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Te Matatini Kapa Haka 2023:

More than 1.8 million Kiwis tuned in to watch Te Matatini Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata 2023, showcasing the best kapa haka Aotearoa has to offer.Almost 730,000 New Zealanders watched the live broadcast on TVNZ 2 last week, while 188,000 streamed the festival on TVNZ+.In a press release sharing the numbers today, TVNZ’s deputy director for local and commissioning contact Nevak Rogers (Rongowhakaata, Te Whānau ā Apanui, Tongan) said last week was the biggest week for the platform to date.“[T...

Taonga removed from Te Atatu Intermediate child’s neck:

An Auckland mother of three is fuming after her 11-year-old daughter claims she was forced by her school to remove a precious taonga from her neck - a pounamu gifted by her brother, who survived a lethal dose of electricity in a horror workplace accident.The school itself says it’s still getting to the bottom of the matter but so far the family’s claims about a teacher’s actions had not been substantiated.West Auckland mother Toni Paikea - whose son Jahden Nelson lost both his arms in the ...

Some schools forced to relocate

Principals of the most flood-damaged schools say it will be many weeks before they reopen their classrooms.Floods have damaged more than 370 schools this year and seven are so badly affected they are still closed.In Hawke's Bay, Eskdale School's classrooms were above Cyclone Gabrielle's floodwaters, but its grounds were still under a thick layer of silt and its septic system was broken.The school's principal, Tristan Cheer, said the school was determined to reopen elsewhere and on Wednesday it s...

Māori leaders say ally lost

Māori leaders say they've lost an ally in the ousting of Rob Campbell as chair of Health NZ / Te Whatu Ora.He was sacked over comments he made on LinkedIn, where he criticised National's Three Waters policy as a thin disguise for dog-whistling on co-governance.The Health Minister says she doesn't have confidence Campbell could remain politically neutral, and he is very clear about why he thinks he was sacked.Ngātiwai Trust Board's chief executive Hūhana Lyndon spoke to Kim Hill.Link to commen...

A new normal beds

Students aren’t returning to lectures on campus, enrolments continue to decline, employment in the sector remains precarious and the financials are grim. Just how much trouble are universities in asks Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.Online lectures the “new normal”It’s been three years since Covid first arrived in New Zealand and one aspect of life looks like it has c...

Radio host 'ridiculed'

Action by NZME to uphold a complaint about an interview by Heather du Plessis Allan in which she “ridiculed” a young climate activist was correct, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found.In the Newstalk ZB radio interview in September last year, du Plessis Allan “hysterically” laughed at, and teased the interviewee Izzy Cook, a 16-year-old School Strike 4 Climate organiser.The BSA accepted NZME’s action in upholding the complaint directly and did not uphold a complaint that the ...

The origin of the vast amount of sediment

Among the most shocking sights to emerge from recent extreme weather events were the vast amounts of sediment washed down by floodwaters onto the plains of Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti.In some of the worst cases, the sediment left behind after the water had gone completely buried houses up to their roofs.Professor Troy Baisden, from the University of Auckland, studies the flow of carbon, nitrogen and water through ecosystems. He said the North Island’s east coast was among the world’s leadi...

The Front Page: The dark side of TikTok

Scroll through TikTok and you’re likely to find a series of harmless, sometimes hilarious video clips of young people doing weird things.But dig a little deeper, and you’re likely to find a dark underbelly of posts sharing the experiences of people suffering from mental illness. The deeper you delve into this content, the more you’re likely to see.NZ Herald investigations editor Alex Spence saw the power of the TikTok algorithm when he recently created an account on the app.“One night, l...

Hostel fire leaves 48 tourists stranded,

A Hamilton Marae lent a hand, and a few beds, to 48 tourists who were left stranded overnight after their hostel went up in flames.Senior Sergeant Chris McRae said police were left to find accommodation for the tourists after the blaze on Monday night.“We had 46-48 tourists standing on the footpath with nowhere to go at midnight while the fire was being put out and they could not return,” McRae said.“It looks like it will be shut for some time now due to damage.”McRae made contact with t...

Cyclone Gabrielle: Māori given $15 million

Labour’s Māori caucus has secured a $15 million package that will fund a Māori-led recovery in response to Cyclone Gabrielle.After meeting with whānau at Waipatu Marae in Hastings today, Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson and Whānau Ora Minister Peeni Henare announced the new package.Jackson acknowledged that recent weather events, including Cyclone Gabrielle, have had a devastating impact on communities in Te Tai Tokerau, Tāmaki Makaurau, Tairāwhiti, Bay of Plenty, Waikato and H...

Students prepare to protest

At least 200 students are expected to march down Nelson’s main street on Friday, demanding better action on climate change.The protest is one of several demonstrations scheduled to take place across the country as part of the global “School Strike 4 Climate Action” movement, started in Sweden in 2018 by school girl Greta Thunberg.Local organiser, Garin College student Nate Wilbourne said those demonstrating in Nelson would march down Trafalgar Street at 3pm to the city council headquarters...

Mike King teams up with winery

Wellbeing support is available for cyclone-stricken Napier residents.Mental health advocate Mike King and winery owner Greg Miller are opening the "I Am Hope Wellness Centre" there today.It's situated on the flood-ravaged Valley d'Vine restaurant premises on Linden Estate.A team of four counsellors and one doctor are taking annual leave for a fortnight to offer health services at no cost.Link to interview amd article: Mike King teams up with winery to launch a field wellness centre in Napie...

Ans Westra's most iconic photographs

Legendary documentary photographer and pioneer Ans Westra died at her home in Wellington on Sunday, aged 86.Westra immigrated to New Zealand in 1957 from the Netherlands at the age of 21. She was self-taught, and spent long periods of time travelling around the country as a full-time freelance documentary photographer.She was committed to observing and candidly documenting New Zealand life and culture.{Suite} Gallery, the dealer that represented Westra prior to her death, have compiled a selecti...

There’s a fine line

How are Māori supposed to respond to the misuse and appropriation of tikanga? Kim Mcbreen on “fauxwhiri” and other cultural insults.Before 9am on the first day, 20 or so of us arrive in ones and twos and gather in the carpark at the house. We’re here for a 10-day course at a Pākehā organisation. We mill around, self-consciously introducing ourselves, hands outstretched. “Kia ora, I’m Kim.” More than half of us are from overseas, only a few from New Zealand, and only two of us are ...

Māori health practitioners call for stronger incorporation

Māori health practitioners are calling for cultural concepts to be more strongly incorporated into Western clinical methods to improve mental health. Rongoā Māori is alternative health care that incorporates both physical and spiritual well-being. Mauri, meaning the life force, and wairua, the spirit, are commonly used words at rongoā Māori clinics.Ngāpuhi practitioner Kate Taylor-Reid was unfamiliar with the traditional Māori healing practices until she tried them as part of her rec...

Te Matatini powhiri

A Tainui leader says hosts Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei crossed the line in claiming exclusive rights to Tāmaki Makaurau during yesterday’s pōwhiri at Ōkahu Bay for Te Matatini competitors.Tukuroirangi Morgan became visibly angry when speaker Joe Pihema laid out Ōrakei’s definition of mana whenua before King Tuheitia and 2000 other manuhiri.He says a young leadership group in the hapū is arrogant and does not know their history, and would rather go to court than maintain the longstanding rela...

Northland news in brief: Kōiwi found on Wainui beach;

Ngāti Ruamahue hapū have placed a tapu [restriction/protection] on the Piapia beachfront in Wainui after the discovery of kōiwi [skeletal remains]. Access is restricted from the Piapia boat ramp to Whakaironui. An announcement about the tapu said Cyclone Gabrielle had caused substantial erosion to Piapia, during which kōiwi were uncovered in three separate locations in the bay. The area has been fenced off and the tapu will be in place until the kōiwi are identified by an archeologist befor...

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announces

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has announced a special fundraising appeal and a special Lotto draw for March 18.It was based on the Christchurch earthquake appeal - which had raised about $100 million.The announcement came after the new Extreme Weather Response Committee met for the first time this afternoon.The national state of emergency will continue - especially for Tairawhiti and Hawke’s Bay. Other regions would be moving on to the recovery phase.Link to video, commentary and article: ...

Te Matatini: Men of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei

Te Matatini 2023 has been hailed as a huge success, drawing viewers to its live coverage and setting social media abuzz with epic performances, celebrity cameos and a visit from a Hollywood star.But one event at the beginning of festivities has drawn comments from across the world and has attracted the attention of millions - for an altogether different display.The immaculate tailoring sported by many of the tāne in attendance caught viewers’ attention but it was the men of Ngāti Whātua Ōr...

Middlemore ED targeted as one

Middlemore Hospital has been identified as a 'hotspot' needing extra support before the winter flu season.The emergency department is one of eight places identified by Te Whatu Ora as requiring extra resource.Plans to divert patients to primary healthcare are also needed - but GPs are concerned they will not have the capacity to pick up the slack.Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand chairperson Rob Campbell recently said workforce shortages plaguing Middlemore's ED would not be addressed in time fo...

We need adults

Teenagers don’t strike because they fancy time off school, they do it because it’s the most effective tool they have to make their voices heard. But they need adult support, not condemnationOpinion: On March 3, protesters across Aotearoa will hit the streets for the annual global climate strike. The main organisers of these strikes are teenagers. Our afterschool hours are filled with committee meetings, incessant emails, phone calls, and climate anxiety, but above all, an unshakeable de...

Te Whatu Ora warns of challenging winter ahead

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Rise in measles exposures

Most of the people potentially exposed to measles on a flight from Indonesia have been tracked down - but health officials are urgently looking for five more.Paediatricians are worried about the scare - the third this year - in the face of falling vaccination rates.Te Whatu Ora had been urgently contacting 44 people who were on a Jakarta to Sydney flight on 15 February, and who then travelled to New Zealand.It had reached 31 who were either immune or overseas.Eight more had been contacted but ha...

'Be fair':

The debate over funding for Aotearoa’s biggest cultural festival continues – 51 years since the first competition.Te Matatini Herenga Waka Herenga Tangata Festival draws in an international audience and is the “only service provider required to have a television and online presence of 1 million”.In 2022, the Government gave Te Matatini an increase of $1 million, taking the total funding to $2.9m.But the organisers of the “Olympics of kapa haka” are disappointed, saying the funding is...

Stan Walker's childhood dream

Vocalist Stan Walker is excited to take the stage at Te Matatini.He calls performing with his group Te Reanga Mōrehu o Ratana a childhood dream come true."This, for me, means everything because this has been one of the biggest dreams of my life to stand onstage at Matatini and to stand with Te Reanga Morehu o Ratana,” he told TVNZ on Friday."It’s a childhood dream, something that I just didn't think was going to happen, now I'm doing it, hence the sweating."Link to video and article: S...