Manurewa Marae opens whare oranga with sadness

A kaumatua of Manurewa Marae says the opening of a new health clinic was tinged with sadness, but looked towards a brighter future.

Te Manu Aute Whare Oranga is a joint venture between the marae and Counties Manukau Health.

Alec Tairua says today's ceremony included unveiling memorials to two workers killed last year when a relocated house which was to serve as the clinic slipped from its supports.

More than 100 people have already registered with the health clinic, and the search is on to fully staff it.

TOUGH LOVE BEHIND TOBACCO PRICE RISE

The Maori Affairs Minister, Pita Sharples, is describing the extra tax on tobacco as tough love from the nanny state.

Dr Sharples says he knows many Maori addicts won't cut down, and the extra amount they spend on cigarettes could mean less food on the table for their children.

But he says smoking reduction is a kaupapa the Maori Party is making its own.

“It's very much an example of tough love. At the end of the day we are over-represented in the statistics of dying through smoking and we’re represented in the figures of smoking amongst our youth as well, so it is tough love,” Dr Sharples says.

He says there is always the nanny state factor when government pushes does what it believes is good for the people.

INFORMATION CAN TURN PADDOCKS INTO WAAHI TAPU

The Historic Places Trust's Maori heritage advisor would like to see more information made available to the public about prominent waahi tapu.

Helen Brown interviewed dozens of tangata whenua for an exhibition at Akaroa Museum on Takapuneke, the scene of the 1830 massacre where Ngai Tahu ariki Te Maiharanui was killed.

She combined those interviews with text and images to show why the area also known as Greens Point is considered sacred by Maori of Akaroa and Oonuku.

“A lot of our waahi tapu rest silently in the landscape. Their history isn’t evident. You look down into the bay and it’s a beautiful place but it just appears as paddocks so in future we’re looking at the development of a conservation plan and a management plan, making people have a connection with that place and its history,” Ms Brown says

Before the exhibition Nga Roimata o Takapuneke, which closes on Monday, many residents had no idea of the land's historical significance .

CARVERS TAKE THE CHISELS TO SHANGHAI

Five carvers from Te Puia Maori Arts and Crafts Institute are in Shanghai to put the finishing touches to a 10 metre waka mau mahara that will serve as the entrance to New Zealand's world Expo pavillion.

Te Puia visitor experience manager Karl Johnstone says about two thirds of the work on the 3500 year old kauri log has been done, and the carvers start tomorrow on the surface decoration and kowhaiwhai, under the eye of thousands of daily visitors.

He says yesterday's opening of the pavilion was awe-inspiring, particularly the unveiling of the 1800 kilo pounamu boulder which stands at the entrance.

“Chinese are very much a jade culture as well so strong connection to them with that but also with the carving because of the story and I guess with the values that go along with the gifting of this piece to the people of China. There’s a lot of synergies between the values of the Chinese and Maori so they understand the conceptual nature of the work,” Mr Johnstone says.

The Maori contribution should help the New Zealand pavilion stand out.

PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT DIRVING LEARNING IMPROVEMENT

More input from parents is being credits with improving the achievement of Maori students.

Patrick Walsh, the president of the Secondary Principal's Association, Patrick Walsh, says there is a huge increase in the number of Maori staying on until year 13 and gaining the three levels of the National Certificate of Education Achievement.

Contributing factors include the way NCEA better addresses Maori needs, new approaches to management of Maori students such as Te Kotahitanga, and changes in parents' attitudes.

“We're getting more engagement from the whanau. We have whanau committees that have been established in schools, Maori parents have greater aspirations for their children. They’re prepared to sit on boards of trustees. They’re prepared to monitor the work of their children. They want them to go to university and achieve,” Mr Walsh says.

Improved performance by Maori is reflected in better behaviour both in and out of school.

REO PIONEER AUNTY BEE PUBLISHED ANOTHER TANIWHA

A pioneer teacher of te reo Maori is launching another story books in Rotorua about now.

Aunty Bea Yates from Ngati Pikiao was the first itinerant teacher of Maori in the Waiariki rohe.

She hopes Hoha Te Taniwha will match the success of One Day a Taniwha, which she and daughter-in-law Gay Kingi self-published last year.

Aunty Bea says started writing her stories half a century ago on sheets of A3 paper because she discovered there were no resources in Maori.

She started publishing after her daughter in law found piles of her old A3 books at the back of a classroom

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.