Fast food promotion cynical and dangerous

A healthy food campaigner has slammed a team-up between Weightwatchers and fast food giant MacDonalds as a cynical commercial ploy which could have disastrous effects for Maori.

Alison White from SAFE says while the salads Weight Watchers is endorsing may be healthy, the dressings which go on them are not.

And while the diet drinks being sold in combos have less sugar, they contain the artificial sweetener aspartame.

“Having diet is extremely unhealthy and it is potentially extremely dangerous for Maori and Pacific Islanders who are more likely to suffer from diabetes,” Ms White says.

She says when MacDonalds used cyclist Sarah Ulmar to promote their salads, it lead to a jump in sales of all their products, including the unhealthy ones.

MARAE INCLUDED IN CIVIL DEFENCE PLANNING

Civil Defence is putting together plans to use marae around the country if a disaster occurs.

National co-ordinator Ian Wilson says marae are an integral part of communities capable of feeding and looking after people.

He says the tsunami warnings after the Chilean earthquake brought the potential to use marae in an emergency into sharp focus.

“We are actually working with Te Puni Kokiri and the local civil defence and iwis to develop emergency plans for the marae. We’re getting each marae to look at itself and say these are the hazard and risks we face, so we want them to look at those and how they would react, who would be n charge to ensure their people are safe, where they would go and who they would contact and say this is the assistance we need or we can offer assistance to other people,” Mr Wilson says.

Many marae are near water which gives them a strategic position in times of an emergency.

BROWNING OF BLACK CAPS BODES WELL FOR RECRUITMENT

There's a call for New Zealand cricket to take advantage of the changing cultural makeup of the Black Caps.

Sports commentator Ken Laban says in the past the game the past struggled to attract Maori and Pacific island players.

But with Ross Taylor the first player with a Samoan whakapapa to captain the national side, and Maori players Jesse Ryder, Darryl Tuffey and Shane Bond in the squad, that's changed.

The Black Caps play the third of five one-day matches against the touring Australians in Hamilton today.

TE ARAWA JOINS WAIKATO RIVER CO-MANAGEMENT BODY

Three Te Arawa iwi today sign an agreement with the Crown to be part of a $210 million clean-up of the Waikato River.

Iwi spokesperson Roger Pikia says Te Arawa has mana whenua from Huka Falls to Atiamuri.

He says the deal to be signed at Orakei Korako with Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson mirrors one signed last month by Waikato-Tainui and has been a long time coming.

“You’re never completely satisfied with the whole process going forward. There’s always better ways you can deal with this or manage this. But where we’ve got to is a point where we’re able to accept what we currently have given the constraints and take a step forward and enter this thing called co-management,” Mr Pikia says.

The agreement gives Te Arawa a place on the Waikato River Authority alongside Waikato-Tainui, Maniapoto, Tuwharetoa, Crown representatives and Environment Waikato, and will come into force on June 1.

HENARE SMOKING REVIEW A WORK IN PROGRESS

The chair of the Maori Affairs Select Committee says although he still has the occasional cigarette, it wasn't going to stop him from being part of an investigation into the effect of the tobacco industry on Maori.

National list MP Tau Henare says Maori should feel proud their committee is the first government body to call to the industry to account.

The committee opened hearings in Rotorua yesterday.

Mr Henare says despite his ciggie habit, which he's adressing, he's keen to be part of any initiative that reduces smoking harm in Maori communities.

“It is a bit awkward but hell, if I wanted to stand down, I would have. I suppose it gives me hands on experience of what smokers are going through. My non-smoking, my giving up smoking, is always a work in progress,” Mr Henare says.

The select committee sits in Auckland tomorrow and Thursday, and the investigation could take up to six months.

INDIGENOUS MATCH-UPS STILL ON KEMP AGENDA

The only Maori to have coached in the National Rugby League says it's time New Zealand Maori had regular matches with the Australian Indigenous squad.

Tony Kemp says Maori made history 2 years ago when they first played the indigenous all stars as part of the opening to the Rugby League World Cup.

He says the Dreamteam's pre-season game against the NRL All stars on the Gold Coast was a huge success, and he's keen to see an annual fixture between Maori and their Australian indigenous counterparts each Waitangi Day.

“It has a significance not only for Maori bt for the Indigenous in Australia if we can get that clash up and going. It’s a pre-season game. We didn’t think we’d get it up in the World Cup and we did it, so we have to keep working in it to see it happen,” Mr Kemp says.

Common stand sought on freshwater management

Iwi leaders will gather in Wellington next week to thrash out a common position on development of the government's freshwater management policy.

Toby Curtis from Te Arawa says a small group of leaders have been talking with the Crown about the policy, and they now want to report back to the rest of Maori.

He says the current government seems willing to talk about ownership of water, but there are language difficulties.

“The trouble is when you’re dealing with it in the English language, Pakeha people have the ability to make it mean what they want, so I go back to how our people spoke about the water and how it was part of us and we were part of the water and we use te reo as the basis for what we mean by ownership, you have a totally different outcome,” Mr Curtis says.

Maori would reject the recommendation in the Brash taskforce report that a system of tradable water rights should be introduced to help this country catch up with Australia.

LOOK FOR SECOND HELPING IN FAT FIGHT CHALLENGE

A whanau weight loss challenge which saw south Auckland Maori lost more than 1300 kilos is likely to be repeated next year.

Organiser Tahuna Minhinnick says 50 teams of 10 took part, with the overall individual winner shedding 32 kilos and the winning team 135 kilos lighter at the final weigh in.

He says everyone who took part felt like a winner, and there is strong demand for second helpings, so people who try again have 12 weeks of experience they can apply to the next challenge.

Mr Minhinnick says the contest will have significant health benefits for whanau who took part.

TANGATA WHENUA EMBRACE DUTCH MONUMENT

The decendants Foxton's Dutch settlers are uniting with Maori in an ambitious project to reflect the township's cultural heritage.

Hayley Bell from Ngati Raukawa says the nine mana whenua hapu are joining with a national Dutch collective to build a $12 million arts and crafts museum and library.

It's near a windmill that is already a major attraction in the Horowhenua town.

“We're having korero, we’re trying to talk to people and I think it’s been great not only for our Dutch community but also for the other members of our community to learn about our tangata whenua groups because it’s enabled a lot of the history of the mana whenua to be brought out into the open,” Ms Bell says.

Stage one of the project should be open to the public by 2011.

DAMNING REPORT IGNORES POLICE CONTRIBUTION TO CHAOS

A lawyer who works in South Auckland is blaming poor police work rather than poor defence for delays in the court system.

Catriona MacLennan says Dame Margaret Bazley's review of the legal aid system which slams lawyers working out of the Manukau Court ignores the difficult conditions many of their Maori and Pacific Islands clients face.

She says clients would be better served if the courts were more efficient, and there is little defence lawyers can do about that.

“There has been a problem in recent years in that quite a large number of inexperienced police offices have come into the force and of course they’re not experienced to know what would be the appropriate charges to lay and that can result in quite a waste of time,” Ms MacLennan says.

There aren't enough judges to hear the number of cases, and the system is also clogged by sticking with a paper rather than an electronic records system.

OLDER MEN BECOME SUICIDE RISK GROUP

A Rotorua Maori suicide prevention group says the problem of self harm is shifting from rangatahi to middle aged Maori men who feel they have lost their mana.

Kia Piki Te Ora project leader Michael Naera says more Maori men over 35 are taking their own lives.

He says family break-ups and a change in economic circumstances are factors, along with alcohol and drugs.

“Our people were quite reliant on the men as the kai gatherers, the person who sustained the household with income, that’s changing now where the men’s role isn’t as prevalent,” Mr Naera says.

He says men's behaviour can also lead to incidents of self harm among women.

Kia Piki Te Ora, which is backed by Te Runanga o Ngati Pikiao, has won funding from Lakeland Health to address the issue at community level.

BRASH CALL FOR QUOTA SALES RINGS ALARM BELLS

Don Brash's call for fishing quota to be made available for sale to foreign investors has rung alarm bells with Maori fishing interests.

The recommendation to include quota in what Dr Brash calls the most liberal feasible foreign investment regime is included in the 2025 Taskforce report on how New Zealand can catch up with Australia.

Morrie Love from Te Atiawa says Maori didn't fight for a stake in the industry only to see the prime assets pass into foreign hands.

He says the current regime hasn't stopped foreign investment on terms favourable to New Zealand participants.

“There always have been foreign vessels involved. In fact they developed the deepwater industry. But the important thing is ownership says indigenous and we are able to have some significant say in the large foreign markets where we have to sell,” Mr Love says.

He says the New Zealand fishing industry needs to move to move towards a single desk seller model - which Dr Brash is totally opposed to.