Adds subtracts history from race debate

The head of Victoria University's School of Maori Studies says the way New Zealand history is taught in schools is hurting race relations.

In a speech at New Plymouth's Puke Ariki Museum marking the 150th anniversary of the start of the Taranaki Wars, Peter Adds said recent changes to the curriculum have not fixed the fundamental problem.

The Te Atiawa ki Taranaki claim negotiator says high school students get a patchy view of the country's history from the Crown perspective, and they are ill equipped to understand why Maori feel the way they do.

“I don't think it places New Zealanders in a good place to assess all the things that are going on in New Zealand today, especially in race relations and a whole lot of treaty things that are happening in this country, and what that produces is dissension and jealousy in some sections of our community about what’s happening with that process,” Mr Adds says.

STRONG ENTRIES FOR CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARDS

The convenor of judges in the te reo section of the Library Association's Childrens book awards says the Maori language renaissance made it hard to pare down a shortlist.

Alice Heather says judges have now the difficult task of choosing a winner between a picture book, a novel, a non-fiction entry and a graphic novel or comic.

Te Kura Pounamu finalists include Te Kahikatea by Keri Pewhairangi, Hu Hu Koroheke by Kyle Mewburn and Rachel Driscoll translated by Katarina Mataira, Darryn Joseph's Te Wahi me te Taiao series, and Hautipua Rererangi by Andrew Burdan.

“I think it shows what a wonderful range and a high standard is being entered because all of the judges had to leave out books they had chose for the short list,” she says.

Te Kura Pounamu will be awarded in mid-August

TOIHOUKURA TUTORS GET OLYMPIA RESIDENCY

A pair of Tairawhiti artists are off to the state of Washington to explore how waiata and kapa haka can relate to the arts of the peoples of the Pacific Northwest.

Tawera and Henare Tahuri will take up a one-month Te Waka Toi-Sqwigwialtxw residency at Evergreen State University in Olympia in July to work alongside artists and performers from the Salish nation.

Mrs Tahuri says they have always taught, composed and performed as a team in both the performing and visual arts.

“We want to go and share our skills and expertise in waiata and haka and Maori performing arts with the people of that area and hopefully put them together in a performance and also an artwork,” says Mrs Tahuri, who tutors at Toihoukura and is from Nga Ariki Kai Putahi, Whakatohea and Ngati Uenuku.

NGAPUHI LAWYER NAMED TO DISTRICT COURT

The lead advisor for Ngapuhi's treaty claims has been snatched by the Crown.

Kerikeri lawyer Greg Davis from Ngati Manu has been appointed a judge of the District Court, to sit in Kaikohe and Whangarei.

Mr Davis says setting up a process for Ngapuhi hapu to decide on the team to negotiate a settlement of historic claims gave him an insight into what the country's largest tribe is seeking.

“The real mahi that Ngapuhi wants to be getting on with is not fighting the Crown but is actually about building a bigger,s trjnger, better Ngapuyhi, to get on with the tasks of rebuilding our marae, educational ensuring that we have the opportunity to build and develop an economic base for Ngapuhi,” he says.

Greg Davis is a brother of Labour list MP Kelvin Davis.

YOUNG HARAWIRA DEFENDS FAMILY NAME

A younger member of the Harawira whanau says Winston Peters is out of line in his attack on the family.

The New Zealand First leader told an audience in Gisborne at the weekend the Harawira family were self-anointed Maori leaders who had been on the state's teat their whole lives.

28 year old Tumamao Harawira, a Maori Television and radio broadcaster, says while it may be Okay for Mr Peters to criticise his uncle, Maori Party MP Hone Harawira, it's not Okay to have a go at anyone carrying the family name.

“You know just making personal comments towards the family, I guess that’s Winston Peters’ way of doing things, but it’s a bit underhand and below the belt,” Mr Harawira says.

He says using Mr Peters’ yardstick, every police officer, teacher and government employee could be considered to be supping at the state teat.

WELFARE LEAGUE STALWART WINS INTERNATIONAL POSITION

Parihaka woman Tiahuia Abraham has become the international vice president of a longstanding organisation that supports women and children around the Asia Pacific region.

Mrs Abraham, who is from Ngati Moeahu and Ngati Haupoto, is already the New Zealand president of the Pan Pacific and South East Asia Women's Association, which has non-government organisation consultative status with the United Nations.

She also heads the Aotea branch of the Maori Women's Welfare League, and says it's important wahine Maori look at the bigger picture on issues like health, education and peace.

She says many Maori now have Pasifika and Asian whanau.

One of her goals is to set up a Pan Pacific Women's Association chapter in Taranaki.

Foreshore formula sparks backlash fear

Labour MP Shane Jones says giving hapu veto rights over coastal development will create a backlash.

The proposal is contained in a consultation document on possible changes to the Foreshore and Seabed Act released yesterday.

Mr Jones says after a long and expensive process, the National Government has ended up in the same place as Labour was in 2004 in terms of recognising Maori customary rights.

The main difference is it is reopening the door to litigation, and giving hapu the final say on coastal development if they can establish customary title.

“Without accountability, without professional structures, you can see all sorts of developments held up, and in fact unlikely to go ahead unless there is a transfer of wealth etc. Hapu are taking a very treacherous step if they think the public will tolerate them having veto rights without them showing any obligation to wider community,” Mr Jones says.

He says the National government is lowering the bar for iwi to prove customary rights, but it's also diluting the value of those rights.

MANA TRUMPS TITLE IN FORESHORE DEBATE

Meanwhile, Ngati Porou runanga chair Api Mahuika says recognition of mana is more important than title over the foreshore and seabed.

Options for replacing the Foreshore and Seabed Act released yesterday range from leaving coastal areas in Crown title, assuming it is under Maori title, or giving it a new status of public domain/ takiwa iwi whanui.

Mr Mahuika says Ngati Porou negotiated its own foreshore settlement based on tikanga and mana, rather than getting bogged down in arguments over title.

“The individualization of titles to land has resulted in alienation, confiscation, so what we are saying is the key to mana is it is an inherited right. Through that mana we then have a kaitiaki right which allows us to look after the foreshore, the land etc in our lifetime,” Mr Mahuika says.

He says the repeal of the Foreshore and Seabed Act will give the East Coast tribe the chance to renegotiate aspects of its settlement, which has been signed off but still not passed into law.

GROUPS KEEN TO JOIN INNOVATIVE HOUSING PILOT

Housing New Zealand has been flooded with interest from Maori groups wanting to undertake innovative housing developments.

Tamati Olsen, the corporation's chief Maori advisor, says 16 runanga have applied for the half dozen or so Maori Demonstration Partnerships.

Typical of the schemes wanting to tap into the $5.5 million putea is a Northland runanga that wants to build ten communal houses.

“The houses have chopped down living spaces so it’s more about sleeping in the houses and small living spaces and one big communal area for the whole of the ten houses,” Mr Olsen says.

Some asset rich, cash poor iwi have missed out because of a requirement partners put up half the cost of the project.

FORESHORE ACT REPLACEMENT FALLS SHORT OF IWI DEMANDS

The iwi leaders group is disappointed at the proposed replacement for the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

The group says the plan released for consultation yesterday may not satisfy the rights, expectations and values of iwi and hapu.

Matiu Rei from Ngati Toa says the offer doesn't acknowledge Maori mana over the takutai moana, and falls far short of the customary authority that was sought.

“The crown was never able to prove they had extinguished the title Maori claim to the foreshore and seabed so we’re not so happy there has been no recognition of our enduring mana over the foreshore and seabed,” Mr Rei says.

It's likely hapu and iwi will end up in court or negotiating with the Crown to have their rights recognised.

ALARMS RINGING ON SCOPE OF CANTERBURY COUNCIL TAKEOVER

Maori Party MP Hone Harawira says principles introduced in a bill for managing Canterbury rivers will effectively replace the Resource Management Act, to the huge detriment of Maori and the nation as a whole.

The Environment Canterbury Bill was introduced yesterday, a day after the Government sacked Environment Canterbury regional council and replaced it with commissioners.

Mr Harawira says the bill was sneaked into parliament during the foreshore and seabed debate as a local measure, but in fact it gives unelected commissioners total administrative power, cutting out the Minister for the Environment and the Environment Court.

“You are taking out of the hands of government agency an asset that has critical value to the whole nation and putting it in the hands of officials who are appointed by a Government hell bent on commercialising assets,” he says.

Mr Harawira says the asset grab won't stop at water but will include other minerals and natural resources.

IT’S IN THE BAG REVIVAL GOOD FOR TOOGOOD

The Toogood whanau from Ngai Tahu will be closely following the revived It's in the Bag as it moves around the country over the next three months

Spokesperson Kit Toogood says the family was happy to pass over the rights when Maori Television wanted to resurrect the quiz show, with up to 40 percent Maori language content.

His father Selwyn Toogood launched the series in the 1950s and continued it on television into the 80s, tempting thousands of contestants with the money or the bag.

“My father was very proud of his Ngai Tahu whakapapa and we thought it was an interesting proposition to take the show back to the smaller centres which is really where it originated, particularly in the radio days,” Mr Toogood says.

His late father would have been thrilled to see how much reo the mainstream audience at the pilot filming understood and how they responded to presenters Pio Terei and Stacey Morrison.

Filming starts in Dargaville on April 7.

Oil and gas on Taranaki agenda

One of the leaders of the Taranaki iwi claim negotiating team says the province's oil and gas resources are definitely on the table, despite Prime Minister John Key ruling out such discussions.

Taranaki iwi signed terms of negotiation with the Crown at Puniho Marae southwest of New Plymouth yesterday.

Mahara Okeroa, a former Labour MP, says starting talks well after most other iwi in the rohe have settled gives Taranaki a chance to pick up outstanding issues, like Crown ownership of minerals.

“It's on the table. Issues around the natural resource and mineral wealth, Ngai Tahu set the precedent in terms of mineral wealth with respect to their greenstone. Greenstone is a mineral. So the parameters of the claim for Taranaki are not set in concrete yet. Let’s not constrain opurselves to utternces made politically or otherwise,” Mr Okeroa says.

He says the specific issues around the 1881 invasion of Parihaka also come under the Taranaki iwi settlement.

LANGUAGE AGENCY CONSOLIDATION AND DEVOLUTION IN ZEITGEIST

The Maori Language Commissioner says a recommendation that funding be shifted from state agencies into the local community is in line with government thinking.

Erima Henare yesterday told the Maori affairs select committee that administration costs could be saved by merging Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo Maori with Maori broadcast funding agency Te Mangai Paho.

He says there could also be rationalisation of what is spent on the language by other government agencies like the Tertiary Education Commission, the ministries of Education and Culture, and New Zealand on Air.

“If you are looking at economies of scale and value for money, you are probably running lots of administration and boards and things like that when perhaps the savings generated perhaps be put out among broadcasting or put out among Maori language groups,” Mr Henare says.

Language groups such as Te Atarangi, Kohanga Reo, kura, wananga and iwi need to jointly work out how to manage the money at community level.

COACHING TEAM RIGHT FOR CRITICAL YEAR

One of the toughest men to have ever pulled on a rugby jersey believes the new coaching staff for the Maori All Blacks is the right combination for a critical year.

Head coach Jamie Joseph and assistant Daryl Gibson will prepare the team for a three match series to mark the centenary of Maori rugby.

Games have been confirmed against Ireland in Rotorua on June 18 and England in Napier the following week, with the opponent for an initial game at Whangarei still to be confirmed.

Former Canterbury and All Black prop Bill Bush says the schedule is a worthy challenge for coaches and players.

Although the New Zealand Natives toured in 1888 the first offical New Zealand Maori team took the field in Rotorua in 1910.

HARAWIRA ABSENCE FROM SELECT COMMITTEE NOTED

The Labour Party is questioning how the Maori Party can advocate for Maori representation on the Auckland super city if its MPs don't turn up to the select committee.

Party co-leader Pita Sharples has told Maori that Taitokerau MP Hone Harawira is leading the charge to get Maori seats added to the super city council.

But Manurewa MP George Hawkins says Mr Harawira skipped the public hearings held by the select committee into the third Super City Bill, which spelled out how the council's committees, community boards and council controlled organisations would be structured.

“We had people who came to talk about Maori representation. It didn’t get picked up by him. Other members of the select committee would have but his absence of more than two weeks of hearings showed the amount of interest. While there was the odd joke he was probably visiting Paris or somewhere else, the fact is he wasn't there,” he says.

Mr Hawkins says if Mr Harawira's absence was known to party leaders, any of the party's other MPs could have filled in.

FORMER CEO SPEAKS OUT AGAINST TAURA WHIRI MERGER

Former Maori language commission chief executive Haami Piripi says merging Te Taura Whiri with Maori broadcast funding agency Te Mangai Paho would betray the intent of the Maori Language Act making te reo an official language.

Language commissioner Erima Henare is proposing the merger as a way to shift funding from administration to promotion of the language at community level.
Mr Piripi says a merger would weaken the commission's wider advocacy role.

“There is definitely a role for Te Taura Whiri in the public sector in central Wellington to make sure ministries and departments continue to utilise the language as an effective planning and operational tool within their business,” Mr Piripi says.

TOP LEVEL TESTS FOR MAORI CENTENARY TOUR

A century of Maori rugby will be recognised with top level tests against England and Ireland this winter.

Wayne Peters, the chair of the New Zealand Maori Rugby Board, says games are scheduled for Whangarei, Rotorua and Napier in June.

Although a New Zealand Natives team toured the United Kingdom in 1888, the first official New Zealand Maori team took the field in Rotorua in 1910.

Mr Peters says England is making a special side trip on its way home from a series against Australia.

“They are only playing one game in New Zealand. That signified the importance the English Union places on this game. Ireland has never played New Zealand Maori before. Both unions recognize the importance of the programme not only to New Zealand and the NZFRU bit the contribution of Maori to world rugby,” Mr Peters says.

The New Zealand Rugby Football Union is trying to track down former Maori players to take part in the festivities.

Select committee tobacco inquiry starts

The Maori Affairs Select Committee kicked off its inquiry into the tobacco industry with a hearing in Rotorua today.

The inquiry is chaired by Nation's Tau Henare, but it came about through pressure from Maori Party MP Hone Harawira.

The Tai Tokerau MP says he has mixed emotions about the inquiry into an industry that leads to the death of more than 600 Maori a year.

“I'd rather have all of our people alive rather than have to go through this exercise but the tobacco giants don’t care that our people die from their products. They just want money. Someone’s got to do it and I’m glad it’s us, the Maori Affairs Select Committee. I’m looking forward to it,” Mr Harawira says.

He sees the inquiry as a step towards banning the sale of tobacco in New Zealand.

TE AUTE OLD BOY WINS GOLDEN SHEARS FIRST TIME UP

A new champion has emerged from the 50th Golden Shears.

26-year-old Cam Ferguson from Waipawa clipped his way to victory at Masterton over two-time winner Johnny Kirkpatrick and 17-time winner David Fagan, with Dion King 4th.

Commentator Koro Mullins says the win capped a great summer for the Te Aute Old Boy and shows he's got what it takes to compete at the highest level of the sport.

“When you're at that level it’s all a mid game and the young man, only 26, to step up in his first Golden Shear final, a lot of these guys have done 10, 12, 20 Golden Shears final, and for this man to step up to the plate and took it out, wonderful,” Mr Mullins says.

The win puts Ferguson into the New Zealand team heading to the world championships in Wales in July.

NGATI RANGIWEWEHI STORM BACK IN KAPA HAKA

Ngati Rangiwewehi's first equal placing in the Te Arawa kapa haka regional championships held at Rotorua's Energy Events centre on Saturday gave an extra thrill to the event's co-ordinator.

As tutors, Trevor Maxwell and his late wife Atareta won two national titles with the Rotorua group.

This year the group is coached by his nephew, Dan Vaka, and it came back strongly after failing to make the cut to years ago.

Honours were shared with Te Maataarae i Orehu, whose total was boosted after a recount, with Tuhourangi - Ngati Wahiao, Nga Uri o te Whanoa and Manaia also through to represent the region at Te Matatini in Gisborne next February.

Mr Maxwell says he was touched by the tribute his old team paid to Atareta and him.

The Kahungunu region picks its Matatini contenders at Te Aute College next weekend.

ACT IDEALOGUE LASHES OUT AT MAORI MEN

Former ACT deputy leader Muriel Newman says Maori men are the problem ... but the government shouldn't create targeted programmes to address the problem,

Mrs Newman is sticking by her claims to the ACT Party conference that the National Maori party relationship has brought race relations to an all time low, and there's no way the Maori Party's flagship whanau ora policy should just be for Maori.

But she says Maori men have abandoned the whanau.

“If you look back at 1968, 72 percent of children born into Maori families had a mum and dad who were married and by 2008 that had dropped to 22 percent. That is actually a real issue I wish Maori leadership would address. It hasn’t changed like that for any other group in New Zealand,” Mrs Newman says.

TOBACCO INVESTIGATION A MILESTONE

The director of Maori anti smoking group Te Reo Marama, Shane Kawentata Bradbrook says today's start of the Maori Affair's Select Committee's investigation into the tobacco industry is a milestone.

The committee heard evidence in Rotorua today, and sits at Alexandra Park Raceway in Auckland on Wednesday and Thursday.

Mr Bradbrook says it will hear from people who lost parents to smoking-related diseases.

“It's an historic moment to not only take on the tobacco industry but also to get some parliamentary inquiry into tobacco and the consequences on Maori which has been devastating since the 1950s when governments around the world knew that there was a link between smoking and cancer,” says Mr Bradbrook, from Ngai Taamanuhiri, Rongowhakaata and Ngati Kahungunu.

PATH TO KIWI TEAM FOR AUSTRALIAN JUNIORS

There was a strong Maori flavour at Sydney's Parramatta Stadium over the weekend as Kiwi coach Steven Kearny and captain Benji Marshall led a roots camp for young players eligible to play for New Zealand.

Players from the under-20s National Junior, Jersey Flegg and S.G.Ball competitions mixed with established NRL stars Roy Assotasi and Nathan Cayless and legends Tawera Nika and Ruben Wiki.

New Zealand Rugby league football manager Tony Kemp says many of the emerging players were born in Australia to New Zealand parents, and they need to know the door is open for them to wear the Kiwi jersey.

The day was capped off with a hangi put by the Sydney under 16 rangatahi team, who are raising money to attend the national Maori tournament in Rotorua over Labour weekend.

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.

Harawira paranioa misplaced says Whatua

The chair of the Ngati Whatua Runanga, Naida Glavish, is defending the right of the Iwi Leaders Forum to talk with the Government about alternatives to the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

Maori Party MP Hone Harawira attacked the forum in a speech to Parliament this week, saying many of the leaders were absent from the 2004 foreshore and seabed hikoi to Parliament.

Ms Glavish says the Tai Tokerau MP is seeing conspiracies where there aren't any.

“We're not there with the Prime Minister or the Attorney General negotiating on behalf of our people. What we are actually doing is entering into discussion and then there had to be going back to the people,” she says.

LABOUR FORESHORE MODEL HARD TO REPLACE

Meanwhile, Waikato-Hauraki MP Nanaia Mahuta says National and the Maori Party are finding it hard to come up with anything better than Labour's foreshore and seabed legislation.

Ms Mahuta, who extracted significant changes to the Act before it was passed, says it allows iwi and hapu to negotiate with the Crown about foreshore and seabed issues in their area.

She says it protects treaty settlements and provides a mechanism for the courts to recognise customary rights.

“National and the Maori Party have realised that actually it’s a lot harder to try and deliver a result that’s better than is already there, and at the end of the day people all want to go to the beach and they currently can,” Ms Mahuta says.

She says it’s clear the government intends to ignore the recommendations of the review panel on the Foreshore and seabed Act.

SURVIVOR GIVES ADVICE ON LONG VOYAGE

The former Navy diver who survived three days in the waters off Kapiti Island has a new job.

Since his ordeal, Rob Hewitt has led water safety campaigns and coached league.

Now he's training crews from around the Pacific for the seven double hulled fibre glass waka which will sail to Hawaii in April to rekindle knowledge of the original waka voyages which brought Maori to Aotearoa.

The waka are being built in Greenhithe on the upper Waitemata.

POLICE ROOKIES NEED SENSITIVITY FOR SOUTH AUCKLAND STREETS

The patron of the latest wing of police college graduates says it's important they don't unfairly target young Maori because they don't understand their cultural behaviour.

All but one of the 38 graduates are bound for Counties Manukau as part of the government's commitment to put 300 extra cops into the area this year.

Sir Wira Gardiner says it's an area with a high Maori and Pacific presence, so it's important the increased level of policing does not lead to a disproportionate number of rangitahi being arrested.

“I suspect that a lot of young Maori get arrested because they act in a particular manner and I think that;’s why it;’s important for uyoung constables to be trained in a way they recognize the signs, that they are not a threat sign, the are a behavioural sign, soi they are better able to accommodate a response,” Sir Wira says.

He would have liked there to be more than six Maori in the group which also includes officers from South Africa, India, Portugal and Great Britain.

COCA COLA HAKA AN ATTACK ON THE CULTURE

A Maori academic is calling for a boycott of Coca Cola until the soft drink giant fixes up an ad featuring a pseudo haka.

Rawiri Taonui from Canterbury University's school of Maori and indigenous studies the chant used to sell a variety of no sugar cola in Japan is gibberish.

He says it's made worse by the fact the company originally approached Ngati Toa about using its haka Ka mate, and then withdrew from discussions.

He says the meaningless grunting in the ad denigrates the haka and is an offence to Maori culture.

“They could have done better. I reckon they should change it, and if they don’t change it, we should stop drinking Coca Cola until they do,” Mr Taonui says.

AWANUIARANGI SIGNING UP DOCTORAL STUDENTS IN NORTH

Whakatane-based Maori university Te Whare Waananga o Awanuiarangi's move into Tai Tokerau is paying off, with five candidates wanting to complete doctorates through the Whangarei campus.

Operations director Te Tuhi Robust says candidates must whakapapa to Te Tai Tokerau but don't have to be Maori.

He says Awanuiarangi is the only one of the three wananga which can provide PhDs, and it provides a real alternative for people who want to explore aspects of te ao Maori in depth.

“People used to have to go overseas, it was suggested they go overseas to study but now it has been accepted that what we have in New Zealand and now in the Tai Tokerau is equivalent if not better of course if it’s to do with Maori studies and indigenous studies than anywhere else in the world because it’s benchmarked against all of those universities from overseas,” Dr Robust says.

The doctoral candidates are studying everything from the role of Maori women in business leadership to church and family histories the cultural importance of William Shakespeare to Maori.

Ngapuhi line-up preparing for hearing

Northern iwi Ngapuhi is fine tuning its attack for next month's opening hearing on its claim over the meanings of the Treaty of Waitangi and the 1835 Declaration of Independence.

Mere Mangu, who coordinated a meeting this week of Te Kotahitanga o nga hapu o Ngapuhi, says the iwi is adamant their tupuna never conceded sovereignty.

She says the hui was impressed by the line up of kaumatua and tribal scholars who will put the case.

“Nuki Aldridge is talking about the world view of Maori. Rima Edwards will concentrate his korero on the word ‘mana’ in He Whataputanga. Patu Hohepa has a paper on the language that was used in both He Whataputanga and Te Tiriti,” Ms Mangu says.

A further Kotahitanga hui will be held in a fortnight on Oromahoe Marae.

CONSTITUTIONAL ROAD TRIP GOODBYE PORK BARREL

Meanwhile, Maori Party MP Hone Harawira wants this year's promised constitutional review to be taken out to the nation.

With the party's co-leaders now government ministers, the Tai Tokerau MP and protest leader has been delegated to front the issue for the party.

He says it's not something that can be left to Wellington.

“We have to make sure it gets on the road, it stays on the road, we get it onto Maori radio, it becomes something people can talk about and understand and not just up there in the air. We’ve got to keep it low to the ground. There’s the whole issue of Maori rights, human rights,” Mr Harawira says.

He's optimistic the Moana Jackson-led roopu put together by the Iwi Leaders Forum to work on the review will provide a useful balance to the official process.

PROBLEM GAMBLING SETS UP PASIFIKA UNIT WITH MAORI INPUT

The Problem Gambling Foundation's new Pasifika unit is drawing on the experience of Maori-focused services.

Mapu Maia unit manager Pesio Ah-Honi Siita says gambling causes huge problems in both Maori and Pasifika communities.

She says the challenge is to create culturally focused interventions, including talking to people in their own languages and less emphasis on counseling.

“We don't have that concept in the Pacific. We call it talanoa which is talking, sharing stories and talking about our families and where we are connected and building that trust first before we can talk about the problem so developing different ways of doing things and delivering those services in a Pacific effective way,” Pesio Ah-Honi Siita says.

WHANAU ORA TAILORED FOR MAORI PROBLEMS

Associate social welfare minister Tariana Turia says if non-Maori want whanau ora, they can develop their own version.

In this week's statement to Parliament, Prime Minister John Key said the Government will ensure Whanau Ora is available to New Zealanders of all races who are in need.

Mrs Turia says while she doesn't mind other people having the same opportunities, the Whanau Ora taskforce led by Sir Mason Durie is working on Maori solutions to Maori problems.

“It's not a welfare progamme but when you transform people’s lives to take back more control over their lives, to be more self-determining about their future, to reconnect them to the essence of who they it is no doubt that we, through doing this, will address many of these social ills that impact on our people,” Mrs Turia says.

TE ARAWA SEEKS TO LEARN FROM WAIPAREIRA EXPERIENCE

Now it has completed its land settlement, Te Arawa is talking with other Maori groups around the country about social services.

Police superintendant Wally Haumaha from Ngati Ngatauranui was part of a Te Pumautanga o Te Arawa group which met with Te Whanau o Waipareira.

He says the West Auckland trust has built up considerable expertise in service delivery which the iwi can draw on.

“Now that we’ve come through treaty settlements and mapping our economic future within the tribe, we’ve also got to look at what that means for the well being of whanau, so our social programmes and social development aren’t left behind and forgotten,” Superintendant Haumaha says.

It's important to develop service delivery structures which are tailored to Maori needs and aspirations.

OWAIRAKA KAUMATUA PUT TOGETHER ROOPU TO OFFER MARAE HELP

A kaumatua group in Auckland has reformed to offer assistance to urban marae short on speakers.

Te Roopu kaumatua o Owairaka ki Tamaki was started in 1992, but went into recess a few years later.

Yesterday about 40 kaumatua met to breathe life back into the kaupapa.

Spokesperson Hone Komene says all members are over 60, and have put their hand up to help wherever needed.

The group will meet to learn waiata, tikanga and kaupapa which will help on the marae.

Hone Komene says as well as strengthening paepae when invited, the kaumatua roopu will continue to visit maori inmates in jail.

Te Awanui Hukapak joins industry heavyweight

The largest Maori kiwifruit processor, Te Awanui Hukapak, has amalgamated with the country's largest processor, Seeka Kiwifruit Industries.

Chief executive Hemi Rolleston says the $24 million deal gives Hukapak 17 percent of the Seeka, and the combined business will account for a quarter of New Zealand's kiwifruit exports.

Te Awanui will continue to pack some fruit under its own brand, which is well known in Malaysia, Singapore and India.

Mr Rolleston says Te Awanui, whose shareholders are Bay of Plenty land trusts, also bought back the three hectare block at the port of Tauranga where its packing facility is located, and is leasing it back to Seeka.

“The site has a special connection to us. It’s where the company was set up on our own land to develop our own part of the industry. I think we’ve achieved quite a bit out of this because we’ve retained the land but we’re getting commercial returns on the land as well,” Mr Rolleston says.

He says Seeka has a good record of working with Maori growers, and the being part of a larger business will create oportunity for the Te Awanui growers.

TRUST CONSIDERED FOR MAORI FLAG REVENUE

Now it's official, the custodians of the tino rangatiratanga flag are working out how they will keep up with demand.

Cabinet this week approved the flag as the one to fly on the Auckland Harbour Bridge and other official sites on Waitangi Day.

The red and black flag with a white koru, designed by Hiraina Marsden, Jan Dobson and Linda Munn won a 1990 competition by the Kawariki protest group in 1990 for a national Maori flag.

Maori Party MP and Kawariki founder Hone Harawira says it was made available for use by kura, marae, sports teams and other Maori groups.

“We've been happy for that but it’s now got into a situation where there’s considerable money being made out of it and I think that the intention of the Kawariki is to set up some kind of trust. I know Linda’s said to us that one of the original intentions was to create a kind of trust for the continuation of Maori artistic design, so I know that Linda and Hilda are talking about hw that can be managed into the future,” Mr Harawira says.

TURIA PERKY AFTER STOMACH OPERATION

Meanwhile, Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia has a clean bill of health after her stomach stapling operation three weeks ago.

The associate Minister of Health says all signs of diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma are gone.

“I’m feeling really really well in myself and that’s the reason for doing it. It’s been all good and looking forward to next year, having a lot more energy and being able to put longer hours in at work,” Mrs Turia says.

She has been back at work for a few hours each day this week.

SPECTRUM CLAIMANTS SECURE WAITANGI TRUBUNAL HEARING

The Waitangi Tribunal has agreed to an urgent hearing on whether Maori should get a share of spectrum freed up by the shift from analogue to digital television.

Jim Nichols from the New Zealand Maori Council says the claimants, who also include Nga Kaiwhakapumau i Te Reo and 3G spectrum claimant Graeme Everton of Ngati Raukawa, felt they were being shut out of decision-making.

He says spectrum has become an important not just for protecting te reo Maori but for wider Maori development.

“Maori Television is part of that. Maori broadcasting is part of that because without it we don’t have Maori broadcasting. Two Degrees and Te Huarahi Tika Trust without which we don’t have a mobile communications network. Regional Maori television which we need to secure for the likes of Tairawhiti and in Kaitaia,” Mr Nichols says.

The tribunal says it will hold a hearing on the claim on January 28.

BOARD REPRESENTATIVES HELP BREAK POLYTECH PREJUDICE

The head of Maori studies at Canterbuy University says Maori on the boards of tertiary institutions help break down prejudice.

Rawiri Taonui says all tertiary institutions are dominated by Pakeha, and formal steps are needed to get representation from Maori, Pasifika and Asians who make up an increasing percentage of the student population.

He says moves by Education Minister Anne Tolley to radically trim the size of polytech councils by getting rid of dedicated seats for Maori and other stakeholders is a leap backwards.

“The biggest barrier to the success of our people is prejudice or obstructive processes at the level of middle management and the only way you are going to break that down is if you have our people sitting on councils and making those people more accountable,” Mr Taonui says.

If New Zealand is to be one nation of two peoples and many cultures, it needs to give voice to the concerns of people from non-European communities.

GREENS BACK NEW MAORI FLAG WITH RESERVATIONS

The Green Party is backing the tino rangatiratanga flag.

Co-leader Meteria Turei says it's wrong to dismiss the symbol Maori activists have rallied around since 1990s as being only a protest flag or a Maori party flag.

She says there's room for multiple flags.

“I know that Pakeha often get into this idea that all Maori are all the same and that’s just not true and it’s not true for this flag either. So there will be place and there will be people for whom this just does not represent them and there should be no sense that this is about all of us,” Ms Turei says.

She says tino rangatiratanga means not imposing symbols on others.

Teachers invited to be disobedient

Labour list MP Kelvin Davis says Education Minister Anne Tolley is inviting civil disobedience with her threats to enforce national standards.

The minister says she will sack boards of trustees who allow staff to boycott the new assessment regime.

Mr Davis, a former intermediate school principal, says teachers and principals throughout Taitokerau have indicated they're not prepared to experiment with children's education ... and they will stand up to the minister.

“If 80 boards of trustees allow their teachers to not implement the national standards, I think the minister will struggle to sack 80 boards and appoint 80 commissioners, especially 80 commissioners that are going to reflect the Maori nature of the Tai Tokerau so I think she’s got to be careful she doesn’t back herself into a corner and then doesn’t have the means to back up her threats,” Mr Davis says.

He says Mrs Tolley should listen to her educational professionals, rather than imposing a regime which is not backed by evidence.

ANTI-SMOKING MESSAGE NOT REACHING RURAL MAORI VILLAGES

A Northland iwi health worker says rural Maori communities are missing out on help because of their isolation.

Clint Edmonds, the co-ordinator of Ngati Wai's smoking cessation programme, says he's seeing the number of young smokers in the north growing, even as the habit is losing ground elsewhere.

That's because young people see their elders smoking, but programmes to help them quit are just not getting through.

“More than half the families I meet have a youth or someone of that age who is smoking. It’s just a habit we’ve got to change the face of,” Mr Edmonds says.

Smoking is a human disaster as communities lose their old people.

NEW BUILDING NEEDED FOR WAITANGI TREATY TAONGA

The Waitangi National Trust is looking at building a museum on the treaty grounds.

New chairperson Pita Paraone says it has just completed re-roofing the Treaty House, restoring the waka taua Ngatokimatawhaorua and building extensions to the visitors' centre.

He says the trust is concerned about other taonga, and is looking at a “museum-type building” to house artifacts associated with the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, which are stores in conditions it does not consider sufficient.

Mr Paraone says any extra money needed would come from new sources, rather than by re-introducing entry fees.

PROTEST FLAG BECOMES ONE FOR ALL AND 80% FOR ONE

Maori Party MP Hone Harawira is happy his protest flag has won national acceptance.

Critics says the red and black and white flag which will fly on the Auckland Harbour Bridge and other government sites on Waitangi Day is too closely associated with the Maori Party and the Kawariki protest movement.

But the Tai Tokerau MP says it's the design that was endorsed by 80 percent of those who came to party's consultation hui around the country.

“That flag was born as the Maori flag in 1990. I know that because we launched the competition for a Maori flag and that’s the one that won. It became known as the tino rangatiratanga flag and because there wasn’t a national Maori flag most active Maoris picked it up and so it’s become known as a flag for activists and a flag for protest but it’s always been a Maori flag,” Mr Harawira says.

He says Te Kawariki and the flag's surviving designer are discussing what to do with revenue from increased flag sales.

POLYECH COUNCIL DECISION SIGN OF TRUE FEELING

Meanwhile, Labour list MP Kelvin Davis says the Government's overhaul of polytechnic councils says more about its attitudes to Maori than allowing a Maori flag to fly on the Auckland harbour bridge.

Parliament yesterday debated a bill that would cut polytech councils to eight members, four of them appointed by the Education Minister.

Dedicated seats for Maori, staff, students, employers and other community interests in the region served by the polytech will be scrapped.

“They've done away with the dedicated Maori seats on the Auckland super city. They’re doing away with guaranteed representation on polytechnics. I think it’s time Maori wok up to the fact this government doesn’t really care about the needs and issues for Maori,” Mr Davis says.

He says the changes will make it harder for polytechs to cater for the needs of young Maori, who are more likely to end up there than at universities.

ARTISTS SEEKING OWNERSHIP OF TOI IHO BRAND

Maori artists are squaring off with Creative New Zealand over control of the Toi Iho Maori-made brand.

The arts funding body has cancelled its support of the trademark and demanded artists stop using it.

But Nga Puna Waihanga spokesperson Ata Te Kanawa says there were fireworks this week when CNZ chief executive Stephen Wainwright and staff from Te Waka Toi staff met a delegation led by potter Manos Nathan and furniture designer Carin Wilson.

“Carin announced he refuses to give the mark back. Manos suggested that he would encourage Toi Iho holders to continue to use the mark despite the letter from creative New Zealand saying that it would be illegal if they were to continue to use it,” Ms Te Kanawa says.

The artists want to run the Toi Iho mark themselves and even open it up to a wider range of creative arts.

Auckland sub-council not enough for mana whenua

Mana whenua groups are considering boycotting Auckland super city's proposed Maori statutory board.

The board is will contain up to nine members, seven of them mandated representatives of recognised mana whenua groups within the Auckland Council boundaries and two taura here representatives appointed by those seven members.

It will be able to appoint persons to sit on Auckland Council committees that deal with the management and stewardship of natural and physical resources.

Ngarimu Blair from Ngati Whatua o Orakei says it's no substitute for having Maori seats on the full council, as the Royal Commission on Auckland governance recommended.

“The best they could come up with was a toothless powerless advisory board which they’ve tried to beef up with some kind of status by calling it a statutory board but at the end of the day we haven’t moved out of the 1990s,” Mr Blair says.

He understands Tainui is considering boycotting the committee, and Ngati Whatua could follow suit.

HARAWIRA SENTENCE SOFT OPTION AS MATES DROWN OUT CRITICS

Labour's Maori issues spokesperson says the way Taitokerau MP Hone Harawira has been allowed to keep his party status is an indictment of the Maori Party.

Mr Harawira yesterday apologised to any New Zealander who may have been offended by the language and sentiments used in an email to a party supporter, and he's been told to stay in his electorate until the New Year.

Parekura Horomia says the party's leaders have demonstrated they can't manage the maverick MP.

“The membership ignored the direction of the leadership. Hone’s outspoken mates have got their way. It’s a real Clayton’s fixture but it’s their choice and Hone seems to be settled with it but the public was expecting more. That’s a pretty soft option – don’t come back to Parliament until next year and don’t say anything more. That’s one think I know Hone won’t recognise because that's not his line,” Mr Horomia says.

MANUKAU LIBRARIES GET MORE TAMARIKI THROUGH THE DOORS

A programme to keep kids reading during the summer holidays is winnning over Maori in south Auckland.

Manukau Libraries has adopted a Mission Possible theme to set challenges for five to eleven year-olds.

Jolene West, the learning and literacy co-ordinator, says the number of Maori and Pacific kids taking part is 50 percent up on last year, many of whom haven't been as regular library users as those in higher decile ares.

She hopes the programme will continue once Manukau is absorbed into the new Auckland super City.

AUSTRALIANS MISINTERPRET DATA TO BASH OBVIOUS NZERS

A Victoria University demographer says the Australian media has misrepresented his work to paint Maori across the Tasman as bludgers.

James Newell's analysis of census data found Maori were migrating to Australia at a greater rate than Pakeha, and migrants also tended to be less skilled than those who headed further afield.

He says the fact Maori are more likely to be machine operators and labourers than accountants or lawyers doesn't mean they're not contributing.

“They're skilled. They work hard. They probably work harder than their Australian counterparts. They don’t put such a burden on their tax system and they have the benefit of the training they have had in New Zealand, so it would be good to get that message across in the Australian media at the moment,” Mr Newell says.

Maori have been targeted because they are so visible particularly, on Brisbane streets.

FRESH WATER CONCERN FOR GREENS LEADER

Greens co-leader Metiria Turei says management of the countrys fresh water could be as contentious issue Maori as the foreshore and seabed.

Iwi leaders have called a national hui in Wellington next week to update people on work they have been doing with government officials about freshwater policy.

Ms Turei says pastoralists, agriculuralists and recreational users are competing for the nation's streams and rivers, but economic interests can swamp Maori cultural expectations.

“Iwi have to be able to express their mana over freshwater sources in their area and if Maori aren’t right central in the middle of it along with environmentalists who are trying to keep these areas clean for future generations too, we can see some real damage being done to our freshwater sources,” Ms Turei says.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT HUI TO DISCUSS MARGINALISATION

A hui in Auckland tomorrow is likely to come down hard on the government for its treatment of Maori in the Auckland super city

Ngarimu Blair from Ngati Whatua o Orakei Trust Board says the local government hui at Unitec's Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae is well timed, with Minister Rodney hide today revealing how Maori will be represented in the city.

A nine-member statutory board, including seven mana whenua representatives, will promote social, economic, environmental, and cultural issues of significance for Maori.

Mr Blair says the structure leaves Maori toothless and powerless.

“I think all the tribes will be looking at Auckland now and wondering where it leaves them in Wellington and Christchurch and on the East Coast and so on. If anything, Maori in local government is a strong issue now,” Mr Blair says.

Ngati Whatua is considering boycotting the super city Maori board.

Schools have role in fight against violence

A campaigner against domestic violence says schools can do more to fight abuse of women and children.

Hone Kaa, the chair of Te Kahui Mana Ririki trust, says many children aren't taught appropriate behaviour in the home.

He says anti-violence education should become a formal part of the curriculum.

“It's certainly what I would ask off the kohanga and the kura kaupapa because of the high incidence of abuse amidst our iwi Maori. It’s not just them of course. Across all sectors of primary and secondary education, because I do believe we can start this from primary school level,” Dr Kaa says.

He says anti-violence programmes in Maori communities are starting to work.

Te Kahui Mana Ririki held a breakfast in Auckland today to mark White Ribbon Day, which raises awareness of violence against women.

PARTY NEEDS TO TAKE STOCK OF INTERNAL SYSTEMS

A Maori academic says the Maori Party has a big fix up job to do if rebel MP Hone Harawira returns to the fold.

Rawiri Taonui, the head of Maori and ethnic studies at Canturbury University, says the blow up between Mr Harawira and the party leadership was a dispute waiting to happen.

He says despite the lessons of history such as the failure of the New Zealand First-National coalition, the Maori Party didn't seem ready for the internal strains which come from being in an alliance.

“Hone Harawira's remarks aside, I think there’s really a reflection about some internal tensions within the party about the cost of working with National and they need to focus on that and get the waka back on track,” Mr Taonui says.

He says keeping Mr Harawira in the party is the right way forward.

Mr Harawira will meet party members in west Auckland tonight as part of his consultation over his future.

WIDER SCOPE SOUGHT FOR CARBON FOREST OFFSET PLAN

Iwi leaders have their eyes on 200,000 hectares of conservation land for afforestation to offset the effects of the emissions trading scheme on land with pre-1990 forests.

Willie Te Aho, an advisor to the Climate Change Iwi Leadership Group, says the group has until February to come up with a mechanism under which forest landowners can plant carbon sink forests on DoC land.

He says the Department has been asked to identify suitable land with low conservation value, on top of the 35,000 hectares already earmarked for five iwi whose 10-year-old treaty settlements will be affected by the ETS.

“To really make it worthwhile, we’d be looking at 200,000 hectares and access to that 200,000 hectares but I understand that work is still being undertaken,” Mr Te Aho says.

Maori forest owners could use the New Zealand Unit carbon credits they receive from existing forests to fund the planting, which is estimated to cost between $1000 and $2000 a hectare.

WAITANGI TRIBUNAL TAKE URGENCY ON EAST COAST DEAL

The chair of an East Coast iwi is celebrating the Waitangi Tribunal's decision to look into the proposed settlement between the Crown and Te Runanga o Ngati Porou.

Tui Marino says the Crown and the runanga have been riding roughshod over his Te Aitanga a Hauiti people, as well as Ruawaipu and Ngati Uepohatu.

He says Ngati Porou's traditional rohe is around the Waiau River and Ruatioria, but it has used its favoured status to take the rights and interests of the other three tipuna groups.

“It's an out and rip off and we’ve got to do something about it, otherwise our young people, the generation to morrow, will be called Ngati Porou and we really don’t want that. That’s alright for Ngati Porou but we are Aitangi a Ahuiti and we need to and we wish to maintain that mana,” Mr Marino says.

The urgent hearing in Wellington the week of December 14 will give the other three iwi the chance to show how they have separate and distinct identities.

LEAGUE HARDMAN TALKS AGAINST VIOLENCE TOWARDS WOMEN

Former rugby league hardman Ruben Wiki says his experience allows him to be brutally honest when talking about the need for men to stop violence.

The Otara raised community worker is the ambassador for white ribbon day, which draws international attention to violence by men against women.

Mr Wiki, who gained a formidable reputation in the NRL and as New Zealand's most capped international player, says he's proud to stand up for women today.

“I've spread my story, growing up with violence, watching mum get beaten up by her partner, so it’s not acceptable. Women bring life into this world, our kids, and they shouldn’t be treated like that so just trying to get a message out and hopefully all the men can get behind and support the white ribbon campaign,” Mr Wiki says.

SENTIMENT OUTWEIGHS HISTORY IN FLAG CHOICE

A Ngapuhi academic is overcoming personal loyalty to endorse the tino rangatiratanga flag as the official Maori flag.

Rawiri Taonui from Canturbury University says his preference was for the Confederation of United Tribes flag which came out of relations between northern Maori and Europeans in the lead up to the Treaty of Waitangi.

But the more modern tino rangatiratanga flag which Cabinet is expected to endorse on the recommendation of Maori Affairs minister Pita Sharples may have wider appeal for today.

“It has Maori mythology embedded within it, it reflects that whole struggle of the 80s and 90s that led to the renaissance and it’s widely recognised, particularly by young people,” Mr Taonui says.

He's looking forward to seeing a Maori flag alongside the New Zealand ensign next Waitangi Day.

Aquaculture ban lifted in billion dollar push

Maori are welcoming the lifting of the ban on new marine farms.
Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley announced the end of the moratorium at the aquaculture industry conference in Nelson yesterday.

He said allowing marine farming outside the current aquaculture management areas can help marine farming become a billion dollar industry within a decade.

Coromandel mussel farmer Harry Mikaere says the ban has stalled the industry for the past decade.

He says the minister's promise to adopt the recommendations of a technical advisory group headed by former Fisheries Minister Sir Douglas Kidd was music to the ears of the delegates.

“It's going to make it a lot easier, it gives us confidence, I think the durability we were looking for in terms of this allows our industry to be more confident about that and we applaud the government for taking this particular review on,” Mr Mikaere says.

The Kidd report upholds the principle that at least a fifth of marine farm area should be for Maori while containing strong measures to protect the environment from the over-expansion.

MAORI JOB LOSS OUTSTRIPPING REST OF SOCIETY

New figures show Maori are suffering the brunt of job losses caused by the recession.

The Household Labour Force survey shows in the past year Maori unemployment has rocketed from 9.6 percent to 14.2 percent.

That’s an increase of almost 10 thousand out of work.

Pakeha unemployment has only gone from 3.1 to 4.5 percent.

Council of Trade Unions secretary Peter Conway says the recession has hit hard in the construction and manufacturing sectors, which employed large numbers of Maori.

“Maori are also a younger population on average and youth unemployment is now above 25 percent so part of it is that and there also may be still some discrimination in the labour market. I’m not saying it’s there but others say it’s there and hitting Maori hard,” Mr Conway says.

The CTU says the government needs to take specific action to fight Maori unemployment or the social consequences will be around for generations.

BILLY T’S MUSICAL ROOTS BOOSTED COMEDY CAREER

He may be remembered as a comedian, but the late Billy Taitoko James started his entertainment career as a musician in Maori showbands.

Biographer Matt Elliott says Billy T's comic success before his early death almost 20 years ago have overshadowed his musical prowess.

But he says for the boy from the small Waikato town of Leamington, that early experience playing and singing in bands like the Maori Volcanics paved the way for that later success.

“New Zealand performers are always talking about cracking it overseas. Well the showbands were doing that. They were playing the top venues in the UK and the states and Germany and Bermuda, they were packing houses out, and Billy really did learn how to work an audience and the stage with the showbands,” Mr Elliot says.

He says part of Billy T's comic genius was his ability to find humour in racial stereotypes without favour to Maori or Pakeha.
"The Life and Times of Billy T James", is published this week.

PARIS JAUNT A BREACH OF PUBLIC TRUST

Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia says Hone Harawira's Paris holiday was a breach of trust from his party and the New Zealand public.

The Tai Tokerau MP skipped meetings with European Parliament MPs in Brussell to take wife Hilda to the French capital 300 kilometres to the south.

Mrs Turia says Hone Harawira was the leader of the parliamentary delegation, and his actions bring the credibility of the Maori Party into question.

“All of us have to be really conscious as to the perception that’s created as to how we use public funds. The public doesn’t actually fund us to go on holiday and have a look around and that's the reality,” Mrs Turia says.

She says she understood Hone Harawira was too sick to make the meetings, until he revealed the side trip in a newspaper column.

CALL FOR RETHINK OF AFGHAN OCCUPATION

The anniversary of the last military action of the land wars has brought a call for New Zealand to rethink its involvement in the Afghanistan conflict.
It's 128 years since 1500 armed constabulary and militia invaded the coastal Taranaki settlement of Parihaka to end a campaign of passive resistance to land confiscation.

Te Miringa Hohaia, the director of the Parihaka International Peace Festival, says that gives the community a unique perspective on the National Government's decision to escalate its involvement in the conflict from peacekeeping to combat.

“We're there as an occupation army. Parihaka was occupied so I’m not at all happy with the fact the New Zealand government can continue to corrupt the psyche of the nation in the same way that occurred in 1881 without there being a robust referendum with the ability of the nation to decide are we going to war or are we not,” Mr Hohaia says

He says Parihaka leaders Tohu Kakahi and te Whiti o Rongomai were called dangerous fanatics, the same language that is employed against Afghanistan's former Taliban government.

MAORI SICK OF BEING ARCHITECTURAL AFTERTHOUGHT

A leading Maori artist says Maori are sick of being an afterthought when public buildings are planned.

Judging of a design competition for the redevelopment of Queens Wharf has been deferred because city leaders were unhappy with the entrants.

That could open the door for Ngati Whatua ki Orakei, which criticised the process because it did not specify Maori or Pacific involvement.

Derek Lardelli, whose work in the new Gisborne Maori Land Court helped architects Nicholl Blackburne win a regional architecture award, says getting involved early makes a difference to the quality of the final product.

“We're so strong at giving the afterthought that people wake up to it, so now we’re starting to say you need to get Maori involved at the beginning, not the end, because they’ve had enough of being an afterthought. They need to be heard in the beginning because they are the point of identity. When you travel internationally, it’s the indigineity of our culture that stands out,” says Mr Lardelli, from Ngati Porou and Rongowhakaata.