Deed signing signals new era for iwi

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IT’S official. On Monday Maniapoto Maori Trust Board (MMTB) and the Crown signed a deed marking a new era of co-governance and comanagement of Maniapoto interests in the Waipa River. Until now, Maniapoto has had limited opportunity to influence the management of the river. The deed provides the iwi with significant decision-making roles at all levels in resource management including policy, planning monitoring and enforcement. The milestone signing is a result of extensive discussion between MMTB and the Crown during the past three years. Monday’s signing at the Waitomo Cultural and Arts Centre, formalises the co-management agreement signed at Tokanganui-a-noho Marae on November 3 last year. Former Labour MP and Maori Affairs minister Koro Wetere described the signing as an…

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The real challenge facing the Maori Party : constructive engagement with gangs

Posted by karere under Maori News

Very long paper by Denis O’Reilly The political vortex surrounding the ACT Party has masked a good deal of rustling in the roots of the Maori Party – there is flux in the flax. At this time of the year the people who care for our harakeke are out getting rid of the detritus and letting the new growth sprout. The guy doing the weeding at the indigenous political flaxroots, tugging at the ugly strands of apparent expedience, is Hone Harawira. His efforts are causing angst amongst those in the Maori Party who value these stringy connections to power and influence. You hear on the kumara vine that the Maori Party is dysfunctional, that there are arguments and divisions and…

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Iwi poised for big financial role

Posted by karere under Maori News

Taranaki iwi have received more than $100 million in Treaty of Waitangi settlements so far. As Ngaruahine moves closer to settling its claim, Rob Maetzig and Esther Taunton look at the role of Maori in the Taranaki economy, now and in the future. With millions of dollars in the coffers and another Treaty of Waitangi settlement on the way, Taranaki iwi are poised to play a bigger role in the region’s economy. Iwi already have a hand in fisheries, farming and health and may be ready to enter into investment partnerships with the oil and gas industry, a leading Maori corporate lawyer says.

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Council agrees to hang Maori flag

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A Maori flag will hang alongside the New Zealand flag in the South Taranaki District Council chambers after a challenge from Maori figure Peter Moeahu. Mr Moehau – who has been making headlines with a column published in the Taranaki Daily News earlier this week – argued at a council meeting on Monday night the tino rangatiratanga flag should sit alongside the New Zealand and British flags as a show of unity.

The council agreed, with Ian Wards the only councillor to vote against it. He said he was not comfortable with the Maori flag being displayed in the chamber at every meeting. He suggested it should be shown only at iwi liaison committee meetings.

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Len Brown: winner in south’s heartland

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Rhys Drader, a Maori father of three who lives in Pukekohe, says he can’t remember the last time he voted in an election. But Mr Drader says the hongi Super City mayoral candidate Len Brown gave him in greeting yesterday was the defining moment in his decision to give Mr Brown his vote. “It just shows that he understands us, and not just the Pakeha folks,” said Mr Drader, 43, who lost his job as a milkman last month and is hoping Mr Brown will be the right man to create jobs in small towns like Pukekohe. Perhaps it would be different on the streets of Remuera or Takapuna, but Mr Brown was incredibly popular in the small Franklin town…

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Warning for Maori considering move across Tasman

Posted by karere under Maori News

Maori heading to Australia with dreams of “milk and honey” should only do so if they have the means to return if things don’t work out, the Maori Party is warning. Australia is a popular destination for Maori, with close to 20 per cent of the population estimated to be living there. Many had been successful but Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia said the party had fielded calls from church and social service groups in various parts of the country, saying many others were struggling to cope. She also said calls were fielded asking for assistance in getting the bodies of deceased returned home. “There’s no state funding for that and whanau should really be taking out insurance or setting…

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Iwi moves closer to settling claim

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South Taranaki iwi Ngaruahine is moving significantly closer this week to settling its Treaty of Waitangi claims. Iwi representatives and Crown officials are set to sign the Terms of Negotiations, a significant milestone that marks the second phase towards settlement. Nga Hapu O Ngaruahine chairperson Daisy Noble said the iwi had mixed feelings about going into negotiations. It had been a long and sometimes difficult journey to get to this stage but it was a journey worth taking, she said. “This is about moving our people forward from grievance mode to development mode. “It’s about developing ourselves as a people.”

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Sacked Tainui boss now school commissioner

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Sacked Tainui boss Hemi Rau has been made the commissioner of a Hamilton Maori immersion school which was blasted in a recent Education Review Office report. Mr Rau’s appointment comes only nine days after the release of a report which criticised the leadership and management by the principal Jason Kereopa and the board of Enderley school Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Ara Rima. Ministry regional manager Linda Bendikson confirmed Mr Rau’s appointment yesterday, describing him as “a board chairperson himself” who “has been involved in trustee training and mentoring of boards”…

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Medics urged to treat fever

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Generations of Maori are dying early because of the ravages caused by untreated rheumatic fever, says respected Taranaki Maori GP Tony Ruakere. Undiagnosed for nearly 40 years, the disease was now causing deaths from heart damage, diabetes and renal failure, Dr Ruakere, of New Plymouth, said yesterday. “The blinkers have been on. It has just been totally overlooked.” Rheumatic fever was one of the major topics for debate at the Maori doctors’ three-day conference at Parihaka, which ended yesterday. Dr Ruakere urged a re-evaluation of antibiotic use for patients going to their doctors with sore throats. Rheumatic fever was easily treated with penicillin at the sore throat stage, Dr Ruakere said. The policy of GPs to withhold antibiotics for fear…

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High Standard at Manu Korero Awards

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The Manu Korero competitions are over for another year, with the best young Maori orators in Maori and English found from around the motu. Organising committee member Komene Cassidy says it was a huge fillip for Maori students in Dunedin to be able to host the event…

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Fern, haka make NZ fans terror targets

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Kiwi sports fans heading to New Delhi for the Commonwealth Games may best be advised not to break out into haka, wear fake moko or don the silver fern as they could become targets of al Qaeda kidnapping plots. An Australian newspaper reported yesterday that citizens of countries involved in the war in Afghanistan could be targeted by terrorist groups with al Qaeda links. The Sunday Herald Sun said security experts had warned Australian supporters to keep a low profile in Delhi and leave Australian colours at home. The concerns about security and terrorism are the latest in an ongoing and damning saga for Indian Commonwealth Games officials and follow sportsmen pulling out of the Games and fears that facilities…

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Niuean, Cook Island Maori languages ‘may die out’

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Niuean and Cook Island Maori languages will die out in New Zealand unless the Government starts specialist schools to save them, researchers warn. The Government also faced legal challenges unless it backed action to preserve the languages, said John McCaffery, a senior lecturer at Auckland University’s education faculty. Mr McCaffery and wife Judy Taligalu McFall-McCaffery this week unveiled results of two years’ research into Pacific languages used by New Zealanders. Fewer than 5 per cent of New Zealand-born Cook Islanders and less than 11 per cent of New Zealand-born Niueans can speak their indigenous languages, Mr McCaffery said. The languages would disappear from use in New Zealand within a generation, he said. ”Our research indicates that Pacific Island languages in…

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