Maori News Online

King Country Maori have occupied a former Crafar farm earmarked for possible sale to Chinese investors. Seven occupiers moved onto a property 22km east of Benneydale late yesterday afternoon. Rereahu iwi spokesman Edward Moana-Emery said the occupation was a “last-ditch effort” to stop the sale of two Crafar farms they say are ancestral land. Mr Moana-Emery said the properties on State Highway 30, totalling about 1900 hectares, were part of the iwi’s Treaty of Waitangi settlement negotiations. He expected occupiers’ ranks to swell when news of their occupation spread. “Our land was stolen from us in 1886 and we’ve been fighting for 126 years to get the land back. I hope this occupation will be over fast but if it...

Broadcaster Paul Holmes’ role as presenter of TVNZ’s Q&A Sunday morning current affairs show is being questioned after a “racially offensive” column he wrote about Waitangi Day. AUT indigenous studies adjunct professor Dr Rawiri Taonui has joined Mana Party leader Hone Harawira and broadcaster Willie Jackson in questioning Holmes’ suitability for the role. “It’s a sad day when a great writer repeats the prejudices of the past, but Holmes’ offer on Waitangi Day is a fall from grace,” Taonui said. Taonui, a regular Sunday Star-Times columnist, said Holmes was an intelligent writer, but said his article in the Weekend Herald, contained a “staggering number of half-truths and stereotypes”. “In a tirade he depicted Maori as ghastly, smug, politically neurotic, uneducated,...

Treaty negotiators for Tuhoe who are pushing the Crown for “maximum autonomy” are planning a trip to Scotland as its Government considers independence. Britain is having the conversation now despite more than 300 years of political union because the Scottish National Party won last year’s election. Independence is a central tenet of the SNP’s ideology but until it came to power it had no mandate to push the issue. Last year Tuhoe and the New Zealand Government reopened negotiations which stalled when the Prime Minister took ownership of the Te Urewera National Park off the table in 2010. It was a defining plank in negotiations, as is “mana motuhake” or autonomy. Tuhoe’s Tamati Kruger said maximum autonomy was a long-term...

The trial of the four remaining people arrested as a result of Operation 8 will continue with a jury of only 11 after one juror was discharged due to a family tragedy. Today saw several CIB detectives give evidence about their gathering of evidence. The first was Adam Eltham, the officer in overall charge of the exhibits. He said that he had was responsible not just for recording the exhibits but also for tracking exhibits as they left his custody to be examined, for example, by ESR. Eltham said that he recorded all details of the exhibits and when and where they went. Prosecutor Ross Burns read through a series of texts from Tame Iti to a range of people...

There’s a call for a permanent Maori cultural venue on Auckland’s waterfront. During ten days of the Rugby World Cup, 397,000 people went through the waka and artisan village at the viaduct. Ngati Whatua o Orakei says that’s 10,000 more than went through the giant rugby ball over four years. The iwi says the fact international and local people visited Waka Maori in large numbers shows both tourists and Aucklanders are interested in Maori culture. Maori Trust Board chairman Grant Hawke says it’s time for the Auckland Council and the Government to support the establishment of a Maori and Polynesian cultural centre on the waterfront.

Ngati Kahungunu chair Ngahiwi Tomoana says more Maori businesses are now starting to see China as an important market to enter as New Zealand becomes more focused on its relationship with Asia. Speaking at a conference on the Maori economy in Wellington on Thursday, Mr Tomoana says for Maori it is about acknowledging their long genealogical links with China. He says China is now the second largest global economy after the United States. Mr Tomoana says as Maori and iwi corporates are becoming more sophisticated, they are tending to lean more towards China. Mr Tomoana says the New Zealand economy is becoming less Euro-centric and American-centric with a bigger eye on China. He says although Australia is New Zealand’s largest...

“It started with a bang and that was all,” said Ana Cocker, October 15th Solidarity spokesperson. “It fizzed out quickly into only little bits of evidence that Crown Prosecutor Ross Burns presented in highly emotive language.” “It was high theatrics and Ross Burns played to the jury and media,” she said. “But people can see through it.” “Four and a half years ago the camps had been highly dangerous because they were hidden deep in the bushes of te Urewera. Yesterday they were dangerous because they were held close to Ruatoki. The Crown said they were held close to a marae, to a school, to a road. They were even held in a paddock,” said Ms Cocker. “They were dangerous...

The Tuhoe Waikaremoana Maori Trust Board says it’s looking forward to its people benefiting financially from the partial asset sales of four State Owned Enterprises, including Genesis Energy. A series of Government hui on the planned sales continued on Wednesday, and one held in Gisborne was attended by about 80 people. Board deputy chairperson Jennifer Takuta-Moses says one of the energy companies on the list for partial sale is Genesis Energy which operates power stations near Lake Waikaremoana. Jennifer Takuta-Moses says the land under the stations was originally Maori owned, and it’s to consider what sort of financial resources could come back to the local people if the partial asset sales go ahead. She says the issue will be on...

“No wonder the Maori Party have gone missing in action - 70% of their own people don’t think the Maori Party’s boss, John Key, is a good leader” said MANA Leader Hone Harawira. “Polls have their value but I don’t think we needed one to show that even with the Maori Party translating for him, Maori don’t believe John Key understands Maori issues.” “And to nobody’s great surprise, the poll also confirms that 88% of Maori are opposed to government’s plans to sell state owned assets”. “And it’s this final issue on which I again challenge the Maori Party” said Harawira. “Your people are opposed to Section 9 being scrapped or watered down. The decision is yours. You either stand...

Most Maori don’t think Prime Minister John Key provides good leadership on Maori issues and they’re not sure about Labour leader David Shearer, a new poll shows. The Te Karere DigiPoll out today questioned 1000 Maori voters in January. Of those, 70 per cent said Key did not provide good leadership on Maori issues, 17 per cent said he did, and 13 per cent did not know. Shearer didn’t do much better with 56 per cent saying they did not know if he provided good leadership on Maori issues, 28 per cent said he did and 16 per cent didn’t know. The poll also asked about asset sales and found 88 per cent did of Maori voters did not support...

Court started with the crown opening statement – 38 pages of police fantasy and crown fiction complete with a powerpoint – that lasted until the lunch break at 1pm. In this narrative, crown prosecutor Ross Burns started out by saying that ‘in this country we don’t prosecute people for their political beliefs.’ He then said that politics would be a big part of the case and formed the backdrop of it. He proceeded to lay out sensational parts of the crown case: video footage (illegally obtained), a ‘scenario’ document, some text messages and chat room logs, and lots of police and two “civilian” witnesses. He said that the four people on trial had the objective of committing ‘serious and violent...

Waikato-Tainui tribal leader Tuku Morgan says he will take action in the High Court after he failed to win a seat on the iwi’s executive board in a marathon election session. More than 60 representatives…

A multimillion-dollar tract of land will be returned to Maori today after it was sold about 150 years ago. In a ceremonial handover today, the Rangiatea Complex between Spotswood College and Spotswood Primary School will be gifted back to the Ngati Te Whiti hapu. Previously the land has been owned by the Methodist Church’s Grey Institute Trust, which has decided to give it back to the tangata whenua. The 4ha property has a capital value of more than $4 million, according to a property report, and the land alone is worth just under $1 million. The Bayly Road Trust will be receiving the land on behalf of the Ngati Te Whiti hapu, and chairman Shaun Keenan said the property had...

Nearly five years after the so-called Urewera terror raids, four people will go on trial tomorrow on firearms charges. But the case that sparked protests from those who said the police were disregarding human and civil rights remains controversial. Tonight the Urewera defendants have been welcomed in Auckland’s Waipapa Marae by hundreds of supporters. Their trial has been set down for three months but activist John Minto says if the High Court has any sense it will not take that long. “I don’t think it will take anywhere near three months because I think while the police will take a long time to present their case there won’t be a great deal of substance for the defendants to have to...

Tena koutou, this is the last newsletter before the trial against Taame, Emily, Rangi and Urs gets underway in the Auckland High Court on Monday, 13th February 2012. The trial is expected to last up to three months. In this jam-packed newsletter, we have put together information about the defendants and the people who want to lock them up, last minute updates on upcoming events (there is a powhiri at Waipapa Marae (16 Wynyard Street, Auckland Uni) this Sunday at 5pm for the defendants and supporters) and reflecting on the past 4.5 years. Now is the time to stand in solidarity with the defendants who are facing…

After four years and four months, numerous pre-trial arguments, appeals and alterations, the remaining members of the group arrested in the Urewera police raids will finally face trial in Auckland on Monday. Of the 17 arrested across the country on October 15, 2007, only four remain after a landmark Supreme Court judgment ruled out evidence that led to the dropping of charges against 13 co-accused. The four remaining defendants - Tame Iti, Emily Bailey, Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara and Urs Signer - face charges of participating in a criminal group and illegal possession of firearms relating to camps held in the Urewera Ranges in 2006 and 2007. The High Court at Auckland has been set aside for a three-month jury trial,...

Tuhoe-Te Uru Taumatua is working with tribal members to gauge interest in attending a commemoration service for the Battle of Orakau. The service will be held on Saturday, March 31, at the Battle of Orakau Memorial, Arapuni Rd, Kihikihi. Tuhoe hapu together with Ngati Whare from Te Whaiti and Ngati Kahungunu participated at the historic battle fought on March 28, 1864. The battle is known as Rewi’s last stand. Tribal members interested should contact the tribal office, phone (07) 312 9659.

The independent constitutional working group says a lot of Maori appear to have abandoned hope of Parliament ever delivering for them. The tribal group has been set up to consider how a constitution might be based upon Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Chair Margaret Mutu says dissatisfaction with the New Zealand system of Government was revealed with poor voter turnout in the seven Maori seats, during last year’s general election. She says less than half of all people on the Maori roll cast their ballot and that’s a very low turnout. Dr Mutu says the independent constitutional working group will consult with iwi throughout the country from next month.

Opposition parties are calling for the Maori Party to walk away from its deal with National. The Maori Party wants iwi to keep pressure on the Government over the inclusion of Treaty provisions in new legislation paving the way for partial asset sales. And it has called for iwi leaders to test treaty clauses in the current law, by taking their cases to court. Labour says if the Treaty is fundamental to the Maori Party, then it can’t see how they can ask others to fight, but remain in a governing arrangement. The Mana Party says if the Maori Party wants to be seen to be leading, it must walk away from National.

It’s done and dusted and Maori have no basis for their claim over the country’s fresh water. Public law expert and former ACT MP Stephen Franks says full and final Treaty of Waitangi settlements have already been made over all the lakes and rivers that generate power. “That doesn’t mean it won’t succeed though, I mean it’s tactical and it’s just a legal mugging, it’s very common, it’s worked before. In fact if I were in the shoes of the Maori Council, you’d feel negligent if you didn’t give it a try,” he says. Stephen Franks says if iwi in those areas were to raise issues over them again it would be a very blatant reneging of that deal but...