Waatea News Update

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Monday, May 17, 2010

Bad faith act threatens treaty policy

The Maori Party is asking whether Prime Minister John Key has broken the treaty settlement process.

Co-leader Tariana Turia says Mr Key's vetoing of a proposal to return Te Urewera National Park to Tuhoe showed bad faith.

The Prime Minister has denied there was agreement the park land would be included in the final settlement package, but Mrs Turia says all the signs are it was.

“Tuhoe clearly believed from a hui that they held just the day before that they had an agreement in principle and who have that withdrawn in the way that it was has created a feeling that anybody’s settlement can be withdrawn at whim,” Mrs Turia says.

She says John Key's action was clearly driven by the National Party's polling and by pressure from party members attending a regional conference the previous weekend.

GEOTHERMAL PROFITS TO FUEL HAPU DEVELOPMENT

A Taupo Maori trust intends to use profits from a new geothermal power station for development of the whole hapu rather than paying individual dividends to beneficiaries.

Tauhara North Number 2 has a 25 percent stake in Mighty River Power's 140 megawatt Nga Awa Purua plant at Rotokawa, which opened at the weekend.
Trust chief executive Aroha Campbell says the 785 Ngati Tahu owners agreed to forego annual dividends.

“The challenge for the trustis to come up with new ideas round sponsorships, scholarships, education and well being,” Ms Campbell says.

She says the trust is also working closely with the Ngatu Tahu Ngati Whaua Runanga in Reporoa on ways to benefit the hapu as a whole.

Construction on the second of three power stations the trust is building with Mighty River Power will start later this year.

VETERAN DANCERS SHOW OFF AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MOVES

Contemporary dancer Taane Mete says tonight's performance at the Hawkes Bay Opera House will give his whanau to see how his career developed after he left his Napier home more than two decades ago.

Mr Mete, from Ngati Koroki, developed Tama Maa with fellow dancer Tai Royal for the Tempo Dance Festival in Auckland in 2008.

He says it's an autobiographical work, showing the transition from boyhood to manhood, and allows them to show off the skills they've mastered.

They have taken parts of the piece to a dance festival in the United States, and they will tour it to Australia later this year.

BULK UP MESSAGE FOR WHANAU ORA

The minister in charge of the new Whanau Ora programme wants social service providers to team up to deliver services.

Tariana Turia says there is huge interest in the policy, with hui to explain the new funding model attracting between 300 and 600 people.

She says delivering a wrap-around health and welfare service to families will stretch the capacity of many existing organisations, and they may need to reconfigure themselves or merge to realise the programme's potential.

“This is not another opportunity to industrialise our whanaus’ misery. We’re saying to people, ‘do not see this as a programme, do not see it as an opportunity to get a lot more money.’ We want this money to be as close as possible to the whanau, hence whanau ora,” Mrs Turia says.

There will only be 20 accredited Whanau Ora providers, so the size of those providers will be an important factor in who gets the contracts.

HAURAKI SHARE SENSE OF BETRAYAL WITH TUHOE

The chair of Hauraki's kaumatua council says the Government's refusal to return Te Urewera National Park to Ngai Tuhoe is mirrored by his iwi's experience.

Jim Nichols says in both cases the Crown acquired land unjustly, and it's refusing to give it back.

He says like Tuhoe, Hauraki is still waiting for the government to honour commitments made in the late 19th century.

“In Hauraki they said ‘we promise to give you your land back, we only want it to mine the gold.’ When the gold mining ceased, they did not give the land back. And that is the basis our treaty claims are in front of the Crown right now,” Mr Nicholls says.

The Hauraki Kaumatua Kaunihera delivered a firm message last week to Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee that the iwi will oppose his plans to reopen the Coromandel for mining.

MAORI ARTISTS FLY FLAG FOR AOTEAROA IN WORLD MUSIC

Despite it being New Zealand Music Month, Maori musicians say they're doing better on the world market than at home.

Ngahiwi Apanui, the chair of Puatatangi Contemporary Maori Music, says lack of airplay outside of iwi stations means Maori acts aren't picking up the local sales they merit.

That's forcing many to look for opportunities offshore.

“Talking to people who have been going overseas, groups they talk about are not ones you hear about through the mainstream press like OpShop. They’re talking abut groups like Wai, Moana and Pacific Curls, they’re the people that are distinctive for New Zealand on the world music scene,” Mr Apanui says.

This year's Pao Pao Pao symposium and concert at Pipitea Marae on Friday and Saturday could uncover the next Maori world music star.

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Friday, March 26, 2010

Aquaculture settlement passes hurdle

The passing of the Commercial Aquaculture Settlement Act will allow a new chapter in Maori fisheries.

The $97 million settlement package passed on Wednesday covers Hauraki, Ngai Tahu and top of the South Island iwi.

Harry Mikaere from Hauraki says all that's left to do is signing the cheques.

His iwi already has a large investment in aquaculture, but the settlement will allow it to plan for the future.

“I really don't want our people caught up in the factories any more. We want them in the boardrooms. We want them in the sciences that this opportunity allows, and there is a whole range of other innovations coming through our industry that our people should be involved in,” Mr Mikaere says.

Maori aquaculturalists need to start looking for opportunities offshore, so they can offer customers year round supply of product.

DIABETES SUFFERERS MISS ANNUAL CHECKS

The Waitemata District Health Board is concerned too many Maori with diabetes are missing annual check ups.

The board has identified more than 1500 Maori in Waitakere and North Shore cities with diabetes, but the number seeing their GP regularly is below the Health Ministry's Get Checked programme target.

Public health physician Tom Robinson says Maori are twice as likely than Pakeha to have diabetes, and far more likely to get complications.

“Really strong evidence from international studies that people who have good care and achieve the targets associated with care round sugar control and blood pressure control are much less likely to have complications like heart disease, kidney disease, blindness, and are likely to live a lot longer,” Dr Robinson says.

Waitemata DHB is now chasing up GPs to get them to encourage patients to come in for checks.

ALTERNATIVE SPORTS ADD TO AWARDS EXCITEMENT

It's early in the sporting year, but competition is already heating up for the Maori sports awards.

Organiser Dick Garrett from Ngai Tuhoe says increased media coverage of the awards has encouraged more Maori sports people to identify themselves as worthy of recognition.

Many come from non-traditional sports, such as ocean swimmer Kane Radford, ice speed Olympian Blake Skellerup and soccer player Rory Fallon.

Mr Garrett says there's a big year ahead for Maori athletes, with the centenary of Maori rugby, rowing and soccer world cups to look forward to before the award ceremony in December.

MAORI GEOTHERMAL OWNERS SLEEPING ECONOMIC GIANTS

The head of one of the country's largest electricity generators says Maori trusts which own geothermal hot spots are the sleeping giants of the New Zealand economy.

Doug Heffernan says Mighty River Power has been developing Maori geothermal resources for more than a decade.

He says the trusts are increasingly looking to partner with the state owned enterprise, rather than just leasing their land.

“The economic growth that these Maori trusts have had in harnessing the geothermal resource below their land has transformed the interests of the land trust, hundreds of millions dollar business, way beyond what their ancestors would have thought of 50 years ago and in a lot of ways they have been the sleeping giant of success in New Zealand business, not only within Maoridom,” Mr Heffernan says.

Maori trusts are good to work with because they want to develop the resource in a way which is sustainable and benefits their people.

WAAKA ON THE HUNT FOR LOGS

Maori forest owners are being urged to break out of traditional channels and sell direct China.

Hemana Waaka and fellow Maori Rakau Trading director Bin Wang have identified trusts in the Hawkes Bay and the South Island with forests ready to harvest.

Mr Waaka says Maori landowners need to make the shift from leasing their land to forest companies to planting their own trees.

He says by replanting their own trees, their children and grandchildren will benefit not only from the harvest but from jobs along the way.

Mr Waaka says there are Chinese business people who are keen to trade directly with Maori and build up cultural as well as business relationships.

KURA TAPPED FOR REO TELEVISION TALENT

The head of programming for Maori Televison's Te Reo channel is promising more programmes from novice producers as more Maori make programmes that reflect their world.

The total immersion channel marks its second birthday this week.

Eruera Morgan says it's been a challenge to create a catalogue of programmes in te reo Maori, but shows like He Pari Karangaranga o te Motu, where Maori communities produce programmes about themselves, have pointed the way ahead.

The next step is to get kura kaupapa to provide programmes and tell their stories.

Eru Morgan says the audience for Te Reo Channel is growing as more Maori become fluent in te reo.

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