Turia defends whanau ora from Peters’ race attack

Tariana Turia is accusing New Zealand First leader Winston Peters of playing the race card with his weekend attack on her whanau ora policy.

At a public meeting in Tauranga, Mr Peters said using Maori providers to deliver social services was separatist and opened the door to back-handers and nepotism.

Mrs Turia, the associate minister of social development, says as a former minister Mr Peters knows Maori health providers have received government funding since 1993 ... and whanau ora merely streamlines the process.

“For Winston to turn around and make out that what’s going on is somehow denial of everybody else, he misses completely the point and whanau ora will provide a new way forward, and if Winston gets back into Parliament, he better get used to it,” Mrs Turia says.

She says most New Zealanders want better results from the billions in health and social spending, and whanau ora can provide those results.

MINERALS SOUGHT WITH HAURAKI SETTLEMENT

Hauraki iwi says their treaty settlement must include not only conservation land on the Coromandel peninsula but all the minerals underneath that land.

Paul Majurey from the Marutauhu confederation says the government's plans to open up parts of the peninsula to mining can't be divorced from the settlement negotiations.

He says recent Crown agreements in principle with other iwi have shown conservation land is not off the table as far as settlements are concerned.

“Our people have called for the land to come back, so if the land comes back then all those resources that go with it are what is being sought as well,” Mr Majurey says.

He is looking forward to talking with the government on this subject.

POOR PREPARATION LETS DOWN MAORI TERTIARY STUDENTS

The latest findings from Auckland University's long running Starpath research project shows most Maori students from low decile schools aren't properly prepared for university.

Director Liz McKinley says as a result their chances of success are lower than non-Maori.

She says many stumble with external exams, because at high school they tended to choose internal assessment.

“Many students who did not have the experience of have a lot of experience in sitting external exams at school suddenly found the external exams they were made to sit at university quite difficult to manage, almost as if they weren’t practised or skilled enough in approaching examination type conditions,” Dr McKinley says.

Maori students need good advice from early on about which subjects will better prepare them for university.

FISHFISH BETTER THAN SHELLFISH FOR AQUACULTURE COMPO

Salmon rather than shellfish are likely to be the focus of future Maori investment in aquaculture.

Parliament last week passed the Maori Commercial Aquaculture settlement, under which South Island and Hauraki iwi share $97 million.

Richard Bradley from Marlborough based Rangitane says the negotiation process involved a thorough analysis of the state of the industry, and it's clear from the price difference in water space that the future is in finfish rather than mussels.

“NIWA's been doing a lot of research around finfish and of course a lot of people are telling us it’s too early yet. When I hear that I know they’re in there and don’t necessarily want us there. The key part now is Maori are cashed up and want to invest in the top part of aquaculture, not just in contract gangs to open shellfish,” Mr Bradley says.

Aquaculture was on the agenda at today's Treaty Tribes Coalition Maori Fisheries Conference in Napier, along with a presentation on whaling by Dan Goodman from the Cetacian Research Institute in Tokyo.

ELIMINATION OF CARIES AIM OF DENTAL STUDY

The lead researcher for a 5-year study on how caries in early childhood affect long term Maori health patterns says his aim is to eliminate dental decay.

John Broughton from the Ngai Tahu Maori Health Unit at Otago University will work with Te Raukura Hauora O Tainui to track pregnant women and their offspring and monitor their dental health.

He says the $2 million project, funded through the International Collaborative Indigenous Health Research Partnership, should make a difference.

“The thing about oral disease, it’s all preventable, and there’s no reason with young children, why as they grow and develop and maybe get secondary teeth, they can go right through life without getting a filling in their mouth, and that’s the aim,” Dr Broughton says.

KAPA HAKA NEEDING EXPERIENCE TO CREATE NEW TEAMS

The head of the Wellington Maori Cultural Society says kapa haka from the region are disadvantaged by entry rules for the national Te Matatini competition.

Hema Temara says Pukeahu, which placed third at the Whanganui a Tara regionals on Saturday, was of national standard.

But because only seven teams competed, only winners Tu Te Maungaroa and runners up Nga Taonga Mai Tawhiti are off to Gisborne.

Mrs Temara says more rangatahi want to join roopu than there are places, and the region needs experienced tutors of the calibre of Auckland's Bub Wehi and Pita Sharples to form new groups.

Key takes softer line on Whanau Ora

The Prime Minister is reassuring Maori who fear his demand Whanau Ora be available for all could dilute the new welfare delivery model.

Details of the policy are under wraps while Cabinet considers the recommendations of the Whanau Ora Taskforce led by Sir Mason Durie, but John Key told Parliament last week it would be available to all families who are struggling.

But he now says it's designed around a Maori kaupapa, and like kohanga reo it is likely to be largely used by Maori.

“In the end it might suit some families in the way that kohanga reo and kuras are welcome to any individual. It’s largely Maori kids that go there but not exclusively,” Mr Key says.

He says whanau ora means the state will trust poor families to take greater responsibility for their own care.

MAORI PARTY LOOKING FOR FLEX IN EDUCATION SYSTEM

The Maori Party wants to see more flexibility in the education system to help Maori children do better.

Education spokesperson Te Ururoa Flavell says he's backing the call from an Inter-Party education working group for the top five percent and bottom 20 percent of children to have the right to switch schools, because Maori make up a big percentage of the bottom 20 percent.

He says the needs of students in Mangere are different from those in Remuera or Ruatahuna... so the solutions needs to be flexible too.

“Some schools have had the choice of locking in to the resources of the Correspondence School and have been able to make advances for rangatahi Maori thorough their programme so there are advances that can be adjusted and moved,” Mr Flavell says.

The Inter-Party Working Group wants more work to be done by MPs or officials on the broad brush ideas in its report.

SIR DOUGLAS GRAHAM DEFENDS TRIBUNAL CONTINUITY

Former treaty negotiations minister Sir Douglas Graham says the Waitangi Tribunal needs to continue after historical treaty claims are settled.

The government has a target of 2014 to settle such claims.

Sir Douglas, who acted as facilitator on a comprehensive multi-iwi Auckland settlement, says the tribunal will still have a role considering new issues that arise.

“If Maori people feel that the Crown or the government is not acting properly, they ought to be able to go off to the Waitangi and say so. So I’m not one who thinks after the historical claims are settled, we ought to abolish the tribunal and forget about it. I think it ought to remain there as a safety valve and somewhere for Maori to go,” Sir Douglas says.

The country should be proud of itself on the way treaty settlements are progressing, and he's happy to continue to be involved if asked.

PETERS PREFERS TARGETING OVER SIMPLE REPETITION

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says there's a case for a targeted welfare delivery system for Maori, but it should not be turned into a one size fits all model.

The Whanau Ora policy being developed as part of the Maori Party's support agreement with National was supposed to use Maori providers to help Maori families in need deal more effectively with government agencies.

The Prime Minister, John Key, now says will be available to all families in need.

But Mr Peters, who was Maori affairs minister in the Bolger government in 1991, says a well-designed policy can make a real impact in Maori families ... but be meaningless to non-Maori.

“To do what they’re intending in a way is not to understand the Polynesian character and culture and the Maori character and culture. Maoridom, as the Maori, as the army has proven, thrives on direct intervention and leadership and certainty as to where they are going, and they do not like a vacuum,” Mr Peters says.

He says the controversy over the policy shows the Maori Party's political naivety.

KEY KEEN TO USED TALENTS OF FORMER MINISTER

The government has more work for former treaty negotiations minister Sir Douglas Graham.

Sir Douglas helped bring together Auckland tribes to develop the framework for settlements across the isthmus.

Prime Minister John Key says the government is considering where Sir Graham will be dispatched next.

He says the former National MP has a sharp legal mind and can see a way through complex situations.

“I think he is someone who is respected as someone who comes to iwi talking with the voice of the Crown. He’s not just some junior official we’re putting out there and I think that does help progress issues,” Mr Key says.

ATAMIRA DANCE TROUPE KEEN TO SPREAD REPERTOIRE

Atamira Dance Company has the world in its sights.

Executive director Moss Patterson says an infusion of Creative New Zealand funding has given the 10-year-old Maori troupe confidence about its future.

It will take two new works, Memoirs of Active and Taonga, to present to bookers at next month's Performing Arts Market in Wellington and at other such markets such as the Tokyo performing arts market.

Atamira will showcase its younger dancers and choreographers at special event at Corban Estate in West Auckland the first weekend of March.

Whanau Ora sale bungled - Peters

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says the Maori Party has mishandled the development of its whanau ora policy, and it's now unlikely to win the support it needs from either Maori or government.

Associate social development minister Tariana Turia last week received a report from the Whanau Ora Taskforce led by Sir Mason Durie on streamlining delivery of services to struggling Maori families.

But she won't make the report public until Cabinet has considered its recommendations, and Prime Minister John Key is now saying whanau ora must be for all families.

Mr Peters says when he wanted to make major changes in the Maori affairs portfolio in the early 1990s, he didn't give his Cabinet colleagues a chance to rewrite his Ka Awatea policy.

“I went to the Maori people and said here are the details, tell me what you think, it’s been written in consultation widely with you, if you are in and signed up let’s go, if not, let’s not waste anyone else’s time. Then I went to Cabinet. But now, with Whanau Ora, no one in Maoridom knows what's going on,” Mr Peters says.

He says there are arguments for creating Maori-specific service delivery systems, but not for Mr Key's one size fits all approach.

WHANAU ORA CONFUSION COULD STRANGLE POLICY AT BIRTH

Meanwhile, Greens co-leader Metiria Turei says the confusion around whanau ora doesn't bode well for what could be a very good programme.

She says the Greens will support programmes by Maori for Maori and anything that reduces inequality and poverty.

But all it's hearing is confusion about how the policy will be funded or delivered.

“This could mean existing services not getting access to funding, those with a track record losing access to their funding, that their won’t be any new money put into it,” Ms Turei says.

There are concerns that public money for whanau ora could go to private for profit service providers rather than the community sector that has a history of supporting whanua.

ATAMIRA SHOWCASES YOUNGER DANCERS

Maori Dance company Atamira is kicking off the year with a showcase of works by its younger dancers and choreographers.

The performance is on the first weekend of March at the Corban Estate in Henderson.

Executive director Moss Patterson says Hou will introduce dance audiences to newcomers like Gaby Thomas and Nancy Wijohn, who use contemporary dance to explore their whakapapa and identity in urban Auckland.

“So really exciting ideas about hw modern dance, contemporary dance and theatre can be used to tell stories of the past and really that’s what Atamira Dance Company is about. It’s about drawing the stories of our tupuna, letting them come through our bodies, letting our bodies be the conduit for those stories and putting them out on to the stage,” Mr Patterson says.

New funding from Creative New Zealand means Atamira can run a full programme of performances this year.

WHANAU ORA A HIGHER TRUST MODEL

The Prime Minister says the Whanau Ora programme is about trusting Maori and other families to take greater care of themselves.

Details of the new service delivery model are yet to emerge, but John Key last week told Parliament the Maori Party initiative will apply to all New Zealanders in need.

He says much of the $20 million spent every day on social welfare is ineffective because government departments don't co-ordinate their activities.

Mr Key says Whanau Ora will move money into the community where families will be expected to take greater responsibility for themselves.

“They have to have their own plan. They have to be ambitious themselves. They have to take some responsibility for themselves and it’s a higher trust model from the state,” Mr Key says.

In some cases that could mean reconnecting Maori families with their iwi.

MAORI PARTY ENDORSES ACT REWRITE OF EDUCATION CHOICE

The Maori Party says it wants to see choice in education for Maori parents and children.

Education spokesperson Te Ururoa Flavell was part of an Inter-Party Working Group that recommended the top five percent and bottom 20 percent of pupils should be able to switch schools.

He says the group, which was set up as part of ACT's confidence and supply agreement with the National Party, visited a wide range of schools, kura and teacher training colleges in compiling its report for Education Minister Anne Tolley.

“The whole kaupapa was about choice. Some people might equate that with vouchers. I didn’t necessarily by itself but the whole notion about choice is something that I believe needs to be given some consideration in particular around the under-achievement of a certain percentage of our children in the education system so we need to look at all options,” Mr Flavell says.

It's not acceptable that Maori students are more likely than non-Maori to leave school without qualifications.

TAI MAORI WELCOMES DEMISE OF RIVAL TE WAKA TOI

Arts body Toi Maori is looking forward to a smoother funding relationship with the restructuring of Creative New Zealand.

Arts and Heritage Minister Chris Finlayson intends to scrap the separate Maori funding board, Te Waka Toi, and instead have four people with knowledge of Maori arts on a new 13-member arts council.

Garry Nicholas, the chief executive of Toi Maori, says the artists' organisation often found itself competing with Te Waka Toi.

“The Maori staff are still in place which is one of the concerns we had with the proposed changes and we would hope that strengthens so the officers do work directly with organisations like Tai Maori and we can assist them much mire cleanly than the previous structure offered us,” Mr Nicholas says.

The new arts council needs to align its funding more with where artists see their arts going.

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.

Lakes trust teams up with Rotorua council

December 22

A Maori trust responsible for looking after Rotorua lakes has signed an historic protocol with the local Rotorua District Council.

Te Arawa Lakes Trust chairman Dr Toby Curtis says the protocol signed at the weekend will allow the two organisations to work together on a range of issues.

He says the Treaty settlement process is opening up wonderful opportunities for a joint approach.

“There's a great deal we can do together. Whereas at one time because we did not have the funding we now appear to be receiving we can now sit down and work together and develop some wonderful projects,” Mr Curtis says.

In the future they will be looking at geothermal projects, waterfront foreshore development and tourism opportunities.

LITTLE ROOM FOR WINSTON PETERS’ RESURGENCE

Maori political strategist Matt McCarten says Winston Peters has only a small chance of getting back into parliament.

The chief executive of the Unite Union and former Alliance president says the maverick New Zealand First leader has had his traditional turf taken.

Mr McCarten says while he might deny it Phil Goff has played the race card in recent weeks steeling ground traditionally occupied by Mr Peters.

“He'll want to get into a bit of Maori Party bashing to get his name up. He’ll have some success but it’s very difficult to come back when you’re out and he can’t do anything positive so he’s got to put the boot in but the problem for him is Key is very popular and the Nats are riding high and so the government of the day is not on the ropes,” he says.

Mr McCarten says Mr Peters will be in his late 60's at the next election and won't have the energy to orchestrate a political comeback for New Zealand First.

HOROMIA SANGUINE ABOUT FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR ADVANCEMENT

Meanwhile the most experienced Maori MP is indicating parliament is a place for younger politicians.

Parekura Horomia, the Labour member for Ikaroa Rawhiti, says he is unfazed by the burgeoning profiles of some of his junior Maori collegues.

He has singled out Kelvin Davis, Nanaia Mahuta as young Maori MP's who have bolstered their reputations with solid performances in the political arena this year while he says Shane Jones could one day lead the Party.

“You know I’m past being threatened. I’ve done everything from being a senior public servant. I’ve run most of our big operations in Maoridom. I’ve been lucky enough to have done all that and I’m knocking on the door of 60 next year, if you’re naïve enough to be threatened at this stage in your life you shouldn’t be doing it,” Mr Horomia says.

He says it’s up to old hands like himself to support the younger ones and he's right in their corner.

28 BATTALION VETERANS LAID TO REST

A senior Maori parliamentarian is calling on Maori MP's to take a lead from Maori who set aside differences and fought together in war time.

Former Minister of Maori Affairs Parekura Horomia says the recent deaths of two veterans from the 28 Maori battalion serves as a reminder of the need for Maori MPs across all parties to work more effectively together.

He says Hoturangi Tautau was laid to rest on Thursday at Tologa Bay, and with Paora Kruger lying in state at Totara marae in Ruatoki, that leaves less than 50 surviving members of the 28 Maori battalion.

PINGAO PROVES WORTH IN CONSERVATION EFFORTS

A native plant traditionally used by Maori for weaving and medicine has been voted favourite plant in the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network's annual poll.

Network committee member John Sawyer says thousands of entries were received in the online poll in which pingao... the golden sand sedge topped more than 100 species.

He says it wasn't only its traditional Maori uses which pushed pingao to top in the popularity stakes.

“Pingao is one of the most perfectly adapted species for using in coastal dune protection which is what we’re going to need a lot of if sea levels rise as a result of global warming,” Mr Sawyer says

When used in Maori weaving its yellow fronds are clearly identifiable making it quite unique.

Pingao known as pikao in the deep south won over three species on the verge of extinction - Bartlett's rata (native to the far north), kakabeak (from the East Coast) and the fish guts plant (from Canterbury and Otago).

GALLERY OFFERING COLLECTORS’ BOOK FOR DISCOUNT

Buyers are being given an opportunity to buy a unique book of Maori photographs likely to become a collectors’ item at a discounted price.

John Gow a co-author of "Out of Time: Maori and the Photographer 1860- 1940, The Ngawini Cooper Trust Collection" says less than two hundred copies of the book published two years ago have yet to sell.

He says publisher John Leech Gallery, of which he is a director, is offering the book with more than eighty vintage Maori photographs for $90 ...a 10 percent discount on the recommended retail price.

“As soon as we get down to the last 100 copies we will put the price up considerably to $1560, $200 because we don’t want to sell the last of the books really, we want to keep a stock of them," Mr Gow says.

The publication which cost $80,000 to produce will not be reprinted.

He says the aim was not to make money but to produce a record of New Zealand's early history and they will just break even when all of the 1400 copies printed are sold.