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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...

Local Focus: Donations flow

Volunteers at the Tomoana Showgrounds include teachers with no schoolkids to teach, students with no classes to attend and families happy to help out.As donations roll in, their job is to co-ordinate, sort and prepare them for the most remote and in-need communities in Hawke’s Bay, in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle.“All these people have been co-ordinated by volunteers in Hawke’s Bay, and we’ve got members from the public coming in and bringing goods,” said volunteer Megan Nicholson.“...

Another Te Pūkenga executive has resigned

Another senior figure has resigned from national education provider Te Pūkenga soon after being appointed – 10 weeks into the job.Wellington-based Richard Forgan was unveiled as deputy chief executive strategy and transformation at Te Pūkenga on December 1. He resigned on February 7 and will finish on March 3.He is the latest Te Pūkenga senior leader to quit soon after joining.Deputy chief executive Merran Davis quit her “dream job” after eight months in April 2021, while Matthew Walker...

Unpaid rent from Kāinga Ora tentants

The total amount owed in rent arrears by Kāinga Ora tenants has increased from $2 million to nearly $17m in three years.The average rent arrears owed to Kāinga Ora by its tenants had increased from $483 in November 2019, to $1901 in November 2022, Housing Minister Megan Wood said in a reply to a written Parliamentary question from ACT housing spokesperson Brooke van Velden.The total amount owed in rent arrears has increased from $2.32m in September 2019 to $17m in September 2022.The largest su...

Constructing

David Kārena-Holmes is a Nelson-based author and academicCOLUMN: An English-speaking learner of te reo Māori is faced, certainly, with acquiring a vocabulary of words which may be unfamiliar – but a greater difficulty is acquiring a good understanding of the differences between the languages in the manner in which sentences are constructed.The magnitude of these differences is indicated by the fact that early attempts in the 19th century to explain the grammar were quite confusing.In both A ...

High Court upholds Waitangi Tribunal recommendations

The Waitangi Tribunal did not overstep its legal jurisdiction when recommending the Crown return Mangatū forest land and financially compensate Māori, the High Court has found.Following more than two decades of hearings and reports relating to claims the Crown breached Te Tiriti o Waitangi across the Tūranga (Poverty Bay) district, the Waitangi Tribunal released its recommendations report, titled the Mangatū Remedies Report, in 2021.It determined the Crown should return Crown forest land tha...

Kelly Makiha:

OPINIONRotorua has long been home to some of the greatest names in the performing arts business and now it has a $36.5 million facility to match.The doors flung open and guests walked the red carpet into the new Sir Howard Morrison Centre on Thursday night and there was an unmistakable buzz in the air.It’s been more than five years since the former Rotorua Convention Centre was ruled earthquake-prone and the doors were closed.Since November 2017, there’s been lots of ups and downs: a pandemi...

New bilingual signs replace

Welcome signs that were installed for te wiki o te reo Māori (Māori Language Week) in 2020 have been replaced with new bilingual signs at the request of Nelson mayor Nick Smith.The new signs, which say “Welcome to Nelson Haere mai ki Whakatū”, were installed on December 17 at a cost of $4795.25.The old signs, which said “Haere mai ki Whakatū”, were installed in 2020 to help celebrate te wiki o te reo Māori, and were kept after receiving positive feedback from the community.The signs...

'We are entering a period

Where on the spectrum from tragedy to farce are we when we see the same images of upturned cars floating in floodwaters, of desperate people awaiting rescue on rooftops, in so many cities around the world?Comment: In 1936, as Hitler's Germany geared up for war, Winston Churchill railed against the comparatively poor state of the British military."The era of procrastination, of half measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to its close. In its place, we are enterin...

The dangerous false narrative

If we say misogynistic abuse led to former PM Jacinda Ardern’s resignation, we make a female leader look weak, and risk glorifying and empowering misogynistsOpinion: The Labour party had quite a poll bump after Chris Hipkins became Prime Minister. Is this turnaround in poll numbers the typical "novelty boost”, or does it validate the idea that misogyny is alive and too well in New Zealand?Maybe the latter, but the narrative that misogyny broke former prime minister Jacinda Ard...

Tikanga Māori approach for native plant and marine extracts

One of NZ’s fastest growing cosmetic ingredients exporters has launched a multi-million dollar global expansion programme to meet industry demand for sustainably harvested, native plant extracts.The move follows an approach by a $28bn US retailer looking to incorporate their bioactive ingredients into a new skincare line to supply 500+ North American stores.Andrea Taimana, founder and CSO of Organic Bioactives, which supplies ingredients to cosmetic manufacturers in over 24 countries, says New...

In Gisborne’s blackout,

Gisborne has been brutally hit by Cyclone Gabrielle, but the response by both its officials and tangata whenua has been admirable. Tairāwhiti has been ravaged by a natural disaster once again. As well as feeling the full force of Cyclone Gabrielle, a magnitude 4.4 earthquake shook the region on Monday night. But the cyclone has done most of the damage. Speaking to RNZ, MetService’s Lisa Murray said Cyclone Gabrielle pelted Gisborne with 400mm of rain in 24 hours. The Gisborne District Co...

Tina Ngata:

Tina Ngata has been reflecting on recent developments that threaten to derail our progress towards Tiriti justice — and in this piece, originally published on her blog, she focuses on performative gestures by the Crown, and the permissiveness of te ao Māori that allows it.If the New Zealand government really punches above its weight at anything, it’s performativity.Over recent decades, the Crown has refined, to a fine art, the practice of performative gestures that don’t really amount to ...

NRL: Calls for commentators to 'do better' with Māori pronunciation

Long-time broadcaster Hemana Waaka is calling out sports channels to "do better", and stop "bastardising" Māori and other indigenous languages.NRL player also say it's time to start pronoucning their names correctly.The NRL All Stars Games at Rotorua were watched by millions across the world, and shown by broadcasters internationally and at home, but getting commentators, particularly the Aussie ones, to properly pronounce the names of Māori players is still an uphill battle.Māori All Stars c...

Why the Māori way of doing the business

OPINION:Māori are finding success in business by honouring the past, tackling present challenges with kaha, and staying focused on the aspirations of future generations.Now estimated to be in the realm of $70 billion, the Māori economy is an example of astonishing resilience. Māori companies work hard to balance people, planet, and profit, and they do this by prioritising values such as kaitiakitanga, whānaungatanga and manaakitanga through proactive guardianship of land and resources, build...

Milly comes home

Joining this year’s intake of House Officers at Hawke’s Bay Hospital felt like coming home for Milly Bowen.Milly, of Rongomaiwahine (iwi), grew up on a farm on Te Mahia Peninsula and attended boarding school in Hawke’s Bay before heading south to study medicine at the University of Otago.But it was the whakawhanaungatanga (establishing relationships) gained from the Tuakana Teina Internship that truly made her new beginning feel like she was returning home.Milly, was one of the inaugural T...

Ngāti Rangi aiming to be part of Ruapehu Alpine Lifts,

Ngāti Rangi, the mana whenua of Mount Ruapehu, says it has not been consulted about the future of Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, which operates the Whakapapa and Tūroa skifields in the central North Island but is now in voluntary administration after Covid-19 lockdowns and a poor ski season.The iwi’s chief executive, Helen Leahy, says it has been given some information more recently about Chateau Tongariro Hotel in Tongariro National Park, which was closed by its operator last Sunday because of unsaf...