Back to Blog

Kaitaia GP calls for greater vaccine uptake

A Kaitāia GP is calling for greater Covid-19 vaccine uptake in Māori children as Omicron continues to spread across the country.Around 31.4 per cent of children in Northland aged between the ages of five and 11 have been at least partially vaccinated since the rollout for the age bracket began on January 17. However, when solely looking at the vaccination rate for Māori children, the uptake drops to just 21.9 per cent - the lowest vaccine uptake for children in the country.Link to video and a...

The women raising their families

Carly-Mae Neill was five days old when her family of six moved into emergency housing. Nine months later, the family is still there, their tiny motel unit the only home the baby has known.“I'm a strong person, but I find it hard,” said Debby Poulton, Carly-Mae’s grandmother, who sleeps on the couch beside Carly-Mae’s cot in the cramped living room.The unit, in a motel complex overlooking busy Tahunanui Dr, has two small bedrooms, where the other Neill children (Sativa, 6, Eli, 5 and Ryan...

COVID-19 Omicron outbreak:

A leading surgeon says New Zealand's vaccine mandates have been the key to keeping COVID-19 deaths low and our hospitals running smoothly.It comes after anti-mandate protesters camped out at Parliament for 23 days. While the protesters were eventually removed many have re-grouped around the country. They are calling for the immediate removal of all vaccine mandates.Vaccination is mandatory for workers across several sectors including border, health, education, police, Defence Force, Corrections,...

Coronavirus:

Wainuiomata residents took quick action to protect their marae from protesters on Thursday night. After police removed the anti-mandate protesters from Parliament some continued their protest elsewhere. While a number set up camp in Shelly Bay, others planned to descend on Wainuiomata Marae, according to social media posts. But locals weren't having it with photos showing at least 50 residents camped out to protect the marae on Thursday afternoon. Locals said the police helicopter...

Wainuiomata Marae staff harassed,

Protesters who are trying to gain access to Wainuiomata Marae in Lower Hutt have been told they are not welcome and to go home. It comes after residents flocked to the marae on Thursday to protect it from protesters who planned to set up camp there after being removed from Parliament. Kokiri Marae general manager Tina Olsen-Ratana was at Wainuiōmata Marae on Friday. Olsen-Ratana told Newshub the protesters weren't welcome."We are not letting them in, we are just asking them to move on...

Scholarships granted to enhance

Two men have secured scholarships to pursue a post-graduate degree in law at a New Zealand university or at an overseas institution.It comes following a demand for an increase in Māori to fill positions of influence to improve outcomes and create mana-enhancing strategies for the justice system.The Borrin Foundation philanthropic fund was set up by a former High Court Justice to support legal research, education and scholarship to serve a fairer Aotearoa.The Foundation's current strategic areas...

Health and mental wellbeing can be influenced by where you live

Where you live can influence your health and mental wellbeing, including if you vape or smoke, according to health experts at the University of Canterbury.A nationwide geospatial study linked living in areas with “health constraining” features such as fast-food outlets, dairies and liquor stores with poorer physical and mental health outcomes in residents.Led by public health senior lecturer Dr Matt Hobbs, the study was one of the first to show that a person’s environment increases their c...

Youth 19 Report: Voices of Rangatahi: Involved with Oranga Tamariki

...

Kura kaupapa 'jumping through hoops'

Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa, the council of Māori-medium schools, has criticised the actions of the Ministry of Education in a Twitter post.Condemning the lack of dialogue between kura kaupapa and local district health boards, the council has called the application process for rapid antigen tests (RATs) inequitable.“What we’ve found across the board is that without personal connections to the Government it has been very difficult to acquire RATs,” said Rawiri Wri...

Two worlds: Meet the social worker mum

There are two New Zealands, Lizzie Makalio says.She’s comparing the Mongrel Mob with the rest of the country, two very different worlds moving around, and rarely intersecting, each other.Makalio walks in both of them. On any given day she’s talking with judges, Mob members, politicians and prisoners, but trying to draw a parallel between the worlds is almost impossible; they’re quite simply worlds apart.Link to article:Two worlds: Meet the social worker mum who's also a Mongrel Mob wife | ...

Te Kahu o te Raukura laid as a cloak of peace

They sent a strong message to protesters - with Taranaki Whanui saying the protesters have not honoured their role as manuhiri and its time to listen to mana whenua."This morning, we have laid down Te Kahu o Te Raukura - a cloak of aroha and peace over the Parliament grounds and our surrounding ancestral sites," Pipitea chair Kura Moeahu said."Te Raukura contains the three feathers representing honour, peace, and goodwill - the same symbol used at Parihaka."Moeahu said Te Kahu o Te Raukura would...

Nga Pou Mana

Tēnā koutou katoa! Ngā Pou Mana would like to invite you to our first webinar training session for 2022. This session provides an overview of:- Why Te Tiriti was written (the history)- What did it actually say (the articles including He Wakaputanga)- What went wrong (breaches and the impact of colonisation)- Where to from here (WAI2575, Whakamaua (MoH), Whāia Te Tika (ACC) and implementing ToW in practice) This webinar provides an overview of the fundamental concepts of Te Tir...

'It's no longer safe':

Police say they are working with Oranga Tamariki to "ensure children are at the forefront of planning and response decisions"."We estimate around 30 children are currently present at the protest at Parliament grounds," a statement read."Police are also aware of a number of protesters planning to travel to Wellington to join the protest over the weekend. We urge people to stay away from an occupation site that is no longer a safe environment for families and children."Police say their focus is to...

Statement: Puke Ariki Landing

Ngāti Te Whiti hapū and Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa understand an occupation has been planned to take place at Puke Ariki Landing on Saturday 26 February.Puke Ariki is a wāhi tapu (sacred place) for Ngāti Te Whiti hapū and Te Atiawa iwi.  It has also become a special gathering place for the New Plymouth community.Ngāti Te Whiti hapū and Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa wish to make it clear that we will not support any negative behaviour which might affect the safety of our community or man...

Oranga Tamariki changes

Survivors of abuse in care have accused the Government of “deliberately preempting” a Royal Commission of inquiry into state care abuse with its planned shakeup of Oranga Tamariki oversight.Proposals to replace the Children’s Commissioner with a board of representatives and place an independent monitor of Oranga Tamariki within the Education Review Office, rather than as a standalone entity, have attracted criticism from both former and current commissioners.There are also concerns the wor...

Māori vaccination rollout stalls:

Independent researcher and analyst Dr Rāwiri Taonui said Māori and community health providers have narrowed the gap between national and Māori vaccinations from 25 percent five months ago to 9 percent for those aged 12 and over.More than 114,000 Māori aged 12 and over had been vaccinated since 1 November, but the rollout was now slowing significantly with fewer first and second vaccinations being reported in many district health board areas."The numbers ... suggest that the vaccination effor...

Māori mourn

Local Māori have lamented the loss of the Lake Waikare of old at a karakia ahead of $1.3 million in repairs to the northern flood control gate.A regional councillor, meanwhile, used Monday’s occasion to take a swipe at central Government for failing to front up a fairer share of cash for such work, which is part of a wider scheme protecting nationally important transport links.Lake Waikare faces multiple issues, including algae that can turn it green and orange, run-off of nutrients from near...

Government announces $140m new funding

Associate Minister of Health Peeni Henare. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone The $140 million of new funding was announced by government ministers at Ngā Whare Waatea in South Auckland on Tuesday morning.The funding is on top of that announced last week for support to those self-isolating with Covid-19, or as close contacts."We know Omicron is likely to disproportionately affect Māori and Pasifika communities and the government is committed to making sure vulnerable whānau received the ...

SIT welcomes

The Southern Institute of Technology is expanding by bringing in a Māori development team, a first for the institution.In August, SIT created the new role of general manager of Māori development and appointed Dr Keri Milne-Ihimaera for it.After starting her role, Milne-Ihimaera was able to recognise a full team was needed and SIT agreed.Maania Niha-Dobson was hired as Pou Kōtui Māori (senior adviser – Māori engagement) and Rāniera Dallas as Pou Arataki Māori (Māori partnerships manag...

Wellington's tangata whenua

Wellington iwi leaders say the protesters occupying Parliament grounds should respect their land mana whenua and leave, noting that the organisers of the Convoy 2022 failed to contact tangata whenua before arriving and taking over streets around Parliament.“Leaders from Te Ātiawa in Wellington are totally distraught to see their treatment of our whenua,” said Liz Mellish, chairwoman of Te Raukura Wharewaka o Pōneke and a former trustee of Taranaki Whānui.Te Ātiawa tū...

Principals cry foul over schools' exclusion

Schools have been told they generally won't be part of that scheme, although exceptions will be made if they don't have enough staff able to be on site, to look after children who cannot learn from home.The scheme does include some staff in boarding school hostels.Secondary Principals Association president Vaughan Couillault told Morning Report teachers should be recognised as critical workers and included in the scheme."I realise it's not necessarily an education decision, it's a heal...

Ngāti Whātua ki Ōrakei

What makes this housing initiative special is the collaboration between architect and owner, catering to their needs."We didn't really want carpets, we wanted floorboards which are easy to maintain when we get older and we can't push the vacuum cleaner, things like that," says Poko.Architect Madeline Sharpe helped draw up the plans for Poko's whare and says the homes aren't just for kaumātua, but for their whānau in the future."They all believe that they are building whare not for themselves b...

Three decades later, Australia gets the green light

On Waitangi Day two countries and their cultures, Māori and Aboriginal, came together on sacred Aboriginal land.It's a 30-year, 15 hectares and $4 million dream - the Ngā Uri o Rāhiri Marae."When we first saw it, the majority of the board - we had to turn away we had a little bit of a cry," says Kiri Barber, from the Sydney Marae Alliance.Link to video and article: Three decades later, Australia gets the green light to build first-ever marae (msn.com)...

Auckland Uni study links paracetamol use

A new study conducted by the University of Auckland showed a “small but significant” link between paracetamol use during pregnancy and childhood depression.Professor Karen Waldie and her team analysed data from Growing up in New Zealand, which involved 3925 eight-year-olds and their mothers, 67 per cent of whom had taken paracetamol while pregnant.The team collected the data by quizzing mothers during pregnancy and, eight years later, quizzing children on signs such as low mood, lo...

Te Karere, New Zealand's first Māori language television show

When Scotty Morrison began fronting Te Karere back in 2002, it was still being broadcast with almost as minimal a setup as the show’s very first episodes, produced and presented by Derek Fox 20 years earlier in 1982.“I would go into the studio, there would be one camera sitting in front of me and a desk about the size of the old school desks with a felt carpet top and a microphone sticking out,” remembers Morrison.“That’s where I would present from – sit down in the chair a...