Waikato signing marks new era for river

Waikato-Tainui is looking forward to having a say in managing its awa.

A large contingent from the iwi will be arriving in Wellington in the next few hours to witness the third reading of the Waikato-Tanui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill just after three this afternoon.

Spokesperson Moko Tini-Templeton says once the ink is dry and the celebratory cup of tea is drunk, the real work begins cleaning up the river for future generations.

The settlement creates a management body for the river, including iwi and local government representatives.

INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION OF WEASEL WORDS

The Greens' leader Metiria Turei is welcoming international condemnation of the Government's lack of commitment to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Ms Turei says even though New Zealand has affirmed the document, respected indigenous commentators have noticed its emphasis that the declaration is aspirational and non-binding.

She says this country needs to do better when taking on international human rights commitments.

“We need to have that international condemnation of the lack of commitment by the Government to adhere to the declaration, to work through its precepts and look at how our domestic policy needs to change, and the more international condemnation of its weasel words, the better,” Ms Turei says.

FRENCH PARLIAMENT VOTES TO LET TOI MOKO GO HOME

National museum Te Papa Tongarewa hopes some of the 20 toi moko held in French museums will be back in Aotearoa by Christmas.

The French Parliament this week voted 577 to 8 in favour of allowing the mummified tattooed Maori heads to be repatriated.

Museum acting director Michele Hippolite says it's been a long campaign, and Te Papa is applauding the realisation that for Maori toi moko are not curios or artefacts but ancestors.

She says more work is needed to find what the museums hold and how they might have got the items, as well as where the toi moko came from.

TAINUI ON HAND TO WITNESS RIVER SETTLEMENT

A large ope from Waikato-Tainui is in Wellington today to witness the passing of a bill settling the iwi's river claims.

Three bus loads of kaumatua headed out of Huntly, Ngaruawahia and Hamilton last night, and many more are expected at a powhiri at Pipitea Marae this morning.

Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson says after the third reading about 3.30 pm, there will be a special ceremony for the iwi at Parliament.
He says once the bill is given the royal assent, Tainui and other tribes along the river will become part of a new authority charged with cleaning it up.

“It's not going to happen in the first 100 days. It’s not going to happen in the first 1000 days. It’s going to take many years to restore the health of the river. But both the tribe and the regional government say let us begin,” Mr Finlayson says.

There is sadness that Lady Raiha Mahuta was not able to live long enough to see the passing of the settlement she negotiated on Tainui's behalf.

NGAI TAHU BUSINESS LOOKS TO CHINA FOR GROWTH

Delegations from Ngai Tahu are off to the Shanghai World Expo to advance the South Island iwi's commercial interests in China.

Greg Campbell, the chief executive of Ngai Tahu Holdings, says the company is a key sponsor of the New Zealand pavilion, alongside companies like Zespri, Fonterra and Air New Zealand.

He says 80 percent of the tribe's fish exports go to China, and it's also keen to promote its tourism activities to the Chinese market.

“We are primarily there to grow our business contacts and our relationships and understandings around doing business within China We’ve identified that as a tremendous opportunity for our businesses and for the wealth of the iwi ultimately,” Mr Campbell says.

NGATI POROU APPOINTED TO TOP TAURA WHIRI ADMIN JOB

Ngati Porou educationalist Glenis Philip-Barbara has been appointed the new Chief Executive of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori, the Maori Language Commission.

She is currently director of business development at Gisborne's Tairawhiti Polytechnic.

Ms Philip-Barbara says it's her dream job.

“The reason I took this job is because I love the Maori language strategy and I like the direction Taura Whiri is moving and that’s really about taking our reo and putting it back into the homes of our people, embedding it in the framework of our nation as a normal part of our everyday lives. I mean that’s the vision that had me apply for the job in the first place. That’s where my heart is,” Ms Philip-Barbara says.

As a teacher and researcher she has seen the powerful positive impact that learning te reo Maori has for Maori and the insight gained by non- Maori people who take the time to learn.

Waikato signing marks new era for river
Waikato-Tainui is looking forward to having a say in managing its awa.

A large contingent from the iwi will be arriving in Wellington in the next few hours to witness the third reading of the Waikato-Tanui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill just after three this afternoon.

Spokesperson Moko Tini-Templeton says once the ink is dry and the celebratory cup of tea is drunk, the real work begins cleaning up the river for future generations.

The settlement creates a management body for the river, including iwi and local government representatives.

INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION OF WEASEL WORDS

The Greens' leader Metiria Turei is welcoming international condemnation of the Government's lack of commitment to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Ms Turei says even though New Zealand has affirmed the document, respected indigenous commentators have noticed its emphasis that the declaration is aspirational and non-binding.

She says this country needs to do better when taking on international human rights commitments.

“We need to have that international condemnation of the lack of commitment by the Government to adhere to the declaration, to work through its precepts and look at how our domestic policy needs to change, and the more international condemnation of its weasel words, the better,” Ms Turei says.

FRENCH PARLIAMENT VOTES TO LET TOI MOKO GO HOME

National museum Te Papa Tongarewa hopes some of the 20 toi moko held in French museums will be back in Aotearoa by Christmas.

The French Parliament this week voted 577 to 8 in favour of allowing the mummified tattooed Maori heads to be repatriated.

Museum acting director Michele Hippolite says it's been a long campaign, and Te Papa is applauding the realisation that for Maori toi moko are not curios or artefacts but ancestors.

She says more work is needed to find what the museums hold and how they might have got the items, as well as where the toi moko came from.

TAINUI ON HAND TO WITNESS RIVER SETTLEMENT

A large ope from Waikato-Tainui is in Wellington today to witness the passing of a bill settling the iwi's river claims.

Three bus loads of kaumatua headed out of Huntly, Ngaruawahia and Hamilton last night, and many more are expected at a powhiri at Pipitea Marae this morning.

Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson says after the third reading about 3.30 pm, there will be a special ceremony for the iwi at Parliament.
He says once the bill is given the royal assent, Tainui and other tribes along the river will become part of a new authority charged with cleaning it up.

“It's not going to happen in the first 100 days. It’s not going to happen in the first 1000 days. It’s going to take many years to restore the health of the river. But both the tribe and the regional government say let us begin,” Mr Finlayson says.

There is sadness that Lady Raiha Mahuta was not able to live long enough to see the passing of the settlement she negotiated on Tainui's behalf.

NGAI TAHU BUSINESS LOOKS TO CHINA FOR GROWTH

Delegations from Ngai Tahu are off to the Shanghai World Expo to advance the South Island iwi's commercial interests in China.

Greg Campbell, the chief executive of Ngai Tahu Holdings, says the company is a key sponsor of the New Zealand pavilion, alongside companies like Zespri, Fonterra and Air New Zealand.

He says 80 percent of the tribe's fish exports go to China, and it's also keen to promote its tourism activities to the Chinese market.

“We are primarily there to grow our business contacts and our relationships and understandings around doing business within China We’ve identified that as a tremendous opportunity for our businesses and for the wealth of the iwi ultimately,” Mr Campbell says.

NGATI POROU APPOINTED TO TOP TAURA WHIRI ADMIN JOB

Ngati Porou educationalist Glenis Philip-Barbara has been appointed the new Chief Executive of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori, the Maori Language Commission.

She is currently director of business development at Gisborne's Tairawhiti Polytechnic.

Ms Philip-Barbara says it's her dream job.

“The reason I took this job is because I love the Maori language strategy and I like the direction Taura Whiri is moving and that’s really about taking our reo and putting it back into the homes of our people, embedding it in the framework of our nation as a normal part of our everyday lives. I mean that’s the vision that had me apply for the job in the first place. That’s where my heart is,” Ms Philip-Barbara says.

As a teacher and researcher she has seen the powerful positive impact that learning te reo Maori has for Maori and the insight gained by non- Maori people who take the time to learn.

Ill-judged policy could close uni doors to Maori

Massey University's vice chancellor says the Government's policies could exclude Maori from universities.

The Prime Minister has signaled students with low marks or who take too long to get through their studies could be weeded out.

But Steve Maharey, a former Labour minister of education, says that could hit Maori students who typically enter university after a break in the workforce, rather than coming straight from school.

“If they don't pay attention to that and we are forced as universities to simply to take people say from schools on a grade average, then we are going to be in a position where we see very few Maori coming into universities. This is not where the country needs to go. It needs to open up opportunities for Maori to get into tertiary study,” Mr Maharey says.

The government needs to be working with iwi who want to invest in their people through tertiary education.

TUHOURANGI CHIEF DEFENDS TARAWERA WALKWAY

The chair of the Tuhourangi Trust Board says opponents to a walkway around Lake Tarawera should have raised their concerns earlier.

Some tribal members have companied Tuhourangi will gain little from the $4 million project, which is due to start construction next month.

But John Waaka says the land trusts that administer the whenua along the walkway have worked on the project for 4 years because they are convinced it will create economic opportunities.

“There was a buy in from the trusts that have the ability to build lodges on their own properties to accommodate some of these walkers. This is the whole thrust of it, to give the iwi some income and some purpose,” Mr Waaka says.

TEN METRE WAKA MAUMAHARA BOUND FOR SHANGHAI

Rotorua's deputy mayor says a 10-metre waka maumahara will be an international window into te ao Maori.

Trevor Maxwell, who is a kaupapa Maori advisor for Tourism New Zealand, was at Te Puia Maori arts and crafts institute yesterday for the poroporoaki for the 3000-year-old log of Northland kauri, which is now on its way to the World Expo in Shanghai.

The carvers have until the Expo's New Zealand day on July 9 to turn it into a canoe-shaped gateway to the New Zealand Pavilion.

Up to 70 million visitors are expected through the expo between May and October.

GAMBLING FOUNDATION LOOKING FOR TECHNOLOGY CURE

The Problem Gambling Foundation wants technology to come to the aid of Maori who are addicted to gambling machines.

Chief executive Graeme Ramsey says tools are available which allow people to put a limit on the amount of money and time they intended to spend, and when the limit is reached, the pokie closes.

He says the government should make use of such software mandatory because of the damage gambling is doing to groups such as Maori, who are over-represented in problem gambling statistics.

Mr Ramsey says more than 80 percent of problem gambling in New Zealand comes from pokies.

MAORI KING IN NGAI TAI FOR KAPA HAKA FESTIVAL

The Maori king will be the special guest at tomorrow's Mataatua Regional Kapahaka competitions in the small Tainui enclave of Torere.

Organiser Kareen Hotereni says the eastern Bay of Plenty community, which has about 300 residents, expects about 6000 manuhiri.

Sixteen teams will vie to go through to next year's Te Matatini nationals, including reigning champions Opotiki Mai Tawhiti, Te Whanau A Apanui and Tauira mai Tawhiti.

Ms Hotereni says the visit by King Tuheitia will be a highlight, some 13 years after Ngai Tai hosted the late Maori queen.

NGAI TAHU CULTURE FESTIVAL ON POUNAMU TRAIL

Ngai Tahu holds its second culture festival this weekend on a tribally-owned property on one of the ancient pounamu trails to the West Coast.

Organiser Tracey Tawha says Southland's Te Koawa Turoa o Takitimu, also known as Blackmount Valley, was the way the tipuna got between Murihiku settlements like Riverton area to Piopiotahi, the Milford sound.

Being only 20 minutes from Manapouri and Te Anau, it seemed an ideal venue to bring the iwi together.

Tracey Tawha says the festival includes kapa haka, bands, sport, art and culinary displays.

Waitangi occupiers given ultimatum

A group which has been camping out at the lower Waitangi marae for five weeks have been given until Sunday to leave.

It includes members of the Hokianga-based Nga Uri o Tupoto sovereignty group from the Hokianga area which occupied a commercial building in Kaikohe until evicted by police in August.

Leader Tas Davis says the 20-strong group is there by right of the 1835 declaration of independence, and it won't leave until Waitangi Day on February 6.

But marae chair Kingi Taurua says Waitangi's Ngati Rahiri hapu has had enough.

“No tribe or person or subtribe is permitted to go and occupy another subtribe’s land and that is war because if you look at the Treaty of Waitangi, it talks about hapu, subtribes, having their own authority over themselves,” Mr Taurua says.

If the occupiers are not out by Sunday Ngati Rahiri will remove them by force if necessary ... but police won't be called in.

WATER SUMMIT A SUCCESS WITH UNITY KAUPAPA

One of the iwi leaders behind yesterday's national summit on water says it provided a sound basis to push for Maori ownership of water.

Mark Solomon from Ngai Tahu says iwi were keen to take a united approach to the Government's New Start to Freshwater initiative, which is looking at issues around water quality, allocation and demand as well as future governance arrangements.

He says like many iwi, Ngai Tahu is concerned at growing pressure on the resource.

“There are areas that are over-allocated for water. One of the major concerns for Ngai Tahu is about at least guaranteeing the in-stream flow ratios or guaranteeing the ecology of the whole catchment and in some areas that’s not happening. In some areas there’s water consent below what’s considered the minimum flow regimes,” Mr Solomon says.

He says there needs to be certainty around water management.

TIME RUNNING OUT TO BUY MOBILE PHONE SHARES

Meanwhile, iwi at yesterdays' national water hui were told time is running out to buy shares in mobile phone company Two Degrees.

Te Huarahi Tika chair Mavis Mullins told the hui the spectrum trust's American and European partners will take up the share if iwi don't, diluting the Maori interest down to 12 and a half percent.

She says Te Huarahi Tika and its commercial arm Hautaki have done the hard yards over the past decade lobbying regulators and laying the ground for investment in a third mobile operator.

“We've found the shareholders, we’ve found the investment, the last couple of years there’s been more than $200 million dollars invested into New Zealand’s infrastructure, we’ve created over 250 new jobs, all in a global recession. This thing is so derisked that it is time, Maori need to step up, we need to maintain that 20 percent because spectrum is the farm of the future for our kids, this is the primary asset for the future,” Mrs Mullins says.

Many Maori organisations feel more comfortable investing in forests or farms than phone companies, but they will never get another chance to buy the shares at such a low price.

NGATI MANAWA SETTLING HISTORIC CLAIMS

A new chapter opens for Bay of Plenty iwi Ngati Manawa as it settles its historical treaty claims.

Chairman Bill Bird says up to 500 people are expected at Murupara for tomorrow's signing, where the Crown will be represented by Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples.

He says the cultural redress package includes sites of significance in and around the Kaingaroa Forest and te Urewera National Park, and comes on top of the commercial redress which was part of the eight-iwi Central North Island forestry settlement.

Mr Bird says Ngati Manawa lost its land through confiscation during the land wars of the 1860s, through later actions by the Native Land Court, and throughout the 20th century through local government takings under the Public Works Act.

“So we've got an opportunity to stop that and all we’re saying is any development in our area, we want to be part of the decision-making, not just lip service, you go to see a kaumatua and say we’ve got that iwi’s approval, those days are gone,” Mr Bird says.

PRESSURE ON FOR WATER OWNERSHIP

Iwi leaders are determined to keep pushing for ownership of water.

A national hui in Wellington yesterday heard from the consultative group which is attempting to include a Maori perspective into the Government's New Start to Freshwater policy process.

Rotorua lawyer Willie Te Aho says while iwi in different parts of the country have different priorities, they are united on asserting their treaty right to the resource.

“There was a perspective from iwi that the water is owned by iwi and you just need to look at the Te Arawa and Taupo Tuwharetoa examples of, if you’ve got the ownership of the bed of a lake and it’s akin to a cup, the water that drops into that cup surely belongs to you, but that is not the current reality,” Mr Te Aho says.

Iwi are interested in the co-management regimes emerging over the Waikato and other rivers through the treaty settlement process.

REALITY SHOW PRODUCER HOPES FORMAT A WINNER

The producer of a six-part Maori-language reality show hopes overseas broadcasters will pick up the format.

Former TV3 producer Bailey Mackey also wrote and financed One Land, which screens on TVNZ this Sunday night.

It takes three families and puts in them in conditions from the 1850s, with a European family, a Maori-speaking family, and a Maori family living in a Pakeha setting.

Mr Mackey says it could have international appeal, even with 20 to 25 percent Te Reo content.

“One of the other interesting aspects would be round the sale of the format which will include the whole language element which I think other countries will look to pick up as well. There are countries where an indigenous language has been overtaken by different forms of colonization,” Mr Mackey says.

The format industry is worth $22 billion worldwide.