Back to Blog

Emergency housing providers

Businesses and community leaders in Christchurch are concerned around an alleged increase in crime in western parts of the city.Some believe the government's emergency housing initiatives are responsible for the apparent spike.But the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and an experienced welfare advocate are denying claims there is a clear link to those in emergency accommodation.Cafe and garden centre Terra Viva has been open in the western suburb of Burnside for more than 25 years.The busine...

Hawke’s Bay Waitangi Day commemoration

A commemoration of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in Hawke’s Bay is once again being held on Monday, February 6 on the banks of Te Awa o Mokotūāraro (commonly known as the Clive River).This is close to Waipureku, the site where three chiefs - Te Hapuku, Hoani Waikato and Harawira Mahikai Te Tātere - boarded the HMS Herald on June 24, 1840 and signed the Treaty under the watchful eye of emissary Major Thomas Bunbury.The morning’s events begin at 7.45am at Ātea a Rangi, the Celestia...

Oranga Tamariki considering reopening controversial children's home

This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission.Oranga Tamariki is considering reopening a controversial children's home in Christchurch to meet demand for beds.The child protection agency shut down the 10-bed Te Oranga care and protection house two years ago after video leaked of a boy being held in a headlock.It was now seeking quotes to refurbish the inside of the house, deputy chief executive of service delivery Rachel Leota told RNZ.“Our operations at T...

Provisional data shows school rolls

Most schools in Rotorua are preparing for expanding rolls this year, with estimates showing three-quarters of schools will see a boost in students.Provisional data from the Ministry of Education shows of the 47 schools in the area, 36 are set for an increase compared with last year.The provisional figures are estimates and may change, while the 2022 numbers are based on school roll returns from July 1.Rotorua Boys’ High School is estimated to be Rotorua’s biggest school in 2023, with 1160 st...

Air force wants more wāhine Māori and Pasifika

The Royal New Zealand Air Force opened its Whenuapai air base to 34 teachers, providing them with hands-on experience in aviation and technical roles.The six-day School to Skies camp aims to provide teachers with the knowledge and hands-on experience they need to inspire students, especially Māori and Pasifika wāhine, to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.Squadron Leader Lisa Eavestaff says influencing not only Year 13 students but also their tea...

Life sentences found to be unjust

The quashing of three teen murderers’ life sentences will allow other youth killers to appeal their sentences, a King’s Counsel says.Georgia Rose Dickey, Christopher James Brown and Katrina Roma Epiha have all been re-sentenced to finite sentences with a minimum period of imprisonment after a ruling from the Court of Appeal yesterday.Brown, who was found guilty of murder after a jury trial, and Dickey, who pleaded guilty to murder, both received life sentences with a non-parole period of 10 ...

Teen girls choose Māoritanga over Australian birthplace

Two Australian-born girls involved in a transtasman parental dispute have been allowed to stay in Aotearoa after learning to love their Māori heritage.Sisters Ginny and Della Mercer*, now both in their mid-teens, were born in Australia to an Australian mother and a Kiwi father who separated when the girls were small.The father, Piripi Mercer*, returned to New Zealand permanently but the girls remained living in Australia with their mother.They travelled to New Zealand to spend time with their f...

Rain records are going to keep falling

ANALYSIS: Shortly after Auckland experienced about a month’s worth of rain in 60 minutes, mayor Wayne Brown told media: “We just need the rain to stop, that's the main issue.”The heating climate answered by sending a second “atmospheric river” over the city on Sunday, with more heavy rain arriving on Tuesday.Auckland’s clouds will part. But this type of rainfall – a month’s or a season’s worth in a single day – is not just here to stay. Rainfall records are likely to be set f...

Use of motels by Oranga Tamariki ‘deplorable’,

The Children’s Commissioner has slammed the practice of housing young Kiwis in state care in motels and says the situation is a “symptom of a failing system”.And she says some children and teens are being kept in motels “for longer periods than the sentences served by most young offenders”.Last week the Herald revealed that a young person under Oranga Tamariki care lived in a motel for more than 600 days until suitable accommodation could be found.It was also revealed that other young ...

NKII board aims to strengthen relationships

A clear ambition of the Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated (NKII) board chairman, Bayden Barber, has been to build relationships and connect with other organisations in the community to build on our common goals and aspirations for whānau, hapū, iwi and community development.Late last year, an invitation was extended from the NKII board to the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC), and Te Kahui Ohanga (TKO) Post Settlement Group Entities (PSGEs) to attend the first NKII board hui of the new yea...

‘It’s only the beginning’:

A determined group of Northland weavers has fulfilled a challenge laid down a century ago by rediscovering the long-lost techniques used to create a traditional Māori sail.Woven sails were used to propel the waka that brought Māori across the Pacific to Aotearoa but the specialist knowledge used to design and weave them had been lost to time.For centuries the only surviving example of a traditional sail, known as Te Rā, was in a vault of the British Museum in London.Fearing the skills used to...

Why travelling Brits should engage

Brits abroad can be an asset to Aotearoa - but only if we make an effort to engage with te ao Māori, writes Scottish expat Fran BarclayEarlier this week, the UK High Commissioner signalled a promising intention to address the barriers facing young Māori and Pasifika who aspire to travel on the UK working holiday scheme. As a Scottish expat in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, I hope that increased interaction with Māori and Pasifika travellers could improve my country’s cultural understanding of Aotearo...

Greens senator Lidia Thorpe says

Thousands of people have attended Invasion Day rallies across Australia, where speakers addressed a number of issues for First Nations peoples, including the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament.Greens senator and DjabWurrung Gunnai Gunditjmara woman Lidia Thorpe was met with cheers from the public in Melbourne when she said Indigenous Australians deserved "real power and action" rather than the proposed Voice.A referendum on whether to constitutionally enshrine the advisory body is due to be...

Indigenous voices are 'being ignored’

...

Masterton overdoses:

Some of the 12 people who overdosed in Masterton on fentanyl within 48 hours last year were aware it was the drug they had taken, despite police earlier saying it was sold as either cocaine or methamphetamine.A dozen people were hospitalised in 48 hours after taking a substance in June last year, spaking widespread concern.Police have now revealed an investigation has concluded some users knew the substance was fentanyl.“Other users believed it to be cocaine.”link to video and article: ...

‘Very unlikely’ Australia Day is being celebrated for the ‘atrocities of the past’

...

'Where are the feminists' supporting Aboriginal women suffering domestic abuse

...

Fighting for Rotorua:

Changes to a service transporting children living in emergency housing to and from school could have a negative impact on attendance and deepen social divides, principals fear.The Ministry of Education had been running a van service to transport the children to school since March 2021.The vans had school liaison whānau connectors on board to help link families with social services, to support regular attendance, and to connect displaced children with a school.The service was scaled back from se...

New independent Māori education entity needed

Māori must have more agency and authority over its future if the government wants to increase the number of tamariki in kaupapa Māori education, a new report says.Last year, Associate Minister of Education Kelvin Davis said he wanted 30 percent of Māori learners participating in kura kaupapa or other Māori medium education by 2040.In February last year, he said this would see more than 60,000 more Māori learners, 3500 fluent kaiako (teachers) and 250 more kura (schools).The second report fr...

New Prime Minister Chris Hipkins speaks

The newly crowned Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has fronted his first post-Cabinet press conference and in the wake of fresh consumers price index data being released.The CPI, which records changes in the price of goods and services, increased 7.2 per cent in the 12 months to December 2022, Stats NZ said today.It comes alongside Jacinda Ardern’s official resignation as Prime Minister after she attended her last event in the role yesterday when she travelled north for annual Rātana celebrations...

Māori seats don't 'make a lot of sense' -

Fresh off using his platform at this week's Rātana celebrations to criticise the government's approach to co-governance with Māori, National Party leader Christopher Luxon is taking aim at Parliament's Māori seats.But despite saying their existence "doesn't make a lot of sense", National will still be looking at standing candidates in "at least one or two of them".At Rātana on Tuesday, Luxon - who began his speech in te reo Māori, making use of lessons he started in 2022 - accused the gover...

Luxon commits to scrapping Māori Health Authority,

National leader Christopher Luxon has committed to scrapping the Māori Health Authority and giving its $170 million funding to iwi instead.Luxon's commitments come after he attacked the wider conversation of co-governance at Rātana on Tuesday calling it divisive and immature.The National leader doubled down on his views on Wednesday, telling AM co-host Ryan Bridge co-governance is creating two separate systems for Māori and non-Māori. Luxon said he had no issues with co-governance when ...

Live updates: Chris Hipkins sworn in as Prime Minister,

Labour leader Chris Hipkins has been sworn in as New Zealand's 41st Prime Minister.It follows the resignation of Jacinda Ardern on Wednesday morning.Carmel Sepuloni has also been sworn in as deputy Prime Minister at a ceremony at Government House. Link to video and article: Live updates: Chris Hipkins sworn in as Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern resigns | Newshub...

Landmark deals give Indigenous key role

Two landmark deals in western Canada could reshape the role of Indigenous nations in resource development projects, placing greater power in the hands of groups that have long been excluded and signalling a possible shift in how industry and governments negotiate with communities on the frontlines of environmental degradation.In recent years, a string of fierce battles over pipelines have put a spotlight on the fractious nature of resource extraction projects, often pitting First Nations communi...

What is the Doctrine of Discovery?

Link to slide show: What is the Doctrine of Discovery? Why do Indigenous leaders want King Charles III to renounce it? (msn.com)...