Kotahitanga sought by fisheries chief

The new chair of Te Ohu Kaimoana wants to see more iwi working together to manage and grow their fisheries businesses.

Ngahiwi Tomoana from Ngati Kahungunu replaces Sir Archie Taiaroa, who stepped down from the chair but remains a member of the trust.

Mr Tomoana says 95 percent of Maori fisheries settlement assets are now in the hands of iwi, so the challenge is to see they are used to their full potential.

“We've got to put a compelling case to all those iwi to whakakotahi nga raua, to collectivise efforts and energies First of al it save internal expenses but it could also add value at the other end so it’s about looking at unifying the collective package of iwi now,” Mr Tomoana says.

He says too many iwi still behave like fringe players rather than being part of a group which controls 40 percent of the industry.

BIKERS RRALLY TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

More than a thousand bikers and car enthusiasts decended on Takahiwai marae south of Whangarei today for a powhiri to mark the start of the annual Bream Bay motorcycle and classic car rally.

The rally, which visits communities throughout the north, is part of the white ribbon campaign encouraging men to take action against violence against women and children.

Organiser Phil Paikea says last year's rally helped get the anti-violence message across, and helped generate a sense of anticipation at the marae.

The rally has no alcohol, no drugs and no gang patches.

The rally heads to Whangarei at first light, then on to Moerewa, Kaikohe, Opononi, Dargaville and back to Ruakaka.

TRIBUTE TO TEACHERS OF CELESTIAL ARTS

Astronomy and sailing have been to the fore in Wellington this week as Maori navigators shared their experiences at the Mata Ora Living Knowledge festival.

Waka revivalist Hekenukumai Busby says he's heartened by the degree of interest in Maori and Polynesian knowledge of the heavens.

The builder of Te Aurere and other voyaging waka says the art of sailing by the stars was almost lost to Maori, but it had been preserved in remote parts of the Pacific.

“We had lost it and if it wasn’t for our Hawaiian whanungas and our teacher from Micronesia it would probably have been gone for good but let’s hope now we won’t lose it again,” Mr Busby says.

Mata Ora finishes tomorrow with a rocket building and launching event for kids throughout the morning at Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua.

TREATY LEGAL AID FAIR SPEND FOR TOUGH PROCESS

A leading treaty lawyer says high legal aid bills for treaty claims is an inevitable response to the system, and spending can be expected to tail off on future years.

Charl Hirschfeld says he has seen no evidence of treaty claimants or lawyers were double-dipping or triple-dipping, as implied in a report on the legal aid system by Dame Margaret Bazley released today.

He says the rules for claiming legal aid are stringent, and while there has been public concern in recent years about the cost of litigating claims, there is a political will to drive the process of historical treaty claims to a conclusion.

“If you want hundreds and hundreds of claims resolved and settled within a certain time frame it needs to be done in such a fashion that these things won’t come back to haunt you and if that is so then the resourcing needs to be available in the first instance,” Mr Hirschfeld says.

He says overall the Bazley report is a fair summary of the legal aid situation and contains some useful recommendations.

SMALLER CAR BUT LEAVE MAORI FARMERS ALONE

One of the team who negotiated changes for Maori in the emissions trading scheme says individuals need to do their bit to address climate change.

Lawyer Willie Te Aho says the recession meant the ETS passed last year by Labour had become untenable.

He says including agriculture in the ETS from January the first would have harmed Maori farming interests, and the issue of iwi who had received pre-1990 forest land in their settlements also needed addressing.

Mr Te Aho says rather than criticise the Maori Party's deal on the bill people should ask what they can do.

“We need to change our cars. I’ve gone from a V6 to a 1.3 litre Suzuki. I’m doing my part in terms of my personal role and integrity or reducing the impact on our environment. I don’t need anyone else in the world to show me the way. I know the way and that’s reduce my energy intake. Those are the things I can do, that every iwi should be doing, and not just focusing on the polluters,” Mr Te Aho says.

MARAE FATE UP TO TRIBAL PARLIAMENT

The fate of a busy Hamilton West marae will be decided at a meeting of the Tainui's Te Kauhanganui parliament tomorrow.

Tainui Group Holdings wants to develop land used by Rangimarie Te Horanganui Marae Trust.

Marae trust member Tangaroa Whitiora says when the land came back to Tainui as part of its 1995 settlement, negotiator the late Sir Robert Mahuta said it was for a marae.

He says even though it was never given official marae status, the facility has a 37 percent usage rate, and other Tainui marae use it as a Hamilton base.

Tainui Group Holdings says if the parliament wants it to continue as an urban marae it will need to pay the company for the land, which is valued at $1.8 million

Goff slams iwi forum as selfish

Labour is accusing the Climate Change Iwi Leadership Forum of buying into pork barrel politics with its support of the Government's emissions trading scheme.

Leader Phil Goff says the changes going through parliament this week with the support of the Maori Party will benefit a few large iwi corporates.

Forum chair Api Mahuika says the scheme is far better than the one passed by the Labour government.

But Mr Goff says at the deal is at the expense of taxpayers.

“If you are only looking at the narrow pork barrel politics of your own business and not the overall well being of the community, Maori and Pakeha, you’re not worried about the taxpayer who’s paying for it and you’re not worried about the legal opinions that are ignored to suit a dirty political deal, then you might say that,” Mr Goff says.

He says the scheme is not sustainable and a future Labour Government will repeal it.

CHANCE TO OFFSET LIABILITIES FROM MAORI FOREST SECTOR

But an adviser to the Climate Change Iwi Leadership Forum says it's a great opportunity to offset the liabilities which would have owners of pre-1990 forestry land.

Willie te Aho says the five iwi covered in the deal going through this week we facing the prospect of their treaty settlements forests plummeting in value without the change.

He says the forum is continuing to work on a system to allow other pre-1990 forest owners to plant forests on conservation land.

This will take account of the fact the Kyoto regime requires landowners to pay if they don't replant the same blocks.

“It's basically saying that we will grow carbon on Crown land without the cost of leasing the land and we will use that profit to offset the cost of deforesting lands on other pre-1990 (forests) so it’s about creating a fund that can offset the costs of deforesting pre-1990 forest lands,” Willie te Aho says.

Maori own about 70 percent of pre-1990 production forests.

WHITE RIBBONS MESSAGE AGAINST VIOLENCE

If you see white ribbons around today, that's a call for men to end violence against women.

Child advocacy group Te Kahui Mana Ririki is hosting a men's breakfast at St Johns Theological College in Auckland to highlight the challenge in Maori communities.

Spokesperson Anton Blank says campaigns like It's Not Okay are changing attitudes, but there is a long way to go, with rates of violence again Maori women still far too high.

“Maori women are seven times as likely to be hospitalised as a result of being battered than other groups of women but what’s good to see is we have an emerging group of men who are taking responsibility for this issue and figuring out how to work with other men to achieve those changes,” Mr Blank says.

Speakers at this morning's breakfast include It's Not Okay frontman Alfred Ngaro and Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand.

FOREST OFFSET DEAL COULD WIDEN

Iwi leaders have thrown an olive branch to other forestry owners left out of the Government's emissions trading scheme.

The deal struck between National and the Maori Party this week will allow five iwi whose settlements included pre-1990 forests to plant trees on DOC land and collect the carbon credits.

Willie Te Aho from the Climate Change Iwi Leadership Group says the next step is to provide a framework for other Maori landowners with pre-1990 forests to also plant on DoC land.

He says that could be extended to other forest owners.

“I've been approaching other pre-1990 exotic forest landowning groups to see how we can work together. Ultimately by the time this gets to Cabinet in February we want to see a wider approach if possible but the discussions are just beginning,” Mr Te Aho says.

He met yesterday with the Forest Owners Association, which had branded the iwi deal as unjust, and he'll be meeting its chairman again later in the week.

QUINN UPSET ELECTORATE WORKSHOP CHECKED FOR RULE BREACH

A National list MP has hit out at one of the country's most senior department heads for investigating him for breaching parliament's rules.

Ministry of Social Development chief executive Peter Hughes Is investigating a complaint from Labour MP Grant Robertson that Paul Quinn was using Work and Income to promote National Party policies.

Mr Quinn from Ngati Awa says he invited business leaders and community groups in the Hutt South electorate to a workshop to address the needs of young Maori unemployed.

He says by issuing public statements, Mr Hughes is giving legs to false accusations.

“What I find concerning is that Grant Robinson (sic) has been given a lot of wasted airtime because very senior public servants have given him some credence in his allegations,” Mr Quinn says.

He says the workshop was the sort of thing MPs should be supporting.

YOUNG SAILOR SETTING SUMMER ASIDE FOR LASER FOCUS

A top young Maori sailor from Te Teko leaves for Australia today for two months of competition.

Sixteen year old Rawiri Geddes from Ngati Awa and Ngaitai won last year's national winter champs in the laser radial class, and last Labour weekend took top honours in the open laser division in the Bay of Islands regatta.

He is set to race in the Australia Down under series in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne and the Laser Open in Adelaide in before returning for the New Zealand Nationals off Timaru.

He says many rangatahi are put off by because they think it's an expensive sport, but it doesn't have to be.

He started sailing in club boats and borrowed boats, and only got his own boat last year.

Rawiri Geddes says his ambition is to race for New Zealand in an America's Cup.