Back to Blog

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

...

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...