Hinerangi Rhind-Wiri, Haylee Koroi and Lizzie Strickett spoke to friends and whānau about what a living Treaty of Waitangi partnership looks like. Some would have us believe that Te Tiriti o Waitangi is of the past. We wanted to share the voices of those trying to live by Te Tiriti today who suggest otherwise. We … Read more
A new petition is calling for changes to address New Zealand students’ ‘shameful’ ignorance of their country’s history, writes RNZ’s John Gerritsen. In the lead-up to Waitangi Day, history teachers are calling for compulsory teaching of New Zealand’s Māori and colonial history in schools, but government representatives are rejecting the idea. The chairperson of the … Read more
The Waitara Lands Bill passed its third reading in December – settling one of Aotearoa’s longest-running land disputes – despite only one of two hapū giving their support. Why has the government allowed this to happen, asks Leonie Pihama. I received a parliamentary alert in December that read, “The following documents matching your alert criteria … Read more
Philip McKibbin remembers a man who dedicated his life to realising our Treaty partnership. Sir Pita Sharples remembers his old friend Harry Dansey well. He was teaching taiaha classes for prisoners – a new concept back in the ’70s – when Dansey said to him, “I used to do a bit of taiaha.” Sharples was sceptical, “’Cos … Read more
For three weeks in October, the Waitangi Tribunal started its long task of hearing claims that are part of Wai 2575 – the Kaupapa Inquiry into health services and outcomes for Māori. Gabrielle Baker reports. This is not intended to be newsy analysis, nor is it an insightful history essay. I’m simply not qualified to … Read more
A 1999 Waitangi Tribunal report said Māori have rights to the radio spectrum, what we know as the 2G, 3G and 4G mobile networks. The Crown disagreed. Now, 20 years on from the original claim, the government has the opportunity to right past wrongs when it makes its 5G allocation. Next year will mark 20 years … Read more
Ngāi Tahu spent 150 years in cultural and economic poverty, dispossessed of the vast majority of their whenua and mahinga kai. Today, 20 years on from their landmark settlement with the Crown, they’re sitting atop a billion dollar pūtea, writes Don Rowe. At the time of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, almost half … Read more
It has been 25 years since the commencement of the Wai 262 claim, and seven years since the Waitangi Tribunal’s Ko Aotearoa Tēnei report. So why are we still waiting for the New Zealand government to respond? One of the promises of the new government was a better relationship with Māori. A large Māori caucus … Read more
This week the Supreme Court dipped its toes into the troubled waters of the Crown’s settlement negotiations with Hauraki iwi in a decision on whether or not Ngāti Whātua can challenge elements of that settlement in court. Lawyer and mediator Baden Vertongen (Ngāti Raukawa) peels back the complex layers of that decision. In 2006, Ngāti Whātua sought to … Read more
Toby Morris has illustrated a new publication in the School Journal Story Library that tells the story of the Treaty of Waitangi. Below, a selection of the work, introduced by Ātea editor Leonie Hayden Toby approached me to read a few early drafts of his School Journal, and I was struck by how simple you … Read more
Māui Street editor Morgan Godfery chats to ‘minister for everything’ Andrew Little about nation building and resolving Treaty settlements on ‘marae time’. Old timers will tell you the words “former Labour leader” are a curse. Former Labour leader Phil Goff. Former Labour leader David Shearer. Former Labour leader David Cunliffe. Former Labour leader is the … Read more
Competing North Island iwi groups Tauranga Moana and Pare Hauraki were on track to negotiate a tikanga process for Treaty settlement talks – face to face, on the marae, no lawyers. Then the government changed hands and tikanga talks went out the window, writes Graham Cameron. My daughter Hinengākau may have delayed your morning commute … Read more
Former Green MP Catherine Delahunty makes the case for a new ministry. The new government needs to face facts: Pākehā need help to assimilate into Aotearoa. We have had more than 160 years but some of us are still struggling to cope. Reluctant as I am to throw more money at Pākehā, the failures are … Read more
Taranaki are expected to host next year’s national commemoration of the New Zealand Wars and yet the Waitara land-grab that sparked the Taranaki Wars has still yet to be fully resolved. The first national commemoration of the New Zealand Wars (Te Pūtake o te Riri) was held last month in Northland. The gathering took over the … Read more
Last week, a United Nations committee noted concerns about the lack of constitutional protection in New Zealand for some types of human rights, including rights of Māori. Treaty and constitutional law lecturer Carwyn Jones recommends the government revisit the relevant documents. Concerns were expressed last week by the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural … Read more
Yesterday a nearly 70,00-strong petition was presented to Parliament calling for the revocation of Sir Bob Jones’ knighthood following racist comments made in the NBR. Kera Sherwood O’Regan was there. A petition containing 68,760 signatures asking for the removal of business magnate Sir Bob Jones’ knighthood was presented at a pōwhiri on Parliament steps yesterday, following … Read more
What lies beyond the new Labour government’s ‘first 100 days’ for health policy and outcomes for Māori? In part five of our series on the future of Māori health, former Ministry of Health advisor and policy analyst Gabrielle Baker looks at what we should expect from Māori health providers and how to get them where … Read more
A lot has been made of a ‘less disruptive’ and ‘protest-free’ Waitangi Day this year. It’s misguided praise, writes Miriama Kamo. I find praise of a peaceful Waitangi Day jarring. The absence of protest is not the indicator of a successful Waitangi Day. Whether protest occurs or does not occur is not the measure of … Read more
For many Waitangi Day is an opportunity to talk about tino rangatiratanga – Māori sovereignty and self-determination. But does sovereignty mean the same thing to all of us? Waitangi Day means many different things to many different people. To some it is a time of reflection on where we are as a country; for others … Read more
In part four of our series on the future of Māori health, former Ministry of Health advisor and policy analyst Gabrielle Baker looks at where social investment and health intersect and asks if we’re spending money on the right services. In previous weeks I’ve talked about equity, inequality and Māori involvement in decision making. These … Read more
Rangatira ki te rangatira: Ardern’s approach to Waitangi commemorations offers the chance to break from the bad old days under PMs of both parties, writes Annabelle Lee Every Waitangi it’s the same. The lack of gratitude shown by Māori at being among the poorest, sickest, most unemployed and incarcerated people in Aotearoa is an ongoing source … Read more
On Sunday, Stuff revealed that Ngāi Tahu and Waikato-Tainui received Treaty payment top-ups totaling $370 million thanks to a ‘relativity clause’ in their original settlement. Language used in the report implied the payments were furtive and excessive. Here’s why they’re not. Relativity clauses are in the news again, with the “revelation” by Stuff.co.nz that both … Read more
What lies beyond the new Labour government’s ‘first 100 days’ for health policy and outcomes for Māori? In part three of our series on the future of Māori health, former Ministry of Health advisor and policy analyst Gabrielle Baker asks how we can be better Treaty partners in the quest to achieve equity. Last week … Read more
It has been a landmark week for two prominent Māori lawyers – cause for much celebration among the Māori legal profession this Christmas. Last Friday Moana Jackson was awarded an honorary doctorate in law from Victoria University of Wellington, and yesterday long-serving high court justice, and former chief judge of the Māori Land Court, Justice … Read more
In August a group of New Zealand researchers presented a report to the UN detailing the effects of racism on Māori. Simon Day spoke to AUT’s Dr Heather Came about the causes and cures for New Zealand’s racism. When Dr Heather Came listened to the New Zealand government delegation present to the United Nations Committee … Read more
Māori historian Dr Danny Keenan explains why it is highly unlikely William Hobson ever made his famous ‘pledge’. Great play has been made by anti-Māori Pākehā on a statement attributed to Lieutenant Governor Hobson at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, that new settlers and Māori ‘were now one people’. But did Hobson ever … Read more
Building magnate Sir William Gallagher’s recent comments calling the Treaty of Waitangi a ‘fraud’ have been roundly condemned. But he’s not the first to believe it, writes Scott Hamilton. Sir William Gallagher knows a lot about fences. He joined his father’s fencing business in 1962, and has turned it into a multinational company that he … Read more
Sir William Gallagher has been called a massive, massive racist… but what if all the people saying that are wrong? As the country enjoyed the clement spring weather this past weekend, word broke that manufacturing magnate Sir William Gallagher had addressed a group of Hamilton business people in a somewhat controversial manner. As well as … Read more
Leonie Hayden presents Kaupapa On The Couch, a six-part webseries looking at interesting issues and events in te ao Māori. What do we mean when we refer to our mountains and rivers as ancestors? Episode three looks at the world-leading legislation in Aotearoa that recognises Te Urewera National Park and the Whanganui River as people. … Read more