Hone Harawira on Protesting

Posted by karere under Maori News

Controversial MP Hone Harawira has encouraged protesters to take “whatever action necessary” to make their voices heard - earning another stinging rebuke from party bosses. The outspoken Maori Party MP told members of the Kaipara Harbour community in Dargaville they should drop chains and anchors into the harbour to protest against a planned sea-turbine power project. And he suggested illegal action was sometimes necessary to get the message across, citing the case of a man who fired shots from a rifle at a fishing ship. “My view is that they [the community] have got to send very clear signals about their opposition to the proposed turbine,” Harawira said.

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Maori news funding reviewed

Posted by karere under Maori News

A Government agency has raised the spectre of rationalising Maori broadcasting, which could see one of only two daily Maori language news programmes cut. Funding agency Te Mangai Paho (TMP) asked a consultant last year to look at the wider broadcasting landscape. Part of the review discussed the viability of a single news broadcaster. The move has been criticised by some as a backwards step in promoting te reo Maori, while others say it’s an issue needing urgent assessment. Te Mangai Paho funds two services - TVNZ’s Te Karere, with $2.25 million a year of a contestable pool, and Te Kaea, whose budget comes out of an operational grant which takes a share of $5 million meant for four news…

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TVNZ Te Karere vs MTS Te Kaea

Posted by karere under Maori News

A year on from its relaunch, Maori news programme Te Karere is enjoying impressive audience shares. Te Karere moved to a full half-hour bulletin in February last year and is TVNZ’s flagship Maori news programme. It screens at 4pm and has subtitled repeats, while Maori Television’s Te Kaea goes to air at 7.30pm and also has subtitled replays. Both have online presences.

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Foreshore law hui begin

Posted by karere under Maori News

Maori Party foreshore and seabed consultation begins today in Dargaville with the party at pains to point out that MP Hone Harawira’s solution isn’t a confirmed party policy. Prime Minister John Key has said the Foreshore and Seabed Act could be repealed but what could replace it, should that happen, was unclear.

In Parliament last week, Mr Harawira proposed new legislation, where Maori would be given title to the foreshore and seabed but could never sell the land, at the same time as access would be guaranteed for all. However, his views aren’t official Maori Party policy, which leaves a confused state of affairs after Waiariki MP Te Ururoa Flavell said iwi leaders were the best people to sort out any new law. Yesterday, a party spokeswoman said the caucus had decided on Tuesday to go on the road for the next month. The 20 hui would be a chance for “ordinary” people to have an input into party policy, the spokeswoman said.

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Iwi reluctantly on board

Posted by karere under Maori News

Ngati Whatua will participate in the Super City’s Maori advisory board but only because there is no other option, leaders say. Last year the iwi with Tainui said they would consider boycotting any advisory council after the Government rejected Maori seats. Te Runanga o Ngati Whatua chairwoman Naida Glavish said the tribe had always engaged with the city’s leadership. It would reluctantly participate in the board because it had been backed into a corner. “It is not the ideal position for Ngati Whatua. We’re at the rock and a hard place in terms of quality engagement or any form of quality participation. It’s the best of nothing. “We’re not pleased at all … there’s a continued ignorance and a lack of goodwill and a lack of desire to appreciate what mana whenua have to offer which is of benefit to the city.”

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Maori fishing guardian faces charges

Posted by karere under Maori News

The Government-appointed guardian of a Maori customary food gathering area is facing charges for obstructing and making a false or misleading statement to fisheries officers. Rangi Spooner, 53, of Napier, is the kaitiaki, or guardian, for the area between Napier and Waikare River, 35 kilometres to the north. Spooner has held the role since customary fishing regulations were introduced in 1999, and was one of the first people to be appointed a kaitiaki. This allows him to issue customary fishing permits. The Fisheries Ministry says that on November 6 last year Spooner issued a customary permit to David Rotarangi, 45, and Jason Brown, 29, allowing them to fish on November 6 and 7.

The two men were questioned by honorary fisheries officers in a routine stop at Clifton boat ramp on November 8. The officers allegedly found the permit issued by Spooner had been altered to include an extra day. The ministry says the men told the officers they had called Spooner at 5am that morning and had altered the permit with his verbal permission. It is alleged Spooner told the officers he had taken the call and given the men permission to alter the permit. However, phone records allegedly showed no such call was made.

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Off to Venice with a sense of humour

Posted by karere under Maori News

Michael Parekowhai is an artist who can have a bit of a giggle, and he is planning to send his sense of humour off to the Venice Biennale. Creative New Zealand announced yesterday that the sculptor and photographer is its pick for the 2011 event, which it will sponsor with a $650,000 investment. The 115-year-old biennale is the largest contemporary arts show in the world. Parekowhai’s work is quirky. Recently, he has exhibited massive white elephants at odd angles at a K Road gallery, looking out at the road through glass cabinets - a nostalgic nod to his nana, he said. “It was supposed to be a little reminiscent of grandma’s china cabinet so when you walk past, it’s like a little bit of those trinkets looking back out at you. “Humour’s a really important part of everyday life, especially with art. You gotta make them smile before you make them think.”

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Iwi leader defends forum’s agenda

Posted by karere under Maori News

A Far North leader has defended the Iwi Leaders Forum lobbying the Government on the repeal of the Foreshore and Seabed Act.  Although the Maori Party supports the group’s involvement in discussions, Te Tai Tokerau MP Hone Harawira took a swipe at the leaders in Parliament last week, saying many of them had stayed away from the 2004 foreshore and seabed hikoi when ordinary Maori showed up in their tens of thousands.  It would be a “grave disservice” to leave those ordinary constituents out of the debate now, he said.  Professor Margaret Mutu, a Ngati Kahu leader, chaired the latest round of the Iwi Leaders Forum at Waitangi this month.  The group has more than 50 tribes as members and was set up in 2005. Membership of the leaders group is drawn from the forum, whose members are elected chairs of iwi organisations.

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Laws’ Maori smoking comments unfair – BSA

Posted by karere under Maori News

Comments made by Radio Live talkback host Michael Laws while discussing Maori smoking have been deemed unfair by the Broadcasting Standards Authority.  In a decision issued today the authority said its finding should remind broadcasters to deal fairly with people referred to in programmes.  Counties Manukau District Health Board employee Boyd Broughton had complained about comments Laws made after Mr Broughton emailed him about Maori smoking.  During the September 24 broadcast, Laws said that it was clear from Mr Broughton’s emails that, “he regarded the cause of Maori smoking to essentially be white genocidal cigarette companies out to basically kill Maori”. 

Mr Broughton complained that Laws’ comments did not accurately reflect his emails, he was not told he would be referred to in the programme and that disclosing his first name and workplace had breached his privacy. But the authority found that as an employee of a district health board Mr Broughton did not have a reasonable expectation that his name or occupation would be withheld.  It found that Mr Broughton had willingly engaged in a provocative exchange with a well-known politician and media personality and he could not reasonably expect his emails would remain private, despite carrying a confidentiality disclaimer in te reo Maori.

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Ta moko runs in the blood

Posted by karere under Maori News

A matakiti (clairvoyant) once told Turumakina Duley that he had been a ta moko artist in another life. If you have had the privilege of seeing his work then you could almost believe it were true. Mr Duley said there have been artists in his family, who were of both Maori and pakeha descent, and he credits his natural affinity with ta moko to those genes. Mr Duley is showing some of his work at Hamilton’s Waikato Museum with the experience artist Mark Kopua. Photos of the artists at work, line the walls and the two men sit in the middle of the room in a makeshift studio demonstrating their trade. Ta moko is the art of tattooing using Maori designs and Face Value has proven to be one of the most popular exhibition with hundreds attending the show, which finishes tomorrow.

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Maori Land Court appoints deputy chief

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Maori Land Court judge Caren Fox has been appointed deputy chief judge of the court. Minister of Maori Affairs Pita Sharples said Judge Fox of Ngati Porou and Rongowhakaata would make a fine deputy chief judge. “The Maori Land Court recognises and supports the central bond between Maori and their whenua. The Court’s business is not simply land, it helps to maintain the identity and strength of the people, their communities and culture. Judge Fox has demonstrated her strong commitment to the work and ethos of the Maori Land Court.”

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More Kiwis overseas tuning in to Maori TV’s revamped website

Posted by karere under Maori News

A revamp of Maori Television’s website has boosted its visitor numbers by 60 per cent in the past year as more New Zealanders living overseas tune in to its archive of local video content. The broadcaster is not revealing visitor numbers but says the site has been accessed from 188 countries and attributes the strong growth in interest to a slick new design and the 300 hours of programming it now has available for viewing online. Online manager Sandy Hodge says the number of visitors viewing the site from Australia has trebled and now accounts for 20 per cent of the total audience. Overall, visitors to the site are staying three times longer than before the revamp and are viewing more pages.

The site’s growth in traffic has happened despite the constraints of a tight budget and the limitations of having the equivalent of only 2 fulltime staff working to keep content updated. “When Maori Television started [in 2003] we had a pretty static website, and while it did the business in terms of allowing visitors to find information such as what was on the schedule, it didn’t fit with the strategy the board had set which was to expand, enhance and internationalise [the broadcaster’s reach],” says Hodge.

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