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Urban Māori are delivering what their communities want -

West Auckland urban Māori organisation Whānau Waipareira are delivering what their communities have been asking for - whanaungatanga and connection through a series of Whānau Street parties.For the past six months Te Whānau o Waipareira have been visiting and gathering vital information from neighbourhoods from Henderson to West Harbour. Along with feeding and entertaining whānau at the impromptu street gatherings, the kanohi o te kanohi aspect is what has shaped this week’s community hui...

Government rolls out $1.3m digital literacy training

Seniors will have the chance to become more technologically confident via a digital skills training programme the Government is rolling out for up to 5000 people across the country today.The 2022 Budget has allocated $1.341 million over three years for the Office for Seniors to expand its digital literacy training programme.In announcing the programme, Minister for Seniors Ginny Anderson said barriers to digital inclusion can include a lack of access to devices or connections, the skills needed ...

The life of JB Heperi-Smith - a man

Mourners are gathering at a marae south of Takapau for the tangi of Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi board member and recent former deputy chairman John Barry (J.B.) Heperi-Smith, who died on Friday, aged 58.He was on Saturday afternoon being taken to Rakautatahi, beside State Highway 2, where his funeral service will be held on Tuesday, starting at 11am.Heperi-Smith was in his fourth term on the board, serving 10 years after having been first elected in 2013 as representative of the Tamatea rohe (Central H...

‘Riding roughshod over rangatiratanga’:

An influential legal scholar is warning the Government not to repeat past mistakes by legislating to control rongoā Māori.University of Auckland emeritus law professor Dr Jane Kelsey says the new Therapeutic Products Bill, which would have rongoā regulated by a government bureaucrat at the Ministry of Health, echoes the 1907 Tohunga Suppression Act — the act that outlawed the practice for half a century until 1962.“The bill itself says it’s aiming to ensure people who use therapeutic pr...

Rotorua Three Waters reform:

Rotorua households could save nearly $4000 a year by 2054 under the revised “once-in-a-generation” Three Waters plans, the Government claims.But the city’s mayor, Tania Tapsell, says there’s no evidence of how it would be a fair deal for Rotorua and worries locals will end up footing other district’s bills.Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty today announced the Government had scrapped a major part of its Three Waters reforms, ditching the four mega entities that would have delive...

Newsable:

An online security expert says constant vigilance and better online education are the best ways to counteract a seeming glut of online and offline scams.Last week journalist Oriini Kaipara was forced to take to Instagram to warn followers against buying weight loss and gambling products she supposedly ‘endorsed’.And text scams seem to be another method du jour, with a common one purportedly from Waka Kotahi urging the recipient to pay an overdue speeding fine.Link to podcast and article:&nbs...

Two wāhine Māori

Two wāhine Māori, Sheena Tepania and Ngaroma Tahana, were sworn in as judges at ceremonies at their respective marae on Saturday.Judge Sheena Tepania was made a judge of the Environment Court and District Court at Waihapa Marae near Kāeo in Te Tai Tokerau.Based in Auckland, Judge Tepania, who is Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa, Ngāti Rua, Ngāti Kuri, Te Aupouri, Te Rarawa and Ngāpuhi, was announced as a new judicial appointment by the Attorney General at the end of February.Before her appointment...

Concerns this year's Māori census turnout

Raw figures released to 1News show just 649,200 forms have been returned from people of Māori decent so far – about 64 percent.The numbers aren't an official figure and could include duplicates, but they show we're a long way off the 90% participation target for Māori set by Statistics New Zealand."We would have liked to see a higher turnout from Māori and Pacific people because they are underrepresented in almost all the data that we have from them, Stats NZ deputy government statistician ...

Meth, other drugs detected in Auckland CBD air – study

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Emergency housing motels:

People wanting emergency housing in Rotorua are now being “carefully screened” by Government agencies to ensure they are from Rotorua or have family in Rotorua, the city’s council boss says.The revelation came at a Rotorua Lakes Council meeting this week. Chief executive Geoff Williams said the undertaking was given by the Government when Rotorua mayor Tania Tapsell signed the Rotorua Housing Accord in December.Government agencies and politicians have always said emergency housing was avai...

Column: How to use your te reo Māori words

David Karena-Holmes is a Nelson-based writer and tutor of grammar in te reo Māori.Column: It’s one thing to learn the English meaning of a Māori word – that the word whare, for instance, means “house” or “building”, or that the word waiata means “song” or “to sing” – but it’s quite another thing to learn how such words are used in sentences in te reo.The sentence-patterns of another language may be picked up in childhood simply by imitation of someone’s speech – and...

What is ‘algospeak’?

A linguistic arms race is raging online – and it isn’t clear who’s winning.On one side are social networks like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. These sites have become better and better at identifying and removing language and content that violates their community standards.Social media users are on the other side, and they’ve come up with coded terminology designed to evade algorithmic detection. These expressions are collectively referred to as “algospeak.”Link to article: Wha...

Witi Ihimaera: Auckland Theatre Company’s

Literary great Witi Ihimaera (Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki) talks with award-winning author Shilo Kino (Ngapuhi, Ngāti Maniopoto) about changing the narrative and going back to school at 79 years of age, ahead of Witi’s Wāhine, a play dedicated to the wāhine toa of the East Coast who inspired him.I am standing next to Witi Ihimaera in his kitchen, waiting for the jug to boil. He is soft-spoken, gentle and full of manaaki. For a moment I forget I am in the presence of one of our literary greats. We ...

'We've both closed the trap door

Ngapaki Moetara (Waikato, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāti Whanaunga) 40, is the co-owner of production company Nga Paki Korero and marae-based leadership business Araitepō with her husband, Teina Moetara (Rongowhakaata, Ngāpuhi) 48, who is also CEO of Rongawhakaata Iwi Trust.The couple have three daughters, aged 7-11, and live in Manutūkē near Gisborne.The couple has collaborated on a new production of Witi’s Wāhine, based on Witi Ihimaera’s writing, at Auckland’s ASB Waterfro...

Oranga Tamariki apologises for legal doc containing 'erroneous' info,

A mother says Oranga Tamariki has made a series of “absolutely huge” mistakes in an affidavit that has been filed with the Family Court in a child custody case.But despite acknowledging the sworn document contains “erroneous” information, the state entity charged with protecting the most vulnerable children in Aotearoa has done nothing to fix it.“They’re dealing with the lives of people – and especially children – who are already really vulnerable. They have the power to rob fami...

Ngāti Pikiao mourns the loss

Ngapera Bella Pēti was regarded as a pillar of Ngāti Pikiao Koeke and Te Pukenga Koeke o Te Arawa.She was the "crack up" aunty at every kaupapa, a fantastic cook and a mother of many, including the world-famous Māori kai gatherer, qualified chef and television presenter, Peter Pēti.Peter Pēti says his inspiration and determination to become a Kai gatherer, qualified chef and TV presenter, came from his mother Ngapera.Link to article: Ngāti Pikiao mourns the loss of beloved kuia | Te A...

Tūwharetoa opens its first five affordable homes

An iwi-led housing initiative in Tūrangi has opened its first five affordable rental homes designed to help reduce the effects of the housing crisis on its people.Read this story in te reo Māori and English here. / Pānuitia tēnei i te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā ki konei.On Wednesday, a Tūwharetoa Settlement Trust subsidiary, He Iwi Kāinga, opened five of 14 new homes planned for a strip of land between Te Iwiheke Pl and Maria Pl.Tūwharetoa Settlement Trust chairperson Rakeipoho Taiaroa...

I Can’t Live Without Her:

KEY POINTSThe death of a spouse affects people differently, but many experience negative health effects.Men and women are affected differently by the death of a spouse.Man have a higher likelihood of dying themselves after the death of their spouse than women do.Link to article: I Can’t Live Without Her: When Grieving Men Die | Psychology Today...

Three Waters reform:

Hawke’s Bay mayors have had a local council equivalent of winning the Ranfurly Shield as the Government scrapped its mega-entities Three Waters plan.The region was the source of the original plan, which stemmed from inquiries into the Havelock North water crisis seven years ago. The plan announced in 2020 proposed that control of drinking, waste and stormwater management by 67 councils would be taken over by four new regional entities by July next year.Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty...

Three Waters reset

Tainui chair Tuku Morgan says iwi around Aotearoa will be jumping for joy with the changes to the Government’s contentious Three Waters reforms.Morgan, who was last year appointed to lead the northern Three Waters Iwi body, said they had last week met Ministers Kieran McAnulty, Willie Jackson, Kiritapu Allan and Kelvin Davis and had three bottom lines that they would not budge on.The iwi leaders make up the Water Forum and Morgan said their concerns were warmly received by the ministerial dele...

Call centre startup wants to employ

A contact centre startup is on a mission to help 100 single Māori māmā by offering flexible, home-based work.Rohario Rangihaeata​, owner of majority Māori-owned contact centre business Wairua Pai, said her aim was to lift mothers, their households and whānau.“It’s about giving back to our community, being of service, and inspiring leadership within whānau through employment,” she said.Wairua Pai is a joint venture between Waha – the Māori Creative Agency and contact centre techn...

The mood in Te Pūkenga

A good employer wouldn’t go on the radio and tell his workers that up to a thousand job cuts were on the way, you would think.Te Pūkenga, the entity Chief Executive Peter Winder heads up, includes around 8,000 staff from the 16 former polytechnics who provide vocational education and training.A little over a week ago, Winder told Kathryn Ryan—not his workers directly, but through a radio interview—that Te Pūkenga is part of “a fundamental shift in the way that people engage in tertiary...

Libraries branching out

New research shows that libraries are “more than just books”, according to a libraries advisor from Local Government New Zealand.Marion Read presented the findings of the research to Tararua District Council’s Community Development and Wellbeing committee last week.The research was conducted by consultancy Frank Advice and included an overview of literature, surveys and case studies.Tararua District has four libraries: Dannevirke, Pahiatua, Woodville and Eketahuna.Link to article: Lib...

How has Govt got into such a mess

f passed, the Therapeutic Products Bill would create a regime administered by an “independent registrar”, who is also a Ministry of Health employee. There is no guaranteed role for Māori in its operation, let alone in key decisionsOpinion: The Therapeutic Products Bill before Parliament’s health select committee is a total can of worms. The Government has really messed it up by deciding, for no obvious reason, to reject the advice of Te Aka Whai Ora (the new Māori Health A...

University launches emergency scholarship

Students are struggling so much with rising costs that one university has launched an emergency scholarship.Another has warned that the pressure is causing serious mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.Student leaders say it is has never been so tough to be a student.Here's education correspondent John Gerritsen.Link to Morning Report: University launches emergency scholarship for struggling students | RNZ...