Tainui row puts heat on Morgan

Posted by karere under Maori News

Waikato-Tainui’s chairman Tukoroirangi Morgan is under fire from one of the tribe’s most respected leaders over claims he failed to deliver on promises made at a meeting of the tribe’s representatives. The meeting of the tribe’s parliament, Te Kauhanganui, took place at Hopuhopu last weekend and was attended by more than 300 people. A large contingent from the sub-tribe Ngati Wairere were at the meeting to support Sonny Wilson because they were not happy he had been dumped from the tribe’s executive board, Te Arataura. Mr Wilson had been accused by the board’s chairman, Tuku Morgan, of leaking information to the media.

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‘Thrown-together uniforms disrespect Maori’

Posted by karere under Maori News

Air New Zealand’s new uniforms are disrespectful to traditional Maori symbols, a Maori academic says. Canterbury University Maori and Indigenous School head Rawiri Taonui said Maori symbols such as the koru on the Trelise Cooper-designed uniforms did not treat the cultural symbols with respect. “It’s way too busy and inelegant,” he said. “It’s obviously been drawn by someone who doesn’t appreciate the culture or understand the deeper symbolism.” Taonui said the Maori symbols on the uniforms each had different meanings and should not be randomly mixed together. “When you look at traditional Maori sculpture … each symbol is quite distinct,” he said. “With [the uniform], they’re sort of thrown together in seemingly no pattern.” He was happy for koru and other symbols to be used on clothing, provided it was done “with elegance”. The Air New Zealand uniforms did not do that.

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Maori seek their cut of spectrum cash

Posted by karere under Maori News

Maori are insisting on a share of the money raised from the switchover from analogue to digital television. The changeover is expected to raise more than $350 million in the next three to five years. The Ministry of Economic Development and politicians tried to rush through a Cabinet shake-up of radio frequency policy before Christmas. But Maori complained there had been no chance for them to present their views and arguments for their place in the digital future.

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Minimum wage rise sets Government at odds

Posted by karere under Maori News

The Maori Party is on a collision course with National over the minimum wage. Co-leader Tariana Turia is disappointed at the government’s decision to raise the minimum hourly wage by only 25 cents to $12.75. The Maori party has been pushing for $15. “Obviously the people who make these decisions don’t give any consideration for the working poor and we‘re very disappointed because we believe that many of the social ills that we confront today can be sheeted immediately back to low income,” Mrs Turia says. She says the low wages earned by a disproportionate number of Maori lead to lower educational, health and social performance.

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Maori statutory board on supercity not solution

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Government plans to establish an independent Maori statutory board to advise the Auckland supercity council has been met with a cool reception in west Auckland. A consultation meeting organised by Te Puni Kokiri was held in Hen-derson last week and was attended by representatives from Ngati Whatua and the Waitakere City Council. Te Puni Kokiri facilitator Derek Fox helped explain the functions and make-up of the board at the event. “It’s not the solution that was originally sought by Maori,” Mr Fox says. “But it has potential for greater Maori involvement in the wider Auckland region. “It’s not just an advisory committee that can be disestablished by the council when it wishes.” Under the government proposal the board will be made up of seven iwi representatives and two non-iwi members. They will be appointed every three years by a selection panel made up of mana whenua representatives. The board will negotiate an annual funding agreement with the council and representatives will be reimbursed for their expenses relating to their work.

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Treaty’s status needs review – commission

Posted by karere under Maori News

The Human Rights Commission is renewing calls to consider entrenching the Treaty of Waitangi as part of a wider review aimed at improving the human rights of Maori. The recommendation is part of a proposed five-year action plan to 2015 that the commission is seeking submissions on. Entrenching the Treaty was last debated in the lead-up to the passage of the 1990 Bill of Rights Act, but Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres said two decades on, it was time to re-examine constitutional arrangements.

Discussion didn’t need to be based around fear either, he said. “There’s always been this kind of fear if the Treaty is included in our constitution that it will enshrine some kind of inequality or special treatment for Maori. The Treaty needs more understanding that it’s not just about Maori, it’s for everybody - it guarantees equality and government.”

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Jones sets sights on driving Maori Party out of House

Posted by karere under Maori News

Labour MP Shane Jones has begun the year vowing to drive the Maori Party out of Parliament, saying they had betrayed their own people and lured the Government into funding their policies of “buying favours by giving money to a favoured few”. The criticism following Labour’s first caucus of the year yesterday was a clear sign that the gentle approach Labour has thus far taken to the smaller party is over. It had pulled its punches for much of last year, aware it may need the Maori Party for support in the future and reluctant in case criticism resulted in accusations of racism. Mr Jones said he did not believe Labour should have to stay silent when it saw wrong, just because it was the Maori Party. “The Maori Party is what we are going to tackle. I certainly am not going to tolerate any longer their betrayal of Maori voters and the fact we’re not meant to criticise them because they wear the cloak of Maoridom.

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Timely Ngapuhi festival

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The Ngapuhi Festival, which starts today, will set the stage for an important year in which the country’s largest iwi will go before the Waitangi Tribunal to have its first claim heard. Te Runanga a Iwi o Ngapuhi chairman Sonny Tau said the event in Kaikohe was a celebration of Ngapuhi culture to draw people back to their tribal home. The festival includes an art exhibition featuring the likes of Shane Cotton and Manos Nathon and Te Tai Tokerau Sports Awards. Free entertainment on Saturday and Sunday includes bands Katchafire, 1814, Anika Moa, Ruia Aperahama, Sweet and Irie, and Sons of Zion - and a focus on Ngapuhi reo, waiata and history.

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Stomach-stapled MPs put weight behind Turia

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More MPs – including Education Minister Anne Tolley – have admitted getting their stomachs stapled. Mrs Tolley and Maori Party MP Rahui Katene both confirmed they had undergone the operation, which shrinks the stomach and dulls the appetite. They joined Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia and National Party MP Chester Borrows, who said earlier this week that gastric-bypass surgery had improved their lives and should be available to more New Zealanders. Ms Katene, who lost 11 kilograms, believed greater subsidies for the surgery would stop Kiwis putting themselves at risk through cheap surgery overseas.

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Praise for Laws traced to his own firm

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Anonymous internet comments praising Whanganui’s “celebrity” mayor Michael Laws have been traced back to his own publishing company. A person using the pseudonym “Wangas” has praised Mr Laws on a variety of issues, including the “H” debate and television presenter Paul Henry’s use of the word “retarded” on air. At least two of the comments were sent using an email address that can be linked to Mr Laws’ publishing company, Darius Press. Mr Laws is the sole shareholder.

The email address regularly features on emails sent from Mr Laws’ mayoral office, including one sent to media last week. When approached by The Dominion Post, Mr Laws said he did not write the internet comments himself – but they could have been made by people close to him. “I don’t make anonymous comments, it’s not in my nature,” he said.

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‘Activist’ convicted on $4.7m fraud charges

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Australian “Maori activist” Shane Wenzel has been convicted on charges involving around $4.7 million in mortgage fraud. The Takanini resident was convicted in the Manukau District Court just two days before Christmas. Wenzel, who describes himself as a “life coach” and prefers to be known as Tane Rakau, is now in custody awaiting sentencing next month. The conviction has alerted people to his possible involvement in a Maori hapu group’s move to buy around $150m of beef, sheep, deer and dairy farms in Southland. Media reports said the project has the backing of a Dubai-based investment group.

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Plans take shape to protect pa reserve

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An historic Redhill pa site is to get its own management plan to make sure its future is assured. Anyone interested in the future of Pukekiwiriki Pa Reserve has until February 19 to have their say. That’s the date submissions close on the draft management plan devised by the Papakura District Council and an advisory Kaitiaki group. Representatives from the Kaitiaki group sit on the Te Roopu Kaitiaki o Papakura committee which brings together local iwi Ngai Tai, Ngati Paoa, Ngati Tamaoho, Ngati Te Ata and Pukaki Te Akitai.

According to the draft document the aim is to ensure the elevated Redhill site is managed in a way that acknowledges its history, makes it accessible and safe for the public to use, ensures it is well protected and preserves its natural environment.

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