Pauline Waiti is one of seven people appointed by the Minister of Education, Chris Hipkins, to review the NCEA system. Tui Ruwhiu, from the Directors and Editors Guild has been appointed to the Film Industry Working Group. This group will be reviewing worker’s rights in the film production industry (most
Day: February 2, 2018
Parliament resumed for the calendar year this week. Some items of note were: On Wednesday the Child Poverty Reduction Bill was introduced to Parliament (see article above.) On Tuesday the Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill was read a first time and referred to the Health Committee. This is
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Te Reo Māori Policy Discussions
Last year a round of debates started on the value and place of the Māori language in New Zealand, particularly after the widespread use by mainstream media of Māori language words and phrases during Māori language week in September. (For example the weather map on Television One was shown with
The Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has published research it has commissioned on low pay. The research was undertaken by Auckland University of Technology, and is entitled, ‘Low Pay in New Zealand’. The findings are derived from tax data MBIE accessed from Inland Revenue for 2015, so a
Yesterday the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, formally announced that there would be a Royal Commission of Inquiry into historic abuse in State care. This commitment had been part of her (Labour) party’s election manifesto commitments, so the announcement puts that into place. The Royal Commission will be led by Rt
This week the Minister for Child Poverty Reduction / Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, introduced the Child Poverty Reduction Bill to Parliament. This policy area is of major significance to Māori, as our research to date indicates up to 33% of Māori children – circa 130,000 tamariki Māori live in poorer
On Wednesday the Leader of the Opposition, Bill English gave his ‘State of the Nation’ speech, which was followed later by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s ‘100 Day Progress’ speech; i.e. the two key opening political speeches for the year. Overall Mr English’s speech reads as a lamentation – highlighting what
New Years’ Honours The following New Zealand Order Honours and Queen’s Service awards were conferred to Māori, or people giving services to Māori, on 31 December 2017 (New Years’ Honours).[1] DNZM To be Dame Companions of the said Order: Ms Rangimarie Naida Glavish, ONZM, JP, of Auckland. For services to Māori
Taranaki Maunga To Have Legal Personality In late December the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Andrew Little, announced that a Record of Understanding over collective cultural redress for Taranaki Maunga had been reached between the Crown and the eight iwi with direct affiliations and guardianship responsibilities to the Mountain.
With all the changes in Government a number of Māori are stepping up into leadership roles to advance policy and iwi work. Here are a few offering their skills: Hinerangi Raumati has been appointed to the Government’s Tax Working Group. She is the current Chair of Parininihi ki Waitotara, and
This week the Government announced the successful conclusion of negotiations for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP, formally known as the TTP). The Government has signalled its intent to sign the trade agreement, with ten other Pacific-rim nations in Chile on 8 March. The big withdrawal
This week the Prime Minister has released the terms of reference for the proposed Mental Health and Addiction Inquiry. The inquiry is broad in scope, setting out to hear the issues from a people’s perspective, and to make recommendations across all structures within the health and the broader public sector.
Late last year the Minister for Māori Development, Nanaia Mahuta, withdrew the Te Ture Whenua Bill from the legislative agenda. It was very close to passing under the former Minister, Te Ururoa Flavell, being in the final stage of the Parliamentary Committee of the Whole House. But the Labour Party
For the Labour Party, employment and labour laws have traditionally been a central policy theme. This Government is clearly returning to that core political platform, with a number of labour market policy changes announced and underway. Many such changes are focused on ‘vulnerable’ employees, such as those on lower wages
One of the key election policy commitments of the Labour Party is to reform the tax system, in order to reduce inequality and ensure a ‘fairer’ approach to taxation. However the party gave few details before the election of what this might mean, other than that there would be no