Harawira pushing tupuna title ahead of policy

Taitokerau MP Hone Harawira is on the road gauging Maori opinion on replacing the Foreshore and Seabed Act, despite there being no clear alternative on the table.

A technical working group chosen by the Iwi Leaders Forum is working with a small group of Crown officials on a proposal for Attorney General Chris Finlayson to take to Cabinet.

Fellow Maori Party MP Te Ururoa Flavell has backed the process, and said the party believes an effective solution can only come out of meaningful engagement between the Crown and iwi and hapu.

But Mr Harawira says he’s not waiting, and he’s looking for support for his idea of replacing Crown ownership with Maori or tupuna title.

“They’re not clearly Maori Party policies but unless you go out with a basic set of information, you’re out there floundering, so we’re not floundering, we’ve got some basic ideas – Maori title, no sale and access for all, see what our people think,” he says.

Last Friday’s hui at Dargaville was only the first of what he expects will be 40 nationwide.

JUDGE PRAISES QUALITY OF LAWYERS BUT NOTES GAPS

The new deputy chief judge of the Maori Land Court is praising the depth of Maori legal talent.

Between 10 to 20 Maori are admitted to the bar each year, and there are now a few hundred Maori lawyers.

Caren Fox says it's great to see Maori doing commercial, regulatory and environmental law, but there aren't enough lawyers in other fields with a high Maori need.

“The criminal courts and the family courts could do with a good smattering of Maori lawyers but they don’t tend to go into those fields and stay very long,” Judge Fox says.

DENTAL DECAY LEADING TO OTHER HEALTH PROBLEMS

The head of the Maori dental association, Pauline Koopu, wants Maori and mainstream health organisations to give priority to Maori oral health.

Te Ao Marama held its annual hui at Rotorua over the weekend.

Dr Koopu says many Maori never go near a dentist once they turn 18 and stop getting free treatment.

That creates other health problems.

“There are underlying diseases such as diabetes, cardio-vascular. Pre-term low birth-weight babies have also been linked to having poor oral health so there’s a huge link there between oral health and general health that isn’t well known,” Dr Koopu says.

Te Ao Marama is trying to make iwi realise the importance of oral health.

THREE STRIKES LAW WILL INCREASAE STREET VIOLENCE

South Auckland youth worker Haami Chapman says ACT’s three strikes bill being pushed through Parliament is likely to lead to more serious offending.

Mr Chapman, who was named local hero in this year’s New Zealander of the Year awards for his work with gangs, says by trying to look tough, the Government is ignoring effective community-driven responses to crime.

He says increased prison terms don’t act as a deterrent for rangatahi caught up in violence.

“If you know you ain’t got no other option for you, if you know you’re going away for a long time, what’s to prevent you from doing whatever you want to do. Let’s just make a good job of it. If you know you are going to be locked away the next 30 years, I may as well go the whole hog. See, it has that opposite effect,” Mr Chapman says.

What is working in south Auckland is whanau-based programmes, which are turning lives around.

SHAPLES DISAPPOINTED AT HEATLEY DEPARTURE

Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples says former housing and fisheries minister Phil Heatley did a lot for Maori.

The Whangarei MP stood down on Friday over his use of a ministerial credit card.

Dr Sharples says Mr Heatley brought together Housing New Zealand and Kiwibank to allow people building on ancestral land to get loans.

He also pushed to get agreements between those managing customary fisheries, recreational fishers and quota holders, so it’s a disappointment to lose him from Cabinet.

“I don’t know whether there’s something behind it or not but I do know he’s a genuine guy and to be down the road for a couple of bottles of wine seems to me really silly when you look at what company executives do ore even employees with their privileges and so on,” Dr Sharples says.

WOMEN THE FACE OF MOKO REVIVAL

One of the country's top ta moko artists is crediting women with keeping the ancient art alive.

Mark Kopua from Tologa Bay has been demonstrating tattooing at the Face Value Exhibition of moko at Waikato Museum and Art Gallery.

He says in the same way wahine Maori led the way in language initiatives like kohanga reo or Aataarangi, they are also embracing the moko kauae, the chin moko and other designs that reflect their tribal identity.

“Our women are the strongest carriers of moko. Throughout the country the women outnumber the males and it’s very obvious to us the women are the strongest carriers of that type of kaupapa,” Mr Kopua says.

Auckland iwi looking at collective settlement

Iwi with claims to Tamaki Makaurau are optimistic a new offer could lead to a collective settlement.

The iwi met yesterday to develop a response to the offer, which includes a new mana whenua body to hold title to many of Auckland's volcanic cones.
There will also be settlements negotiated with individual iwi over the next couple of years.

Paul Majurey from Marutuahu says the offer, which comes after six months of intense negotiations gets around some of the problems thrown when the Crown tried to strike a deal only with the Ngati Whatua o Orakei hapu.

“It is an advance because there were shared interest contests between the tribes and we’ve moved a long way since then into a collective approach to recognise there are different tribal interests around Tamaki Makaurau and this is a collective approach that seems to provide a solution,” Mr Majurey says.

The iwi hope to reply to the Crown by the end of the week.

MAORI PARTY SILENCE ON TE HURIHANGA NOTED

Hauraki-Waikato MP Nanaia Mahuta is calling on the Maori Party to break its silence on the government's decision to axe a Hamilton-based rehabilitation programme for serious young offenders.

The government says there be no more money for Te Hurihanga after June because it costs too much.

Ms Mahuta, who helped set up of the programme, says it has kept young Maori with bad track records out of prison.

“I think they are going to divert the funding probably to whanau ora, but this is a whanau ora concept so I’m surprised the Maori Party hasn’t supported it and if this is going to be another Child Youth and Family-run facility then we will continue to see young Maori slip through the cracks,” Ms Mahuta says.

PROPER CEREMONY NEEDED FOR MAORI FLAG RAISING

The chair of the Auckland District Maori Council wants kaumatua and kuia to be present when a Maori flag is hoisted on Auckland Harbour Bridge on Waitangi Day.

Titewhai Harawira says after all the hard work that went into choosing the tino rangatiratanga flag as the official ensign, the Minister of Maori Affairs has failed to properly organise the flag raising ceremony.

“Pita Sharples has done nothing to organize and ensure that our kaumatua and kuia have an opportunity to bless that flag and to go to the transport department the ensure one lane is left open to allow our kaumatua and kuia to be present on such an important occasion to ensure our flag is raised with dignity,” Mrs Harawira says.

If he doesn't get the ceremony right in Auckland, Dr Sharples could be in for a rude reception at Waitangi.

MANUKAU FLAG DECISION CALLED RACIST AND DIVISIVE

Green co-leader Metiria Turei has slammed Manukau City Council's decision not to fly a Maori flag at its offices on Waitangi Day.

A council committee last night reconfirmed its policy of only flying the New Zealand and Manukau City Council flags, as well as flags belonging to sister cities or overseas visitors.

Councilor Jami-Lee Ross of Ngati Porou that the Maori flag represents protest and separatism.

But Ms Turei says the council is creating further division.

“Refusing to fly even a Maori symbolic flag because it’s divisive actually creates and enhances that division. It’s an act of racism in my and it’s very disappointing it’s the decision of Manukau which describes itself as being New Zealand’s biggest multi-cultural city,” Ms Turei says.

TE OHU KAIMOANA TRIMMING DOWN AS ASSETS HANDED OVER

Success is catching up with Te Ohu Kaimoana.

The Maori fisheries trust told iwi at its annual meeting that it has now allocated more than 80 percent of settlement assets, representing almost half a billion dollars in quota and cash.

Fred Cookson from the audit and risk committee says because its income from leasing out quota has fallen, it is increasingly reliant on investment income to find its activities.

“We've got $100 million invested into bonds. As those bonds mature we’re rolling them into lower rates and that’s reflected the impact of global recession as far back as 2008 and as those flow through we’re still quite comfortable because we didn’t suffer any loss on the value of the portfolio,” Mr Cookson says.

As well as helping coordinate the activities of iwi fishing interests, Te Ohu Kaimoana has subsidiary trusts which promote Maori economic development and stewardship marine and freshwater fisheries.

HAAMI CHAPMAN PICKED FOR COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION

Forty years working with underprivileged groups in south Auckland has earned a Te Rarawa man a finalist's spot in tonight's New Zealander of the Year awards in Auckland.

Haami Chapman from Te Rarawa is up for the Local Heroes Award, which recognises people who make enormous contributions to their communities.

He's worked with a broad range of groups he's worked with over the years, and says solutions have to come from within communities.

He works with gangs, individuals, whanau and community groups.