Bad faith act threatens treaty policy

The Maori Party is asking whether Prime Minister John Key has broken the treaty settlement process.

Co-leader Tariana Turia says Mr Key's vetoing of a proposal to return Te Urewera National Park to Tuhoe showed bad faith.

The Prime Minister has denied there was agreement the park land would be included in the final settlement package, but Mrs Turia says all the signs are it was.

“Tuhoe clearly believed from a hui that they held just the day before that they had an agreement in principle and who have that withdrawn in the way that it was has created a feeling that anybody’s settlement can be withdrawn at whim,” Mrs Turia says.

She says John Key's action was clearly driven by the National Party's polling and by pressure from party members attending a regional conference the previous weekend.

GEOTHERMAL PROFITS TO FUEL HAPU DEVELOPMENT

A Taupo Maori trust intends to use profits from a new geothermal power station for development of the whole hapu rather than paying individual dividends to beneficiaries.

Tauhara North Number 2 has a 25 percent stake in Mighty River Power's 140 megawatt Nga Awa Purua plant at Rotokawa, which opened at the weekend.
Trust chief executive Aroha Campbell says the 785 Ngati Tahu owners agreed to forego annual dividends.

“The challenge for the trustis to come up with new ideas round sponsorships, scholarships, education and well being,” Ms Campbell says.

She says the trust is also working closely with the Ngatu Tahu Ngati Whaua Runanga in Reporoa on ways to benefit the hapu as a whole.

Construction on the second of three power stations the trust is building with Mighty River Power will start later this year.

VETERAN DANCERS SHOW OFF AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MOVES

Contemporary dancer Taane Mete says tonight's performance at the Hawkes Bay Opera House will give his whanau to see how his career developed after he left his Napier home more than two decades ago.

Mr Mete, from Ngati Koroki, developed Tama Maa with fellow dancer Tai Royal for the Tempo Dance Festival in Auckland in 2008.

He says it's an autobiographical work, showing the transition from boyhood to manhood, and allows them to show off the skills they've mastered.

They have taken parts of the piece to a dance festival in the United States, and they will tour it to Australia later this year.

BULK UP MESSAGE FOR WHANAU ORA

The minister in charge of the new Whanau Ora programme wants social service providers to team up to deliver services.

Tariana Turia says there is huge interest in the policy, with hui to explain the new funding model attracting between 300 and 600 people.

She says delivering a wrap-around health and welfare service to families will stretch the capacity of many existing organisations, and they may need to reconfigure themselves or merge to realise the programme's potential.

“This is not another opportunity to industrialise our whanaus’ misery. We’re saying to people, ‘do not see this as a programme, do not see it as an opportunity to get a lot more money.’ We want this money to be as close as possible to the whanau, hence whanau ora,” Mrs Turia says.

There will only be 20 accredited Whanau Ora providers, so the size of those providers will be an important factor in who gets the contracts.

HAURAKI SHARE SENSE OF BETRAYAL WITH TUHOE

The chair of Hauraki's kaumatua council says the Government's refusal to return Te Urewera National Park to Ngai Tuhoe is mirrored by his iwi's experience.

Jim Nichols says in both cases the Crown acquired land unjustly, and it's refusing to give it back.

He says like Tuhoe, Hauraki is still waiting for the government to honour commitments made in the late 19th century.

“In Hauraki they said ‘we promise to give you your land back, we only want it to mine the gold.’ When the gold mining ceased, they did not give the land back. And that is the basis our treaty claims are in front of the Crown right now,” Mr Nicholls says.

The Hauraki Kaumatua Kaunihera delivered a firm message last week to Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee that the iwi will oppose his plans to reopen the Coromandel for mining.

MAORI ARTISTS FLY FLAG FOR AOTEAROA IN WORLD MUSIC

Despite it being New Zealand Music Month, Maori musicians say they're doing better on the world market than at home.

Ngahiwi Apanui, the chair of Puatatangi Contemporary Maori Music, says lack of airplay outside of iwi stations means Maori acts aren't picking up the local sales they merit.

That's forcing many to look for opportunities offshore.

“Talking to people who have been going overseas, groups they talk about are not ones you hear about through the mainstream press like OpShop. They’re talking abut groups like Wai, Moana and Pacific Curls, they’re the people that are distinctive for New Zealand on the world music scene,” Mr Apanui says.

This year's Pao Pao Pao symposium and concert at Pipitea Marae on Friday and Saturday could uncover the next Maori world music star.

Turia defends whanau ora from Peters’ race attack

Tariana Turia is accusing New Zealand First leader Winston Peters of playing the race card with his weekend attack on her whanau ora policy.

At a public meeting in Tauranga, Mr Peters said using Maori providers to deliver social services was separatist and opened the door to back-handers and nepotism.

Mrs Turia, the associate minister of social development, says as a former minister Mr Peters knows Maori health providers have received government funding since 1993 ... and whanau ora merely streamlines the process.

“For Winston to turn around and make out that what’s going on is somehow denial of everybody else, he misses completely the point and whanau ora will provide a new way forward, and if Winston gets back into Parliament, he better get used to it,” Mrs Turia says.

She says most New Zealanders want better results from the billions in health and social spending, and whanau ora can provide those results.

MINERALS SOUGHT WITH HAURAKI SETTLEMENT

Hauraki iwi says their treaty settlement must include not only conservation land on the Coromandel peninsula but all the minerals underneath that land.

Paul Majurey from the Marutauhu confederation says the government's plans to open up parts of the peninsula to mining can't be divorced from the settlement negotiations.

He says recent Crown agreements in principle with other iwi have shown conservation land is not off the table as far as settlements are concerned.

“Our people have called for the land to come back, so if the land comes back then all those resources that go with it are what is being sought as well,” Mr Majurey says.

He is looking forward to talking with the government on this subject.

POOR PREPARATION LETS DOWN MAORI TERTIARY STUDENTS

The latest findings from Auckland University's long running Starpath research project shows most Maori students from low decile schools aren't properly prepared for university.

Director Liz McKinley says as a result their chances of success are lower than non-Maori.

She says many stumble with external exams, because at high school they tended to choose internal assessment.

“Many students who did not have the experience of have a lot of experience in sitting external exams at school suddenly found the external exams they were made to sit at university quite difficult to manage, almost as if they weren’t practised or skilled enough in approaching examination type conditions,” Dr McKinley says.

Maori students need good advice from early on about which subjects will better prepare them for university.

FISHFISH BETTER THAN SHELLFISH FOR AQUACULTURE COMPO

Salmon rather than shellfish are likely to be the focus of future Maori investment in aquaculture.

Parliament last week passed the Maori Commercial Aquaculture settlement, under which South Island and Hauraki iwi share $97 million.

Richard Bradley from Marlborough based Rangitane says the negotiation process involved a thorough analysis of the state of the industry, and it's clear from the price difference in water space that the future is in finfish rather than mussels.

“NIWA's been doing a lot of research around finfish and of course a lot of people are telling us it’s too early yet. When I hear that I know they’re in there and don’t necessarily want us there. The key part now is Maori are cashed up and want to invest in the top part of aquaculture, not just in contract gangs to open shellfish,” Mr Bradley says.

Aquaculture was on the agenda at today's Treaty Tribes Coalition Maori Fisheries Conference in Napier, along with a presentation on whaling by Dan Goodman from the Cetacian Research Institute in Tokyo.

ELIMINATION OF CARIES AIM OF DENTAL STUDY

The lead researcher for a 5-year study on how caries in early childhood affect long term Maori health patterns says his aim is to eliminate dental decay.

John Broughton from the Ngai Tahu Maori Health Unit at Otago University will work with Te Raukura Hauora O Tainui to track pregnant women and their offspring and monitor their dental health.

He says the $2 million project, funded through the International Collaborative Indigenous Health Research Partnership, should make a difference.

“The thing about oral disease, it’s all preventable, and there’s no reason with young children, why as they grow and develop and maybe get secondary teeth, they can go right through life without getting a filling in their mouth, and that’s the aim,” Dr Broughton says.

KAPA HAKA NEEDING EXPERIENCE TO CREATE NEW TEAMS

The head of the Wellington Maori Cultural Society says kapa haka from the region are disadvantaged by entry rules for the national Te Matatini competition.

Hema Temara says Pukeahu, which placed third at the Whanganui a Tara regionals on Saturday, was of national standard.

But because only seven teams competed, only winners Tu Te Maungaroa and runners up Nga Taonga Mai Tawhiti are off to Gisborne.

Mrs Temara says more rangatahi want to join roopu than there are places, and the region needs experienced tutors of the calibre of Auckland's Bub Wehi and Pita Sharples to form new groups.

Style clash means Vitali not so vital

The chair of Auckland Museum's taumata says chief executive Vanda Vitali had outlasted her usefulness to the institution.

Dr Vitali has resigned after a break down in relations with the museum's governing board.

Martin Mariassouce says the taumata, which advises on how taonga Maori should be stored and presented, found the Canadian to be a forthright advocate for her opinion.

He says Dr Vitali was brought in three years ago against a background of the museum's funders wanting to cut spending in the wake of a successful rebuilding programme.

“There needed to be a shift and I guess at that time Vanda was probably the right person to create those shifts. There was a style that was useful for probably a good six months but I don’t think the style changed so personal reflection, I think there was a style clash between the trust board and its chief executive and therein lies the tension,” Mr Mariassouce says.

He hopes the museum's future leader will have an Aotearoa flavour with Maori aspirations, but the choice could be complicated by changes in the museum's governance brought about by the shift to a super city.

MAORI PARTY GOES JONES OVER RACE SPEECH SLAGGING

Maori Party MP Rahui Katene is demanding Labour's Shane Jones resign for his criticism of Pita Sharples race relations day speech yesterday.

Mr Jones attacked the Maori Party co-leader's suggestion one man one vote was not the best model of democracy for the Auckland super city.

Mrs Katene says as a list MP Mr Jones is the beneficiary of a two vote system.

“If Shane doesn’t like the idea of one person two votes then he should resign. It’s being hypocritical if he doesn't,” she says.

But Shane Jones says he has no intention of resigning.

He says Dr Sharples weakened the case for Maori representation on the super city by pushing for a tribally-based mana whenua model, rather than using the Maori roll ... and he's now whining because he got rolled by ACT's Rodney Hide.

“The democratic system cannot and will not absorb special places in the voting system for people on the basis of the tribe they belong to. All Maori ought to be entitled to be on the Maori seats and vote. And that was the case in the super city model we proposed – two seats based on the Maori roll so you had a very inclusive approach. I don’t like this business that the mana whenua have a special seat,” Mr Jones says.

He says Rahui Katene is making giant leaps of logic backwards.

POWER TRIP AT UN CREATES DIVERSION FROM QUESTION

A lawyer acting for Ruatoki residents says Justice Minister Simon Power used misdirection to avoid proper scrutiny of police actions in the Operation Eight terror raid on Ruatoki in 2007.

Mr Power told the United Nations Human Rights Committee review of New Zealand that the charges involved intent to commit violent actions toward creating a sense of terror among the citizens of New Zealand.

Eighteen people face a variety of weapons charges, but Peter Williams QC says the solicitor general ruled out charges under the Suppression of Terrorism Act because of lack of evidence.

He says the complaint to the UN committee was not about those arrested but about Tuhoe people caught up in the raid.

“The real grievances that I am talking about are the peaceful law abiding people when there was a large contingent of heavily armed police that went through their town, searched premises and unlawfully detained people while those searches were being carried out,” Mr Williams says.

He fears Simon Power will use hysteria over the terror raids to legalise the illegal methods the police used in Operation Eight.

COROMANDEL MINING COULD CONFLICT WITH SETTLEMENT

Government plans to open conservation land in the Coromandel to mining could conflict with treaty claims.

Leanne Ngamane, the Hauraki Trust Board's resource manager, says more than 70 percent of the land the iwi is claiming is owned by the Department of Conservation.

“It is ironic that those stewardship by lands that perhaps may be targeted by the government in relation to mining may also be the same lands that may actually be when we come out of negotiations be available for treaty settlements,” Mrs Ngamane says.

While Maori in the area have been opposed to gold mining in the past, some whanau do have mining interests so the board will be have to weigh any proposals carefully.

MAORI BOYS SUBJECT OF RESOURCE TEACHERS’ HUI

Resource teachers are meeting in Wainuiomata this week to look at ways to lift the achievement of Maori boys at both kura and mainstream schools.

Organiser Jakie West says the Resource Teachers Learning & Behaviour's Maori caucus Tama Tu Tama Ora hui will give the teachers a chance to share what works in their regions, and take on board the latest research.

She says teachers are tired of the negative statistics.

“Tama tu tama ora means boys standing strong, living well. That’s what we’re doing. We’re calling. He karanga tenei. This is a call not only for RTLB Maori but for Maori education professionals who want to do something about it,” Ms West says.