The Green Party has selected Metiria Turei as their candidate for the Te Tai Tonga electorate in this year’s general election. (She has previously stood unsuccessfully for the seat, and for the Dunedin North general electorate.) Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister, Chris Finlayson, has recommenced Treaty settlement negotiations with
Day: January 27, 2017
Last week Statistics New Zealand released the Māori population estimate for 2016.[1] The new estimate is 723,400 tangata Māori – up 11,200 from 2015 (1.2% increase). The population remains mostly youthful – 33% are aged 15 years or younger, although the median age has risen slightly to 24 years.
Te Ākitai Waiohua signed an Agreement in Principle with the Crown in late December to settle its historic Treaty of Waitangi claims (the iwi has interests around South Auckland and customary interests across greater Auckland). The total value of the financial and commercial redress outlined in the agreement is
In December Ngāti Tūwharetoa signed a deed of settlement with the Crown for historic claims (this excludes lake and forestry claims which have already been addressed separately). The settlement includes a Crown apology, as well as cultural and commercial redress and $25 million. Thirty-two Crown owned sites will be
In December Parliament also completed the second reading of the Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Bill, which is now at the Committee of the Whole House stage, before a third reading. This bill gives effect to the Whanganui River Deed of Settlement signed in 2014, which settles
In December legislation to enact the Rangitāne o Manawatū Settlement passed its third reading in Parliament. The iwi will receive financial and commercial redress totalling $13.5 million. Settlement also provides for the formation of an advisory board to the Horizons Regional Council in relation to management of the Manawatu
In late December Labour MP for Hauraki-Waikato, Nanaia Mahuta, advised she will take on the role of lead negotiator for one of her iwi, Ngāti Maniapoto. She indicated she will remain a Member of Parliament, and that the new role would not impede her duties, but that she would
In December the Minister of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) released their Quarterly Labour Market Report for the September 2016 quarter. This is largely the same employment data as already released by Statistics New Zealand, but with further explanatory text on trends. (Basically its reads like a standard Ministerial
On Tuesday the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, Michael Woodhouse, announced that the minimum wage will be increased from $15.25 to $15.75 an hour, commencing 1 April. This is effectively a $20 per week gross increase to $630 for a full-time worker on this rate. This equates to
This week Donald Trump has commenced his presidency of the United States of America (USA) with a number of executive orders, two of which are of salient interest to Māori; the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the North Dakota oil pipeline. In regards to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)[1], Mr Trump has
The Māori political year commenced this week with politicians of all stripes attending Rātana Pā celebrations, along with Māori leaders and dignitaries. This event is historically the celebration of the birth of the Māori prophet Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana, (1873-1939), but in some respects it has grown into a political