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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...

Māori terms

With less than four months until a new gender self-identification process gets underway, the Government has revealed the options on offer for those who need to change their birth certificate - and Māori gender terms are off-limits for nowNew Zealanders will be able to identify as ‘another gender’ or a ‘non-binary gender’ as part of a new self-identification process coming into effect later this year, according to newly released details.However, the Government has for now opted against a...

Calls for rural marae to have more

Isolated Māori aren’t getting enough resources to survive amid fears they may be forgotten days after Cyclone Gabrielle smashed some regions, according to a national Māori housing advocate organisation.Te Matapihi - an independent voice for the housing sector to assist in Māori housing policy, growth through existing and emerging regional forums and provide a platform for sharing high-quality resources and information -wants the government to provide funding to Māori “first responders”...

Cyclone Gabrielle: ‘It’s for Wairoa, bro’ -

Michelle McIlroy is exhausted - not that she has time to be, she says.“You collapse at night and your bones are sore,” she chuckled. “But you go, ‘Snap out of it, you’ve gotta carry on! We’ll collapse later’.”McIlroy is running the distribution centre set up at her marae, Hinemihi, on the outskirts of Wairoa - the Hawke’s Bay town devastated by floods a week ago that, until Sunday, was cut off from the outside world.From the crack of dawn until well after dusk, she co-ordinates...

Uncertain future for Tangoio Marae following chairman Hōri Reti-Kaukau,

Insurance assessors are yet to assess whether Tangoio Marae will be demolished.Descendants of Tangoio Marae gathered for prayers and a traditional ceremony on Thursday to retrieve taonga (treasures) in their wharenui (meeting house) Te Pūnanga o Te Wao. The taonga uplifted included traditional carvings and photos of loved ones.A spokesperson for the marae told Newshub that disinformation spreading on social media about the demolition of the marae has caused an outcry for many of the descen...

Protecting the night sky

On summer nights just before dark, ecologist Annette Lees watches streams of young Cook's petrels (tītī) flying overhead on a journey that can take them thousands of kilometres from their nests.With their inbuilt echo locators, they've flown from Te Hauturu-o-Toi/Little Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf, to the Tasman Sea to feed.From her home on Auckland's west coast, Lees can also hear the goat-like bleatings of the tītī. But as more artificial light "trespasses" into the night, Lees...

Gone by lunchtime:

Toby’s Seafood, a Māori whānau-oriented business, set up camp at Te Matatini on Wednesday, selling out of their most popular dish – creamy pāua and fried bread by noon.They’ve come with raw mussels, raw fish, shrimp cocktails, pāua pies, cream pāua, pāua sausages and fried bread. By 9.30am on Thursday, the stall saw keen customers queuing up.They’ve also got “good for the soul” 100ml kina and tio (oyster) shots for those needing an instant kaimoana fix.“The most popular would...

Hawke's Bay rōpū ready to 'stand for home'

As Te Matatini kicks off, one rōpū (group) not only plans to take to the stage and give their all, but will also peforming with home in their hearts after the devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle.Read this story in te reo Māori and English here. / Pānuitia tēnei i te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā ki konei.Tamatea Arikinui, from Pōrangahau, Hawke’s Bay, are from a region devastated by last week's weather event, with many of the team unable to properly contact each other days after Gabrielle s...

Hipkins confirms new approach to truancy officers

The Government's taking action on poor school attendance rates through a 74-million dollar package.More than 80 attendance officer positions are being created to work with around three-thousand students who are continually bunking class.Prime Minister Chris Hipkins confirms that it's a different approach than previous efforts, which had a range of contracted providers who could employ whoever they wanted.In the wake of Gabrielle, people are being urged to hand in any evidence of post-disaster cr...

Hawke's Bay family violence support service

A family violence support service says the spike in family harm incidents in flood-affected areas is "frightening" with many reports from whānau they've never heard from before. It comes are Police Commissioner Andrew Coster revealed on Monday reports of family harm incidents have increased by around 60 percent since Cyclone Gabrielle. Family VIP Services, which assist family violence victims, say most of the spike is deemed "lower risk", such as verbal disputes that are possibly trig...

Mongrel Mob leader responds to claims

AWaikato Mongrel Mob leader doubts the gang's Hawke's Bay chapters are responsible for looting around Napier in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle, but is keen to look into it. The community was battered by the cyclone last week with intense flooding, causing massive destruction and multiple deaths.But as residents desperately try to recover from the disaster, tensions are rising with accusations gang members are stealing much-needed supplies from hard-hit communities. Newshub has heard fir...

Auckland University

Auckland University is advising staff to use artificial intelligence...to fight artificial intelligence.It's recommending detector tool GPTZero, which can spot if students are using controversial AI essay writing programme ChatGPT.The university is also recommending making assignments harder for such programmes to fake essays.Commercial Law Associate Professor Alex Sims says it's possible to confuse the AI with a standard question and answer, and tests and exams will still be part of the curricu...

Te Matatini: Maniapoto-Love heading from her small hometown

Puna Whakaata Maniapoto-Love is excited to celebrate Māori culture and connect with whānau when she takes to the stage in the world’s biggest kapa haka competition.The University of Auckland student will join thousands tomorrow as they take to the stage for the world’s biggest kapa haka competition.“Ko Puna Whakaata Maniapoto-Love tōku ingoa. I te taha o tōku papa, he uri ahau nō te kaiekee tohorā Paikea-Ariki, ko Whāngara te wā kainga, waihoki, he pānga ōku ki te awa o Whanganui...

'We are all on the same path when it comes to our babies':

Some of the country's most notorious gangs and their leaders are gathering in south Auckland in an unprecedented show of unity against abuse in state care.The Abuse in Care Royal Commission is nearing the end of four years of hearings and has begun hearing from gang members who claim childhood trauma in state care helped propel them towards a life of crime."Abuse in state care has produced a lot of what gangs are today, and the bros is trying to heal those people and get the government to realis...

Te Matatini:

Araraurangi / Air New Zealand has conducted its first flight conducted entirely in te reo Māori, carrying competitors ahead of Te Matatini.NZ1236 from Te Whanganui-a-Tara to Tāmaki Makaurau (Wellington to Auckland) today was conducted from boarding lounge to arrivals gate in the Māori language.“Except for Civil Aviation Authority prescribed announcements, the only language spoken by the pilots and cabin crew will be te reo Māori,” said the airline’s Māori Development Lead Tupara Morri...

Cyclone Gabrielle:

Cyclone Gabrielle’s death toll remains at 11, more expected3215 people still unaccounted for28,000 people without power800 people have been moved into temporary accommodationPolice have arrested 42 people in Hawke's Bay and 17 in Tairāwhiti areaNZ accepted an offer of support from Fiji, with 18 people adding to the 27-person Australian teamNew Zealand’s resilience is being tested like never before, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said on Sunday, as some areas remain cut off, fresh water is in ...

Photo essay:

lean-up efforts are underway in Hawke's Bay, with huge areas buried beneath mud and debris. See how mammoth the task ahead is with RNZ's photo gallery.Esk ValleyRNZ reporter Tess Brunton captured these images of the huge damage left in Esk Valley, in Hawke's Bay.Link to article: Photo essay: Cyclone Gabrielle's aftermath in Hawke's Bay | RNZ News...

The Conversation:

OPINION:The buzz around artificial intelligence (AI) technologies like ChatGPT is palpable. People are both optimistic and frightened by the possibilities of these tools. Clearly, these technologies will change how people write. But in terms of what people write, these technologies seem to be embracing the status quo.In fact, the way these tools are currently built appears to homogenise writing – making everything sound the same. And writing that sounds the same is not just boring; it also per...

One of the country's oldest tertiary institutions

Brett Berquist is the assistant vice-chancellor, engagement, at the University of CanterburyOPINION: As we celebrate our 150th anniversary this year, we are reflecting on what sets the University of Canterbury apart – what we stand for and how we are creating a future that best serves our students and our communities.The University of Canterbury was founded in 1873; the first constituent college of the University of New Zealand and the second institution in New Zealand to provide tertiary-leve...