Ahead of Waitangi Day, UK schools and education companies tried to engage with Māori culture. But a string of examples, ranging from ignorant cultural appropriation to harmful and inaccurate depictions of history, show colonial attitudes remain entrenched. After 200 years, Aotearoa is finally incorporating what’s hoped to be a more accurate and nuanced teaching of … Read more
Three decades ago one of the giants of New Zealand thinking and writing, Ranginui Walker, published Ka Whawhai Tonu Mātou, Struggle Without End. The book, originally released in 1990 and revised in 2004, is a history of Aotearoa from a Māori perspective had a profound influence and today remains as piercing and illuminating as ever. … Read more
Summer reissue: In the final episode of this season of Bad News, Alice is joined by Billy T award winner Kura Forrester to look at how well we’re honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 2020. First published September 3, 2020. Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is … Read more
All this week we’re looking back at some of the best videos published on The Spinoff in 2020. Today, Alice Snedden’s Bad News looks at how well we’re honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi. As Taika Waititi once said, New Zealand is racist as fuck. To find out what he meant, Alice and Kura (Ngāti Porou) … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Soldier with far-right ties on spying charges, bright line test could be extended, and Oranga Tamariki boss Grainne Moss will not be resigning. A soldier with strong ties to the far right fringe has been charged with multiple counts of espionage. As Florence Kerr and Thomas … Read more
The Māori Party’s time in government with National proves the impact of minor parties isn’t always measurable by the number of bills they pass or the amount of funding they secure, but also its impact on the political tone, argues Ben Thomas. After Tuesday’s lacklustre leader’s debate, one question hung in the air: where were … Read more
Whoever is successful on October 17, there is urgent work that needs doing to meet obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Laura O’Connell Rapira offers five to begin with. In 1840, Māori rangatira and representatives of the British Crown signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The Māori text, which is the version of the Treaty recognised … Read more
In the final episode of this season of Bad News, Alice is joined by Billy T award winner Kura Forrester to look at how well we’re honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 2020. As Taika Waititi once said, New Zealand is racist as fuck. To find out what he meant, Alice and Kura (Ngāti Porou) … Read more
Te Ohu Kaimoana chief executive Dion Tuuta gets to the heart of institutional racism, and adds his voice to the chorus calling for a better Treaty partnership as we emerge from the pandemic. Koi Tū – the Centre for Informed Futures, led by Sir Peter Gluckman, recently released a paper titled Social Cohesion Enhancing Kotahitanga … Read more
Where is the ‘other’ Treaty partner in this pandemic response, asks public health expert Rhys Jones. Looking at the outward face of the Covid-19 pandemic response in Aotearoa/New Zealand, you’d be forgiven for wondering where one of the Treaty partners is. No matter where you look – cabinet, those delivering official communications, experts informing the … Read more
Law professor Dr Claire Charters (Te Arawa) lays out Aotearoa’s dual legal systems and the government’s obligations to both in these uncertain times. The Covid-19 era is like a fast-moving picture which perpetually develops and re-develops. The picture adjusts with ever-changing information on the relevant health-science, the impact on the economy, the need for restrictions … Read more
An excerpt from an essay by Treaty and constitutional law expert Dr Moana Jackson, taken from Imagining Decolonisation, the latest in the BWB Text series from Bridget Williams Books. James Cook’s belief that he could take this country for England in 1769 because he had ‘discovered’ it, and the whole discourse in the 1830s about … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Long cleanup looms after Mataura floods, anger inside and outside of RNZ at major proposed changes, and quarantine in effect for Wuhan returnees. The evacuation warnings for several flooded-out South Island towns have mostly been lifted. But there will be a long cleanup ahead for the … Read more
On this day two years ago, Jacinda Ardern delivered a powerful, acclaimed speech at Waitangi. She implored her audience then, as she has again in recent days, to hold her to account on delivering for Te Ao Māori. We’ve taken that speech and held it up against the Labour-led government’s achievements to date. In February … Read more
After months of silence on Ihumātao, the government is considering a loan to Auckland Council to buy the occupied Fletcher-owned land, according to an RNZ report. What is the dispute over the land? Fletcher Residential bought a section of land in South Auckland in 2014 for $19m with plans to build a 480-house development. A … Read more
In this charged essay, Spinoff columnist Morgan Godfery takes stock of Treaty of Waitangi interpretations that pay lip service to values without honouring the core tenets of power. Illustration by Toby Morris. This feature is made possible thanks to the Spinoff Members Fund. We need your help to make journalism that matters. For more information, click here. … Read more
The first ever Oral Health Equity Symposium was held on Thursday and Friday last week. Gabrielle Baker went along to see how the best in New Zealand’s dental sector are hoping to tackle inequities in New Zealand’s oral healthcare. It’s no secret that our health system works better for some than it does for others. … Read more
TVNZ’s new online-only series Colonial Combat pits the the inhabitants of Kauri Bay – Māori, settlers, men, women, and many more besides – against each other in the ring. Dan Taipua reviews. The place is Kauri Bay, kind of. The year is 1836, sort of. The people are Māori, and All Other Comers. The stakes … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Cancer sufferers react to govt’s new plan, data shows big increase in land sales for forestry, and a striking warning about NZ’s future of defence. Over the weekend, the government made their major announcement on addressing the cancer treatment model. So with the benefit of a … Read more
TaiTokerau Rugby League is a breakaway competition aiming to bring power back to the people in the Far North. But under the lead of CEO Hone Harawira, it’s not without its critics. Don Rowe reports. This feature is made possible thanks to The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here. Three … Read more
A new ruling on the ban on prisoner voting delivers a fierce reminder of the need for urgent change. Now it’s over to the government: put up or shut up, writes Andrew Geddis. In some ways, it tells us nothing we didn’t already know: the legislative ban on prisoners voting enacted in 2010 by National … Read more
A number of activists have been arrested tonight after attempting to blockade Auckland’s Southwestern Motorway, as part of an ongoing standoff between police and land protectors at Ihumātao. However, a spokesperson for the group coordinating the occupation say they did not know the action was going to take place. Just after 5pm today a red … Read more
Aroha Bridge writer and director Coco Solid talks about the new characters on the show, the ‘psychic vat of reality’ that birthed them, and her Ihumātao call-out of PM Jacinda Ardern. In season two of locally made cartoon series Aroha Bridge, 10-year old wunderkind pop star Angeline announces on television: “I’m Māori so obviously I … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Deep wounds shown by Captain Cook vandalism, expert fact checks claims around electric cars, and police deployed to fight non-existent crime wave. A Gisborne Captain Cook statue has been vandalised, and the message painted on it shows the depth of tensions that will surround the 250th … Read more
To anyone paying attention, the inequity embedded in the health system is undeniable. A new report from the Waitangi Tribunal lays that bare. Gabrielle Baker explains the findings, and what the government needs to do to prove it takes them seriously Two-and-a-half years after it pinpointed health as a priority for investigation, the Waitangi Tribunal … Read more
On the latest episode of The Good Citizen podcast, Jacqueline Paul talks to Jeremy Hansen about the housing crisis, inequality and the damage racist stereotyping is doing to Auckland. Landscape architect, housing advocate and aspiring local body politician, Jacqueline Paul (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga), isn’t sitting around waiting to be heard. She’s speaking … Read more
Last month the Waitangi Tribunal heard submissions on the current prisoner voting ban, something New Zealand’s Supreme Court has found to be in breach of human rights. Carmen Hetaraka asks: if now isn’t the time for the government to act, then when? “When you start you’ve got all these principles. And in the political process, … Read more
Every year there is an expectation of disruption on our national day, with armchair Treaty experts sharing their analysis of the history and value of the day without ever having actually travelled to Waitangi on February 6th. Here are two accounts of a day spent at Waitangi on Waitangi Day 2019 – one from tangata whenua … Read more
When even the ‘woke’ are ignorant about Te Tiriti o Waitangi, it’s clear we need to make teaching its history compulsory in schools, writes Liam Hehir. Sometimes something happens in the news that shakes you out of a bubble. I thought that making New Zealand history a compulsory part of the curriculum was more heavy-handed … Read more