Last Saturday the Act party leader, Jamie Whyte, gave a speech outing his party’s views on ‘racial law’. Within this speech Mr Whyte reaffirmed that the Act Party seeks to have the Māori representative seats within parliament abolished and that, if elected, the party would seek to make amendments to
Day: August 15, 2014
On Tuesday Justice Stephen Kos of the Wellington High Court released a judgement in relation to the various disputes arising amongst the trustees of the Crown Forestry Rental Trust (CFRT) and associated appointment bodies. By way of background, this Trust has a relatively simple and mechanical function – to grant
Last week the third and final reading of the Nga Mana Whenua o Tamaki Makaurau Collective Redress Bill was completed in parliament. This legislation recognises the historical claims of thirteen iwi and hapū over their shared interests in the Auckland area, including fourteen of the region’s maunga (volcanic cones), and
On Wednesday the Fisheries (Foreign Charter Vessels and Other Matters) Amendment Bill was read for a third time in parliament, and will now pass into law. The law implements the Government’s decisions on the prohibition of foreign charter vessels, following allegations of mistreatment and underpayment of foreign crews. In essence,
Last week we advised on Māori language policy matters, in particular the Government’s proposed Māori Language Strategy, and proposed legislation. In our briefing we noted that the Government had not released an actual strategy document, and we therefore outlined the key strategic components agreed to by Cabinet in May. We
In July the Ministry of Social Developed released its annual report on household incomes. This report is important as it is often the key source document for many other reports and statements on matters such as child poverty and household earnings. The report is entitled, ‘Household incomes in New Zealand:
The Ministry of Social Development has released the Benefit Factsheets for the quarter to 31 March 2014.[1] We have undertaken an analysis of the various factsheets, and have consolidated Māori specific data into the table below for your perusal. In total circa 293,586 New Zealanders (and their households) are welfare
Conservative Party leader, Colin Craig, has announced that one of their policy platforms will be to remove Māori representative seats from Parliament. The Party considers the seats a form of injustice segregation. The five employees suspended from the Western Institute of Technology (WITT) in Taranaki, while the polytechnic investigated issues
The New Zealand Police are to appoint twelve Māori inspectors. These are senior officer roles, which will work alongside district commanders and focus on reducing prosecution rates for Māori. This action is considered to be part of their Māori strategy, Turning of the Tide. Refer to Pānui 1/2013 for a
Last Friday the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the claim against how the Crown has consulted with Māori affiliating to Motiti Island, in regards to a resource consent application concerning the grounding of MV Rena on Otaiti (Astrolabe) Reef.[1] [By way of background the resource consent application
Yesterday Parliament read for a third time the Te Urewera Bill and the Tūhoe Claims Settlement Bill. The bills become law upon receiving Royal Assent from the Governor-General. These bills give effect to the Deed of Settlement signed in June 2013 between Ngāi Tūhoe and the Crown. The Tūhoe
Background This week is Māori language week and accordingly this briefing focuses on te reo Māori policy matters. Additionally this year the outgoing Minister of Māori Affairs, Dr Sharples, has elected to use this week to progress a new Māori language bill which is discussed below. By way of
Te Reo Rangatira[i] He Whakamārama Ko te Wiki tēnei o te Reo Māori, ā, nā konei ka hāngai tēnei pānui ki ngā kaupapa mō te reo Māori. Hei āpiti atu, kua whakatakoto te Minita mō ngā Take Māori i tāna Pire hou mō te Reo Māori. Kei te kōrerotia tēnei