Political Roundup: Te Pāti Māori and vested interests

Controversial Māori politician and president of Te Pāti Māori, John Tamihere, is in hot water over large financial donations relating to his 2019 Auckland Mayoral campaign and Te Pāti Māori’s 2020 election campaign. For him and his supporters, the allegations are “inherently racist”. For others, they illustrate that there are a lot of vested interests and wealth in te ao Māori, and this influence has the potential to have a strong impact on government decisions.

Is Te Pāti Māori a vehicle for vested interests?

Contrary to the myth that Te Pāti Māori only pursue the interests of working class or poor Māori, the party has historically often represented the interests of Māori middle class and business. In fact, this was why MP Hone Harawira split so spectacularly from the party in 2011 to set up his more working class orientated Mana Party. He complained that Te Pāti Māori had become dominated by the elite forces of te ao Māori. The two parties have now reunited, but the underlying tension that caused the split remains.

Similarly, there is a myth that, unlike other political parties, Te Pāti Māori doesn’t have access to wealthy backers. But records show that for many years the party, and its current president John Tamihere, have received large donations from wealthy individuals and organisations to use for campaigning.

Some of these large donations have been in the spotlight recently, and questions raised about their legitimacy. The latest is an investigation by Herald journalist Matt Nippert into donations given to Te Pāti Māori and Tamihere by two charitable organisations that Tamihere himself controls.

The Herald’s allegations about Tamihere’s charities

Matt Nippert’s story, published on the front page of the Herald this week, highlighted that charitable organisations are given tax-free status which saves them huge amounts of money, but this privilege is given on the basis that they do not side with political parties or give donations to election campaigns. In the case of Tamihere’s organisations, this rule appears to have been broken.

Here’s the opening paragraph from Nippert’s report: “Charities connected to Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere are under investigation after financial reports showed nearly $500,000 in charitable funds had been used to bankroll his mayoral and general election campaigns.”

Tamihere was advanced $82,695 from the National Urban Māori Authority (NUMA) and $385,307 from Te Whānau o Waipareira Trust Group. Tamihere is the chief executive of both organisations, which endorsed his campaigns for office in 2019 and 2020.

Nippert’s article quotes Natasha Weight, the general manager of Charities Services, the agency that regulates tax-free charities, saying the rules are very clear: “a charity must not support or oppose a political party or candidate. This includes making a donation to a political party or a candidate’s election campaign, endorsing a party or candidate, or allowing a party or candidate to use a charity’s resources”.

As political finance researcher Max Rashbrooke wrote this week, “this looks terrible for Tamihere and the Trust. How can a registered charity be lending (and in effect donating, since it’s interest-free) their money to a political candidate? That’s not a ‘charitable’ purpose!”

The University of Auckland’s Peter Davis, a long-time Labour Party activist, also commented this week on Tamihere and Te Whānau o Waipareira: “He has always run the trust as a bit of a personal fiefdom and this has not been transparent until now. It was possible to forgive the early likely and anecdotal transgressions because the Trust was doing necessary work, but this crosses a line that no longer earns such sympathy.”

According to Nippert, Charities Services has issued a formal warning to Te Whānau o Waipareira, and is now engaged in negotiations over how to proceed with the alleged breach of the law. Te Whānau o Waipareira could be de-registered and Nippert says it could lose its lucrative tax-free status, which he calculates could cost it $16m.

Tamihere’s charities – which are clearly partisan – also contract to the Government to provide Whānau Ora services. When the donations first came to light last year, political commentator Shane Te Pou called for the minister of Whānau Ora to bring in the Auditor-General to investigate.

Nippert has also raised a discrepancy in the amounts that have been provided to Tamihere and Te Pāti Māori: “Tamihere declined to explain the difference between the sum recorded in accounts as being advanced by the charities for his political campaigns ($468,002), and the figure recorded as donations from them and him for the mayoral and general elections ($387,604).”

Racism allegations and defence

Tamihere and Te Whānau O Waipareira have reacted strongly to the Herald news story, accusing the newspaper of racism. Tamihere called it an example of the media demonising Māori, labelling it “a hit on the Māori”.

Talking about Nippert’s story, Tamihere says “This is a pogrom”, and likens the experience to that of the Jews facing persecution. And he says that Te Pāti Māori will no longer work with or write for the Herald, which raises important issues for media freedom and holding politicians to account.

In announcing the boycott, Tamihere states: “I will never write another word to try and educate ignorant pakeha about Māori matters for the New Zealand Herald. Nor will any Māori Party member ever be either interviewed or write anything for the New Zealand Herald or ZB radio – let’s leave it for what it is – ‘white man’s radio’, ‘racist radio’, and a racist rag… We will just go on our own platforms. We will talk on iwi radio, because we no longer need white men to define us”.

Tamihere also appealed to pakeha to intervene to curtail the questions being asked, saying Nippert’s story was fake news and a smear: “good Pākehā friends need to know what some of their kinfolk get up to and they just have to stop it and stop them. It’s not for Māori to correct things all the time and defend themselves all the time from malicious framing of us always in a negative way.”

The charity is also now crowdsourcing material from supporters in an attempt to prove that the journalist is racially motivated, using the social media hashtag #dobinaracistlikeMattNippert

The ethnicity element is centrally important to this issue, and is likely to have continued reverberations. For instance, in Parliament it caused one of the biggest political scuffles of the week, with Whanau Ora minister Kelvin Davis reacting to questions about the scandal by accusing Act MP Karen Chhour of having a “vanilla lens” and needing to get acquainted with the Māori world.

Davis’ comments were made in response to the following question in Parliament: “So does the Minister agree with John Tamihere when he says his charity and Oranga Tamariki are in a partnership and not a contract, and if Te Whānau o Waipareira is struck off the Charities Register, will the Minister guarantee that this partnership will end?”

Past issues with the Te Pāti Māori and vested interests

Matt Nippert’s revelations of the donations aren’t entirely new. His story is important because they highlight the investigations of Charities Services into the partisan activities of the two trusts.

Last year the Electoral Commission announced it was concerned about a breach of electoral law by Te Pāti Māori because they failed to declare the donations from the two charities during the election – as well as another $120,000 donation from the mysterious Aotearoa Te Kahu Limited Partnership.

The Electoral Commission made a complaint to the Police, and then the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigated. This week we learned that the SFO have closed their investigation and decided not to prosecute. The agency won’t provide further details of what they learned about the breach and why they’ve made their decision, simply stating: “The SFO has closed this matter and will not be taking any further steps”.

What is unknown is whether knowledge of the donations would have changed voters’ opinions of the party at the 2020 election. Te Pāti Māori kept the details secret, and then got back into Parliament when Rawiri Waititi captured the Waiariki electorate, beating Labour incumbent Tāmati Coffey by 836 votes.

Vested interests operate amongst all ethnicities

Te Pāti Māori and John Tamihere have been entirely dismissive of any questions about their financial backers and whether they are following the rules meant to make politics more transparent. This suggests they don’t take issues of corruption and vested interests seriously.

Although the party has only two MPs, there is a strong chance that Te Pāti Māori will hold the balance of power at the next election. Some in the Labour Party clearly see Te Pāti Māori as the Ardern Government’s lifeline to power at the next election should the National Party and Act win more votes than Labour and the Greens combined. Tamihere and his colleagues could have huge leverage over the next government.

When political figures are powerful they need to be held to account, regardless of race. Allegations of racism are extremely powerful, precisely because of the history of appalling discrimination towards Māori in this country. But such allegations should not be used to shield those in power from scrutiny. Te Pāti Māori is a product of our democratic political system and, as such, has to be held to account in the same way as other political parties, especially on an issue so important and fundamental as the funding of political campaigns.  Double standards can’t be accepted by anyone wanting clean and fair politics – especially those of us worried about vested interests looking for ways to leverage their political donations.

A Māori political leader has branded opposition neoliberal ACT leader David Seymour’s act this week undermining an indigenous response to New Zealand’s covid-19 pandemic as  “unbelievably irresponsible and cruel”.

Seymour publicly shared a priority vaccine code for Māori so that Pākehā, or non-Māori, could jump the queue for vaccinations against the virus.

“Political differences aside, it’s hard to understand why a leader with whakapapa continuously chooses not to protect it,” said Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, co-leader and whip of Te Pāti Māori.

Writing in The New Zealand Herald today, she said there had been early signs of inequities in the government’s covid vaccination rollout for Māori and Pasifika.

She cited health specialists arguing that the government’s one-shoe-fits-all vaccine rollout was an “overwhelming failure”.

The failure resulted in “just 19 percent of eligible Māori [being] vaccinated by the end of Tuesday, compared to 30.4 percent of eligible people in the ‘European or other’ category,” Ngarewa-Packer wrote.

Fifteen percent of New Zealand’s population 5 million are Māori, the country’s First Nation people.

‘Conscious decision to sabotage’
“This is where David Seymour made a conscious decision to sabotage. He not only underestimated the manaaki our Māori hauora [health] providers have for everyone in their communities, but also the solutions to address vaccination disparity and the success that came with it.”

The very centre that Seymour had launched a full-scale attack on had a vaccination uptake of 85 percent Pākehā, vaccinating five times fewer Māori than non-Māori.

“His poor understanding that a Māori-targeted-approach is not anti-Pākehā, exclusive or segregated shows his absolute desperation to compete for the ‘disillusioned white’ voter,” Ngarewa-Packer said.

“He launched a political missile that fast became a political SOS.”

Ngarewa-Packer said she was just 12 months out of personally leading a covid response and standing up iwi checkpoints.

“I appreciate how much effort logistically and mentally goes into leading a response effort,” she said.

“It takes a team who is prepared to work outside of normal hours to serve their community and one who believes with a passion that they must, and indeed can.

Poor vaccination uptake
“Our pāti [political party] with many other leaders, continually raised concern with how poor vaccination uptake was for Māori [and Pasifika].

“With a third of our population living in poverty and a third under-employed, the luxury of fuelling a car to travel five hours for vaccination versus putting food on the table was not an option.

“I live in a community where many don’t own smartphones or have data access to book vaccinations, some can’t afford to travel over an hour to their closest urban medical facilities.

“Access issues for many whānau are real, as are inequities. But the reality is Seymour’s neighbourhood is vastly different to those he attacked.’

Seymour is MP for Epsom in Auckland, one of New Zealand’s wealthiest electorates, and has been leader of the rightwing party ACT since 2014.

“He is privileged, and rather than empathise to understand some very real-life challenges, he instead chose to appeal to the fascist New Zealander, to the wealthy who have health insurance, to the 35 percent who no-showed to appointments, to the very elite who designed this vaccination system.”

Ngarewa-Packer said the access code had nothing to do with skin colour but rather the systemic issues that Māori “consistently confront as a population – with higher rates of deprivation and mortality”.

Always considered expendable
“And sadly, it doesn’t matter how hard we work to protect the team of five million or put others before our own. The sad reality is, when it comes to addressing our own needs, it is presented as preferential. We are always considered expendable.”

Ngarewa-Packer also referred to the sacrifices that the famous Maori Battalion had made for the protection of the people of Aotearoa during both World Wars.

“The Māori Battalion was a formidable fighting force, highly regarded for all they did on the allies’ frontline to protect our nationhood. Their sacrifice for us is forever treasured.”

That sacrifice had been hoped that it would “give us full respected rights alongside Pākehā, as [the 1840 foundation] Te Tiriti [of Waitangi] intended”.

All covid-19 vaccinations are free in New Zealand.

15 new community cases
RNZ News reports that Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield reported 15 new community cases of covid-19 in the country in New Zealand today.

Speaking at today’s media conference, Dr Bloomfield said there were now 855 cases in the current community outbreak and 218 cases were deemed to have recovered.

There were 21 new cases reported yesterday, and 20 on three days in a row before that.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The co-leader of New Zealand’s minority Māori Party has launched a blistering attack on white privilege and the opposition National Party which it accuses of “igniting racism” in the framing of a debate about radical political change.

In a provocative introduction to her weekly column in The New Zealand Herald today, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer asks: “Hey coloniser, so let me get this right, you want to lead a debate about indigenous rights that you helped to destroy?”

She writes in her media message to Pākehā colonisers: “You dishonour Te Tiriti [1840 Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding political partnership document] and promote continuing to do so.

“You stole our land and our language. You denounce our history, preferring to educate on anything but us. And you have done nothing to reverse this, instead preferring to ignore the problems.

“We are in an inherently white system that you designed, yet you feel oppressed that Māori want to stop the pain of inequities. Your systemic racism continues to perpetuate intergenerational trauma, which you refuse to accept.”

While acknowledging that National Party leader Judith Collins claimed that New Zealanders “find racism abhorrent”, she added that “in my opinion she is igniting racism through a carefully deployed campaign — apparently with the help of former leader Don Brash”.

Ngarewa-Packer says New Zealanders are entitled to a conversation about radical change, but they are not “counteracting with alternative solutions”, preferring to focus on what she saw as the “misery of struggling Māori whānau”.

‘White hypocrisy’
Criticising what she describes as “white hypocrisy”, Ngarewa-Packer called instead for a “debate about the coloniser’s entitlements”.

“And rather than start on a timeline plucked out to help lift right-wing leaders’ dying polls, let’s start at the beginning: 181 years ago, and discuss the rights of tangata whenua and the radical change needed in Aotearoa to see those rights fulfilled,” she said.

“And yes, I hear you. Why should you pay for your ancestors’ mistakes? But why should we, either?

“No one can give our language, lives, and land (actually this is possible) back. There is no true price for our tāonga. But we must at least stop the lying and stop making a mockery of tangata whenua with this pathetic dog-whistling.”

Ngarewa-Packer says a debate was needed on how New Zealand economy had been built off the “displacement of tangata whenua”.

“How tangata whenua are the largest benefactors to this nation, having accepted settlements worth 1 per cent loss of whenua stolen, in a process determined by the Crown!”

Disparity in the economy
Among examples Ngarewa-Packer gave of the disparity between the Pākehā and Māori share of the economy, were the NZ$1.9m funding for Te Matatini, the “largest kapa haka event on the planet, versus $16.9m for the NZ Symphony Orchestra”.

She also cited the $250m spent on the America’s Cup this year.

Ngarewa-Packer has also called for less hypocrisy about “crackdowns needed to stop crime”

“Let’s turn our gaze to white-collar crime, which has seen an estimated $2 billion to $4 billion loss to Aotearoa, through tax avoidance and evasion.”

She added that Māori sought to “drive our own tino rangatiratanga [self-determination]”.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi has been ejected from New Zealand’s Parliament for doing a haka in protest against questions by the Opposition about race-based policy.

Opposition conservative National Party leader Judith Collins was asking Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern about her views of the He Puapua report, which provides recommendations to the government about how it can give effect to Māori self-sovereignty under the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi.

Waititi called on the Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard to intervene on what he called “racist propaganda” against Māori in the House.

Mallard ruled the views expressed in the House did not reach an inappropriate standard.

He warned Waititi when he raised another point of order that relitigation would put him at risk of expulsion from the House.

Waititi said views on indigenous rights should only be determined by the indigenous tangata whenua – which he followed up with a haka.

He was expelled from the House.

Green MPs Marama Davidson (co-leader) and Ricardo Menéndez backed Waititi’s action with Davidson tweeting support for the “calling out [of] the absolute ongoing racist comments” by Collins.

Kia ora @packer_deb and @Rawiri_Waititi for calling out the absolute ongoing racist comments from Judith Collins in the House just now. This House absolutely deserves better than a narrative that harms tangata whenua communities and damages a pathway for true Tiriti justice.

— Marama Davidson MP (@MaramaDavidson) May 12, 2021

Solidarity with @packer_deb & @Rawiri_Waititi for challenging racism in the House and reminding us that how we discuss policy can result in real harm to the communities we serve.

Thankful to @MaramaDavidson + @jamespeshaw for challenging these racist narratives on our behalf.

— Ricardo Menéndez (@RMarchNZ) May 12, 2021

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

How seriously does the Māori Party take issues of corruption and the untoward influence of big money in politics? Not very, based on how it’s handling a political finance scandal in which three large donations were kept hidden from the public.

The party is currently making excuses, and largely failing to answer questions, about being referred to the Police for breaches of the Electoral Act for not declaring large donations it received during the election campaign, amounting to what could be corrupt practice.

The news of the Māori Party being referred to the Police is in Claire Trevett’s news report yesterday, Election donations: Māori Party referred to police over $320,000 in undeclared donations.

As the article notes, “Under electoral laws, political parties must disclose donations of more than $30,000 within 10 working days.” This is so the public, especially during an election campaign, is aware of who is funding the politicians. In this case, the Māori Party decided not to declare, as the law requires, three very large donations, which amount to nearly a third of a million dollars.

The money donated comes from former party co-leader John Tamihere ($158,224), Aotearoa Te Kahu Limited Partnership ($120,000), and the National Urban Māori Authority ($48,880).

It could be that the party didn’t have the correct processes in place, in what is a complicated area of operating a political party. Although the law is clear about what needs to be declared, the details of what should be included is a difficult area, especially if the donations amount to an amalgamation of “in kind” contributions and election spending by candidates. As Trevett’s article above reports, the party president “said Tamihere paid for some party costs out of his own pocket and the party had not realised it was supposed to treat those as donations.”

Nonetheless, the ball is now in the Māori Party’s court to reassure the public, and their voters, that they have integrity when it comes to powerful vested interests. Unfortunately, they aren’t providing a lot of the necessary detail.

About half of the money in question came from John Tamihere, who was less than forthcoming or contrite when replying to a journalist’s question on why he hadn’t been transparent, saying “Because I’m not as perfect as you” – see Tova O’Brien’s Billy Te Kahika outs himself as second Electoral Commission referral to police over donations.

Party president Che Wilson is claiming ignorance and a shambolic state of affairs in the party as his excuse – see RNZ’s Māori Party undeclared donations referred to police. Wilson is quoted saying, “We took over a party that had broken down and as part of the rebuild as volunteers when we got into the thick of the campaign we misinterpreted how we had to report things”.

Similarly, talking to Newshub, Wilson conveys that “they were so focused on issues that needed solving in the lead-up to the election that meant they didn’t have the correct processes” – see Rachel Sadler’s Māori Party undeclared donations: Electoral Commission notified as soon as error was noticed – party president Che Wilson.

Evaluating the party’s responses so far, electoral law expert Andrew Geddis told RNZ’s Morning Report: “That doesn’t strike me particularly as a good excuse, given that these rules are in place for a good reason. And if you as party secretary are taking on the responsibility then its implicit on you to make sure you know what you are doing and that you’ve got the processes in place to be able to meet the legal requirements” – see: Rules around electoral donations very clear – Geddis.

Geddis appears to believe a prosecution is required in this case, because “There’s no point having these rules if people can just ignore them and just walk away with a slap on the hand with a wet bus ticket.” But he adds that a judge might choose a lesser punishment for the party president if there are mitigating circumstances (such as the fact that they have come clean to the Electoral Commission).

Former Labour Party president Mike Williams has spoken out today, saying there’s “no excuse” for failing to disclose the large donations, and the “law is perfectly clear” – see Waatea News’ Māori Party fails to report funding. According to this article, “Williams says John Tamihere, who is a former MP, would know the rules”.

What’s more, Williams argues that the Māori Party’s failure to disclose its funding during the election campaign may have been politically consequential: “It might have altered votes if people knew John Tamihere chucked in $158,00 before the election. That should have been reported before the election. That’s the point of the law”.

Questions raised about who pulls the strings in the Māori Party

The spotlight is now on the three big donors to the Māori Party. On Newshub’s Hui TV programme last night, Mihingarangi Forbes challenged the party president about the funding from the National Urban Māori Authority (NUMA), which John Tamihere is the CEO of, and is contracted to the government to provide Whānau Ora services. But Wilson refused to comment saying “We can only talk about what we’ve done and you’d need to talk to NUMA about that.”

Political commentators Shane te Pou and Tau Henare appeared on the programme, and had very different interpretations of this donation. Te Pou, a former Labour candidate, said: “I think it’s very important the police investigate. If Whanau Ora money has been used – and I use that word ‘if’ – I don’t think that’s a good thing at all. At the end of the day it’s taxpayer money… If I was the minister of Whanau Ora, the first thing in the morning I would write to the Auditor-General and I would ask him to investigate” – see Dan Satherley’s ‘That’s the game’: Māori Party MPs warned attacks will come over donations scandal.

In contrast, Tau Henare called the scandal a “storm in a teacup”, and argued that the problem is with the law rather than the Māori Party: “The reality is we have a law that’s designed to obfuscate, designed to… hide things… The law needs to be looked at, the law needs to be revamped so everybody is clear about their accountabilities. In terms of the Māori Party, I think it’s a bit of a rookie mistake.”

Rightwing blogger David Farrar argues today that the matter raises important questions about the Māori Party’s funding – especially from the mysterious entity, Aotearoa Te Kahu, which gave a single donation of $120,000 – see: Who are the mystery Māori Party funders?.

Farrar has been digging around to find the background of this donor: “Go to the register of limited partnerships and you find they act on behalf of Aotearoa Te Kahu GP Limited. Their shareholder is ATK Nominees Limited. And their shareholder is Morrison Kent Limited. It is fair to assume Morrison Kent are not the actual shareholders but are acting for someone. So this leaves the question who actually controls and funds Aotearoa Te Kahu and made the decision to donate $120,000 to the Māori Party?”

Has the Māori Party been a victim of racism?

At the same time that the Māori Party were referred to the Police, the Electoral Commission also said that the National Party had breached the rules by failing to disclose $35,000 donated last year in three instalments by real estate businessman Garth Barfoot. Che Wilson has suggested, in his interview with Newshub, that because National hasn’t been referred to the Police, it’s a case of the Māori Party being unfairly singled out: “That’s just really sad that the system has its bias and potentially is racist”.

However, the Electoral Commission has been reported as saying that the same rules are being applied, but it hasn’t yet decided whether to also refer National to the police. In her article, Claire Trevett states: “The Electoral Commission said it had asked for an explanation from the National Party and was still assessing the matter. It did not automatically refer all late donations to the police, but considered issues such as the party’s past record and the timeframes involved.”

Blogger No Right Turn has backed up the Māori Party on this, suggesting if the Police choose to prosecute, this will reflect discrimination on their part: “In the past the police (as opposed to the SFO) have generally refused to enforce the law (it’s not ‘real’ crime, you see, unlike someone smoking a joint or walking while brown). But given the party involved and the police’s culture of racism and subservience to power, maybe we might finally see the law enforced this time, though for entirely the wrong reasons” – see: The Māori Party’s hidden donations.

Finally, the Electoral Commission is yet to release the details of the donations received by parties for the 2020 election year, but in February the donations to individual election candidates were published – you can see the details in Claire Trevett’s, Shane Jones, Christopher Luxon, Anna Lorck – who got the most donations in 2020 election?.

New Zealand’s parliamentary Speaker has offered an olive branch to Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi over his refusal to wear a tie in the debating chamber yesterday.

Speaker Trevor Mallard’s office has confirmed he has encouraged the party to submit to the Standing Orders Committee asking that hei-tiki be allowed instead of a tie.

Waititi speaks to RNZ Morning Report‘s Corin Dann:

Waititi was booted out of Parliament’s debating chamber after refusing to wear a tie, in contravention of the rules.

Speaker Trevor Mallard last year announced he would reconsider the requirement, saying he himself believed the tie rule to be outdated.

He ultimately ruled however that the dress standard would remain as that was the will of the majority of MPs.

On the first sitting day of 2021 today, Waititi arrived without a tie. He argued that he was wearing Māori business attire with a taonga around his neck, but Mallard said he was not convinced by that argument.

Mallard notes no party response
“I am therefore going to indicate to the leader of Te Pati Māori that I will not be calling him while he is not wearing a tie and he is not to enter the house again not wearing a tie,” Mallard said.

Mallard noted the Māori Party did not respond to the review of the dress code.

Waititi made several attempts to speak in the debating chamber, despite Mallard’s order, and was ejected from the house.

‘My taonga is my tie,’ says Waititi. Video: RNZ

After being removed from the debating chamber, Waititi said not being able to wear a taonga around his neck instead of a tie was a breach of the rights of indigenous people.

“That is not part of my culture, ties, and it’s forcing the indigenous peoples into wearing what I describe as a colonial noose,” Waititi said.

When asked if he would wear a tie at Parliament tomorrow [Wednesday], Waititi said “you’ll have to wait until tomorrow”.

“Our people have worn these types of ties for generations, thousands of years. And it’s time that Parliament, which was consented by my ancestors through Te Tiriti o Waitangi, recognised our right and freedom to express our own cultural identity, in a place that’s supposed to be a place for democracy,” Waititi told Checkpoint.

‘I dressed … quite smart’
“If you see the way I was dressed it wasn’t disrespectful, it was actually I think quite smart. I own to two consultancy businesses, and also our farming business on our family farm. And I never wear a tie,” he said.

“I will wear a tie when I want to wear a tie. But I will not be forced to wear it.

“I will not be forced to be wearing anything that I shouldn’t be wearing… Why are Pākehā making Māori dress like they want us to dress?”

The enforced dress code is hypocritical and an example colonial ways that suppress tangata whenua, he said.

“Parliament should be a place where we could freely practice our democracy and represent the people that voted us in.

“The majority of the people that voted me in are not business attire people… Let’s cut the myth that everybody must wear ties. I’ve been overseas and met with corporate people all over the world. None of them wear ties, they’re open-collared suit-wearing people, because ties are now outdated.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The 16 protesters at Waikeria Prison have surrendered to authorities after a six-day stand-off.

The news that the men had ended the stand-off came in a statement from Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi, who said he escorted the prisoners out about 12pm today.

Waititi said the prisoners were ready to come down.

“Naturally, they were tired and hungry but still very determined to see change.

“They have achieved what they set out to do when they embarked on bringing attention to their maltreatment in prison.”

Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis said the men received food and water and would soon be transported to other prisons around the country.

A plume of smoke could still be seen rising from the fire-damaged buildings at Waikeria Prison this morning.

The 16 inmates had been protesting at the prison since Tuesday, when several fires started.

Widespread destruction
Corrections has said there had been widespread destruction of buildings and property, and the men had acted violently.

But the men had said they were protesting against unacceptable conditions at the prison, after complaints about inhumane treatment had not been listened to.

Davis said the protesters had done a lot of damage to the part of the prison they were in and it was now unusable.

The arson, violence and destruction carried out by the men were reckless criminal acts, and the responsibility for laying charges was with police, he said.

There were many legitimate avenues for prisoners to raise concerns about their conditions, Davis said.

Five of the men involved in the disorder are deportees from Australia, and three are subject to returning offender orders because of their criminal convictions.

At a press conference this afternoon, Davis said he was involved from the outset, but wanted to give professionals the space, time and resources to do their ob.

‘True hero’ negotiators
He said the “true heroes” were the negotiators who spent six days at this site working with the prisoners.

Davis said he had noted before that he did not like the state of the upper part of the prison, but that did not excuse the actions of the protesting inmates.

He said he had “total confidence” all prisoners across the network were being looked after in accordance to the Corrections Act.

Department of Corrections chief executive Jeremey Lightfoot said there was “no excuse” for what the men did, and there were multiple ways for prisoners to complain, including to the Ombudsman.

“Let me be clear, there are many channels to complain,” he said.

Lightfoot said it was not appropriate to take this action as a way of complaining, and it was a criminal act.

He said he was proud of the collaboration between Corrections staff, police and other emergency colleagues, as it was a very complex matter in a dangerous area that took a lot of effort and planning to ensure it was resolved safely.

Prisoners’ supporters on site
Several family members of the prisoners were outside the gates again today and were calling for a peaceful end to the protest.

One told RNZ that their cousin who was protesting did not care if he lived or died, because he was standing up for his rights.

She said he had become fed up with conditions in the jail, and was determined to stick it out.

“He was agitated, he was hungry, he was thirsty… but he said he’d stick it out… at least he knows he’s standing up for his rights and the rights of others who are going to be incarcerated in this prison.”

The woman said her cousin was only on remand for non-payment of fines and had a 6-month-old baby at home.

Corrections had said the men have been given opportunities to negotiate, and would not be given water unless they surrendered.

In a statement earlier this morning, Corrections said the situation remained “incredibly volatile”.

“The prisoners have continued to light fires within the facility overnight, make threats toward our staff and police and throw debris at them from the roof of the buildings.

“Our options for intervention are limited due to the dangers present.”

Waititi, who previously tried to negotiate with the prisoners at their request, had said an Ombudsman’s Report, published in August, supported the men’s claims about the conditions at the prison.

He has called on the government to resolve the situation and end basic human rights breaches.

He said today that while people that do crime must serve their time, they must also be treated in a just and humane way.

“Even prison guards acknowledged to us that the state of the unit was unacceptable.

“These men are not animals, they are humans; they are brothers, fathers and sons and are deserving of better treatment.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Media giant Stuff, after a protracted study of its own history, announced this week that much that it has published on Māori has been racist. It has apologised for this and introduced guidelines (a Treaty of Waitangi-based charter) to improve its record.

Surprisingly, left-leaning journalist Chris Trotter has condemned these initiatives, saying apologising for your history is to admit you don’t understand it (with which I disagree) and that the apology is likely to result in a White backlash, with which, unfortunately, I cannot disagree.

But he appeared unconcerned or unaware of the ongoing Māori backlash evident since at least the 1950s. He did not mention Nga Tamatoa, Bastion Point, the Land March, the Raglan and Wanganui protests, the foreshore and seabed issues, or the creation of the Māori Party.

He wrote of rewriting history while failing to recognise that it had in fact already been rewritten, by commission and omission— by Pākeha.

Only relatively recently have the “Māori” Wars and the Wairau “Massacre” been renamed the Land Wars and the Wairau Affair.

Until relatively recently the Treaty of Waitangi was considered meaningless, and a number of influential Pākeha still think so.

What is more, Māori are still being held solely responsible for the consequences of the Pākeha rewriting and resultant marginalisation: their poor health and crime rates, poor education levels, family breakdown, child abuse, drug use, and on and on.

The appalling story of Parihaka
Trotter wrote that to rewrite was to not understand, but the appalling story of Parihaka that he mentioned in passing was not even known to Pākeha until Dick Scott, who died this year aged 97, wrote The Parihaka Story (1954) and its expanded Ask that Mountain (1975).

In 1881, some 1600 troops equipped with cannon invaded the village on the slopes of Mt Taranaki (Mt Egmont?) in response to Māori removing surveyor pegs and ploughing confiscated land. The ploughmen and leaders Te Whiti-o-Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi were arrested and imprisoned without trial. Te Whiti was arrested again in 1883 and 1886.

Today, if you see Taranaki women wearing white feathers in their hair it is in memory of Parihaka and Te Whiti whose repeated peaceful passive resistance has been likened to that of Mahatma Gandhi.

Not too long ago, no Māori language, cultural mores or history were taught in our secondary schools (indeed, there were few Māori teachers) and the universities were little better.

I well remember a quite heated argument with my history lecturer at Victoria, Mary Boyd, in the early 1960s. She maintained the Treaty had no validity or use. I only got a “B” in that paper!

I remember also the PPTA Journal article in 1970 concerning teachers’ college students who researched Wairau. They concluded Māori had ambushed the NZ Company, starting the killing, ignoring the fact that it was only after Te Rangihaeata’s wife had been killed that the Māori responded in earnest; the fact that the NZ Company had illegally provoked the affair, hoping to forestall Commissioner Spain’s enquiry that was likely to determine the NZ Company’s title was invalid.

Māori land was invaded
It was Māori land that they had invaded.

This is not what those teachers’ college students were taught, or what they would teach to their pupils. I know because one of them was a young colleague of mine.

The Journal printed my response (“Another view of the Wairau Affair”) but much of the damage was already done. What was taught in our schools and universities, if it was taught at all, was this sort of a Pākeha version of history.

I’m sorry, Chris Trotter. We definitely need to rewrite history, if only to correct what little we know.

Thoughts on the Stuff’s Charter
Stuff’s charter recognises the media’s “enormous impact in shaping public thought … and societal norms”. It claims to be “a brave new era for NZ’s largest media company”.

The intentions of the charter are commendable but there’s no mention in the charter of Māori editors, columnists and journalists, only a separate acknowledgement by the CEO to redress their under-representation.

Also, there appear to be no explicit Māori organisational structures within the organisation, and no mention of any Māori inputs to the charter. I wonder if any Māori helped to write the charter, or whether this is another example of well wishers hoping to do things to and for Māori?

Without these structures and “by Māori” inputs, good intentions may not amount to very much. We’ll have other Oranga Tamariki sagas.

But it’s a start in the right direction for which Stuff should be congratulated. I wonder how many other organisations will follow its example.

This column is republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Meriana Johnsen, RNZ News journalist

More than one million New Zealanders took up the challenge today of using te reo Māori for the single, largest celebration of the language in history.

With covid-19 restrictions putting a stop to the annual Māori Language Week parades, the Māori Language Commission instead encouraged people to use the reo in some way, shape or form at noon, and the nation responded, with one in five New Zealanders registering to take part.

As the clock struck noon, more than 130 students and staff at the Wellington-based drama school Toi Whakaari belted out their school waiata, Toi Whakaari E.

School director Tanea Heke said they chose to sing the waiata to celebrate Te Wā Tuku Reo Māori because it was the one thing all staff and students could do well.

Taking part was student Waitahi McGee from Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Maniapoto, Tūwharetoa and Ngāti Tama ki Te Tau Ihu, who said she was reinspired to complete her te reo Māori journey.

“I’ve begun it but I haven’t finished it yet but I think that’s a life thing, but I appreciate this week because it helps remind me how important it is,” she said.

“I believe te reo Māori brings spirit and poetry and spirituality to existence – like, aroha, it’s not just love, it’s to share a breath, it’s to give but to take and there’s just so much poetry and depth to te reo Māori.”

Kōrero in the office
TBI Health physiotherapist Davide Castorina organised a kōrero in his office where kaimahi got together to introduce themselves in te reo Māori and say their favourite word.

“My Māori kupu was ‘tautoko’ [which] is really important and really relevant to what we were doing, because majority of my colleagues are not reo speakers and so it was good, because we were all there to support each other, so not to be whakamā and [to] be brave, be courageous.”

Castorina is originally from Italy, but has committed to learning te reo for his Māori children, and to help get rid of the inequities Māori face in the healthcare system.

He would also be presenting to the TBI Health clinicians on the Whare Tapa Whā, the Māori health model, later this week and how staff could incorporate it into their work.

Te Taura Whiri, the Māori Language Commission, held a ZuiMano Zoom meeting with 1000 participants where they shared karakia, and inspiring kōrero to mark the Māori Language moment.

However, more than 10,000 people tried to join the Zoom meeting at once, causing it to crash, which Te Taura Whiri chief executive Ngāhiwi Apanui said was “disappointing”.

‘We’re ecstatic about te reo’
He didn’t expect there to be such a positive response to the Te Wā Tuku Reo Māori kaupapa.

“We’re ecstatic about that, but I think I’m happier because it confirms to us that the value we’ve been trying to build for te reo over the last four, five years has now happened so it’s really a vindication in that way, but with all of these things there’s always a tomorrow, so the tomorrow for us really is how do we turn all that value into speakers of te reo Māori.”

The Māori Language Commission aims to have one million speakers of te reo Māori by 2040.

To see what other people got up to for the Māori Language Moment, visit www.tuku.reomaori.co.nz

Māori Party, Greens, Labour launch te reo policies
The Māori Party is pledging to officially change the country’s name from New Zealand to Aotearoa and replace Pākehā place names with their given Māori names.

In an announcement today, Waiariki candidate Rawiri Waititi said it was a bold move towards making te reo Māori a language for all of Aotearoa.

“It is unacceptable that only 20 percent of our people can speak their own language and that only 3 percent of the country can speak its official language. We need to be doing more at a systemic level to protect and promote the reo of Aotearoa,” Waititi said.

Te Pāti Kākāriki (the Green Party) also used today as an opportunity to call on the government to step up their game on their commitment to te reo Māori.

It is calling for te reo Māori to be made a core school subject up to Year 10.

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said the government must make te reo Māori a core curriculum subject if it was serious about integrating te reo Māori into schools by 2025.

Maihi Karauna is the Labour Party’s strategy, with the goal of achieving 1 million te reo Māori speakers by 2040.

“This government is committed to recognising tikanga, mātauranga and te reo Māori as part of New Zealand’s national identity – it is what makes us unique. Making New Zealand history compulsory in schools, support for Te Pūtake o te Riri and initiatives like this demonstrates this commitment to strengthening as a country,” said the party’s spokesperson for Māori development, Nanaia Mahuta.

This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

OPINION: By Martyn Bradbury, editor of The Daily Blog

Waitangi Day 2018 smells different doesn’t it?

It tastes different too.

No bitter “Māori privilege” nonsense from Don Brash and his shallow racism.

No spiteful “Let’s have a NZ day so we don’t have to feel guilty about the Treaty” whining from newspaper editorials.

READ MORE: PM Jacinda Ardern makes historic speech at Waitangi

No constant media barking up of predictions of aggression and protest.

-Partners-

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s desire to show Waitangi Day the respect it deserves with a 5-day tour visiting every marae large and small alongside ministers meekly lined up to do the BBQ cooking for Waitangi Breakfast is building a movement of aroha among Māori which will create a legacy relationship that is going to dominate Māori politics.

The electricity when she visits marae is palpable and extraordinary. Her incredible ability to connect emotionally with people has generated a rapport among those packed marae she has visited in a way that will earn her devotion among voters while forgiving any shortcomings.

Political lifetime
If she makes this 5-day tour an annual event she will build a following that will see Māori voting Labour because of their relationship with Jacinda for her entire political lifetime.

Her being pregnant is just the emotional icing, Māori in Northland have taken to Jacinda with nothing short of joy and her visiting everywhere has conjured up an excitement that will bind.

They will speak about Jacinda passing through for decades to come.

This personal relationship is going to cement Labour Party dominance of the Māori electorates leaving any resurgent Māori Party under a new leader like Dr Lance O’Sullivan with only the right for political movement because Labour will totally dominate the Māori vote on the general roll and the Māori roll.

With Jacinda building a huge reservoir of Māori voter support and the Māori faction inside Labour now one of the most powerful factions inside Labour, this puts the Iwi Leaders Forum, the Māori King and the Public Service all in a troubling position.

Many Māori live in urban areas and are not tribe affiliated. Their needs for better social services, jobs and the legacy issues created by colonialism trump Treaty deals which is offside to the goals of the Māori King or the Iwi Leaders Forum. With urban Māori having a far more powerful voice inside the new government, those movements will need to see any extra resources making a dynamic impact on the poorest.

But there’s another segment who are about to face an existential threat – the Public Service.

Building of fiefdoms
Māori know first hand the structural racism of the social service providers who care more about the building of fiefdoms than the actual welfare of Māori. Already the Public Service is strangling ministers with ministerial suffocation but the new Māori faction aren’t going to accept that.

Māori social service providers offer a wealth of cultural initiatives that bring a holistic view to caring about people and the Public Service will either need to adapt to those new initiatives or they’ll face an ongoing battle with a Māori faction that knows damn well how the Public Service denigrate their people.

The crowds thronging Jacinda on every marae suggest it’s a fight the Public Service are going to lose.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz