This week a resource consent application from the Kawerau A8D Ahu Whenua Trust to build a geothermal power-plant on its land was formally considered by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Amongst other items, the hearing is considering concerns raised by Ngāti Tūwharetoa ki Kawerau, that the proposed site includes
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On Tuesday the first reading of the Smoke-free Environments (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Amendment Bill was completed in parliament and referred to the Health Select Committee. This potential policy reform is being led by the Māori Party, in particular Tariana Turia, who is also the Associate Minister of Health.[1] We advise,
Te Pūmanawa o te Waiora, a partnership school in Whangaruru (Northland) opened on Monday. This is a bilingual (English/Māori) secondary school which offers learning opportunities through farming and outdoor education mediums. (Pānui 32/2013 outlines policy matters relating to partnership schools.) This week District Court Judge David Ruth lifted name suppression
Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau / The Tamaki Iwi Collective has committed to a project of circa $120 million to build 282 social or affordable houses in Weymouth. The project will include open market sales, subsidised social rental housing, and rent-to-buy and shared-equity houses, which will be orientated
The Minister of Māori Affairs, Dr Pita Sharples, has announced consultation dates and locations relating to a new Māori language strategy. The Minister has indicated the new strategy will focus on language learning in the home, and also proposes new governance arrangements for Māori language sector entities (Pānui 45/2013 refers).
Last Thursday the third reading of the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa Bill was completed in parliament, and then became law last Friday, upon receiving Royal Assent from the Governor-General. This change creates a single Arts Council; with Te Waka Toi, the Māori Arts Board of the Creative
The Associate Minister of Justice, Chester Borrows, has put out a media release seeking applications for projects to support the Youth Crime Action Plan. Pānui 39/2013 details this plan, which focuses on greater community engagement to reduce youth offending. The funding, $400,000 in total for this round, is available for
Statistics New Zealand has released research on non-participation in electoral voting. They found 20 percent of people had not voted in the 2011 General Election, and Māori represented 26 percent of this grouping. This is disproportionately high. Common reasons for people not voting included not being enrolled, forgetting to do
On Wednesday Statistics New Zealand released the Household Labour Force Survey results for the quarter to the end of December 2013. The survey shows a slight decrease in national unemployment from 6.2 percent to 6.0 percent. However for Māori the unemployment rate increased from 12.2 percent to 12.8 percent. That
The 2013 annual report of Aotearoa Fisheries has been released. Aotearoa fisheries manages its own fishing interests (on behalf of its iwi shareholders), and through its holding company, Kura, also has a 50% ownership interest in Sealord.[1] We advise the Aotearoa Fisheries direct fishing activities made a profit of circa
On Tuesday Labour Party Member of Parliament, Shane Jones, took the opportunity to criticise the Iwi Chairs for allegedly focusing their efforts on natural resources, at the expense of Māori social matters. In his words, “[It’s] high time iwi leaders stopped obsessing over the ownership of earth, wind and fire
Waitangi Day commemorations were held yesterday, with many senior political and Māori leaders attending events at Waitangi as per the norm. We also advise, along with the actual commemorations, the Iwi Chairs Forum, the New Zealand Māori Council, and the Māori Economic Development Panel all held their respective meetings in
John Tamihere has indicated he is suing MediaWorks for not renewing his Radio Live contract, which ended late last year. Mr Tamihere has been replaced on the show by Alison Mau. Near the end of his contract Mr Tamihere and co-host Willie Jackson undertook an interview of a potential
On Tuesday parliament recommenced for the year. The first item of business was the Prime Minister’s Statement (24-pages), which was followed by replies from other party leaders. (Opposition leaders were, predictably, against the Government’s proposals, while the Māori Party used the opportunity to defend Whānau Ora again against Winston Peters.)
Over the weekend major political parties attended the Ratana celebrations .[Footnote] In contrast to the previous day in West Auckland, at this event Mr Key indicated the National Party does focus on Māori, and he emphasised the progress of Treaty settlements that have occurred under his Government, housing improvements (including