Foreshore Act replacement takes shape

Iwi leaders are happy with progress made on replacing the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

The Iwi Leaders Forum met at Waitangi with Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson to discuss how work being done by Crown officials and forum advisers would translate into action.

Ngapuhi chair Sonny Tau says Mr Finlayson assured them the act would be repealed as soon as an alternative was ready, and the Crown would no longer insist it owned foreshore land until proven otherwise.

"Section 13 will be removed, that’s the ownership by the Crown, and the new Foreshore and Seabed legislation will contain a clause that gives the mana of the iwi status and that in terms of its management the Crown is happy to share that management,” Mr Tau says.

Maori will be able to go back to court to pursue their foreshore claims.

MOANA JACKSON PICKED TO HEAD IWI CONSTITUTION WORK

Meanwhile The Iwi Leaders Forum has established a working group to look at constitutional change, ahead of an official exercise run by the Government.

The Maori Party was promised a constitutional review as part of its support agreement with National.

But working group head Moana Jackson from Ngati Kahungunu says any terms of reference for such a review would be limited by the Crown’s views of its own power.

He says for Maori, everything starts from the Maori version of the Treaty of Waitangi.

“The view that I take is whatever constitution is established in this country is subject to Te Tiriti rather than Te Tiriti being subject to any constitution, which is what the Crown has tried to do for 160 years, so a Maori constitutional review would start from a different place,” Mr Jackson says.

The working group will talk with Maori around the country and draw together some of the work done by earlier generations.

NGATI AWA KEEN ON IWI INPUT TO LONG TERM PLAN

Ngati Awa has launched a campaign for iwi members to have a say in the future direction for the Bay of Plenty iwi.

Spokesman William Stewart says Ko Ngati Awa Te Toki was officially launched on Saturday, Waitangi day, and aims to make contact with tribal members worldwide using social networking web sites to create a collective vision for 2050.

He says the month long campaign is important to ensure a unified approach to tribal development over the next 40 years.

FORESHORE AND SEABED ROWN BASED ON FALSITIES

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says debate over the Foreshore and Seabed Act has descended into farce.

The Ngati Wai kaumatua was on the paepae on Friday when the Government was welcomed to Te Tii Marae.

During the welcome, Taitokerau MP Hone Harawira described the Foreshore and Seabed Act as a gigantic land grab that needed to be reversed, and Prime Minister John Key warned the Act could be left in place if Maori were unwilling to compromise.

Mr Peters says the exchange on the marae was a reminder of the danger of making promises that can’t be kept.

“The reality is if no land was taken after Foreshore and Seabed Act passed, if not one inch of land was taken from anyone or passed from anyone’s hands into anyone else’s hands, what on earth is Hone and the Maori Party talking about? It’s a great lie, a great fiction, which Mr Key thought he could accommodate. Now he’s finding what a farce this is,” Mr Peters says.

He says whatever the Government comes up with to replace the Foreshore and Seabed Act, the Maori Party and its supporters are likely to be disappointed because they have such unrealistic expectations.

WARNING GIVEN ON TONGAN HIKOI REPEAT

Meanwhile a Maniapoto man who encouraged hundreds of Pacific Islanders to go to Waitangi in the hope of getting residency has been warned against a repeat performance.

Gerard Otimi was at the head of a group of about 100 Tongans and Samoans who went on to Te Tii Marae on Friday, telling them just before going on that if questioned by media, they were to say they were there to celebrate the treaty.

When the Labour Party was welcomed later in the day, Waitangi kaimatua Kingi Taurua said his explanations of marae protocol seemed to have been misinterpreted as a promise to adopt people into the tribe so they could stay in New Zealand.

But Northland-based list MP Shane Jones said the misinterpretation seemed deliberate.

“Tongans, greetings. To all the Maoris bringing the Tongans here, our eyes are on you. Do not use the name of Ngapuhi, do not use this marae, and never use the Treaty of Waitangi to either mislead or bring expectations among our Pacific brethren that you will not be able to deliver. That is not the kaupapa of this day,” Mr Jones says.

KAINGA WHENUA COULD LEAD TO RURAL MARAE REPOPULATION

A co-ordinator of Maori economic development projects in many parts of the country Willie Te Aho says the government's latest housing initiative will let many Maori return their rural marae.

Mr Te Aho says the initiative under which the government will guarantee Kiwibank loans for Maori to build on multiple owned land is most welcome.

“A lot of our Maori people who drifted into urban areas are now looking at how to get back to their bases, the baby boomers and that, so this creates an opportunity for them,” Mr Te Aho says.

It will not only allow more Maori to build on land around marae but on any multiple owned land.

Concern Te Kotahitanga capturing mindshare and budget

Labour's associate education spokesperson says the government's boosting of the teacher development system Te Kotahitanga could be at the expense of more effective strategies to improve Maori performance.

The government last week announced it was spending $20 million over four years to allow another 17 secondary schools to join Te Kotahitanga, which trains teachers to create culturally responsive learning environments.

Kelvin Davis, who was principal of Kaitaia intermediate before entering Parliament, says new research by Auckland University professor John Hattie has identified other strategies which are more effective.

“We need to be making sure we are focusing on what are the most effective strategies and Te Kotahitanga oer teacher-student relationships is the 11th most effective strategy according to Hattie’s research, so why haven’t we got equal amounts of resource and support going in to those top ten strategies,” Mr Davis says.

He says Te Kotahitanga is effective with any ethnic group, but it's been picked up as the panacea for Maori education because the original research project was Maori-specific.

SHORT STORY HAS FINGER ON SOCIETY PULSE

A prize-winning short story has been praised for reflecting the major issues facing Maori society.

Morehu Nikora won with the Maori language section of this year's Pikihuia awards with He Reta Mo Taku Huia Kaimanawa, a letter by a father to his unborn child about the perils of the society he will be born into.

Judge Julian Wilcox says it comes at a time where Maori society and its child-rearing practices are being intensely discussed.

He Reta Mo Taku Huia Kaimanawa and the other entries are included in Huia Publisher's eighth collection of stories, which is out now.

BARRIBALL LOOKING FORWARD TO PLACE ON CATWALK

A Maori designer who's made the transition from moko to streetwear gets to measure himself against the big boys and girls this week.

Wiremu Barriball earned his place in New Zealand Fashion Week by winning the MiraModa Maori fashion awards earlier this year.

He says moving beyond T shirt production was been a struggle, but his Tu Ake line now includes everything from shoes to shades.\

“We aim to get ourselves out there, especially our Maori inspired designs, up with the big boys. We’re trying to get ourselves out there, but that requires big financial input,” Mr Barriball says.

The MiraModa team takes to the catwalk at Auckland's viaduct on Thursday afternoon.

PRESSURE GROWING FOR NGAPUHI TO NEGOTIATE

The chair of the Ngapuhi Runanga says pressure is growing for the country's largest iwi to go into direct negotiations over a treaty settlement, rather than continue with its Waitangi Tribunal claims.

Ngapuhi descendants have been invited to a series of hui over the next two weeks to discuss who should represent them in negotiations or in a post-settlement body.

Sonny Tau says the runanga isn't seeking the mandate for itself, but it does have a responsibilty to inform hapu.

He says the Waitangi Tribunal's decision to postpone hearings on Ngapuhi's claims until next year has woken people up to how long a full inquiry may take.

“Time is not on Ngapuhi’s side any more where we’ve got all this time to waste and I think we’ve got to cut to the chase and get on with it. There is a lot of hapu saying they want to go to direct negotiations rather than going to the tribunal and hearing their claims, they want to go direct to the direct negotiations and that wave of hapu is building more and more each day,” Mr Tau says.

The first consultation hui is this afternoon at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, followed by Wellington Wednesday, Nelson Thursday and Christchurch Friday.

EYE TESTS COULD PREVENT BLINDNESS AND OTHER DISEASES

Maori are going blind when they don't need to.

New Zealand Association of Optometrists says too many New Zealanders are losing their sight because treatable diseases such as macular degeneration and glaucoma aren't picked up.

Director Lesley Frederikson says an association survey found only 14 percent of Maori regularly have their eyes tested compared with 31 percent of Pakeha.

Most people are unaware eye testing can pick up sight threatening diabetes, which is twice as likely to attack Maori yet can be controlled if found early.

She says people are also unaware that eye testing, which is free under public health, can pick up hypertension, brain tumours, cancer, heart disease and multiple sclerosis.

MARATHON GOOD START FOR HAWAII BUILD UP

Runner Ady Ngawati says her win in the Legends Marathon was just the start of her build up to the Trail Running World Championship in Hawaii in December.

Last Saturday's run was over the infamous Waiatarua route in West Auckland where trainer Arthur Lydiard built up the fitness of athletes like Olympians Peter Snell and Murray Halberg in the 1950s and 60s.

She says runs like the 42 kilometre haul over the Waitakere ranges will set her up nicely for the 21 kilometre off trail race in Hawaii, because of its contribution to cardiovascular and anaerobic fitness.

Ngawati will use her trip to make contact with United States universites about their sports programmes, with the aim of creating opportunities for some of the Maori athletes she works with at Northland polytechnic.