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Election 2020:

John Tamihere is typically straight up: This will not be the Māori Party’s year.New Zealand is in crisis, and it’s not the crisis Tamihere wants to talk about, and it’s a crisis that has dampened the prospects of the political party which he co-leads."With Jacinda all over everything it's changed the whole landscape politically. In February, NZ First and-or us could have held the balance of power, so fine was the line between National and Labour. Along came Covid and that's no longer the ...

Auckland reports to Oranga Tamariki

With schools closed, Ministry for Children expected to see a decrease in notifications about suspected abuse or neglect, as happened during the first nationwide Covid-19 lockdown in March and April.Oranga Tamariki deputy chief executive Alison McDonald said usually, about a third of the reports of concern made in Auckland are made by people in the education sector, such as teachers.But over the last two weeks, she said that had dropped to 7 percent.Oranga Tamariki is working with other agencies ...

Low-level tertiary courses put Māori in debt

Their study, He Awa Ara Rau, tracked education and employment of 76,000 Māori to age 25.It found 18 percent got tertiary qualifications at levels 1-3, but those courses did not lead to higher incomes and better job prospects.The study said even those who achieved NCEA level 2 at school and completed a level 3 certificate at a tertiary provider would have been better off staying at school."A disproportionate number of rangatahi leave school after completing NCEA Level 2 to go on to Level 3 ...

Otago university medical students

The pathway, which currently has no limit, was designed to boost the number of Māori in the health workforce.RNZ understands the cap could be 56 Māori students a year, and even less for other minority entry pathways.The Māori Entry pathway means students only need to reach the minimum grade threshold, be committed to giving back to Māori communities, and have whakapapa to be accepted into the second-year programme.For students who aren't eligible for the pathway, meeting the minimum grade th...

Social workers fear

Some social workers are suspicious of a move by Oranga Tamariki to join a project to survey the experiences of frontline staff, fearing it is trying to control the result. Bonnie Sumner reportsA rift has broken out within New Zealand’s largest professional body of social workers, with a plan to collect the experiences of frontline Oranga Tamariki staff stymied amid division between members and management.A number of members within the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Worker...

SOCIAL WORKERS ARE REJECTING CALLS

Jon, a social worker in New York City, began to fully understand the relationship between social services and law enforcement during the years they spent working with formerly homeless people at a single-room occupancy building in the South Bronx. In one case, officers arrived in response to a mental health call involving an older woman with severe schizophrenia. As officers escorted her off the premises, Jon said, a staff member of the building who had gone out to smoke a cigarette saw police p...

Oranga Tamariki not solely to blame for child uplift,

Tommy Wilson of Te Tuinga Whanau Services is speaking out because he says families need to take responsibility and fix the harm caused by addiction which is tearing families apart. Mr Wilson says whānau need to take responsibility. "The taniwha, the elephant in the room for us is P - let's start talking about what happens if you don't uplift those children and that's the other half of the conversation that's not been had,” says Mr Wilson. He says two kilograms of methamphetamine is being cons...

Thousands of iwi members had no say

A report by the Māori Land Court has found thousands of iwi members did not get a say in the sale of iwi land at Shelly Bay in Wellington due to failings of the iwi membership system.A group of Taranaki Whānui iwi members, Mau Whenua, complained about the vote process which resulted in the sale of iwi land by the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust (PNBST) to property developer Ian Cassels.Sir Wira Gardiner was appointed independent reviewer by the Māori Land Court and found that the PNBST ...

Terrible sadness for talented master carver

There has been great sadness and confusion this week in the rugby World after the Crusaders eased to yet another win in Super Rugby Aotearoa. The way the Crusaders treated the trophy has many very upset.There has been widespread outrage and sadness from the rugby community as these images were released online this week. Some fans questioned why the Crusaders would be so careless with a trophy that is so important.Link to article: https://rugbyonslaught.com/terrible-sadness-for-talented-mast...

Streaming Māori students into

A report has identified that streaming Māori students into low expectation classes is one of the key barriers limiting their options to future pathways.The report He Awa Ara Rau: A Journey of Many Paths is a collaboration between Waikato-Tainui, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, The Southern Initiative and BERL.The findings The data research project tracked the journey of more than 70,000 rangatahi through education into employment. The report is a summary of the research findings, ...

What is Islam’s

Islam is set to become the largest religion in the world in the next four decades and is one of the fastest-growing religions in Aotearoa New Zealand - particularly among Māori. Dr Ayca Arkilic is exploring Islam’s growing appeal and the socio-political implications of conversion.As demonstrated by census data and various academic studies, conversion to Islam has been on the rise in Aotearoa New Zealand. Following the 2019 Christchurch attacks, three to five people a day were converting at a ...

Social work is a crucial service

During the pandemic, the demand for social workers has become even more critical with an increase in the number of cases.“There is anxiety over the loss of jobs leading to other social issues, restriction of movement where families being cooped up together may result in more incidents of domestic violence. Some clients have also experienced a loss of income and are unable to come for treatment, ” says Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC)’s Department of Social Work senior community deve...

The Māori Party calls for level 4 lockdown

The Māori Party is calling for all Māori to move into level 4 now and for the borders to be completely shut, including to returning New Zealanders, for two weeks.The party's co-leader, John Tamihere, also said this morning that iwi checkpoints will be back in operation around the country, whether or not the whole country goes back into level 4.Tamihere also called on the election – at the moment scheduled for September 19 – to be pushed back until next year."We do want to be part of the te...

Mātauranga Māori to be equal to Western science in biodiversity plan,

The new strategy, Te Mana o te Taiao, has five key outcomes including that ecosystems from mountain tops to ocean depths are thriving, indigenous species and their habitats are protected, and treaty partners are exercising their full role as rangatira and kaitiaki.New Zealand's biodiversity is in crisis with about 4000 species threatened or at risk of extinction.Conservation Minister Eugene Sage said the last plan - launched 20 years ago - failed to have a strong Māori perspective, an...

Iwi considers placing

Its 13 hapū are situated along the coastal strip between the Raukumara Range and the Eastern Bay of Plenty.Leader Rawiri Waititi, who is also a Māori Party candidate, said his people were meeting today to discuss their options."Level 4 will include community safe zones and checkpoints. It will also include many of our whānau moving back into bubbles, coordinated hunting and fishing efforts throughout the hapū, marae closures and all those types of things," he said.Te Whānau a Apanui was one...

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 ...