Common stand sought on freshwater management

Iwi leaders will gather in Wellington next week to thrash out a common position on development of the government's freshwater management policy.

Toby Curtis from Te Arawa says a small group of leaders have been talking with the Crown about the policy, and they now want to report back to the rest of Maori.

He says the current government seems willing to talk about ownership of water, but there are language difficulties.

“The trouble is when you’re dealing with it in the English language, Pakeha people have the ability to make it mean what they want, so I go back to how our people spoke about the water and how it was part of us and we were part of the water and we use te reo as the basis for what we mean by ownership, you have a totally different outcome,” Mr Curtis says.

Maori would reject the recommendation in the Brash taskforce report that a system of tradable water rights should be introduced to help this country catch up with Australia.

LOOK FOR SECOND HELPING IN FAT FIGHT CHALLENGE

A whanau weight loss challenge which saw south Auckland Maori lost more than 1300 kilos is likely to be repeated next year.

Organiser Tahuna Minhinnick says 50 teams of 10 took part, with the overall individual winner shedding 32 kilos and the winning team 135 kilos lighter at the final weigh in.

He says everyone who took part felt like a winner, and there is strong demand for second helpings, so people who try again have 12 weeks of experience they can apply to the next challenge.

Mr Minhinnick says the contest will have significant health benefits for whanau who took part.

TANGATA WHENUA EMBRACE DUTCH MONUMENT

The decendants Foxton's Dutch settlers are uniting with Maori in an ambitious project to reflect the township's cultural heritage.

Hayley Bell from Ngati Raukawa says the nine mana whenua hapu are joining with a national Dutch collective to build a $12 million arts and crafts museum and library.

It's near a windmill that is already a major attraction in the Horowhenua town.

“We're having korero, we’re trying to talk to people and I think it’s been great not only for our Dutch community but also for the other members of our community to learn about our tangata whenua groups because it’s enabled a lot of the history of the mana whenua to be brought out into the open,” Ms Bell says.

Stage one of the project should be open to the public by 2011.

DAMNING REPORT IGNORES POLICE CONTRIBUTION TO CHAOS

A lawyer who works in South Auckland is blaming poor police work rather than poor defence for delays in the court system.

Catriona MacLennan says Dame Margaret Bazley's review of the legal aid system which slams lawyers working out of the Manukau Court ignores the difficult conditions many of their Maori and Pacific Islands clients face.

She says clients would be better served if the courts were more efficient, and there is little defence lawyers can do about that.

“There has been a problem in recent years in that quite a large number of inexperienced police offices have come into the force and of course they’re not experienced to know what would be the appropriate charges to lay and that can result in quite a waste of time,” Ms MacLennan says.

There aren't enough judges to hear the number of cases, and the system is also clogged by sticking with a paper rather than an electronic records system.

OLDER MEN BECOME SUICIDE RISK GROUP

A Rotorua Maori suicide prevention group says the problem of self harm is shifting from rangatahi to middle aged Maori men who feel they have lost their mana.

Kia Piki Te Ora project leader Michael Naera says more Maori men over 35 are taking their own lives.

He says family break-ups and a change in economic circumstances are factors, along with alcohol and drugs.

“Our people were quite reliant on the men as the kai gatherers, the person who sustained the household with income, that’s changing now where the men’s role isn’t as prevalent,” Mr Naera says.

He says men's behaviour can also lead to incidents of self harm among women.

Kia Piki Te Ora, which is backed by Te Runanga o Ngati Pikiao, has won funding from Lakeland Health to address the issue at community level.

BRASH CALL FOR QUOTA SALES RINGS ALARM BELLS

Don Brash's call for fishing quota to be made available for sale to foreign investors has rung alarm bells with Maori fishing interests.

The recommendation to include quota in what Dr Brash calls the most liberal feasible foreign investment regime is included in the 2025 Taskforce report on how New Zealand can catch up with Australia.

Morrie Love from Te Atiawa says Maori didn't fight for a stake in the industry only to see the prime assets pass into foreign hands.

He says the current regime hasn't stopped foreign investment on terms favourable to New Zealand participants.

“There always have been foreign vessels involved. In fact they developed the deepwater industry. But the important thing is ownership says indigenous and we are able to have some significant say in the large foreign markets where we have to sell,” Mr Love says.

He says the New Zealand fishing industry needs to move to move towards a single desk seller model - which Dr Brash is totally opposed to.

Brash report wants hurry up on water rights

The head of the Rotorua Lakes Trust says the Government can expect rough sailing is it adopts a recommendation from former National Party leader Don Brash to create a system of tradable water rights.

The recommendation is part of Don Brash's 2025 Taskforce prescription for closing the income gap with Australia.

Toby Curtis says iwi have been talking to successive Governments about ownership and allocation of water, and the issue is too important to get diverted into another political agenda.

“Well hopefully we can get some protocols so we don’t get everybody like Don Brash and others thinking the water is there for the pickings and in terms of the water being an asset and a treasure, we want to make sure that’s what it is and it doesn’t just become another commodity for sale,” Mr Curtis says

The issue of tradeable rights is sure to be a topic of spirited debate at next week's iwi Maori national summit on freshwater management in Wellington.

IHI TRYING FOR GREATER SAY IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Maori concerned at their exclusion from local government will meet in Auckland this to plan their next move.

Friday's hui is being organised by the action group Ihi ... or Iwi Have Influence... which organised the super city hikoi down Queen Street.

Rau Hoskins from Nga Puhi, Ngati Wai and Ngati Hau says Maori need strong representation in local government.

“This hui will be the beginning of what we hope is national concerted action of increasing Maori participation in local government. By that I mean meaningful participation rather than the usual Maori liaison officer and occasional mana whenua committees that are sometime consulted and some times are ignored,” Mr Hosking says.

The all day hui will be at Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae at Unitec

WEIGHT CHALLENGE ADDED UP AS EVERYONE A WINNER

More than 1300 collective kilos have been shed during the 12-week whanau weight loss challenge in South Auckland.

Organiser Tahuna Minhinnick from public health group Mana Whenua ki Tamaki Makaurau organiser says three quarters of the 500 Maori who took part in teams of ten were weighed in at the weekend and the rest will be put on the scales over the next three or four days.

The biggest weight loss was 32kg. The winning team lost 135 kg.

Tahuna Minhinnick says everyone who took part and lost weight felt they were a winner, even it they didn't get the top prize of $21,000.

SOUTH AUCKLAND LAWYERS ANGERED BY BAZLEY BASHING

A lawyer who works the south Auckland courts says Maori clients could be disadvantaged if the government over-reacts to Dame Margaret Bazley's criticism of the circuit.

In her report on the legal aid system, Dame Margaret claimed 80 percent of lawyers working the Manukau court were gaming the system, and she slammed so-called "car boot" lawyers ... who often only see their clients on the steps of the courthouse

Catriona MacLennan says if the former Social Welfare head has evidence lawyers were corrupt or incompetent, she should give it to the police or the law society.

She says Dame Margaret didn't talk to lawyers working in the court and failed to appreciate the people they act for don't have organised lives.

“We deal with a lot of people who have drug and alcohol addictions, mental health problems personality disorders. It would make life so much easier if we could make an appointment for someone to come and see us in an office and they would turn up at that time but it’s just not going to happen. Eighty percent of our clients don't have cars,” Ms MacLennan says.

Appointing more judges and switching to electronic files would greatly speed up the delivery of justice in South Auckland.

BRASH PLAN ROBBING FROM POOR FOR RICH

Labour leader Phil Goff says the Brash 2025 Taskforce recommendations would have a devastating effect on Maori.

He says the former National Party leader's recipe for New Zealand incomes to catch up with Australia is to take money out of the pockets of the poor and give it to the rich.

He says it will push the Maori families who benefited from Labour's Living for Families package back under the poverty line.

“Low income workers have had their pay frozen for five years according to Bill English and worse still what if the National Party actually does act on this Brash report, that is going to have a huge impact, a devastating impact on Maoridom,” Mr Goff says.

He says it looks like the Key government commissioned the Brash report so its own measures don't look so extreme.

ROTORUA GROUP ADDRESSES MAORI SUICIDE SURGE

A Rotorua iwi health organisation says drugs and alcohol abuse is a major factor in suicide and self-harm among Maori.

Kia Piki Te Ora, a suicide prevention group set up by Te Runanga o Ngati Pikiao, has just won funding from Lakeland Health to tackle the problem.

Project leader Michael Naera says Maori are often reluctant to ask for help, so the group will work at community level to break down the stigma.

He says Maori suicide rates are 50 percent higher than non-Maori, and the percentage is even higher in the greater Rotorua area.

“Drugs and alcohol leads to things like family violence which in terms affects the children, wanting to take their life. There are issues with our wahine, because of family violence, wanting to take their life,” Mr Naera says.

Problem gambling and other mental health issues are also major factors in suicide.