financial transactions.<br /> <br />NORTHEC AND WANANGA O AOTEROA TEAM UP FOR TRADES<br /> <br />The chief executive of Northtec says the polytechnic's co-operation agreement with Te Wananga o Aotearoa will open up opportunities for young Maori in Northland to learn trades.<br /><br />Paul Binney says two institutions will combine in August to provide a trade training at Northtec's Raumanga campus in Whangarei.<br /><br />He says the rebuilding of Christchurch is set to create a national shortage of qualified tradespeople.<br /><br />“A key issue for us is really getting the message out there, particularly to Maori, that if you come and study over the next year to 18 months you are going to end up with a qualification that is going to put you in a really strong position to get a good selection of jobs in a year or so’s time,” Mr Binney says.<br /><br />Northtec also has a deal with Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi allowing its students to undertake post graduate studies.<br /> <br />WI PARATA CASE EXPLORED IN ROLLICKING DETAIL<br /><br />Lawyer and historian David Williams says his new book should give people a rollicking good read about Maori and settler relationships in the late 19th century.<br /><br />A Simple Nullity looks at the Wi Parata's attempt to get the Anglican Bishop of Wellington to return land at Titahi Bay that Ngati Toa had gifted for the building of a tertiary college for Maori.<br /><br />Professor Williams says the 1877 case is notorious because the then-chief justice ruled the Treaty of Waitangi was irrelevant to the appellant's case - but the story is not black and white.<br /><br />“Other judges said the treaty is rather more than a nullity, in fact it is a moral and political obligation of significance, and indeed some of the moral and political ideas of active protection of Maori, you can find in the Parata judgment itself. History always turns out to be a little bit more complicated if you dig into the details of it than if you just look at the nice simple sound bites so to speak,” he says.<br /><br />A Simple Nullity? is published by Auckland University Press.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-61005664105300513752011-06-28T21:30:00.000+12:002011-06-28T21:41:28.114+12:00MP talk duo adds mana to mediationThe Mana Party has called on former MPs Willie Jackson and John Tamihere to engineer a truce with the Maori Party.<br /><br />Mr Jackson the Maori Party leaders are understandably angry about some of Mana leader Hone Harawira's comments after his win in Saturday's te Tai Tokerau by election.<br /><br />But he says they need to get over it.<br /><br />“The last thing I want to see is the Maori Party out of the game and I don’t want to see the Mana Party out of the game to be replaced by Labour Party people, a Labour Party that sold out Maori big time just six or seven years ago,” Mr Jackson says.<br /><br />He says the proposal is that the two parties not stand candidates against each other in the November general election.<br /> <br />PAPAKURA MARAE CONSIDERS DIALYSIS UNIT<br /><br />With the World Health organisation ranking New Zealand as one of the worst countries for diabetes, a south Auckland marae is looking at installing its own dialysis machine.<br /><br />Chief executive Tony Kake says a dialysis unit is part of Papakura Marae's 10-year plan.<br /><br />He says the area has a high rate of kidney disease, and people travel considerable distances for treatment, so community dialysis could bridge the gap between hospital and home dialysis.<br /><br />Papakura marae is part of Kotahitanga, a Manukau regional collective that delivers Whanau Ora services.<br /> <br />ABORIGINAL DELEGATION STUDIES ROTORUA TOURISM<br /><br />Rotorua Maori tourism operators are sharing tricks of the trade with an Indigenous Tourism Development Mission from Queensland.<br /><br />Deputy mayor Trevor Maxwell says a genuine indigenous tourism experience is becoming a must-do for tourists on both sides of the Tasman, and Rotorua has been offering it for more than a century.<br /><br />He says it was an honour to welcome the 20 Aboriginal leaders.<br /><br />Trevor Maxwell says an increasing number of young Maori are gaining tourism industry experience in Australia which they are bringing back home.<br /><br />TUHOE TO ENTER ‘RELATIONSHIP’ WITH CROWN <br /><br />Tuhoe's chief negotiator says a relationship agreement that the tribe will sign with the Crown on Saturday should help get treaty settlement negotiations back on course.<br /><br />Talks with the Bay of Plenty iwi broke down when Prime Minister John Key vetoed the return of Te Urewera National Park land which had been confiscated.<br /><br />Tamati Kruger says the agreement is being treated as a separate issue.<br /><br />“Even if we were not in negotiations, we would want a political compact with the Crown because we haven’t got one. Do we think we need one>? Well, so far not having one for the past 140 years has resulted in zip positive relationship with the Crown,” he says.<br /><br />Mr Kruger says Tuhoe has told the Governemnt it wants to settle its claims next year ... but there can be no deal without Te Urewera land.<br /> <br />PETERS DOWN ON MOLLYCODDLING MAORI VOTERS<br /><br />New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says education about the importance of voting needs to come before mobile polling booths.<br /><br />Labour MP Shane Jones raised the idea of taking booths to isolated rural Maori communities, sports events and hui in the wake of Saturday's low by-election turn-out in Te tai Tokerau.<br /><br />Mr Peters says Maori need a history lesson.<br /><br />“What really doing is mollycoddling people about something in the Maori world that many of their ancestors gave their life for, were prepared to die for, so it needs not greater ease to vote but reeducation on the importance of voting I think,” Mr Peters says.<br /><br />He says the 59 percent of eligible voters who didn't bother to find a polling booth on Saturday can't complain about the result, which was the re-election of Hone Harawira.<br /> <br />PRISON SMOKING BAN COULD IMPORVE WHANAU HEALTH<br /><br />An anti-smoking campaigner says the ban on smoking in prison that comes into force on Friday could help their wider whanau.<br /><br />Grace Wong from Smokefree Nurses Aotearoa says her team has been helping prisoners with nicotine replacement therapy and support.<br /><br />She says Maori women, who make up the bulk of the female prison population, may be able to promote a smokefree environment in their home once they are released.<br /><br />Ms Wong says inmates who undergo nicotine replacement therapy have a higher chance of staying smokefree once they're released than those who try to quit cold turkey.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com73tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-73977288119643529032011-06-28T11:10:00.001+12:002011-06-28T11:13:31.097+12:00Harawira blamed for poverty inactionMaori Party co-leader Tariana Turia says the $600 million the party has won for Maori through its coalition with National is a fraction of what is needed.<br /><br />Mrs Turia says the Te Tai Tokerau by-election highlighted the appalling conditions Maori are contending with in the north.<br /><br />She says Hone Harawira, who won back the seat for his new Mana Party, could have done more for his constituents during his five years as a Maori Party MP.<br /><br />“The housing situation is appalling. The impoverishment is appalling, and there’s 67 percent of young people under the age of 25 who are unemployed in the north. That is an indictment on those members of parliament who frankly should have been serving the interests of that community,” Mrs Turia says.<br /><br />She says Maori communities in other regions like the Bay of Plenty are also suffering in the current economic climate.<br /> <br />RONGOWHAKAATA GO IT ALONE ON TREATY DEAL<br /><br />A meeting house held at the national museum could soon be on its way home to the Bay of Plenty.<br /><br />Rongowhakaata negotiator Willie te Aho says the iwi intends to initial the settlement of its treaty claims at Te Papa on July 8.<br /><br />He says the house is a significant part of the claims.<br /><br />“Te Aute Turanga is the premier whare tupuna at Te Papa. It was confiscated from Ngati Kaipoho and Rongowhakaata iwi at the time of the raupatu in the late 1860s, no question about it being confiscated.<br />Mr Te Aho says.<br /><br />He says if Te Aute Turanga is returned to Poverty Bay, it could become part of a museum complex that also honours C Company of the 28 Maori Battallion.<br /><br />The Rongowhakaata negotiations have been split from those of neighbour Te Aitanga a Maahiki, which were thrown into turmoil last month by a Supreme Court ruling that the Mangatu Incorporation could make a separate claim to land taken for erosion control in the 1960s.<br /> <br />TATAIAKO GOOD START FOR CHANGING TEACHER ATTITUDES<br /><br />A South Auckland teacher says a proposed cultural competency programme should improve achievement in the classroom.<br /><br />Associate education Minister Pita Sharples wants to roll out the Tataiako programme to help secondary teachers to communicate better with Maori students.<br /><br />Sara Harrison of Nga Puhi and Ngati Maniapoto says relationships are critical.<br /><br />“The kids aren't going to do anything for you unless they know that you care for them, and that is the biggest thing for Maori and Pacific. If you don’t understand that, it takes you 10 times longer get anybody to do anything for you in the classroom,” she says.<br /><br />MOBILE BOOTHS ANSWER TO LOW ELECTION TURNOUT<br /><br />Labour MP Shane Jones is calling for mobile voting booths to address low turnout in the Maori electorates.<br /><br />Only 40 percent of eligible voters turned out in the te Tai Tokerau by-election on Saturday, compared with 63 percent in the 2008 general election ... and an overall average in 2008 of 79 percent.<br /><br />Mr Jones says the Maori seats will not survive unless there is a consistently high turnout.<br /><br />“It’s important that those of us who want to improve Maori turn out find innovative ways so we can take the voting facilities to where the people are, to sports fixtures and other gatherings perhaps even of a cultural nature and capture the people there so voting becomes user-friendly and we go beyond what we’ve got now. The reality is of the 32,00 people enrolled to vote, Hone has got less than 15 percent. It’s hardly a resounding mandate,” he says.<br /><br />Mr Jones says there were several hundred potential voters at the dawn launch of a replica Maori village at Te Hana on Saturday morning who could have benefited from a mobile booth.<br /> <br />DEAL DREAM PROPOSAL FOR MAORI SEATS<br /><br />Meanwhile, Mana Party interim president Matt McCarten says if the Mana and Maori parties don't co-operate, Labour could win back Maori seats.<br /><br />Mr McCarten says he's disappointed with the Maori Party's promise to again contest Te Tai Tokerau, despite the collapse of its vote in Saturday's by-election.<br /><br />He says Mana leader Hone Harawira will offer to work for the re-election of sitting Maori Party MPs, in exchange for a clear run at the other three Maori seats.<br /><br />“If it doesn't run in the seats, then the way it will win additional seats is through the party list and if the Maori party win their four seats or keep their four seats then the list becomes surplus to them and so we have an agreement that can be reached around that where we say ‘you don’t run a list, we run a list and we will help you on the Maori seats,’” Mr McCarten says.<br /><br />He says Labour's Kelvin Davis will struggle to get media attention if he runs again in November, so Hone Harawira should be considered impregnable in Te Tai Tokerau.<br /> <br />EVICTION PLAN SEEN AS OFFERING HOPE TO DESPERATE<br /><br />National's plan to move on at least 4000 state tenants has brought hope to one South Auckland solo mother.<br /><br />Housing Minister Phil Heatley says Housing New Zealand tenants who are paying full market rent should find places in the private market and make way for desperate families who need homes.<br /><br />Tamalane Russell of Ngai Tuhoe and Nga Puhi says at the communal emergency housing unit where she is living with her two children, families have to wait up to six months to get a state home.<br /><br />“That's not fair because we could live there in a house we can afford while they can live in another house that is a big higher for them but they can afford in their budget,” Ms Russell says.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-46631238390464382592011-06-27T20:42:00.001+12:002011-06-27T20:42:36.797+12:00Party rift will take more than cosmetic patchFormer Cabinet Minister Sandra Lee says a deep rift between Hone Harawira and the Maori Party leadership means prospects of his new Mana Party working with his old party are slim.<br /><br />The Mana Party has given the re-elected the Te Tai Tokerau MP a month to see if he can make an deal with the Maori Party not to stand candidates against each other in the Maori seats.<br /><br />Mrs Lee says Mr Harawira left because of what he denounced as a move by the party to the right ... and that's unlikely to change.<br /><br />“They're cabinet ministers, they’re comfortable working with National, they’re comfortable working with John Key, and they feel they are making inroads and achieving things at the table by virtue of that so I don’t see how the fundamental ideological rift is going to be mended simply for campaign purposes,” she says.<br /><br />Mrs Lee says Saturday's narrow loss in the Te Tai Tokerau by-election could inspire Labour into campaigning harder to win back other Maori seats in the general election.<br /> <br />SHARPLES FIGHTING BACK FROM 10 PERCENT<br /><br />And Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples says as far as he's concerned, the party will stand a candidate against Hone Harawira come November.<br /><br />He says Solomon Tipene's 1026-vote third placing was acceptable given the circumstances.<br /><br />“You know it was a big ask for us, three and a half weeks to bring in someone brand new. We thought we had some infrastructure up north but of course they were all Hone’s branches so we had very little apart from some leaders asking us to stand up there. We did, we got 10 percent of the vote, and we’ve got to really get that seat back,” Dr Sharples says.<br /><br />The Maori Party's election strategy will be to make Maori people aware of the gains they've made by being part of a National-led government.<br /> <br />DIABETES WREAKING HAVOC IN MAORI COMMUNITIES<br /><br />The head of Diabetes New Zealand says the government must act against the diabetes epidemic wreaking havoc in Maori and Pacific communities.<br /><br />Chris Baty says a World Heath Organisation study ranking New Zealand among the five worst developed countries for type 2 diabetes confirms the diagnosis of health professionals here.<br /><br />Maori and Pacific islanders are three times as likely to have the disease than other New Zealanders.<br /><br />Dr Baty says she was alarmed to hear from a kaumatua that diabetes was becoming almost normalised in his far north community, as it indicates something that is killing people younger than necessary is acceptable.<br /><br />She says while Maori communities need to find their own solutions to problems like obesity, the Government can help by supporting nutrition education programmes.<br /> <br />TURIA READY TO FIGHT HARAWIRA TAKEOVER<br /> <br />Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia says there is no way Mana leader Hone Harawira will be allowed to take over the movement.<br /><br />Mr Harawira celebrated his by-election win in Te Tai Tokerau by announcing he was prepared to work with the Maori Party ... but then criticised its leadership as "slow and stodgy".<br /><br />Mrs Turia says it's clear all he's offering is a takeover.<br /><br />“We have 23,000 members. I don’t think our membership is going to allow somebody who constantly speaks negatively about the leadership and about this party in the way he does, I don’t think they see him as the future leader of the Maori Party and certainly I don't,” she sayd.<br /><br />Mrs Turia says as a member of its caucus Mr Harawira was unable to work within the Maori Party kaupapa.<br /> <br />GENERATIONAL SHIFT SEEN IN BY-ELECTION RESULT<br /><br />Meanwhile, former Labour cabinet minister John Tamihere says Saturday's Te Tai Tokerau by-election was a game changer for Maori politics.<br /><br />The west Auckland Maori leader says the Maori Party lost so badly, getting less than 10 percent of the vote, because it's deaf to generational changes in Maori society.<br /><br />He says that's likely to be played out in the battle for his old seat of Tamaki Makaurau between Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples and Labour's Shane Jones.<br /><br />“There's been a generational shift in Maori politics. It’s quite clear that guys 55 or thereabouts against guys 72 of 73 or whatever are going to play a greater role, and in Maoridom there is a generational shift going anyway,” Mr Tamihere says.<br /><br />The Maori Party couldn't even hold the booth at Dr Sharples' stronghold at Hoani Waititi Marae in West Auckland.<br /> <br />NGATI WHATUA TAMARIKI ON SHOW AT UN<br /><br />A photo of a Ngati Whatua tamariki playing in the shallows at Auckland's Okahu Bay has gone on show at the United Nations in New York.<br /><br />Photographer Josie McClutchie of Ngati Porou, the audio-visual production manager at Nga Pae o Te Maramatanga centre for Maori research excellence, says it was featured in an exhibition on the Right to Water and Indigenous Peoples which ran alongside the tenth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.<br /><br />She says the shot of 7-year-old Denzel Hakopa Timu was a way to highlight Maori concerns.<br /><br />“The Marine and Coastal Area Bill was going through its second reading, so that was the political backdrop, and then I tied in the kinship this child now has with their waters, Okahu Bay,” Ms McClutchie says.<br /><br />Now she wants to get back home to the East Coast to record what's happening on among Ngati Porou.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-6755756101235171982011-06-27T09:06:00.000+12:002011-06-27T09:13:55.723+12:00Offer of detente in Maori seatsA member of the Mana's interim leadership group says there is a prospect Hone Harawira's new party won't stand candidates against sitting Maori Party MPs in November's general election.<br /><br />Mana supporters gathered in Whangarei yesterday to celebrate Mr Harawira's 867-vote by-election victory over Labour's Kelvin Davis and lay the foundations for a first party conference within the next six weeks.<br /><br />Annette Sykes says as well as agreeing to field candidates in the general seats, the hui gave Mr Harawira a month to hold talks with the Maori Party about the Maori seats.<br /><br />“I think it is really important that Maori as a whole remain united. What has become evident over this election is that The Labour Party and the National Party and the New Zealand First Party and the ACT Party all combined together to eliminate a contest of ideas built on kaupapa Maori,” Ms Sykes says.<br /> <br />ELECTION LOSS SPELLS MORE WORK FOR MAORI PARTY <br /><br />Maori Party president Pem Bird says the severe spanking his party got in Saturday's Te Tai Tokerau by-election means it will have to work harder and smarter in the general election in November.<br /><br />Mr Bird says Hone Harawira ran a very good campaign to retain the seat he previously held for the Maori Party.<br /><br />He says the Maori Party was always on the back foot because of a need to rebuild its infrastructure in the north, but by-elections can follow their own rules.<br /><br />“The voters have said they want Hone, so that’s clear. So respect the issues of the voters, that’s the first thing. Having said that, 11,000 voters, last election it was 20-something thousand, so it was a very small turn-out,” Mr Bird says.<br /><br />He's keen to see what comes out of talks with Hone Harawira about the parties working together.<br /> <br />LABOUR RELISHING NOVEMBER CONTEST<br /><br />Meanwhile, Labour Party MP Shane Jones says continued bad blood between the Mana and Maori parties will open up all the Maori seats to be retaken by Labour.<br /><br />The Northland-based list MP says the narrowness of Hone Harawira's win in the Te Tai Tokerau by-election indicates Labour can further consolidate its support within the electorate.<br /><br />“The Maori Party looked as if it were a ghost ship in this particular election so they’ve got major issues to contend with. I do think if Hone Harawira does decide to run candidates against Te Ururoa Flavell and Dr Sharples, then the Maori seats are definitely in play,” Mr Jones says.<br /><br />DAVIS LOOKS AT IMPROVED PROSPECTS AND STATUS<br /><br />Defeated Te Tai Tokerau candidate Kelvin Davis says the by-election was a great boost to his hopes of taking the seat in November.<br /><br />The Labour list MP cut Mr Harawira's majority from over 6000 to just 867.<br /><br />He says the cult of personality around the Mana leader has given him a stronger platform to push the interests of Maori voters within the Labour caucus.<br /><br />“His only argument was vote for Hone and you get Hone and Kelvin. It’s raised the status of list MPs. We’ve always been made to feel like second rate cousins. It’s an acknowledgement that list MPs are just as important and just as influential as electorate MPs.” Mr Davis says.<br /><br />The by-election was a good test of Labour's campaign systems which should stand it in good stead come November.<br /> <br />CAMPAIGN LATE OUT OF STARTING BLOCKS<br /><br />Former Mana Motuhake leader Sandra Lee says Labour's delay in deciding it would contest the te tai Tokerau by-election may have cost Kelvin Davis a win.<br /><br />Ms Lee says the two for the price of one argument run against Mr Davis by both Hone Harawira and Maori Party candidate Solomon Tipene is hard for list MPs to counter, as she discovered herself when trying to retain Auckland Central against Labour challenger Judith Tizard.<br /><br />But she says Mr Davis may have been ankle-tapped labour's leadership.<br /><br />“He was very late out of the starter’s gate in my opinion. He lost a good 10 days campaigning in the early stages when Hone announced he was calling a by-election because the Labour leadership or maybe the Labour Party seemed to be vacillating about whether they wanted to run in that by election or not,” Mrs Lee says.<br /><br />She says the by-election should be seen as a rejection by Maori voters of the positions the Maori Party has taken in supporting the National-led Government, such as tax cuts for the rich and its caving in on the replacement for the Foreshore and Seabed Act.<br /> <br />HAMMERHEAD SHARK LOOK FOR SILVER FERNS<br /><br />The Silver Ferns may look more of a threat when they compete in next month's world netball championships in Singapore.<br /><br />Whakatane artist Rangi Kipa has designed the team a new look match dress.<br /><br />He worked with senior netballers to come up with a pattern based on the hammerhead shark, that denotes ideas around speed, strength, stealth and tenacity.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-22057651127730721672011-06-24T23:38:00.001+12:002011-06-24T23:39:44.511+12:00Harawira whips resentment for final pushTe Tai Tokerau candidate Hone Harawira says the campaign against him is being driven by fear the underdog will get a champion in Parliament.<br /><br />Mr Harawira forced tomorrow's by-election to get a mandate for himself and his new Mana Party, which merges his long-standing treaty kaupapa with the left wing rhetoric of Unite union head Matt McCarten and social justice campainger John Minto.<br /><br />He says it's not what the two mainstream parties want to hear.<br /><br />“They have stealing blind from the people who work and from the poor people in this country including for generations and no one has been able to highlight that and when I go back in intend to do so,” Mr Harawira says.<br /><br />It's the loyalty of his support on the ground that will allow him to prevail over the better-funded campaigns against him.<br /> <br />EDUCATION FOR JOBS A COMPELLING MESSAGE<br /><br />But Labour leader Phil Goff says his party's candidate Kelvin Davis is the true voice of the struggling Maori families in Te Tai Tokerau - which is why he should win tomorrow.<br /><br />He says in the short campaign for former school principal has won the trust of the voters, and his message of building a future for Maori with jobs and education has resonated in a region where one in five people are out of work.<br /><br />“People want to work, they want a chance, they want to build their lives and they know that the pathway to that is education and it’s skill training opportunities,” Mr Goff says.<br /><br />The Electoral Commission says early voting is ahead of the general election, with 1028 votes recorded by Wednesday night, compared with 864 ordinary votes at the same point in 2008.<br /> <br />TE HANA REPLICA VILLAGE OPENS<br /><br />Te Uri o Hau opens its replica 17th century Maori village at Te Hana tomorrow.<br /><br />Thomas de Thierry, the chair of Te Hana Community Development Charitable Trust, says building Te Ao Marama village has transformed the small predominantly Maori community just north of Wellsford.<br /><br />The marae will offer a cultural tourism experience, as well as being available for education groups.<br /><br />He says the knowledge and skills of kaumatua from the 14 marae around the Kaipara went into the design, and a huge amount of voluntary labour went into the $4 million project.<br /><br />The dawn opening of Te Ao Marama village starts with the blessing of the waharoa or entrance-way, followed by the opening of the whare tupuna.<br /><br />GOFF CONSIDERS MERITS OF COMPULSORY VOTING<br /> <br />Labour leader Phil Goff says he would favour adding the issue of compulsory voting to a constitutional referendum.<br /><br />Pundits are expecting the turn-out for tomorrow's by-election in Te Tai Tokerau to be low, in line with the Mana and Botany by-elections.<br /><br />Mr Goff says he's coming to see the merits of the Australian system of compulsory voting.<br /><br />“People should make the effort to get out and cast their vote. If they don’t like anyone, cross out every name but at least you’ve made the effort and it’s not because you couldn’t get off your bum to do it. That is a decision that should be a decision for all New Zealanders and I would be prepared to consider putting that in a constitutional referendum some time in the future,” he says.<br /><br />The Electoral Office says by Thursday night it had received 1361 early voters in the Te Tai Tokerau by-election, compared with 1,129 ordinary votes by the same point at the 2008 election. <br /><br />The Te Tai Tokerau roll total now stands at 32,738.<br /> <br />MAORI BATTALION SITE PICKS UP INTERNET PRIZE<br /><br />The co-ordinator of the 28 Maori Battalion website says the site is starting to pick a wider audience than just descendants of whanau.<br /><br />The site won the Crown-Maori Relationships category in this year's Institute of Public Administration Gen-I awards.<br /><br />Monty Soutar says many of the 6000 monthly visitors are New Zealanders travelling to Europe and North Africa who want to walk in the steps of the battalion ... and he has been able to help by uploading maps and even photos of the battle sites, such as the foxholes he was shown on Mt Olympus in Greece.<br /><br />The site has so far been able to source photos of 1100 of the 3600 men who served in the battalion during World war 2.<br /> <br />KAUMATUA KAPA HAKA A HIT WITH AUDIENCES<br /><br />The co-ordinator of this year's kaumatua kapa haka competition says audiences can't get enough of the old school style of performing. <br /><br />Fourteen roopu from throughout the country are comining together at Te Papa in Wellington this weekend for the finale of the museum's Matariki celebrations.<br /><br />Mere Boynton says the soft sweet sound preferred by the kaumatua is a world away from the slick, fierce competition of Te Matatini.<br /><br />She says despite kaumatua saying they're not competing, they always amaze the crowd with distinctive additions to their kaakahu each year.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-30659068938965100982011-06-24T09:30:00.000+12:002011-06-24T09:31:50.633+12:00Rents leaving Otautahi Maori with few optionsChristchurch-based social commentator Rawiri Taonui says a shortage of rental accommodation will force many Maori out of the city.<br /><br />Mr Taonui says yesterday's government announcements on land purchases will bring certainty to homeowners in the green zone, who can now start to rebuild, and in the red zone, who finally have an exit strategy and can sell their properties to the state.<br /><br />But he says the many Maori whanau who rent in the red zone suburbs like Bexley and Avonside will have to move.<br /><br />“People who are renting, thngs still remain uncertain for them in terms of whether they go from her because rental properties are a a bit of a premium now and that in particular affects Maori people and in my view many have left Christchurch and there are probably more that are going to go,” Mr Taonui says.<br /> <br />TE TAI TOKERAU NEEDED INVESTMENT IN JOBS<br /><br />Labour's Te Tai Tokerau candidate, Kelvin Davis, says regional development needs to be seen as an investment rather than a cost.<br /><br />Mr Davis is advocating a $100 million development fund for the north, modelled on the trust Labour set up for the West Coast.<br /><br />He says it's something he will be able to push for harder if he makes the shift from list to electorate MP tomorrow.<br /><br />“Now if you look at it as a cost, then there is no way you would give that money, but if you look at it, like the Labour Government does, as an investment, then it’s an investment in the people, an investment in future opportunities, and for crying out loud we need it. We can’t be sitting around in 10 years time in the Tai Tokerau and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy,” Mr Davis says.<br /> <br />MAORI DAIRY FARMERS CLEAN ENOUGH FOR GREEN<br /><br />Greens leader Meteria Turei says Maori dairy farmers are leading the industry in cleaning up their act.<br /><br />Ms Turei says the emergence of huge corporate farms is causing environmental problems.<br /><br />But while Maori trusts have big dairying interests,they are becoming increasingly environmentally aware.<br /><br />“I've seen some incredible changes in farming practice in Maori farms around how they manage waste, how they deal with cleaning up their waterways, the replanting of land back into native bush as opposed to using it for pasture,” Ms Turei says.<br /> <br />HARAWIRA STILL CRYING POOR ON CAMPAIGN SPENDING <br /> <br />It's the last day for campaigning in the Te Tai Tokerau by-election, and Mana candidate Hone Harawira is crying pohara.<br /><br />Mr Harawira, who gave up his parliamentary salary and travel perks when he resigned to force the by-election, says he feels up against it.<br /><br />That's because he's counting on support from the young and the poor, who traditionally don't turn out to vote, and because his opponents are throwing resources into the campaign.<br /><br />“Labour's pouring in tens of thousands of dollars worth of support in terms of flying MPs into the Tai Tokerau, going out and canvassing, mail dropping, a new ad campaign. Both the Labour Party and the Maori Party and now the National Party are pouring in a lot of money to try and stop me getting there,” Mr Harawira says.<br /><br />He says the other parties seem to fear what will happen if he wins.<br /> <br />CAMPAIGN ON THE GROUND SHOWS NO SIGNS OF WANT<br /><br />But senior Labour Maori MP Parekura Horomia says Hone Harawira's campaign shows no evidence the Mana candidate has lacked resources.<br /><br />He says while Mr Harawira like to make out he's the underdog, he was the incumbent MP until he chose to force the by-election.<br /><br />“He certainly had buses roaming around with people and a whole lot of cars in fleet so he’s getting money from somewhere and I think it’s a great ply ot play that he hasn’t got the expenses. He’s got as many billboards as we have up, he’s got people on the street so that’s why I know it’s tough go,” Mr Horomia says.<br /><br />He says voters need to remember Maori unemployment in Te Tai Tokerau quadrupled under Mr Harawira's reign.<br /><br />TE TAUMATA EXPLORED DEPTH OF MAORI ART<br /><br />The curator of Auckland City's Te Taumata Matariki exhibition programme says this year's line-up shows the strength and depth of Maori art.<br /><br />The last show in the series, an installation by Ngaahina Hohaia of Parihaka, opened last night at the Mangere Arts Centre.<br /><br />Karl Chitham says Hohaia one of a number of younger Maori artists coming through the ranks, and the show works well alongside exhibitions by Maureen Lander, Rona Ngahuia Osbourne and Kura Te Waru Rewiri at other city galleries.<br /><br />“You never like to forget there’s a lot of senior artists out there still making work and having shows and that’s what Te Taumata is about, celebrating those people alongside more emerging talents as well,” Mr Chitham says.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-82206247293443768132011-06-23T23:37:00.000+12:002011-06-23T23:39:08.079+12:00Education debate draws rantThe pressures of campaigning are starting to show in Te Taitokerau, with Waiariki MP Te Ururoa Flavell accusing Hone Harawira of nutting off over the absence of the Maori Party candidate from a debate in west Auckland.<br /><br />Mr Flavell says he stood in at last night's education debate because Solomon Tipene was admitted to hospital with a recurring stomach complaint.<br /><br />That led Mr Harawira to complain he was being ganged up on by two teachers - Mr Flavell and Labour's Kelvin Davis.<br /><br />“Hone had arrived so when he came in he sort of nutted off abut the fact it was all set up a jack up which was way over the top in the circumstances which was we were just talking about policy lines,” Mr Flavell says.<br /><br />He says Solomon Tipene should be well enough to complete the campaign.<br /> <br />HARAWIRA SEEING CONSPIRACY ON ABSENCE<br /><br />But Mana candidate Hone Harawira is still claiming Solomon Tipene's absence from the debate was the result of underhand tactics.<br /><br />Mr Harawira says Prime Minister John Key's statement last week that Kelvin Davis was the likely winner makes him think Mr Tipene is being left in the race to strengthen Labour's chances.<br /><br /> “The Maori Party has been instructed, probably by National, ‘let’s all act together to bury Hone because if he gets in he is going to change politics in Aotearoa and that’s something none of use want,’” Mr Harawira says.<br /><br />His focus now is getting supporters registered and to the polls on Saturday.<br /> <br />RENTERS STILL UNCERTAIN ABOUT CHRISTCHURCH PACKAGE<br /><br />Christchurch Maori academic Rawiri Taonui says today's announcement of rebuilding Christchurch is good news for many homeowners, but the government needs to come up with assistance package for low income renters.<br /><br />The Government says it will buy insured houses in areas which cannot be rebuilt on, and take over any relationship with insurers and reinsurers.<br /><br />Mr Taonui says the red-zoned areas like Bexley, Avonside and Darlington include large numbers of low-income Maori who rent homes which may now be set for demolition.<br /><br />“In and around those areas where people own houses, there are also lots of rental properties and there’s a significant Maori population so they are going to have to move on and there is no specific package for those people so that is one downside. If 100 people in your area own homes and are gong, you probably have to go and where is the assistance for you,” he says.<br /><br />DAVIS KEEN TO CARRY ELECTORATE WEIGHT<br /><br />Labour's Te Tai Tokerau by-election candidate says a jump up from list status to electorate MP on Saturday would give him more authority to advocate for Maori within the party.<br /><br />Kelvin Davis says Maori voters need to appreciate that the way to make real long term gains for Maori is within a major party.<br /><br />“If I have the mandate from the people of Tai Tokerau, then my voice can be louder because I can start demanding things and they can’t say ‘Kelvin, you’re getting a bit bolshie, you’re going to be number 400 on the list next time around.’ If I’ve got the mandate from the people of Tai Tokerau I can say I’m here speaking on behalf of the people of Tai Tokerau, this is what has been told to me and this is the view that I'm pushing,” he says.<br /><br />Mr Davis says there have been many robust discussions in the Labour caucus, but Maori MP's are being increasingly listened to.<br /> <br />HOROMIA CALLS TO WOMEN TO SPEAK<br /><br />Ikaroa Rawiti MP Parekura Horomia says it's time for Maori to let their wahine speak on the paepae.<br /><br />His own Ngati Porou iwi has a history of women orators, but it's unusual in other areas.<br /><br />He says some aspects of Maori kawa reflect the colonial era, and they don't relate to the needs and desires of young Maori.<br /><br />“I think its time for wahine to talk on the paepae. I know some people listening to this will want to knock my ears in but if you have women who have the reo and no one else has, you’ve got to confront what we’ve got now and use it,” Mr Horomia says.<br /><br />He says for many young Maori, culture means getting a ta moko tattoo or taking part in kapa haka rather than joining in the life of a marae.<br /> <br />BILINGUAL ACTOR SPARKS FILM AUDIENCE INTEREST<br /><br />Film producer Nicole Hoey says audiences at a lesbian and gay film festival in San Francisco are getting a whole new view of things Maori.<br /><br />Ms Hoey attended last night's screening of Kawa, an adaptation of Nights in the Gardens of Spain, along with writer Witi ihimaera and director Katie Wolfe.<br /><br />She says the audience at the Casto Theatre bombarded the trio with questions, especially about the role of a child who speaks both Maori and English in the film, leading to a discussion on bilingual education.<br /><br />The screening of the film led to talks with distributors and other festivals about getting Kawa to more venues.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-52975401529339826562011-06-23T09:33:00.000+12:002011-06-23T09:34:18.908+12:00Maori exodus from Otautahi under the radarChristchurch-based social scientist Rawiri Taonui says more people, including more Maori, appear to be leaving Christchurch than is being officially acknowledged.<br /><br />The Government will today reveal which parts of the city may not be rebuilt.<br /><br />Mr Taonui says not enough has been done to support the city's Maori population, and the rolls at kura kaupapa have more than halved.<br /><br />“People who have less money invested in Christchurch have less that they are attached to and where people don’t own their homes and they have whaanau in the north, a lot of them have uprooted and moved on and will continue to do so. The numbers kind of dwindle by the day,” he says.<br /><br />Mr Taonui says people are questioning how they can invest in a city where it could be up to a decade before things can be expected to return to normal.<br /> <br />TUREI KEEN FOR MP'S KAUPAPA TO CONTINUE<br /><br />The Greens aren't contesting the Te Tai Tokerau by-election, but co-leader Metiria Turei is keen to see Mana's Hone Harawira back in Parliament.<br /><br />Ms Turei says the only candidates the party endorses are its own.<br /><br />But she says Mr Harawira has been strong on environmental issues, including his opposition to deep sea oil drilling.<br /><br />“From a kaupapa point of view I have a lot in common with Hone and his views and his campaigns and the way he goes about his campaigning so having another voice like that in parliament is critical for the kaupapa we are fighting for which is Maori and the environment and taking care of people who need us the most,” she says.<br /><br />Ms Turei says the political establishment, including some iwi leaders, is frightened of Mr Harawira being an independent Maori voice in parliament.<br /><br />COUNTDOWN GIVES MAORI FRONT TO TOKOROA SUPERMARKET<br /><br />People are gathering about now in Tokoroa to open a new Maori-themed supermarket.<br /><br />Countdown operating manager Dave Chambers says the chain likes to reflect the communities it serves ... and in the south Waikato that includes a large Maori content.<br /><br />He says as well as the store's internal signage being in both Maori and English, local master carver Lionel Matenga has created a 5 metre long carving for the store entrance.<br /><br />Mr Chambers says the carving has been donated to the community.<br /><br />Countdown will again mark Maori language week this year with special events and publications.<br /><br />ELECTION A JUDGMENT OF HARAWIRA STYLE<br /><br />Former Labour MP John Tamihere says Saturday's Te Tai Tokerau by-election is about one candidate ... Hone Harawira.<br /><br />He says the by-election has concentrated opposition against the veteran protest leader, with the leaders of National and New Zealand First virtually telling their members to get out and vote against him, and Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia having to apologise for ruling her candidate out.<br /><br />He says it's unprecedented in New Zealand political history.<br /><br />“Now does that mean Hones doing things good, or does it mean he’s so polarized people he’s doing things bad. That’s what the electors in Tai Tokerau have to come to terms with. I think it’s an amazing tribute to him that he’s brought this convergence on,” Mr Tamihere says.<br /><br />He won't be endorsing Hone Harawira or anyone else in the by-election.<br /> <br />FRESH START FUND SMALL TRIGGER FOR INNOVATION<br /><br />A Hutt Valley marae is among nine community providers who will share $730,000 set aside to find new ways to help youth offenders.<br /><br />Spokesperson Henrietta Gemmell says Koraunui Marae Association has run alternative education, training and wrap-around services since the 1970s, and 90 per cent of the rangatahi it works with are Maori.<br /><br />She says the Fresh Start Innovation Fund will allow the marae to reach more rangatahi with its tikanga Maori-based approach.<br /><br />“Once they get a feel and a sense of belonging, because a lot of children come here without whakapapa, our children start to want to learn and they want to move on,” Mrs Gemmell says.<br /><br />Offenders are getting younger, with some seen by the marae as young as 8 years old.<br /> <br />TR ARAWA CELEBRATE EMERGING WAHINE<br /><br />Te Arawa wahine will be out in force tonight to celebrate their women artists and musicians.<br /><br />Veteran musicians Ardijah and friends will headline the Matariki concert, while Maisey Rika, Ria Hall, Te Matatini star Miriama Hare will be up for awards.<br /><br />Organiser Te Ringahuia Hata says the event was driven by the concept of the Matariki star constellation, which to Maori represents a mother and her six daughters.<br /><br />Te Arawa mothers will present taonga to six Te Arawa daughters excelling in kapa haka, arts and the music industry.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-62794161334660432932011-06-22T23:14:00.000+12:002011-06-22T23:15:27.891+12:00Green warning on establishment fearGreens co-leader Meteria Turei says the political establishment is frightened of Hone Harawira and his Mana Party becoming an independent Maori voice in Parliament.<br /><br />Ms Turei says while the Greens aren't endorsing any candidate in Saturday's Te Tai Tokerau by-election, she was interested to hear Prime Minister John Key picking Labour's Kelvin Davis to win.<br /><br />“There is an issue here around the establishment being frightened of more independent Maori voices in parliament and political parties, independent Maori political parties representing Maori voices in parliament,” Ms Turei says.<br /><br />She says Hone Harawira's positions on environmental issues and poverty have been close to those of the Greens.<br /> <br />HARAWIRA SUPPORTERS GET DOSE OF REALITY<br /><br />Labour's Te Tai Tokerau candidate is giving Mana Party followers a lesson in what their man Hone Harawira can achieve in Parliament.<br /><br />The candidates faced off in Kaitaia last night, and former schoolteacher Kelvin Davis told the crowd parliamentary politics is a numbers game.<br /><br />He says Mr Harawira's talk of a Maori parliament and fixing unemployment is hollow.<br /><br />“Let's be perfectly blunt. He can’t. Nobody wants to work with him. He can talk all he want about a separate Maori parliament, he can’t even organize and register his own party properly and he wants to talk about a separate Maori parliament. I think people need to get real really,” Mr Davis says.<br /><br />He says under Labour, the north was starting to get on top of unemployment.<br /> <br />MAORI TRADE TRAINING SCHEME FOR OTAUTAHI<br /><br />A Ngai Tahu educationalist says a new trade training initiative will gives Maori a greater stake in rebuilding Christchurch.<br /><br />He Toki ki te Rika will place 200 Maori students into places at the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology before the end of the year.<br /><br />Hana O'Regan, the dean of Christchurch Polytechnic's Maori Faculty, says it's giving people a way to focus on the future.<br /><br />He Toki ki te Rika is a partnership between the polytechnic, Te Tapuae o Rehua, Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, Ngai Tahu Property Company and the building industry training organisations.<br /> <br />GOFF COY ON TE TAI TOKERAU FUND <br /> <br />Labour leader Phil Goff won't guarantee a future Labour government would provide the $100 million economic development fund sought by Te Tai Tokerau by-election candidate Kelvin Davis.<br /><br />But he expected to hear a lot more about the idea, which is modeled on the trust Labour set up to boost development on the West Coast.<br /><br />“Kelvin will be there like a fox terrier snapping on our heels saying this is why my patch needs and good on him, that is exactly what he should be doing for his own patch and we will be listening closely to him but of course financial commitments are something you have to do in the context of a budget round,” Mr Goff says.<br /><br />He says given Northland has the highest unemployment in the country, there could well be a case for a special assistance package.<br /> <br />RONGOA EXCLUDED FROM DRUG REGULATION AGENCY<br /><br />Te Tai Tonga MP Rahui Katene is welcoming the exclusion of rongoa Maori from supervision by a new trans-Tasman agency to regulate medicines and medical devices.<br /><br />The new regime was announced this week by prime ministers John Key and Julia Gillard.<br /><br />Mrs Katene says traditional Maori medicines and healing practices were included in the WAI 262 fauna and flora claim lodged by her father, the late John Hippolite and others, which will finally be reported on next month.<br /><br />“Those things are part of our rangatiratanga and it’s something Maori must make the decision in. It’s not something that can be part of government and more importantly it’s not something that can be decided overseas,” she says.<br /><br />Mrs Katene says rongoa is knowledge held by individual practitioners which comes down from their tupuna.<br /> <br />MAORI THEME PLANNED FOR LA MATARIKI EVENT<br /><br />It still hasn't been inflated, but there's already talk of Ngati Whatua's inflatable waka making its first overseas trip.<br /><br />Richard Jones of Maori business development agency Poutama Trust is in southern California for a Matariki-themed event at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday to promote New Zealand business and tourism.<br /><br />He also intends to talk to city authorities about bringing the waka up next year for a larger event with a more Maori focus.<br /><br />One of the firms to benefit from last year’s LAX Matariki event was Maori energy bar business Manuka Boosta.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-9258089585368100442011-06-22T07:35:00.000+12:002011-06-22T07:36:14.966+12:00Logisitics underpin election logicNew Zealand First leader Winston Peters says whoever is best organised should win Saturday's Te Tai Tokerau by-election.<br /><br />Mr Peters, who stood for National in Northern Maori at the start of his political career, is picking Labour's Kelvin Davis to beat Hone Harawira by up to 1000 votes.<br /><br />He says campaign rhetoric doesn't count for as much as having enough people on the ground to get supporters to the polls.<br /><br />“The person who is going to win on Saturday is the person whose team has done the logistics - enrolled people, persuaded them to vote for them, and made sure they got to the polling booth during the week or Saturday,” Mr Peters says.<br /><br />The vote is likely to turn on special votes, as many eligible voters were not registered before the rolls were printed.<br /> <br />RULES COULD MAKE LEAGUE VULNERABLE TO BUS-IN BRANCHES<br /><br />Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia says the Maori Women's Welfare League may want to review its rules to defend itself from takeover.<br /><br />The 60-year-old organisation's ranks have been swelled in the past couple of years by Destiny Church members, and church pastor Hannah Tamaki is standing for president at August's annual conference.<br /><br />Mrs Turia says the Maori Party wrote its rules to avoid some of the electoral tactics that other organisations struggle with.<br /><br />“We only allow one vote per branch and in that way we are able to ensure people don’t bus people in or don’t sign a lot of people up to try and take a movement over. I think that’s unfair in many ways to those who have given their lives to the Maori Women's Welfare League,” she says.<br /><br />Mrs Turia says she has no idea what Hannah Tamaki's credentials are to be the head of the league, which is a position of great mana within Maoridom.<br /> <br />MAORI BOARD PREPARES TO AUDIT COUNCIL<br /><br />Auckland's Maori Statutory Board is preparing to audit how the super city council measures up to Treaty of Waitangi principles.<br /><br />Chairperson David Taipari says the board has worked with consulting firm Price Waterhouse Coopers on an audit process, which will be put out to tender soon.<br /><br />He says getting a qualified third party opinion could be what's needed to make the council heed the board's criticisms that Maori aren't being properly included in planning.<br /><br />“There are a number of areas I have seen over the past seven months that the council could greatly do with our assistance,” Mr Taipari says.<br /><br />The Maori Statutory Board has also employed Waitako University to identify areas where assistance for Maori may be needed, such as in housing, education, health and economic development. <br /><br />FOX PICKING CLOSE RACE IN TE TAI TOKERAU<br /><br />Maori political commentator and former Maori Party candidate Derek Fox predicts Saturday's Te Tai Tokerau by-election will come down to the wire between Labour's Kelvin Davis and Mana's Hone Harawira.<br /><br />Derek Fox says the split between Mr Harawira and the Maori Party, and the subsequent antics of his mother Titewhai and sister Hinewhare, had upset many Maori in the north.<br /><br />“There will be a lot of people who say ‘well, these people have demonstrated to me that they can’t work together, they’re like a three ring circus and I’m going to go back to the main ring which is where Labour is,’ and I’m quite sad about that too,” he says.<br /><br />Mr Fox says the Maori Party hasn't helped the cause of its candidate Solomon Tipene.<br /> <br />ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FUND A WERO FOR LABOUR<br /><br />Meanwhile, Hauraki-Waikato MP Nanaia Mahuta says Te Tai Tokerau by-election candidate Kelvin Davis has laid down a wero to his own party with his call for $100 million economic development fund for Northland.<br /><br />Ms Mahuta says it's not a promise Mr Davis can implement immediately if he wins the seat on Saturday.<br /><br />But it's modeled on a fund that Labour created when it stopped logging of native timber on the West Coast.<br /><br />“What he's doing is signaling to Labour that will be the cost of securing this electorate, and if I am the electorate MOP, Labour better get behind on that. I support him on that,” Ms Mahuta says.<br /><br />She says radical solutions are needed to tackle unemployment among young Maori in the north.<br /> <br />REO GIVES MAORI THEATRE AN EDGE<br /><br />Playwright Albert Belz says judicious use of te reo Maori can give Maori theatre a special edge.<br /><br />A revival of Belz's eight-year-old play Awhi Tapu opens in Auckland tonight.<br /><br />He says Taki Rua Productions have done a great job altering and updating the tale of four friends clinging to a dying forestry town ... and he doesn't think it should be pigeon-holed as a Maori play.<br /><br />“Thanks to some great genes I am Maori and I feel comfortable anyway, despite my reo being a shocker. A lot of people, including myself, have been trying to figure out where it fits. Is it a general audience piece, is it a Maori piece, is it a Pacific piece, I kind of like that. I like not being pigeon-holed too much,” Belz says.<br /><br />Awhi Tapu starts at Tapac at Western Springs tonight and runs until July 2.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-58888878667385678532011-06-21T22:41:00.000+12:002011-06-21T22:42:01.488+12:00Harawira denies perpetual grievance tagMana leader Hone Harawira denies he is pushing a message of grievance in his bid to retain Te Tai Tokerau.<br /><br />Mr Harawira's by-election rivals have seized on his campaign themes, which include playing up his role in the 2004 foreshore and seabed hikoi and other protests, as well as highlighting the hardship faced by many in the electorate.<br /><br />But he says Labour's Kelvin Davis isn't giving him the credit for some of his more positive achievements.<br /><br />“He knows what I was able to do with the Far North Rugby League. He knows of my role as the CEO for the Te Aupouri Maori Trust Board. He knows how I built the kura from nothing to being the biggest in Tai Tokerau. He knows how I built Te Hiku Media from a little radio station to four ration stations and a television station. He knows all of that,” Mr Harawira says.<br /><br />He says Labour's campaign is turning nasty because it's losing the race.<br /><br />LATE BY-ELECTION COULD COST SEAT<br /><br />Meanwhile, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says Hone Harawira may live to regret giving the Labour Party a crack at his seat.<br /><br />Mr Peters says the right time to force a by-election was March, when he split from the Maori Party, rather than giving his opponents time to drum up support.<br /><br />“Not in this case the Maori Party because they are going to be the massive losers in this campaign on Saturday but he has given the Labour Party a chance to organize on Saturday and he may well live to regret it,” he says.<br /><br />Mr Peters says the candidate who will win on Saturday will be the one who is best able to organise to get voters out ... which means Labour candidate Kelvin Davis is in with a great chance.<br /> <br />AWHI TAPU GETS SECOND LIFE<br /><br />Playwright Albert Belz expects a few jaws to drop when audiences see the revival of his play Awhi Tapu.<br /><br />The saga of four friends clinging on to living in a dying forestry town starts a run at Western Springs College's Tapac theatre tomorrow.<br /><br />Mr Belz says he's excited by what Taki Rua Productions have done to the eight-year-old play.<br /><br />“Way back in 2003 there were a couple of different elements to it where one of the characters went into a fantasy world. That’s gone. A new cast and director are also handling it differently in terms of, it’s a little bit lighter in places, a little bit heavier in others when it comes to how issues in the play are being dealt with,” Mr Belz says.<br /><br />TIPENE FEELS THE LOVE FROM PARTY<br /><br />The Maori Party Te Tai Tokerau by-election candidate, Solomon Tipene, says he feels no lack of support from the Party's hierarchy.<br /><br />Co-leader Tariana Turia has apologised for televised comments about Mr Tipene's political inexperience, which were interpreted as a vote of no-confidence in him and an endorsement of Labour's Kelvin Davis.<br /><br />Mr Tipene says he's grateful for the help he's got from Mrs Turia and other leaders.<br /><br />“Do I feel the support of the Maori Party? Absolutely. Every one of those MPs has been up with me every day supporting me. That is an indication of their support,” he says.<br /><br />Mr Tipene says as far as he is concerned, he is also the Maori Party's candidate for the general election.<br /> <br />LOAN SHARKS PREYING ON HIGHER LIVING COSTS<br /><br />The head of a South Auckland budgeting service is welcoming the prospect of loan sharks being put under the spotlight.<br /><br />In the wake of a company offering high interest loans via text message, the Government says a financial summit in August will send a message to the loan industry to be responsible.<br /><br />Ripeka Taipari says up to 40 percent of Whare Mauriora Budgeting have taken out loans because low wages or benefits and high living costs means they feel they can no longer provide for their families.<br /><br />“They're more wanting to be able to live the lifestyle they’re used to living which is pretty basic, so they really are on a minimum and scratching to get what they need and so they go to the shark to get the extra things they need for their children, and our staff say ‘I can’t do this anymore,’ because they keep going to the loan sharks and they don’t just have one, they have two or three of them,” Mrs Taipari says,<br /><br />She wants to see tighter credit lending criteria to keep vulnerable families away from money lenders.<br /> <br />ENTRIES FLOODING IN FOR WAIATA MAORI AWARDS<br /><br />The organiser of the Waiata Maori Music Awards says entries are flooding in as musicians come to appreciate how the annual event can generate good exposure.<br /><br />Tama Huata says high profile Maori artists like Tiki Taane, Stan Walker and Smashproof are showing other what can be achieved.<br /><br />He says there's a clear need for a collaborative approach to promote Maori artists not just through the Maori radio stations but to get them mainstream airplay.<br /><br />Entries close at the end of July.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-84888652251608000372011-06-21T10:05:00.001+12:002011-06-21T10:05:29.757+12:00Compulsory voting to protect voteHauraki - Waikato MP Nanaia Mahuta says New Zealand should follow Australia's lead and make voting compulsory.<br /><br />Ms Mahuta has been canvassing in support of her cousin Kelvin Davis, Labour's Te Tai Tokerau by-election candidate.<br /><br />She says Maori are missing out by not exercising their right to vote.<br /><br />“Sadly I knocked on a household, spoke to a person who was around about 44, and they said they had never voted, and I couldn’t believe it, and we cannot have that picture going on among Maori, because people will say why do you have Maori seats, you don’t even use your vote,’” Ms Mahuta says. <br /><br />She says it's looking like a low turnout on Saturday.<br /> <br />SURGE OF ENROLMENTS POINTS TO SPECIAL RESULT<br /><br />But a close observer of politics in the north is predicting a higher than expected turnout for Saturday's by-election.<br /><br />Mike Kake, the chief executive of Ngati Hine FM, says the race could come down to special votes.<br /><br />He says the three major candidates ... Hone Harawira, Kelvin Davis and Solomon Tipene ... may be a lot closer than outside observers think.<br /><br />“There's been a lot of activity around updating registration forms, a lot of activity driven by the campaigns themselves. Labour, Mana and the Maori Party are driving for new members, so there have been new enrolment forms coming though. So they still have an opportunity to get enrolled before Friday and cast a special vote,” Mr Kake says.<br /><br />The street surveys his station has been conducting haven't come up with a clear winner.<br /><br /><br />The Electoral Commission says it has received 355 early votes, more than at the same time before the 2008 general election.<br /> <br />BASIC SERVICES RESTORED TO CHARRED MARAE<br /><br />The whanau of Manawatu's Te Taumata o te Ra Marae has started the sad task of rebuilding after a devastating fire.<br /><br />The marae at Halcombe lost its wharekai and kaumatua lounge in a suspected arson three weeks ago.<br /><br />Awhina Twomey of Ngati Manomano says many in the whanau saw the devastation for the first time this weekend, but after the tears, they got stuck in to the work setting up a temporary kitchen so they can look after manuhiri.<br /><br />Awhina Twomey says the marae had been trying to raised money for sprinklers before the fire, but even sprinklers my not have been able to save the old totara buildings.<br /> <br />MOBILE MICROLOANS INDICTMENT ON GOVERNMENT INACTIVITY <br /><br />Labour's Te Tai Tokerau candidate Kelvin Davis says the emergence of a company offering small high-interest loans at the push of a text message is an indictment of the Government's refusal to regulate loan sharking.<br /><br />Budget advisers are warning that many Maori are likely to get driven into financial crisis by the loans, which Ferratum Group is pitching as a way to avoid having your eftpos card declined at the supermarket.<br /><br />Kelvin Davis says the Government refused to support Labour's attempt to curb predatory lenders.<br /><br />“They voted down our loan sharks bill last year and things are getting worse. If peole can just text a long and have to pay 50 percent interest over a couple of weeks, they’re just going to get hammered. The vulnerability of people is being taken advantage of and no good can come from it,” Mr Davis says.<br /><br />He says the idea that people might have to take out loans to buy groceries shows the Government's policies aren't working.<br /> <br />STUND POLITICS COULD BE HARAWIRA’S DOWNFALL<br /><br />Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia believes Hone Harawira may learn to regret taking strategic advice from former Alliance president Matt McCarten.<br /><br />Mrs Turia is incensed by Mr McCarten's weekend newspaper column praising Mr Harawira for seeking a mandate by forcing a by-election in Te Tai Tokerau ... and saying he gave the same advice to Mrs Turia when she walked from Labour.<br /><br />She says there was no such advice.<br /><br />“People need to be extremely careful about the information he puts into the public arena because it is not strictly correct and I am totally surprised that Hone has bought into Matt’s advice because calling the by-election and advising Hone to go with it is what we call stunt politics and that actually is Matt's trademark,” Mrs Turia<br /> <br />MAORI GOOGLE SEEKING MORE TRANSLATERS<br /><br />The call has gone out for more volunteers for Maori Google.<br /><br />It's almost three years since the Maori version of the internet search engine launched, but online media consultant Karaitiana Taiuru says the translation effort is struggling to keep up with the site's growth.<br /><br />He says anyone with suitable language skills can pitch in.<br /><br />“Any individual is able to begin translating on their own. One person was responsible for translating most of it. With community effort, it will be a small job and definitely feasible,” Mr Taiuru says.<br /><br />Only about a quarter of Google's pages are translated into Maori.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-84899835204082936122011-06-20T19:44:00.000+12:002011-06-20T19:45:48.193+12:00One vote best strategyLabour's Te Tai Tokerau candidate Kelvin Davis says voters in the by-election have one vote, and they need to give it to the person they want to represent them.<br /><br />Rivals hone Harawira and Solomon Tipene are arguing a vote for the list MP would be wasted, because he is already in Parliament.<br /><br />But Mr Davis says he's after the same mandate as Mr Harawira.<br /><br />“It's about seeking the mandate. It’s about seeking the voice of the people and people need to vote for whom they can trust to represent them the best in Te Tai Tokerau. To use this vote splitting argument is defeatist if Hone is out seeking the mandate. He needs to seek it one on one and not use these side issues about splitting votes,” Mr Davis says,<br /><br />He says if the people of Te Tai Tokerau still have doubts about Labour, they should still be confident about his own ability to represent them.<br /> <br />HARAWIRA HAPPY WITH PROPHETIC ENDORSEMENT<br /><br />Meanwhile, Hone Harawira is defending the endorsement his campaign got from a maverick Ratana minister.<br /><br />Keremea Pene organised a kar-koi of Mana Party supporters around Te Tai Tokerau over the weekend.<br /><br />Mr Harawira says his involvement seems to have brought out the worst in Labour's Kelvin Davis.<br /><br />“Kereama Pene, I didn’t know how high he was in the faith but apparently he’s a senior minister within the Ratana faith and for Kelvin to go calling him nothing but a choirboy is really an insult to the people of Ratana eh,” Mr Harawira says.<br /><br />Kereama Pene also drew fire from senior Ratana elder Te Whakaotinga Ron Smith of Matamata, who said the south Auckland minister's endorsement of Mr Harawira should not be misconstrued as an official church position.<br /> <br />NGATI WAI KI AOTEA CLAIMANTS GET SETTLEMENT START<br /><br />Treaty claimants on Aotea-Great Barrier are keen to use a $4.6 million settlement package to kick-start economic development.<br /><br />An agreement in principle signed by Ngati Rehua on the weekend also includes the Crown returning Okiwi Recreation Reserve and part of Hirakimata/Mt Hobson to the Ngati Wai hapu, and the transfer and gift back to the Crown of the Mokohinau Islands Scenic and Nature Reserve.<br /><br />Spokesperson Rawiri Wharemate says the deal has come together quickly since negotiations started in 2009.<br /><br />Agreements still need to be reached overt mutton-birding islands and water space before the settlement can be finalised.<br /> <br />MOBILE MICRO-LOANS THREAT TO MAORI<br /><br />The head of the Mangere Budgeting Services is warning Maori are likely to become victims of a new text messaging loan service.<br /><br />Ferratum Group is offering short-term, unsecured micro-loans via a mobile phone to consumers looking for quick cash, such as when they are standing in a supermarket line without enough money in their eftpos account.<br /><br />Darryl Evans says Maori are some of the heaviest users of his service, and 95 percent of them get into trouble because they can't service high interest, "easy' loans.<br /><br />“Any family who’s vulnerable and any family who needs to borrow money to buy food should absolutely not be going to this type of fringe lender and paying ridiculous interest rates. It’s just obscene. If you borrow $200 over 30 days, you’ll be paying them back $312. Just at that level there’s a 56 percent interest rate,” he says.<br /><br />Mr Evans says credit unions offer a far cheaper and safer option for struggling families needing short-term micro-loans.<br /> <br />FALSE PROPHET SKEWING BY-ELECTION CAMPAIGN<br /><br />Beware of false prophets is the advice Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia is giving her former colleague Hone Harawira.<br /><br />Mrs Turia says she's feeling a sense of deja vu at a claim by south Auckland Ratana minister Kereama Pene that Mr Harawira is the embodoment of a prophesy from church founder T W Ratana.<br /><br />She says Mr Pene has a record of such stunts in the multitude of political parties he has joined.<br /><br />“What we've got is an individual who attempts to become the prophet. He interprets prophesies. It’s not supported by the movement at all, It’s one individual who actually when I went with the Maori Party prophesised me too. It’s a load of nonsense. It’s really unfair on the Ratana movement,” Mrs Turia says.<br /><br />She says as in any church, Ratana followers are free to vote as individuals for any party they want.<br /> <br />TAINUI NEEDS TO GET HOUSE IN ORDER <br /><br />Hauraki Waikato MP Nanaia Mahuta says Tainui needs to get its house in order.<br /><br />The tribe's executive fended off a bid to sack it by getting a high court injuntion postponing the half-yearly meeting of the tribal parliament, which was to be held on the weekend.<br /><br />Ms Mahuta says the squabble with the executive means Te Kauhanganui is failing to take care of the tribe's business.<br /><br />“Quite frankly, sooner or later people got to put egos aside, look at the business before the tribe, huge decisions need to be made and Te Kauhanganui and the marae must give direction or have to opportunity to give direction on some really critical issues facing us,” Ms Mahuta says.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-40460010153558405842011-06-20T09:11:00.000+12:002011-06-20T09:12:10.839+12:00Wisdom of Solomon on vote splitMaori Party candidate Solomon Tipene is picking a Labour victory in Te Tai Tokerau ... unless he can convince people with his two for the price message.<br /><br />The self-described draught horse is trailing in the polls behind Kelvin Davis and Mana Party leader Hone Harawira.<br /><br />He says there's still a chance he can come through the middle on Saturday.<br /><br />“Kelvin will get in, in the by-election and in the general election, and frankly that is a wasted strategic vote because he will get in anyway, he’s on the list, and it’s a pity our people can’t understand that,” Mr Tipene says.<br /><br />He says a Maori Party telephone poll late last week showed him at 38 percent support.<br /> <br />HARAWIRA NOT TO BE TRUSTED SAYS SHARPLES<br /><br />Meanwhile, Maori party co-leader Pita Sharples says Hone Harawira is the wrong person to be advocating cross-party collaboration among Maori MPs.<br /><br />Dr Sharples says the Mana Party leader’s idea of a parliamentary committee where all MPs of Maori origin caucus every three months is impractical. <br /><br />“A parliament implies you are going to set up a whole set of criteria that binds you together and it will cross-cut the power and the voice of each party so it will never happen and besides I was talking to some of the Labnour guys and they say they don’t trust him, and we don’t because that’s why we split up,” he says.<br /><br />Dr Sharples says MPs are elected to make laws for all the people.<br /> <br />OPPORTUNITY FOR MAORI IN INTERNET COMPETITION<br /><br />A member of the national Maori broadband working group is encouraging Maori organisations to enter their websites in this year’s Australia New Zealand Internet Awards.<br /><br />Richard Orzecki of Ngati Raukawa is judging the New Zealand diversity category.<br /><br />He says it’s a way of recognising sites that encourage expressions of cultural diversity or identity, or use languages other than English to serve their communities.<br /> <br />He says it’s a great way for Maori groups using the internet to get international coverage.<br /><br />Entries close on July 1, and the award ceremony is in Melbourne in October.<br /><br />POLITIC OF GRIEVANCE DRIVING CAMPAIGN<br /><br />Labour’s Te Tai Tokerau by-election candidate says the north needs to move beyond the politics of grievance advocated by his rivals.<br /><br />Kelvin Davis says Mana Party leader Hone Harawira has made a career of victimhood and living in the past … and it’s doing Maori a disservice.<br /><br />“We have to acknowledge the past. We have to address the past but we have to move into the future. Hone is all about relitigating that and he has made people think it is the major issue, and it is not. We are not the downtrodden descendants of an oppressed people, we are noble descendants of a dignified people,” he says.<br /><br />Mr Davis says people are getting behind his message of successful Maori futures through education and job creation.<br /><br />The by-election will be held on Saturday.<br /> <br />CONVENTION CENTRE BET NO CAN DO<br /><br />Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples says there’s nothing but bad news for Maori in the Government’s Auckland convention centre proposal.<br /><br />Sky City has offered to build a $350 million mid-town centre, if the Government changes gambling laws in its favour.<br /><br />Dr Sharples says the process is flawed and the Maori Party will oppose it.<br /><br />“We’ve tried over the years to get the council and business houses interested in a convention, Maori culture combined centre down on the waterfront, no one has taken it up seriously. Now here is a group want to do a trade and put it up themselves, and I just say ‘You can’t do that,’” he says.<br /><br />Pita Sharples says expanding Sky City’s casino operations isn’t the way to address Maori problem gambling, which is increasing.<br /><br />RANGATAHI VOICE SOUGHT IN JUSTICE POLICY<br /><br />The director of Rethinking Crime and Punishment wants to hear the voice of rangatahi in the law and order debate.<br /><br />The prison reform group is meeting in Wellington this week to discuss the formation of a youth advisory group.<br /><br />Executive director Kim Workman says too many people assume they know what's good for young people in the youth justice area.<br /><br />“We think that some young people may have some ideas that may reshape the way we do justice. You know I’m 71 and all my mates are geriatrics,” he says.<br /><br />Mr Workman says the youth advisory group could be a way for those views to be heard by politicians, policy makers and community leaders.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-12094864689187692502011-06-17T22:22:00.000+12:002011-06-17T22:23:19.708+12:00Tainui executive wins reprieveTainui has postponed the half-yearly meeting of its tribal parliament after the tribal executive won a High Court injunction.<br /><br />Te Ara Taura chair Tukoroirangi Morgan says the meeting's agenda, including a motion to sack all 10 elected members of the executive, fell outside the rules.<br /><br />He says he now needs to sit down with Te Kauhanganui's chair, Tania Martin.<br /><br />“The tribal parliament hui scheduled for tomorrow is not going to take place. Both myself and the chair of the parliament now have to sit down and talk about making sure that the resolutions and the business that is to be discussed has to be appropriate and fall within the rules, got to be dealt with in the proper way, so we won’t get to a tribal hui until maybe three or<br />four weeks time,” Mr Morgan says.<br /><br />Te Ara Taura is keen for a sheduled review of Tainui's governance systems and processes to go ahead.<br /> <br />MAORI PARTY COMES OUT AGAINST CASINO EXPANSION<br /><br />Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples says the Maori Party will oppose any expansion of Sky City's casino operations.<br /><br />Dr Sharples says he's told the prime minister of his strong opposition to the deal being proposed in exchange for the company building a new convention centre.<br /><br />He doesn't accept John Key's argument that having more pokies and gaming areas won't worsen problem gambling.<br /><br />“When we first built the casino I trained 700 people to work in there, and they couldn’t gamble, and I’ve also monitored the situation there and been with the problem gaming people through their programmes and what they do to see. It’s not nice at all, so anything that increases the possibility of problem gambling, we’ve got to oppose,” Dr Sharples says.<br /><br />He's been trying for years to get a combined convention and Maori cultural centre built on Auckland's waterfront.<br /><br />HARAWIRA RELISHING PROPHET MANTLE<br /> <br />Te Tai Tokerau by-election candidate Hone Harawira is shrugging off the mantle of prophet placed on him by a Ratana minister.<br /><br />Kereama Pene says the Mana Party leader fulfills a prophesy by church founder T W Ratana that a young man will rise up in the north carrying the Treaty of Waitangi to give people new hope.<br /><br />Mr Harawira says he asked if they couldn't find someone else.<br /><br />“I'm happy to be that person in terms of the Treaty of Waitangi because it’s in my blood, it’s in my whakapapa, but the whole prophesy thing, that’s something between the people of the Ratana faith. My focus is to be the best treaty activist that I can be and as much as possible to be the best leader that I can be,” her says.<br /><br />Mr Harawira says he always respected the fact Ratana carried the bible in one hand and the treaty in the other.<br /> <br />TRUST PLAN TO REINVIGORATE NORTHLAND<br /><br />Labour's Te Tai Tokerau by-election candidate is calling for a $100 million investment trust to re-tool the region's economy.<br /><br />Kelvin Davis says a similar fund established when Labour stopped native logging on the West Coast means that part of the country has barely felt the latest recession.<br /><br />He says the north can't be allowed to further towards third world conditions.<br /><br />“Why don't we do something like that and that’s a really excellent idea, to set up a trust specifically for Te Tai Tokerau since we are deemed to be the basket case of New Zealand, that is going to invest in all the job creation and wealth creation and creation of opportunities,” Mr Davis says.<br /><br />Mr Davis says instead of investing in Te Tai Tokerau, National is cutting or freezing funds for essential services like public health.<br /> <br />SETTLEMENT SUCCESS BRINGING GOVERNANCE CRISES<br /><br />The chair of Tainui's Te Ara Taura executive says internal division is inevitable in post-settlement iwi, and they need to evolve mechanism to cope with it.<br /><br />The High Court has granted an injunction preventing a meeting of the tribe's Te Kauhanganui parliament tomorrow that would have considered a motion to sack the 10 elected excutive members.<br /><br />Tukoroirangi Morgan says with $700 million in assets, there will inevitably be tensions.<br /><br />“You are taking tribes from a start line where in our case we were virtually landless. When you then go through transformational change as a result of the opportunities that arise through settlement, there is always going to be those who are trying to put themselves into positions where they have greater say,” Mr Morgan says.<br /><br />He now needs to sit down with Te Kauhanganui chair Tania Martin to agree on an agenda for the parliament's six-monthly meeting.<br /> <br />MORE MAORI TEACHERS NEEDED TO AVOID BURN-OUT<br /><br />The president of the Secondary Principals' Association wants incentives to attract more Maori and Pacific Island teachers.<br /><br />Patrick Walsh says they're needed to lighten the workload of those already in the workforce, especially in low decile schools.<br /><br />He says young Maori and Pacific teachers often suffer from burn out because of the extra responsibilities foisted on them.<br /><br />“If it's a Maori teacher they say you can take kapa haka, and you can also deal with any bad behaviour of Maori students so instantly their workload is considerable and they become a magnet for other teachers to sort out a lot of issues to do with Maori students, Maori under-achievement, Maori language, Maori sensitivity,” Mr Walsh says.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-34070726411627008992011-06-17T09:32:00.001+12:002011-06-17T09:32:56.817+12:00Harawira counts numbers in houseTe Tai Tokerau by-election candidate Hone Harawira says his Maori parliament is what will give Maori a real voice in the nation's affairs.<br /><br />Mr Harawira is proposing that all MPs who are Maori set aside their party lines and come together every three months at hui around the country to hear the concerns of Maori in the region.<br /><br />“The more and more we develop the culture of a Maori parliament, the more and we as Maori MPs become accepting of the value of the input of our people. There’s 20 of us in Parliament. We’d be the third biggest party if we decided to stand together,” he says.<br /> <br />PARLIAMENT IDEA FLUFFY DISTRACTION<br /><br />But Labour's senior Maori MP says the Mana Party leader's Maori parliament plan is a distraction from the real issues which need to be debated in the Te Tai Tokerau by-election.<br /><br />Parekura Horomia says Maori MPs already do come together across party lines ... except that when he was in the Maori Party Mr Harawira was unable to get even MPs in his own party to agree with him.<br /><br />“In an ideal world I think it would be not too bad but political reality is that we’re in a battle for his seat and we’re not going to be distracted by fluff in relation to what the real issues are,” he says.<br /><br />Mr Horomia says Hone Harawira needs to acknowledge a wide range of organisations have the mana to represent Maori in various spheres, including runanga, iwi authorities, and national organisations like the Maori Womens Welfare League.<br /> <br />CHILDCARE CENTRES FREE UP PARENTS FOR WORK<br /><br />A south Auckland budget advisor says more early childcare centres are needed in the region so parents can look for work.<br /><br />Education Minister Anne Tolley has announce that $9.5 million will go towards building eight new centres in east and South Auckland to increase Maori and Pasifika participation.<br /><br />Ripeka Taipari says eight in 10 of families seen by Whare Mauri Ora Budgeting in Otahuhu can't afford to put their kids into preschool, or the waiting lists are full.<br /><br />“The hope is that we will have more centres so that our parents can get out and get more work and they can get some subsidised care in a centre,” Mrs Taipari says.<br /><br />The Government investment includes a $1 million Maori bilingual centre with 50 child places in Manurewa, and a $1.4 million bilingual service in Otara.<br /> <br />MAORI PARTY STUCK WITH DRAUGHT HORSE<br /><br />One of the unsuccessful bidders for the Maori Party's Te Tai Tokerau nomination says the party needs to stand by candidate Solomon Tipene through to the general election.<br /><br />Party president Pem Bird says the party's constitution requires a new selection process be held for the November election, whether on not Mr Tipene, who is currently polling at 15 percent, wins on Saturday week.<br />Mere Mangu says that is not tika or right.<br /><br />“That's who they chose and that’s who they’re going to live with until he changes his mind. That’s that. The tikanga is, when he put his forward and he was chase by the panel for Te Tai Tokerau he became the candidate for the by-election and he should still be the candidate for the general election,” Ms Mangu says.<br /> <br />SOUTH TURNS OUT FOR MANA CAMPAIGN<br /><br />They can't vote for him come Saturday week, but supporters of Mana Party leader Hone Harawira are heading north today to urge Te Tai Tokerau voters to put a tick for their man.<br /><br />Mr Harawira says he's buoyed by the number of volunteers turning out to help his campaign, including large numbers for South Auckland who have been door knocking in Waitakere and Raki pae Whenua, the north Shore.<br /><br />“They feel really bad that they can’t vote for me even though a lot of them are from the north so they are going to run a convoy from Henderson all the way up to Kaitaia and through the north over the weekend and that’s just their way of showing support,” Mr Harawira says.<br /> <br />ENGINEER DEFENDS AUCKLAND TANIWHA<br /><br />A senior engineering lecturer has lashed out at the way the media lampooned a warning of a taniwha under the Auckland CBD.<br /><br />Kepa Morgan from Auckland University says the dangers for a rail loop under the city pointed out by Maori statutory board member Glen Wilcox of Ngati Whatua should be taken seriously.<br /><br />He says engineers have learned to take such advice into account.<br /><br />“Those that are enlightened do look to indigenous knowledge sources and other examples to guide decision making in complex situations. If it’s purely maths, pretty much any one can do it in any language but whne it comes to complex engineering challenges, it’s a grey area and there is no black or white answer,” Dr Morgan says.<br /><br />Warnings of taniwha affected by a highway at Meremere and the prison at Ngawha provided useful inputs into those projects.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27863241.post-54385305972055405402011-06-17T00:36:00.001+12:002011-06-17T00:37:47.798+12:00Role models to counter attacks on teachersThe president of the Secondary Principals' Association, Partick Walshe, says the answer to students assaulting teachers in low decile schools is more Maori and Pasifika teachers.<br /><br />A teacher was assaulted and injured by a student at decile 1 Southern Cross Campus in Mangere last week.<br /><br />Mr Walsh says when he taught at neighbouring De La Salle College, he saw the respect that Maori and Pacific Island teachers automatically attain with pupils.<br /><br />He says many students come from dysfunctional homes, and the presence of such teachers gives them role models.<br /><br />Patrick Walsh says he'd like to see more scholarships to encourage Maori and Pacific Islanders to enter the teaching profession.<br /> <br />VIOLENCE PROGRAMMES COUNT COST OF BUDGET<br /><br />A trust which runs anti-violence programmes for Maori and Pacific men feels short-changed by a new funding formula.<br /><br />166 organisations are sharing the $13 million set aside in budget for family violence services.<br /><br />Friendship House Trust director Vicky Sykes says her south Auckland-based roopu got $80,000, which is half what it got under the previous formula.<br /><br />Friendship House is still waiting for clarification on what the money can be spent on.<br /><br />HARAWIRA STANDS UP TO CLOBBERING MACHINE<br /><br />Te Tai Tokerau candidate Hone Harawira says he's confident he can stand up against the Labour clobbering machine.<br /><br />Mr Harawira is disputing a Maori Television poll putting him only a whisker ahead of Labour's candidate Kelvin Davis.<br /><br />He says while Labour is trying to paint him as unreliable and untrustworthy, Maori in the north know different.<br /><br />His plan for winning over the hearts and minds of voters in the final week of campaigning is to propose solutions which will help them on issues like poverty and jobs.<br /><br />NATIONAL CASINO PLANS UNETHICAL SAY GREEENS<br /><br />Greens' co-leader Meteria Turei says the planned Sky City convention centre deal shows that cash means more than the rule of law to National.<br /><br />The Government is talking to the listed company about extending the licence on its Auckland casino and allowing more pokies if it carries the $350 million cost of the project.’<br /><br />Metiria Turei says it's a rerun of the change to the labour laws to meet the demands of the American studio funding the Hobbit moves.<br /> <br />“The only difference between what National’s doing and all sorts of dodgy government around the world do is they are doing it oput in the open. Everyone in New Zealand knows they are selling off the law. But it’s immoral and it's unethical,” she says.<br /><br />Ms Turei says the number of Maori problem gamblers has jumped sharply since the casino was opened, and its expansion will make things worse.<br /> <br />CHRISTCHURCH MAORI NEEDING BETTER SUPPORT <br /><br />Labour Maori affairs spokesman Parekura Horomia wants to see programmes put together to help Christchurch Maori households face the future.<br /><br />The Ikaroa Rawhiti MP says the greatest suffering seems to be in places like Aranui, which have high Maori populations.<br /><br />He says this many have become even more demoralised by this week's earthquakes, and they need a way to get the minefield of rebuilding.<br /><br />Mr Horomia says the Government is failing to provide the sort of clear and timely leadership that would help Christchurch people make decisions and get on with their lives.<br /><br />HEARTFELT STORIES IN COMPETITION<br /><br />A six time finalist in the Pikihuia Awards for Maori writers says a good story comes from the heart.<br /><br />Ann French of Tauranga has two entries in contention this year.<br /><br />Her novel extract is about solo parents whose children encounter problems with gangs and drugs, while her short story, Treading on Eggshells, is about the confrontation when a mother finds out her son is using drugs.<br /><br />The Pikihuia winner will be announced August 27, with the finalists published in Huia Short Stories 9.Adamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16322691526769767082noreply@blogger.com0