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A doco revival

A recent revival of local prime-time TV documentaries has highlighted some thorny social issues and raised awkward questions about justice and equality. Among them was a revealing investigation this week showing the cost of white-collar crime dwarfs that of welfare fraud, but draws lighter punishments and gets a lot less scrutiny in the media than the kind of crimes that play out in public. For years, the heyday of New Zealand TV documentary and current affairs seemed to be in the past.&nbs...

Tiny Dannevirke kura

The kura kaupapa movement was born out of a fear that te reo Māori would become extinct, a fear which drove whānau in Dannevirke to form their own kura with no resources and only a few students. Thirty years later, the community have gathered to take stock and to celebrate their little kura, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Tamaki-Nui-a-Rua. More than 400 manuhiri, including former students and staff, were welcomed onto Makirikiri marae on the outskirts of Dannevirke, to celebrate the kura and the str...

Ngāi Tahu leader who helped

Dr Terry Ryan was the secretary of Rehua Marae and the kawai kaitiaki of Ngāi Tahu whakapapa and authority on the southern iwi's genealogy. "He was able to showcase his uncanny ability to recite whakapapa files and draw connections between whānau members based simply on appearance and individual nature," Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu kaiwhakahaere Lisa Tumahai said in a statement. "Whānau from across the motu reached out for his knowledge and he was always happy to give of his time."Link to ar...

Tamariki are taught te reo Māori

An Australian school is showing New Zealand how it incorporates te reo Māori into its students' learning. St Thomas Aquinas primary school in Geelong, Australia, is teaching the Māori language to all its students as part of its curriculum. The idea started in 2018 to teach te reo Māori as a subject because of the number of Māori children there and it has grown to even hosting a pōwhiri for Defence Minister Peeni Henare during a recent visit to Australia. Geelong, southwest of Melbourne, is ...

Student says Shakespeare

A student who has won the chance to perform at The Globe in London through a school programme that attracted controversy, says Māori are using Shakespeare to help make amends for the past. Read this story in te reo Māori and English here. / Pānuitia tēnei i te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā ki konei. Year 13 Nayland College student Tiaki Sharp (Ngāti Kahungunu , Ngāi Tūhoe) and Year 12 student Molly Clarke were last week selected to take part in the trip organised by the Sha...

Premiere of Frozen Reo Māori

For director Tweedie Waititi, Frozen is her third take on a Disney production, following renditions of The Lion King and Moana. Tweedie's important work ensures there is space for te ao Māori to be both popular and relevant for children and whole families. What makes her proud of her job, she says, is seeing the actors and actresses grow within the industry. It's not just about the film - it's about the team who are able to use the experience as an opportunity to practi...

Stolen babies:

Thousands of unwed Kiwi mothers had their babies taken away from them during the post-war decades. Nearing the ends of their lives many are still fighting for a government apology, as Katie Doyle reports. Kaaren Svendsen curled up on a hospital bed and sobbed as the cries of her stolen newborn echoed in her head. She’d been asking nurses where her baby was as she recovered from giving birth. “I went looking for her. I could hear her crying. I knew that she was the baby that was crying becaus...

NZ Wars commemoration

The national day of commemoration for the New Zealand Wars was marked this morning, but there are concerns it passed many by unnoticed. A ceremony was held in Waikato at the site of the battle for Ooraakau Pā, to remember those who fought and fell in the wars and their ongoing effects.Watch: RNZ's NZ Wars series Ooraakau is where the Crown besieged a fortified pā near Kihikihi in March 1864, after more than 1400 troops were deployed to chase Rewi Maniapoto and suppress the Kiing...

Council at odds with iwi

Iwi in Hastings want to transform a fruitpackers lodge on police land into a revolutionary space to keep whānau out of prisons. But they are struggling to get support from the local council because it backs on to flash new housing developments. Omahu Rd is a busy arterial route through Hastings, near the Hawke's Bay Expressway - the main road to Napier - and home to Hawke's Bay Hospital.It is also where the "Fruitpackers Lodge" is, a quiet space which has been a home away from home for hundreds...

Mana Over Meth:

Reflections on Mana Over Meth, with Hinemoa Elder (Ngāti Kurī, Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, Ngāpuhi).You can watch the Loading Docs film above. Hands digging in the dirt, an image that opens up a cascade of other pictures in my mind. Fingers combing out space between the grasses. Pulling apart their filigree roots and revealing what is just under the surface. The clumps of earth feeling cool and damp against the skin. Particles crumbling between fingers. How smoothly these earth crumbs fall away, ...

Covid 19: New Omicron infections

New Covid-19 infections have jumped by more than 1500 cases in a day as sickness levels ramp up and a third wave of the year looms large. Yesterday the Ministry of Health reported 3923 new Omicron cases across New Zealand. The previous day there were 2410 infections. Today's cases released after 1pm dipped under yesterday's tally but still registered a high 3575 infections over a 24-hour period. The last time the single-day number of cases was around 4000 was August 17, a month before Covid rest...

A new generation of tamariki

The release of Disney’s Frozen Reo Māori is another triumph in the regeneration of Te Reo, featuring epic Māori talents and making history with the use of the Ngāi Tahu dialect in a movie for the first time ever.  With the hype and success of Lion King Reo Māori still warm in the hearts of Māori and non-Māori audiences, the creative forces behind Matewa Media haven’t stopped to take a break. From Pride Rock to Arendelle, they’ve ploughed ahead with the urgency of reviving a...

Heather du Plessis-Allan: The unfolding Tuhoe case

If you’re interested in the emerging co-governance debate, here’s a tip: Keep an eye on what’s going on with Tuhoe and the DOC huts and the area formerly known as Te Urewera National Park. I think this is becoming the most of obvious example of why co-governance doesn’t work.  Quick recap: back in 2014 Chris Finlayson reached a treaty settlement with Tuhoe, and part of that allowed the iwi to govern Te Urewera National Park with DOC. Kiwis were promised they’d still have guarantee...

Six60 goes back to its roots

Six60 will kick off a series of shows on Saturday night starting in Wellington, performing old and new hits in front of a replica of the house where it all began. At Sky Stadium on Friday, the band unveiled a huge replica set of their 660 Castle St flat in Dunedin where some of the band’s founding members lived during their university years. The band wanted to make the upcoming gigs in Aotearoa feel like small flat parties. “It was the obvious choice to just plonk a massive ve...

Teen founder of poi company

A teenager who founded the world's largest poi manufacturer and an organisation that is helping marae to reduce their waste are among the winners at this year's Māori Business Awards. Georgia Latu (Kai Tahu, Ngāpuhi), the 16-year-old founder and chief executive of Pōtiki Poi, has won the Young Māori Business Leader Award, a recognition she said she was humbled by. "We've been going through a lot lately, one of my best friends passed away not long ago and so when I look at this award, I see m...

Calls grow for more Māori, Pasifika

Calls for more locally trained anaesthetic technicians, especially those who are Māori and Pasifika, have grown as the wait list for non-urgent surgeries continues to get longer. Surgeries across the country have been pushed back, with a lack of anaesthetic technicians playing a significant role. In May the Government revealed waiting times were a big problem nationwide. A task force was launched to help the nearly 36,000 people waiting more than four months for specialist appointme...

People should feel comfortable giving money to people

Begging appears to be on the rise, with social services noticing a greater diversity of people on the streets.  And the act of giving money to those doing it tough was highlighted after images of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern appearing to give cash to a person in Wellington's CBD at the weekend emerged on social media.  There remains an unprecedented demand for emergency and transitional accommodation, with the latest figures from the Ministry of Social Development ...

School vege patches a boon for students,

South Auckland schools have thriving vegetable gardens students are growing to love, and they’re entirely for free. Thanks to charity Oke, 25 schools have vege patches children tend with ongoing support from Oke’s gardening experts. Flat Bush School is Oke’s latest partner. Over Matariki weekend this year, the school community and Oke built garden beds along the school’s main entrance.Link to video and article: School vege patches a boon for students, principals say |...

Glamping, ecotourism plan for prime Northland sandspit

A trust representing three local hapū has bought a sensitive piece of Northland coastal land off developer Templeton Group.A community group previously tried to buy the land for a reserve but was forced to abandon the bid by hapū members.High-density development is off the table but the land could be used for ecotourism and glamping. A sensitive piece of Northland coastal land is no longer at risk of subdivision, after alienated mana whenua bought the block off property developers. R...

Māori farming crowds witnesses

Hundreds gathered in Napier last week to celebrate the Ahuwhenua Māori Excellence in farming awards for beef and sheep. The Ahuwhenua Trophy acknowledges and celebrates business excellence in New Zealand's important pastoral and horticultural sectors. Every year, the competition alternates between the categories of dairy, sheep and beef, and, as of recently, horticulture.Link to article: Māori farming crowds witnesses Ahuwhenua Māori Excellence awards - NZ Herald...

New Zealand academics disagree with Richard Dawkins'

New Zealand academics disagree with comments by a top UK biologist dismissing mātauranga Māori. The comments were made by Oxford University's Richard Dawkins, one of the world's leading public intellectuals, during an interview with Newshub national correspondent Patrick Gower. His comments come as the teaching of mātauranga Māori - or traditional Māori knowledge - has expanded in schools in recent years.Link to video and article: New Zealand academics disagree with Rich...

Exclusive: Local iwi Ngāti Hei begin traditional practice

The traditional practice of flensing - cutting the skin and fat from a whale - has begun in Mercury Bay in the Coromandel.  Local iwi Ngāti Hei are being guided by cultural whale experts from Ngāti Wai in Northland. The 16-metre-long sperm whale washed up at Matapaua Bay and was towed nearly 12 kilometres south to Wharekaho the site of an ancient Ngāti Hei pā, which is appropriate for burial.Link to video and article: Exclusive: Local iwi Ngāti Hei begin traditional practice of fl...

Māori entrepreneur Rawiri Nelson

Māori entrepreneur Rawiri Nelson’s path to success has been long and challenging. He hopes his story might inspire the next generation of rangatahi to show that with hard work and a little luck, dreams are possible. Nelson (Te Arawa) is the founder of Höm Energy, which provides a range of supplements that help with focus, performance, and sleep. He’s recently moved into the entertainment industry, becoming a co-founder of the much-anticipated hip-hop and R&B summer festival Juicy Fest ...

Mana whenua rep turns back on Ka Mate haka;

With a swivel of her chair, an Invercargill mana whenua representative turned her back on a haka made world-famous by the All Blacks highlighting her offence to the haka being performed. In honouring Sir Tim Shadbolt at his last council meeting as mayor, a member of the public, Robbie Hawkins, performed the Ka Mate haka. But unbeknown to him, council Waihōpai Rūnaka representative Evelyn Cook turned her back from her seat around the council table. Following the meeting, Cook said: “At the [c...

Oranga Tamariki apologises

Oranga Tamariki has apologised over information it failed to provide RNZ about a botch-up of its work on sexual violence services. A scathing review was eventually secured and exposed how a $40m project was badly mismanaged and shut down by Oranga Tamariki in 2021. Oranga Tamariki had initially responded to an Official Information Act request, to say that no quality assurance report had been done. When RNZ revised the request, the agency then provided the independent report which had f...