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Maori representation on regional council

A separate Maori seat on the Taranaki Regional Council has been delayed for at least three years to allow more time to consult with iwi.A motion to start public consultation and receive feedback on Maori representation in time for the 2022 triennial local body election was not supported by the majority of councillors at a full council meeting on Tuesday.The council was required under legislation to make a decision before November 23 to include a Maori seat to come into effect either at the 2022 ...

Oranga Tamariki censured

A Dunedin grandmother who had a six-year dispute with government agencies about taking her grandson away from her family had moments when she considered giving up.But she is glad she followed through and feels vindicated and relieved that Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier found her autistic daughter was treated unreasonably.Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry for Children, has accepted the finding."She's been judged terribly. Others have suffered in silence," the grandmother said.Link to article: htt...

Eastern Bay of Plenty iwi 'fully divided'

Treaty Negotiations Minister Andrew Little has received formal requests by at least three hapū to stop negotiating the Whakatōhea Treaty settlement with its pre-settlement trust.The trust won a majority vote to represent the Eastern Bay of Plenty iwi in talks with the Crown, but letters released to RNZ reveal it continues to face widespread opposition.Treaty Negotiations Minister Andrew Little has received formal requests by at least three hapū to stop negotiating the Whakatōhea Treaty settl...

Failures

How come, after numerous condemnatory reports, Oranga Tamariki chief executive Grainne Moss holds on to her job? Aaron Smale wonders if those harmed by her tenure aren't a big enough voting blocSo, what happens when a government department breaks the law and breaches its own policies? Nothing, apparently.The latest report on Oranga Tamariki in a blizzard of such reports is from the Ombudsman, Peter Boshier, and it’s possibly the harshest of them all. These reports sprang from Melanie...

Oranga Tamariki boss:

Oranga Tamariki's Chief Executive appeared before the Waitangi Tribunal a day after a report from the Chief Ombudsman found the agency had used its draconian powers to uplift babies too readily in many casesA Waitangi Tribunal hearing has seen Oranga Tamariki chief executive Gráinne Moss concede her organisation harmed families during some of its child uplifts.Moss admitted errors had been made, but said many issues were improving thanks to a new strategy, extra funding,&nbs...

Why charging Māori to return to their whenua

The introduction of a $3,100 fee for returning New Zealanders will disadvantage Māori disproportionately, Phoebe Carr (Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe) and Max Harris argue.The government has once again failed to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi by rushing through legislation to introduce exorbitant managed isolation fees for returning New Zealanders. This fee will have massive implications on low-income whānau that have to return to their whenua for a short amount of time, and although it will ...

Oranga Tamariki baby removal the 'default position'

That is just one of the findings in the chief ombudsman's investigation - He Take Kōhukihuki: A Matter of Urgency - into the policies, procedures and practices of Oranga Tamariki when removing babies under interim custody orders.The ombudsman examined 74 case files of babies aged up to 30 days old over a two-year period, ending 30 June 2019.Forty-five of those cases involved Māori babies. Oranga Tamariki chief executive Grainne Moss has apologised on behalf of her organisation."I wan...

Oranga Tamariki fronts up to

Oranga Tamariki's bosses have fronted up to the Waitangi Tribunal today to explain why Māori fare so badly in the state care system.The panel overseeing the Oranga Tamariki urgent inquiry, from left to right, professor Rawinia Higgins, Judge Michael Doogan and Kim Ngārimu.The tribunal's urgent inquiry into Oranga Tamariki, which in part seeks to find out why Māori are disproportionately taken into state care, is under way in Wellington.It comes just a day after the Ombudsman released its...

Awwa co-founder Michele Wilson:

The co-founder of New Zealand’s first period-proof underwear company, Awwa, didn’t plan to start up two successful businesses after she left her career in corporate law.But growing up Michele Wilson knew, no matter what she did, she had to achieve one thing.“I wanted to prove to everyone that I can be successful while being a loud and proud woman of colour. Māori are innovators and it’s time we are recognised for it,” Wilson said.“To protect me, my family told me to hide that I am M...

More routine than exceptions:

Oranga Tamariki has been removing babies from their parents more by routine than exception, the Chief Ombudsman has ruled.Peter Boshier has released a report, He Take Kōhukihuki: A Matter of Urgency, following his investigation into the policies and practices of the ministry’s removal of newborn Māori babies, which was sparked following the attempted uplift of a newborn from a mother in Hawke’s Bay last year."Removing newborn pēpi from their parents is one of the strongest uses ...

Oranga Tamariki partners with

The strategic partnership is the first between Oranga Tamariki and a national Māori organisation.It already has existing agreements with four iwi, including Ngāi Tahu, Ngāpuhi, Waikato-Tainui and Tūhoe.The partnerships are designed to place vulnerable Māori children with carers they have a whakapapa connection to.Māori Women's Welfare League president Prue Kapua said she hoped the two organisations would collectively be able to uphold the mana of tamariki and rangatahi that included whāna...

'Structural racism':

Māori and Pasifika scientists have been "severely" under-represented at the country's universities and research institutes – a dismal and continuing trend one commentator says highlights "structural racism" in New Zealand science.A new study, led by Dr Tara McAllister, of centre of research excellence Te Pūnaha Matatini, took a deep look at ethnic diversity at universities and Crown research institutes (CRIs) between 2008 and 2018.Despite talk of valuing diversity, the 11 organisations analy...

Auckland Museum dealt $8m blow by Covid-19,

Auckland Museum is facing a $3 million deficit due to the impact of Covid-19 on tourism, leading to cultural performances being cut.Twelve performers of the arts troupe 'Raukawa’ who delivered 21 performances a week have been deemed “financially unsustainable”.But despite the $8.3 million shortfall in revenue, director Jignasha Patel has not requested additional funding from Auckland Council.“The museum is fully aware of the financial constraints for Auckland Council in the post-Covid-19...

Some home truths

When it comes to child protection in New Zealand, it is time to lay the corporate warrior and troubled Pākehā conscience to rest, writes Dr Ian Hyslop The intent of this article is to provide some wider background and context to the current critique of child protection policy and practice within Oranga Tamariki. The theory and practice of child protection social work is challenging, but it is not as complicated as it is often made out to be. The following, in brief, is a summary of h...

More Māori, Pasifika in

Earlier this year, Stats NZ released its findings on people living in occupied private dwellings. The information was taken from the first ever nationwide data collected on household damp and mould, gathered in the 2018 Census.The Census asked the degree to which a house was damp, sometimes damp, or always damp. Dampness is defined as when a dwelling feels or smells damp or has damp patches on the wall, ceiling, floor or window frames.It has since revised its findings, and is now basin...

Stan Walker on his new single

Stan Walker has revealed he was told he had to be "less Māori" to be successful in Australia.The singer and actor, who first made a name for himself when he won Australian Idol in 2009, has climbed the charts on both sides of the Tasman and won eight New Zealand Music Awards since.But Walker, whose iwi are Tūhoe and Ngāti Tuwharetoa, said many different people in the industry in Australia - "old heads who come from the old world" - told him he had to change to be on a mainstream platform."The...

Māori cultural appropriation, or simply a fish?

Two of Auckland's hippest restaurateurs have engaged in an online stoush over whether the name of a new restaurant, kingi, is a case of Māori cultural appropriation or merely a shortening for kingfish.Owners of popular Auckland restaurant Orphans Kitchen, Tom Hishon and Josh Helm, are about to open a new seafood restaurant this October named kingi.READ MORE:• Paul Little: Is it cultural appropriation, or just sharing?• Sarah's Day 'cultural appropriation': Fitness star 'heartbroke...

NGĀTI TŪWHARETOA SET TO BECOME FIRST IWI TO UTILISE

Ngāti Tūwharetoa set to become first iwi to utilise a Section 33 Transfer with Waikato Regional Council.Ngāti Tūwharetoa, in the central North Island of New Zealand, is set to become the first iwi in the country to utilise a Section 33 of the Resource Management Action 1991 with Council.Today, the Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board approved the handover of water quality monitoring functions around Lake Taupō from the Waikato Regional Council under Section 33 of the Resource Management Act 1991....

Oranga Tamariki Waitangi Tribunal hearing:

Parts of the Oranga Tamariki Act still undermine the role of whānau, hapū and iwi in the protection of tamariki, and to achieve true partnership under the Treaty, the Crown must devolve power to iwi, the Waitangi Tribunal has been told.An urgent hearing is under way into Oranga Tamariki practices in relation to tamariki Māori and whether they are compliant with Te Tiriti o Waitangi.Judge Michael Doogan began the hearing by laying out the take (purpose) of the Tribunal hearing, which was to fi...

What will it take for OT

Oranga Tamariki goes into PR overdrive with the release of a report into its successes as a Waitangi Tribunal hearing begins. Is now really the right time to release such a report? asks Bonnie Sumner.Cynical. That is what’s being said about the timing of a new Oranga Tamariki report, released on the same day urgent hearings began at the Waitangi Tribunal into the harm being done to Māori by the child protection agency.A raft of distinguished leaders spoke on Thursday and Friday, including the...

Resource Management Act review

After decades of successive Waitangi Tribunal reports highlighting the failings of the Resource Management Act, a review panel has put forward a raft of changes - including strengthening the Te Tiriti clause - to give iwi more power in environmental law.A report into the Resource Management Act, conducted by a review panel led by retired Court of Appeal judge Tony Randerson, has proposed scrapping the RMA.The report highlighted that "despite the large number of provisions in the RMA designe...

Candidate 'disappointed' after election hoardings

A candidate has been forced to spend an afternoon scrubbing his election signs after they were tagged over his use of te reo Māori.Troy Mihaka, who is standing for Integrity New Zealand in the Rongotai electorate, decided to write the authorisation on his hoardings in te reo Māori.On Monday, two days after the sign went up on the corner of Ira St and Devonshire Rd in Miramar, he discovered one had been spray painted with the word "English."“As a Māori candidate, I decided I wanted to write ...

Encouraging young Māori

Before Nikora Heraka Mahakanui Rautahi-Mahuika started his business he did labouring jobs and was even homeless for a time.Today, the 30-year-old runs a barber shop in Invercargill and he hopes it will be a stepping stone to other businesses.He’s an example of young Māori that are being encouraged to embrace the business world.Growing up, his father had his own pounamu carving business which meant it [running a business] was something he didn’t see as impossible.Link: https://www.stuff...

Matariki should only become a new public holiday

OPINION: Tied to the rising of the Pleiades star cluster in the night sky, Matariki marks the start of te Mātahi o te tau, the Maori new year.Once a casualty of colonisation, Matariki has undergone a comeback that fosters greater use of te reo Māori and recognition for Māori customary practices.Stuff has launched a campaign to make Matariki a public holiday from 2021. Do you support Matariki becoming an official, national public holiday?An MP from each side of the house gives their ...

Census 2023:

Iwi leaders are urging the government to set new priorities for the next census that give Māori much more say.The government has increased the budget for the 2023 Census to $210 million, two thirds more than in 2018, but less than Stats NZ advised would improve data quality.The Data Iwi Leaders Group says it supports the boost but recognised it was less than the $226m that Stats NZ had asked for and said was "needed to make significant change"."The group believes it is incumbent on Stats N...