Ratana readies for political debates

Ratana Pa near Whanganui is preparing for an influx of politicians today, including Prime Minister John Key and his Maori Party allies and Labour leader Phil Goff with members of his caucus.

They will join thousands of morehu or church members in marking the birthday of church founder Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana.

Ratana-raised entertainer Ruia Aperahama says the annual hui continues to be a draw for MPs because morehu always vote, unlike many other sectors of the Maori community.

He says Ratana and Maori politics are inextricably linked.

“Holding the four Maori seats for half a century, a lot of Maori families that share that legacy, it’s no surprise they are still continuing those discussions at their family table. My experience around the country with morehu and at the huis, there is a strong core political body out there,” Mr Aperahama says.

SHAPLES OPEN TO TALKS WITH ALL

Meanwhile, Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples he’s ready to discuss coalition agreements with either National or Labour after the next election.

Dr Sharples says the Party’s support agreement with National has allowed it to make gains which would not been impossible outside of government.

But that doesn't mean it must team up again with John Key next time and would consider Labour.

“For us it’s a question of who will dance with us, because we have our policy, and it’s Maori, it’s not right, it’s not left, and we’re wide open to be asked to join people but it will be that sort of relationship, that we can’t stray really from why we’re there and it’s things Maori which we believe what’s good for Maori is good for New Zealand,” Dr Sharples says.

HAKA WORLD RECORD PLAN FOR TE MATATINI

It's all go at Waiohika near Gisborne as volunteers work to get the natural amphitheatre ready for Te Matatini national kapahaka championships in three weeks.

Organising committee member Willie Te Aho says the biannual festival is creating unprecedented international interest, with seven international broadcasters attending.

He says the Guinness Book of Records is also getting in on the act, as the festival attempts to beat the record of 3264 people doing a haka, set at the Tainui games three years ago.

“We’re going to have on the last day up to 20,000 people on site and we want to get people involved in being a part of creating as new benchmark in Guinness Book of Records,” Mr Te Aho says.

More than 5000 tickets to the four day event have already been sold.

DAVIS DEFENDS NCEA OVER GRAMMAR CAMBRIDGE ELITISM

Labour's associate education spokesperson says a programme designed to increase Maori and Pasifika participation in tertiary education has confirmed the superiority of the NCEA system over Cambridge exams.

Kelvin Davis says Education Minister Anne Tolley is undermining public confidence in the national certificate of educational achievement by backing Auckland Grammar’s decision to only offer NCEA to its weakest students.

He says the school’s decision is based on elitist prejudice rather than research, such as the Starpath project used in other Auckland schools.

“The reason that Starpath says CEA is a better predictor of success than Cambridge is because the NCEA system sort of replicates the way teaching occurs in university so students are better prepared at university than the old fashioned system which is what Cambridge is of going through the year and at the end of the year having a big exam,” Mr Davis says.

He says the minister is too scared to front up to the National Party supporters on Auckland Grammar’s board of trustees.

WORKMAN ATTACKS JAIL FOR FINES PLAN

The head of prison reform advocacy group Rethinking Crime and Punishment says imprisoning people for non-payment of traffic fines would discriminate against Maori and the poor.

Kim Workman from Ngati Kahungunu says the proposed change in the Courts and Criminal Matters Bill runs counter to international research.

He says judges already have the discretion to jail people rather than adding another fine to their existing tariff – and it’s happening more often.

“What we’re finding is that with the recession the numbers of people being sent to prison for non-payment of fines is just out of all proportion and so what we’re doing is imprisoning people because they are poor, not because they necessarily refuse to pay fines,” Mr Workman says.

He says jailing non-payers imposes huge costs on the taxpayer, as well as harming the offender’s family.

SUCCESSFUL END TO WAKA AMA NATIONALS

The 21st annual waka ama championships wrapped up over the weekend, with thousands of paddlers from round the country churning up the waters of Lake Karapiro.

Hoturoa Kerr from Nga Kaihoe o Aotearoa says the event confirmed the popularity of the sport in Maori and Pacifika communities.

He says the host region can hold its head up high, with the Turangawaewae Waka Sports club having a particularly successful regatta.

“From little kids and midgets all the way through to the adults and masters it was great to see their fielding one of the biggest club showings and in terms of club points for the whole regatta they came second so I think it’s great for a club that’s just started off and just getting into the swing of things,” Mr Kerr says.

The country’s top paddlers will now focus on fundraising to attend the next world waka ama championships in Canada.

Declaration triumphant wallpaper for Harawira

Tai Tokerau MP Hone Harawira wants to see a copy of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on the wall of every Maori family.

The Maori Party MP says he will ask Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples to if 500,000 copies can be run off for this purpose.

“You can look at your treaty on the wall and very soon we will have posters of the declaration up on the wall as well. I’ll talk to Pete about getting at least enough to spread around the county so we can look at it and go ‘that's us,’” Mr Harawira says.

He says like the treaty of Waitangi, the more people use the declaration the more it will become understood in courts and become part of the law.

WAKA CLUB SEEKING PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR HQ PLAN

Mangere's waka ama club is holding a public meeting tomorrow morning to calm fears about a two-storey clubhouse it wants to build beside Mangere Bridge.

Advisor James Papali'i says there has been opposition in the past from some residents, but any potential impact is minor compared with the disruption to the area in recent years caused by the enlargement of the bridge.

While nationally waka ama is a predominantly Maori sport, in south Auckland it has also attracted many Pacific Island and Pakeha paddlers.

Mr Papali'i says it’s a great way to see a harbour which is relatively lightly used for recreational purposes.

The waka ama club consultation meeting is at the Mangere Bridge extension depot at 11am tomorrow.

MAORI THEMES INCLUDED IN ANZAC STAMPS

Two Maori-themed stamps in this year's New Zealand Posts ANZAC stamp issue have personal significance for series coordinator James Te Puni from Ngati Porou.

The $1 stamp depicts the posthumous award ceremony for the Victoria Cross winner, second lieutenant Te Moananui a Kiwa Ngarimu, while the $2.80 stamp shows veteran Rei Rautahi visiting the cemetery in Sangro, Italy, the resting place for 2600 allied soldiers including 355 New Zealanders.

Mr Te Puni says working with the Returned Services Association on the ANZAC collection is an annual highlight for NZ Post's stamps division.

He says with two grandfathers who served in World War 2, one in the Maori Battalion, it becomes a very personal story.

The stamps are available now.

MELBOURNE STORM SCANDAL SHOCK TO FOUNDER MEMBER

A member of the first Melbourne Storm team says players and staff will be gutted by the events of the past 24 hours.

The National Rugby League stripped the club of two premierships and fined it for breaching salary caps over the past five years.

Tawera Nikau from Tainui, who won the 1999 premiership with the Storm, says the club is in for a rocky road as it tries to recover from the scandal.

He feels especially for assistant coach Steve Kearney, who also coaches the Kiwis, and Whangarei-raised Maori utility forward Adam Blair.

“A guy like Adam Blair who foregoes $100,000 a year to stay at the Storm and win a couple of premierships, although they’ve been imposed with these sanctions, fines and the stripping of their premierships, the players will feel gutted. All the hard work they’ve put in over the past four years, what has it been for,” Mr Nikau says.

He says the Storm controversy could throw preparations for the Anzac Test in Melbourne into disarray.

HARD PUSH TO GET RIGHTS DECLARATION CHANGE

Waiariki MP Te Ururoa Flavell says the Maori party had to work extremely hard over the past year to get National to agree to sign up to the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Mr Flavell was at the United Nations in New York this week to support the announcement that New Zealand had changed its position on the declaration, which was adopted by the UN three years ago.

He says are recently as four weeks ago, the Maori Party did not know it would be able to win National over ... which made Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples's appearance at the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues that much sweeter.

“Who would have thought that a Maori from Kahungunu, a Maori co-leader of a Maori Party, would make a statement at the world forum of the United Nations where so many world leaders have stood in the past and made declarations, who would have thought one year ago that would have taken place. I don’t think many people would have,” Mr Flavell says.

BATTALION SONGS REPRISED FOR ANZAC DAY

The music of the 28 Maori Battalion will be heard again in Kirikiriroa on Anzac day.

Boys from five Hamilton high schools will be performing the old waiata in the marae atea of Waikato Museum on Sunday morning.

Museum educator Jasmine Tunstall says the age range, from 15 to 19, isn't the only similarity the boys have with the battalion, and they are showing a great level of camaraderie.

The performance at 11am will be followed by other Anzac-related activities throughout the day.