Back to Blog

The Great Exodus:

Sarah Arnold still remembers the day her partner said the three magic words.For years, the Kāpiti couple had been living week-to-week, struggling to find time to spend together with their daughter, until one day Huia came home from work having been told a long awaited pay rise would be 50c an hour.“He walked in the door and all he said was, ‘book the tickets’.”Link to video and article: The Great Exodus: As Kiwis leave for a better life, Australia looks luckier than ever | Stuff.co...

First Union organiser Edith Tamaki

A union organiser dismissed for sending a scathing email alleging Māori members were treated as “excrement” has failed to get her job back, for now.Edith Tamaki was sacked from First Union in December last year for serious misconduct after the October 17 email that went to all organisers and managers.The email was headed “Behaviour of Paid Union Officials” and written in Tamaki’s capacity as the Āhipa Māori - an elected position established to support the work of the union’s rūna...

Kura reo tailors to

The first ever kura reo in Australia kicked off on Friday in Te Urupū - Perth.The kura reo was set up by Waikato based consulting agency TupuOra Education and Development.TupuOra Resource and Cultural Development manager Tiare Teinakore said one year ago they set up an online kura reo aimed at Te Reo speakers in Australia."Mai i taua Kura Reo ā ipurangi i tino rongo mātau i tō rātau matemate-ā-one mo te kāinga, ki to tātau reo me ā tātau tikinga. Kua roa mātau o Tupu Ora e pirangi ana...

He's lost 65kg,

Darren ‘D’ Waiwai wears his old singlet to the gym everyday so he can see how far he’s come.The Masterton father of four has lost 65kg in the last year. Now, his old clothes hang off him like a tent.Going to the gym has helped Waiwai work through family trauma, and it’s been a lifesaver for his son who he’s working alongside after a period of poor mental health.Link to article: He's lost 65kg, but for Darren Waiwai exercise was about silencing the taniwha | Stuff.co.nz...

First police station with all external signage

A new police base in the small Bay of Plenty town of Tāneatua has opened after a fire destroyed the town's station in 2018.Officially opened by Commissioner Andrew Coster following a blessing by local kaumatua, police say the base was a collaborative project with Ngāi Tūhoe and other key community partners."This whare is a touchstone for positive change - it's a place that encourages engagement with the entire community and the spirit of mahi tahi (working together), Coster said."It's wairua ...

Rotorua youth encouraged to give

Rotorua’s youth are encouraged to enter the 76th Annual Speech and Drama Competition being held on June 24 to 25, with returning competitors recommending the experience for many reasons.The competition is held annually for school-aged children, and provides experience in and exposure to the performing arts and public speaking.This will be the 76th competition since 1946, and categories include poetry recitals, impromptu performances, group dramas in costume, prepared readings, reading at sight...

Māori, Pasifika podcast

Mandatenz is a Māori and Pasifika-led podcast tapping into the world of men's mental health. The main goal for the organisers is to allow a safe space for men to open up, and share experiences that may be considered too taboo for many. They hope to create a new generation of men more resilient than the last.The podcast was set up as a free place to share thoughts, experiences, and hardships, creating a safe space for men, co-host Jaemen Busby of Te Rarawa saysLink to video and article:&nbs...

Feeling comfortable 'in my own skin'

A young woman who found herself depressed, suffering from an eating disorder and drinking at the age of 16 just to cope says without the help of a Christchurch youth service she would “probably be a wreck”.As a teenager looking for help online, Camelia Anderson-Setyowati​ said she “wanted to cry” seeing how expensive mental healthcare could be.“I had pretty nasty mental health issues at the time,” she said.Link to article: Feeling comfortable 'in my own skin' thanks to free yo...

Matawhaorua programme launched

The Government is rolling out new programmes in areas that have seen spikes in youth offending to help steer rangatahi into training and employment, Associate Social Development and Employment Minister Willie Jackson says.Whakawātea Te Ara Poutama involves 15 work-readiness and employment training programmes in areas with the biggest increases in youth crime and ram raids: south and west Auckland, Northland, Bay of Plenty and Waikato, and it seems it couldn’t have come soon enough.According t...

Christchurch's 298 Youth Health

An esteemed health specialist believes the government needs a wake-up call around investment in health care for young people, or face further "funding crises".Dame Sue Bagshaw's longstanding youth health centre 298 Youth Health in central Christchurch is being rebranded Te Tahi Youth.The facility, founded by Bagshaw back in 1995, is the only spot in the city where 10-24 year olds can access free medical, sexual, mental health, wellbeing and employment services.The youth health doctor is also ste...

Is New Zealand really post-dominion?

A prominent law historian has questioned just how much "baggage" the soon-to-be-former name of Wellington's biggest newspaper, The Dominion Post, really carries.Owner Stuff announced last week the paper would soon be known simply as The Post - because - in editor Caitlin Cherry's words, New Zealand was "under no one's dominion"."New Zealand's status as a dominion ended in 1945 when we joined the United Nations," Cherry - who only took on the job in February - said. "It's time for the word to go....

South Auckland’s poor census turnout

South Auckland's poor 2018 census turnout could have cost the region $130 million in health funding.And, according to an expert, that cash could have helped tackle the area's battles with diabetes and obesity.Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand said the defunct Counties Manukau District Health Board lost $130m in health funding in its last four years due to the low turnout in the area during the 2018 census.Link to article: South Auckland’s poor census turnout could cost it $130m in health fu...

East Coast group takes pine forestry

The damage caused by pine forestry has been raised at the UN by an NZ group that says the industry is responsible for multiple Indigenous rights violationsAn East Coast group that has petitioned the government on land use has now taken its concerns to the United Nations. Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti representative Renee Raroa gave a presentation at a forum on indigenous issues at a meeting of the United Nations in New York. Speaking at the 22nd Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Is...

Marae-based driver licensing programme

A marae-based driver licensing programme is setting whānau on a road to a bright future and new lifelong goals.The Manukau Urban Manukau Authority (MUMA) in South Auckland manages a free driver licensing programme - funded by the Ministry of Social Development - from the Nga Whare Waatea Marae in Mangere.The success of the programme is evident in the testimonials from people who have not only completed the programme but who have now used that licence to find work.The programme is turning the ti...

Why are teen girls in crisis?

Warning: This article contains details that some people may find disturbing or triggering.Anxiety over academics. Post-lockdown malaise. Social media angst.Study after study says American and worldwide youth are in crisis, facing unprecedented mental health challenges that are burdening teen girls in particular. Among the most glaring data: A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report showed almost 60 per cent of US girls reported persistent sadness and hopelessness. Rates are up i...

Police Assistant Commissioner Penny

Former Gisborne woman, police Assistant Commissioner Tusha Penny, is set to leave the police top brass on a temporary basis.Asst Comm Penny begins a two-year secondment to Oranga Tamariki next month.She is in charge of front-line capability for police and recently led the nationwide Tactical Response Model, which included more training for police and specialist armed teams. She will join another senior police employee on secondment at Oranga Tamariki, Cassandra Anderson, who was an executive dir...

History of the tiriti

From 1840, Māori gradually became aware that they were no longer free to dispose of their lands as they chose. Under the terms of the Treaty/Te Tiriti, they could sell land only to the government. If they wanted to sell land and the government did not want to buy it, the land could not be sold to anyone else. If the government agreed to buy the land, officials could force Māori to sell at a low price, and then could sell it to settlers at a much higher price. Māori communities naturally resen...

Changes to NCEA deferred

The government will give schools a temporary alternative to new online literacy and numeracy tests that many teenagers have found too hard.It is also deferring major NCEA changes so schools can concentrate on maths, reading and writing.Education Minister Jan Tinetti announced this afternoon that in 2024 and 2025 schools could use regular NCEA standards instead of the online tests to prove students met minimum reading, writing and maths requirements.From next year, students must pass either the o...

Church sells site to Māori health provider

A Christian Pentecostal church has opted to sell its site to a Māori health provider to honor a “treaty” relationship between the two parties.Elim Church, which has been in Hamilton for over 60 years, recently sold their Hamilton venue at “market rate” to Māori health provider – Te Kōhao Health.The sale came after several years of the two groups working together, with Te Kōhao stating that the church presented them “with a purchase offer we couldn’t refuse”.The purchase of th...

Wesley College: Oranga Tamariki and police

Child welfare agency Oranga Tamariki is working alongside police to investigate a “report of concern” relating to embattled Wesley College.And police have confirmed they were notified of several incidents at the school in recent years, including assault, trespassing and bullying, which resulted in police action or were dealt with internally at the school.Link to article: Wesley College: Oranga Tamariki and police investigating ‘report of concern’ at embattled school - NZ Herald...

Raising grandson easier

A retired man unexpectedly thrust back into parenting claims he was told to “toughen up” when he questioned his 20-day wait for a meeting with Work and Income.The agency has denied such language was used, but has apologised for not considering him for emergency assistance.Peter Sargent, 68, didn’t think twice when he stepped up to become the primary carer for his 11-year-old grandson in late March.Navigating the needs and emotions of an adolescent doesn’t faze him, but the struggle to ge...

Case of funding inequity for kura

Maōri continue to be marginalised in the education system, Kura Kaupapa says, ahead of its presentation of an urgent inquiry to the Waitangi Tribunal.The tribunal will hear the inquiry from the body which oversees Kura Kaupapa Māori later this month.The claim from Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa concerns Crown practices, which it argues continue to marginalise Māori in the education system.It is 38 years since the first full-immersion kura kaupapa opened.Link to article: ...

Ngāti Awa wins right to appeal

An iwi has won the right to appeal a Chinese-owned water bottling plant's plans to expand its facility and fill nearly a billion bottles from an aquifer in Whakatāne every year.Creswell NZ, a subsidiary of multi-billion dollar Chinese water bottling giant Nongfu Spring, was granted consent by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council in 2018 to bottle water from the Ōtākiri Aquifer.However, the issue of consent has been consistently challenged by local iwi Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa, which claims the ...

World War I Māori Pioneer Battalion

Twenty metres under the streets of the French town Arras, 24,000 World War I soldiers sheltered in a 19-kilometre network of tunnels and prepared for battle.At their most complete, the tunnels had running water, electric lights, kitchens, a light rail system and a fully equipped hospital, thanks to the efforts of 43 members of the Māori Pioneer Battalion, who dug the tunnels alongside many others.The battalion, and hundreds of soldiers from the New Zealand Tunnelling Company, spent years turnin...

Graham Richardson: Voice to Parliament likely to get up

A prominent Labor elder-statesman has dismissed claims the Voice to Parliament will improve the lives of Indigenous Australians.Graham Richardson, a minister in the Hawke and Keating governments, said he expects the Australian people will support the Voice at the referendum later this year, but it wouldn’t change much for Indigenous Australians, particularly those in remote communities.“I think it will get up, but I don’t think it means that much. I don’t believe it will change the lives...