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OT places children

An approved Oranga Tamariki caregiver who assaulted a child in her care last year and had her caregiver status revoked is still looking after children through the state agency on a regular basis.Newsroom understands an Oranga Tamariki social worker, who attends the same church as the caregiver and her husband, has placed two siblings with the couple as respite care for two nights approximately every three weeks.Because they are no longer approved caregivers the couple cannot be paid the caregive...

Trifecta of hurdles to Māori economy:

The Māori economy is being held back because of low homeownership rates among Māori, says Westpac acting chief executive Simon Power.Māori businesses were growing in number, but were underrepresented within Aotearoa’s economy, and faced barriers to growth, Power said at the Apec 2021 Live virtual business summit on Wednesday.Power presented a research report for the event from economic research firm Berl and Māori-owned business advisory OpinioNative, which concluded the Māori e...

Magician wows audiences

Api Wairau-Mason (Ngaāti Tūwharetoa, Te Atiawa, Mangaia) may very well be the only magician in the world who performs his mahi all in Te Reo Māori.Mason, or Tangata Tumatarau (magician) is self-taught, and learned most of what he knows primarily from YouTube, but has recently found himself collaborating with well-known local magicians to add to his kete of tinihanga (basket tricks).   “Lately, I’ve found myself around a whole bunch of Aotearoa magicians and they�...

New Aotearoa keyboard

“It was really frustrating trying to use macrons in my language.“Most Māori whānau just won't use it, they're struggling to interact with macrons in a way to use their language.“All of my family and friends either do not use te reo Māori because it’s too much of a hassle, or they don't use the macrons which makes the words unreadable.”Difficulty switching between settings to use the reo Māori keyboard had pushed many to copy and paste vowels with a tohutō from elsewhere, or not us...

Children's Cmmr Andrew Becroft

The Children's Commissioner is reiterating the need to focus on childhood mental health. Judge Andrew Becroft is making a series of speeches before he leaves the job next month, the first of which he made on Wednesday.Link to video: Children's Cmmr Andrew Becroft calls for more focus on childhood mental health (msn.com)...

Tertiary providers given deadline

Universities, polytechs and wananga have been given 10 years to end the persistently lower pass rates for Māori and Pasifika students.It's the third time in the past decade the Tertiary Education Commission has set a deadline for parity. This time it wants tertiary institutions to make large-scale changes and is hinting at fines for failure.Education correspondent John Gerritsen reports.Link to audio: Tertiary providers given deadline to fix persistently low pass rates for Māori, Pas...

What do we understand

What do we understand about dyslexia? Dyslexia is a brain-based type of learning disability that specifically impairs a person's ability to read. It is a common condition that also causes problems with writing and spelling. According to figures published by Dyslexia Reading Well , around 30 million adults in the United States are dyslexic. A further six million in the United Kingdom suffer from the condition. And in Canada, three million people have dyslexia. Signs of dyslexia usu...

Labour MP Willie Jackson

Cabinet Minister Willie Jackson has had a meeting with gang members about COVID-19 vaccination.Earlier this week, it was revealed prominent Mongrel Mob members including life member Harry Tam and Waikato chapter president Sonny Fatupaito were allowed to travel to Auckland to help ramp up vaccination efforts. "We've got cases in gangs and that makes this job really hard," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Radio Hauraki earlier this week. TVNZ's Q+A reported that Māori D...

The case that stopped the tour:

The flour bombs and pitch invasions of the 1981 Springbok tour saw hundreds of protestors arrested and brought before the courts. Four years later, it was the Rugby Union’s turn to face the rule of law, when a group of lawyers challenged a decision to send the All Blacks to apartheid South Africa. Edward Gay reports.A crowd of hundreds braved the Wellington winter, to find out if a group of lawyers had managed to stop the All Blacks touring apartheid South Africa.Sir Ted Thomas QC was still dr...

Parents say Māori children

Parents are accusing an embattled Lower Hutt school of marginalising Māori children and failing to always protect their cultural, emotional, and physical wellbeing.The allegations come after the Ministry of Education dissolved Wilford School's Board of Trustees last month and appointed a commissioner, Dr Te Tiwha Brendon Puketapu, in its place.In a statement the ministry said the board was managing a number of complaints it did not have the capacity to resolve under urgency.The Petone school, w...

Aotearoa, Nu Tīreni, New Zealand

Growing up in the Far North, Sam Napia never thought Pākehā would embrace te reo Māori.The nation coming together to sing the Māori version of the national anthem was beyond his imagination. A stadium of Kiwis performing haka in the stands alongside the All Blacks on the international stage was unthinkable.But in 2021, Napia, now the chief executive of Te Rūnanga ā Iwi ō Ngāpuhi, sees a break in the clouds. The indigenous culture of the nation is being pushed to the forefront of our iden...

Team finds 700-year-old soot

An overseas research team has linked soot preserved in Antarctic ice to fires set in Aotearoa New Zealand, by Māori settlers, 700 years ago.The researchers say the finding is a dramatic example of early humanity's environmental impact.However, there has been some criticism here in New Zealand about the research.Joseph McConnell is an environmental scientist at the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada.He spoke to Kim Hill.Link to article and recording: Team finds 700-year-old soot...

Four iwi file claim seeking judicial review

Four iwi have filed a joint claim at the High Court in Auckland seeking a review of the use of te reo Māori in the nation’s courts.Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Rēhia, Te Poari o Ngātiwai, Te Rūnanga a Iwi o Ngāpuhi and Te Reo Ngāti Hine claim while the Māori Language Act gives anyone the right to speak te reo in legal proceedings, the language is still given a back seat to English.They are seeking a review of the decisions made by the Minister of Justice, the Secretary of Justice and the Attorn...

Clover Park resident

Craig Bridewell said breaches include residents holding parties with friends and people not wearing masks in public while meeting up with friends."I have called the police 105 number twice regarding this, but their only response was to email them," he said."This is happening every day. I have seen police officers drive past a park with 20-30 kids playing basketball and they drive on. While my next door neighbour has friends around all the time to party - it's so frustrating."It's totally out of ...

Auckland Art Gallery

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki appears to be recovering from a year made controversial by its landmark contemporary Māori art exhibition and the sudden resignation of its curator.The gallery has now appointed Te Arepa Morehu (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāpuhi) as its inaugural head of kaupapa Māori.In June the gallery also appointed Thomas Irvine of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei as deputy director.That appointment came just months after the gallery’s curator Māori, Nigel Borell (Pirirākau, Ngāi Te R...

Northland iwi gives new species of pygmy pipehorse

Kaumātua of a Northland iwi have been involved in the naming of a new pygmy pipehorse for the first time.The newly discovered pygmy pipehorse species, a fish similar to the seahorse, has been given the scientific name Cylix tupareomanaia.Its common name will be manaia pygmy pipehorse, or tu pare o manaia.Auckland Museum said the species was first seen by divers at the Poor Knights Island Marine Reserve in 2011, but it was believed to be a different rare seahorse species call...

The Bullet Journal Method

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Heather du Plessis-Allan

I don’t have a problem with the Auckland border exemption for the Mongrel Mob boss. We know the gangs are a major problem with the spread of Covid at the moment.It doesn’t sound like all the gang members are getting tested and being straight up with the contact tracers about where they’ve been and who they’ve been in contact with.Which means Covid keeps spreading faster than the contact tracers can catch up.So if getting Sonny up from Waikato to Auckland to give the Mungies the...

Here’s what makes ‘authoritative parents’ different from the rest

We all want to raise intelligent, confident and successful kids. But where to begin? And what’s the best parenting style to go with?Parenting styles fall under four main categories. It might be that you use one or more of these different styles at different times, depending on the situation and context.Link to article: Authoritative parenting is best style for raising confident kids: Child psychologist (cnbc.com)...

Children are hurting

OPINION: New Zealand's pandemic response has been praised worldwide.And here in New Zealand, praise of the government's response can often be heard in offices, break-rooms and many public places.But for many, it feels as though the "Team of 5 Million" has forgotten about them and that their experiences and struggles, although often reported in the media, fall on deaf ears.On forums and in comment sections, it seems as though when "team" members who have been "benched" share stories of their...

Brian Tamaki speaks out after protest charges -

"Today, I had a visit from two officers from the New Zealand Police at my home informing me that I was to be charged with two offences under the ever-changing laws passed by the government now known as the Covid-19 Public Health Response (Alert Level Requirements) Order (No 12)," Tamaki says."I am charged on the basis that I organised a gathering in an outdoor place during Alert Level 3. I am prepared to stand up and be heard when I see injustice and suffering. I am certainly not afraid to do so...

Not a single Māori Crown prosecutor

Crown Solicitor firms in Christchurch, Gisborne and Whanganui have no Māori Crown prosecutors at all - and few of the firms outside Auckland have more than one.Crown prosecutions, usually reserved for the most serious crimes, are contracted out to 16 private law firms, who receive more than $40 million a year of public money for the work.Each has a monopoly for Crown prosecutions in the area covered by their Crown Warrant.Under the contracts with government agency Crown Law, they are suppo...

Newborn baby left with brain injury

A newborn baby was diagnosed with a brain injury after suffering a lack of oxygen during an ambulance ride, an investigation has found.On Monday, the deputy Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC) released details of a case which they said showed the need for better communication and coordination of care between midwifes and ambulance services.The incident took place in 2019 when a woman gave birth to her son in an unplanned home birth.Link to article and video: Newborn baby left...

THE HUI Housing:

"We know that the homeownership levels are at the lowest they've ever been and at this rate look like they might be heading to even lower depths, which is a particular challenge for us," Associate Minister for Housing Peeni Henare told The Hui.The Government recently announced its new national Māori housing strategy, Maihi Ka Ora. It aims to have a more cohesive partnership with iwi which Henare believes will increase the housing stock for Māori. "We know that a lot of our whānau ar...

Thousands turn up to Brian Tamaki's

Protests are also being held in Christchurch and Wellington. The Auckland crowd of people include gang members on motorbikes, young children and elderly, many not following social distancing rules or wearing masks. Some bore signs and personalised T-shirts promoting "pro-choice" and "freedom from lockdown", with one sign reading "free 2 parent" and a T-shirt saying "free to choose". Tamaki spoke at the protest, telling supporters they've had a "gutsful" and it will take time and c...