transitions

I've managed to unfreeze my old computer which has a treasure trove of photos from a few years back. I am interested in transitions and the places where that occurs

 

We are constantly transitioning from yesterday to tomorrow

Bush - come down

A quiet start to the week

indigenous truth in argentina

A fantastic article by Marie Trigona 

Argentina's bicentennial celebration - what about the indigenous people? And how does the plight of indigenous people over there, relate to our fight for rights, over here.

"As bicentennial events commenced, indigenous groups led a caravan to the nation’s capital to demand recognition of their sovereign culture and plurality, in one of the largest indigenous demonstrations in Argentina’s history. During the march thousands commemorated the nation’s non-colonial history.

Santiago de la Casa, a Pilagá community member traveled from the province of Formosa to push for a law to recognize indigenous cultures, languages and territory. “We can’t be happy and celebrate the nation’s past 200 years as indigenous people. The indigenous people already existed here. The other, the Europeans who came here 200 years ago can celebrate. They can be happy because they have benefited from the waters, rivers, air, earth apt to produce. We are sad because we don’t have a specific law for the aboriginal people.”

The Pilagá community has faced environmental devastation and water pollution due to the construction of public water works project which has flooded indigenous ancestral lands. Amnesty International published a report on the “systematic violation of human rights.” The Pilagá community numbering around 6,000 inhabits the bordering lands of the La Estrella wetlands. The indigenous have faced constant repression from security forces and threats, in addition to the degradation of living standards due to the pollution of the wetlands. The Pilagá face food shortages and risk losing their traditional ways of life, such as hunting and fishing which they have depended on for centuries."

These issues are global. The systemic, deliberate destruction of indigenous communities and peoples has and is happening all over this world and it is an absolute disgrace.

"More than 30 indigenous nations have survived the mass immigration of Europeans to Argentina. However, the nation’s early leaders led campaigns such as the “conquest of the desert,” to wipe out indigenous communities in the Patagonia south to make room for white inhabitants. General Julio Argentino Roca led this campaign in which “30 million hectares were stolen from the indigenous and distributed among the nation’s most wealthy under what is called the campaign of the desert,” said Anarchist Historian Osvaldo Bayer."

The article includes much historic information about the fate of indigenous people in Argentina - please go and read.

And what does it say about here? Maori are not alone in being denied their rights - the right to freedom and independence and truth. The right to live on ancestral land, the right to protect ancestral waterways, mountains, and other sacred places. The right to be equal.

Is putting stolen land into national parks any better than giving it to genocidial generals?

Hat tip Upside Down World

the coast the circuit the mine the possum

Maori TV is awesome. My favorite program at the moment is The Circuit - I have been trying to imagine this type of program being made here - I hope our moviemakers look at this type of drama about us, for us.

Maori TV also have snippets on Ngāi Tahu quite often - i wonder if they would consider putting their programs grouped by iwi - it would make it easier to find things... Two items which caught my eye...

Ngāi Tahu will not support mining in Paparoa lands



Ngāi Tahu will never agree on 1080 being used on their ancestral lands



Two issues at either end of the coast that affect all people of this land. Strong words and actions are needed. leadership and inspiration are needed - these items are part of that process.

prisonwood

I think this is a good call by Metiria - it is naive for iwi groups to support private management of prisons. The multi-national companies don't care about prisioners or maori - they care about profit. Iwi groups working for profit off the prison system, when 50% of male and 60% of female prisioners are maori, is wrong.

From RadioNZ

"Waatea News reports iwi including Tainui, Ngati Whatua and Nga Puhi have investigated possible joint ventures with private prison operators in line with a Government move to open the sector to competition.

Ms Turei says the multi-national companies likely to win such contracts are driven solely by profit, and it's foolish to think they share the Maori interest in rehabilitation.

"These corporations don't care for us. They just want to make a buck," she said.

Exactly! I do not believe that prisons should be run for profit. Don't get sucked in iwi groups and please don't go there.

Idiot/Savant has a good post on the news that the disgraceful 3-strikes legislation is now law - this law is terrible. It will mean more prisioners and more maori in prison. It is so futile to just get people out of societies face, pretend there is no problem, lock them up, punish them - can people not see that that does nothing to fix the problem.

con-promise not compromise

So the mining company says let's compromise - let's not make any changes on schedule 4 conservation land before we have done some very small exploritory holes to determine if there is any minerals, like coal and gold, that we might want to dig up. Then, once we have have determined that there is something to dig, then we can have the debate on that particular bit of the schedule 4 conservation estate. This is practical and efficient - only one problem really - it is mental and it isn't a compromise at all.

We don't want ANY schedule 4 conservation land dug up - get it - NONE! - ZERO! - and all the bogus arguments about wealth creation and jobs are all lies. It is all illusion and made up and many people know it too which is why so many have marched and written submissions.

From Radio NZ

"In its submission, Newmont Waihi Gold which mines in Coromandel, has called on the Government to wait for more specific information on the most promising mineral deposits before removing any protections.

But the company says the rules would need to be changed to allow more exploratory drilling."

Big gerry didn't like that

"Mr Brownlee says Newmont has most of the mining rights for Schedule Four land on the Coromandel Peninsula, so it must not want any competition.

He says he assumes Newmont will relinquish all its mining permits in Coromandel when they expire in June."

Yes we all assume that gerry.

"Newmont says its proposal is a challenge to all sides of the debate."

Well I don't think so because it is not an idea with much merit. What actually is the compromise? That the mining company are only going to dig small exploritory holes - they will do that anyway. This compromise is all one way - what are the mining companies compromising? Nothing in my view - just another smokescreen to muddy the waters (to mix my metaphors).

righting wrong won't wreck the country

These crown negotiators, like doug graham - what actually is their claim to fame?

That they were good negotiators? That they screwed maori for the best deal for the crown? They weren't working for maori they were working against maori - i don't see why they should be considered worth listening to, unless people want to learn how to 'negotiate' with maori even more.

So when doug graham says, on NZH,

"You can't wreck the country [financially] because one group has said this is their bottom line."

about the Tuhoe negotiations and their wish to have Te Urewera returned - what does he mean? Giving a park back to Tuhoe will financially ruin the country?

"Sir Douglas was at the helm of negotiations in the 1990s when first Tainui and then Ngai Tahu signed deeds of settlement.

He said Tuhoe were now "victims" of those settlements because his Government had said national parks were out of bounds during negotiations. That set the precedent, and if broken could see the possibility of deeds being relitigated."

Ahhh now we see the real cause for concern - the paltry deals done with Ngai Tahu and Tainui would be under pressure if other iwi got better deals. The 'final' settlements would not be final. If that is the case then the question is actually, "Why are they not final?" If the settlement is so good why wouldn't iwi go thanks so much and walk away - and the answer is that the settlements are a small percentage of what has been lost, a very small percentage. Yes perhaps iwi should be happy with their tiny payout or maybe they should continue to aim for justice and equality - that's what I hope they focus on - justice and equality.

I don't think that doug graham is a bad bloke but his view is just his view and don't we have enough of his type of view already.

last day for mining submissions

Wow 35,000 submissions on mining schedule 4 conservation land so far - and i'd imagine most are against this stupid idea.

From Stuff

"Prime Minister John Key said yesterday the Government would "reflect on what we've learnt" after submissions closed at 5pm today."

Lesson number one - don't treat people like idiots. The lies and disinformation around the 'benefits' of mining have been laid on thick but the truth is winning.

"Mr Key said the Government would go away and consider its position, "then reflect on what we've learnt and what the next step is".

"We are going to carefully consider what's in those submissions, carefully consider the public reaction and try and map out the next step," he said."

Try to map out the next step - but are you going to actually listen key? Or are you going to continue with your plans but just wiggle around to try and get it through?

mother for sale

I've blogged about the crafars a few times now - from their animal abuse and constant infractions against the law, whether due to incompetance or plain cruelty. One thing I am sure about is that their farms should NOT be sold to overseas interests. The chinese are concerned that they may not get permission to buy the farms and their representative has blown a fuse.

From Stuff

"The company’s vice chairman, Graham Chin asked whether New Zealand wanted Natural Dairy to take its "huge investment in New Zealand factories and milk exports across the Tasman to Australia or to South America."

YES PLEASE

Natural Dairy (NZ) Holding Ltd’s used to be known as China Jin Hui Mining Corporation - that should tell you what their attitude to natural resources is. We don't need to sell to these overseas interests - it is not in our best interest. Give the stolen land back to maori if you want to do something with it.

joint bid to put appeals on hold

This is smelly. Meridian like getting everything sorted before the court case and they have a system worked out - a system that has worked in getting DOC and some runaka on side with them, against the river and nature.

From NZH

"Meridian Energy and the Department of Conservation (DOC) have filed a joint memorandum in the Environment Court requesting the appeals relating to the Mokihinui hydro proposal be put on hold."

Meridian chief executive Tim Lusk said the project was proposed for stewardship land administered by DOC and required the consent of the Minister of Conservation to go ahead, as well as the usual resource consents."

Taking the time to carefully work through these issues before advancing to the Environment Court is the most logical and cost effective way of simplifying a complicated process for all concerned," said Mr Lusk.

He said that in applying for the minister's consent, Meridian may have the opportunity to address some matters raised by DOC in its appeal to the Environment Court.

"It would be more efficient and appropriate to see if we can deal with those issues as part of that dialogue," Mr Lusk said.

It seems that going direct to the minister may prove more fruitful - you can negotiate all of the little things out the way before.

Meridian is committed to the Mokihinui hydro project," he said.

And we are committed to stopping this damn dam. I like the red-tape and delays - anything that ensure the decision is put off and off until eventually it is too hard and too costly to go ahead.

Dame Judith gives key a history lesson

Good to see Dame Judith Binney coming out with a historical perspective on the Tuhoe negotiations. It is a pity that john key is so underdone in his knowledge.

From Stuff

"Historian Dame Judith Binney has slated John Key's refusal to return ownership of Te Urewera National Park to Tuhoe, saying his claim that it created a precedent was "quite wrong".

Tuhoe's situation was unique, and Key "could have responded to it if he'd understood the history clearly". The Crown had not acted honourably in its dealings with Tuhoe and it was time it did, Binney said.

The Crown's confiscation of large amounts of Tuhoe land during the wars in 1866 and 1867 "was not justified and neither has it been compensated for".

Moreover, in 1896 the Liberal government of Richard Seddon had passed a law giving the tribe a large degree of self-government or tribal authority over its area – a measure that was "absolutely unique", Binney said.

After Seddon's death in 1906, the government moved further away from the concept of Tuhoe tribal authority, and by "awful pressure and brutality" had acquired about 330,000 acres of Tuhoe land by 1921.

The government passed an act in 1916 "to retrospectively legalise all the purchases up till that point". In 1958 the Urewera National Park was formed out of land that Tuhoe had owned in 1896.

The government should now "give back the land or a form of authority over the land", Binney said.

Well there it is all laid out in black and white. The land was stolen and confiscated illegally in a unfair, exploitive way. It is time to sort this out and it is time for the government to stop trying to wriggle out of it's obligations to right wrongs.
 
I am very pleased that Dame Judith is healing well from her accident.

Archey's frog verses brownlee fly - hiccup!

Can we see the woods for the trees?

We know that the mining will affect things like tourism and macro-environmental areas by putting roads in and the excretment produced by mining, the massive amount of debris that has to be put through the machines to get a tiny amount of 'valuable' mineral out. But the ecosystem is 3 dimensional - it is what we can see and also what we can't. A bit like the oil spill - the bit we see on top of the water is only a tiny fraction of the pollution - it is a big oil iceberg and the total ecosystem around the spill is doomed.

The mining of shedule 4 lands has hit a number of opponents and it is good to see another join the fight - I have to say I'd get rid of zoos but in this fight we take everyone who can man/woman the barricades.

From Stuff

"One of the world's largest zoos has drawn attention to the plight of an endangered New Zealand frog, which could be wiped out if its protected habitat was opened up to mining."

"The society is calling on the British public to make submissions on the New Zealand Government's proposals to permit mining on more than 7000 hectares of the conservation estate."

The society, which runs the zoo, drew attention to the plight of the critically endangered Archey's frog, found in the area of the Coromandel Peninsula proposed as suitable for mining.

The frog is at the top of the society's list of endangered amphibians. It is described as the "most evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered amphibian on the planet."

The society's conservation project co-ordinator, Helen Meredith, said Archey's frogs were like living fossils, as they were almost indistinguishable from 150 million-year-old fossilised remains.

This year is the United Nations Year of Biodiversity, yet New Zealand was considering removing protections from land where rare and endangered species lived, she said. "In the year when reducing biodiversity loss is high on the political agenda, it is inconceivable to think that we'd put the nail in the coffin of some of our rarest and most extraordinary frog species."

What a description, "most evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered amphibian on the planet." that is one very good reason to kick these mining proposals into touch. Brownlee it is time to pack up your tent and piss off from this mining idea. You are doing the environment and this country irreparable damage by your idiotic attempts to grease up your big business mates - even London Zoo think you are an idiot. It the UN year of biodiversity FFS.

budget view

One thing i noticed about the budget coverage was that john key was polished and professional. On TV1 he really was so relaxed and comfortable - like a man without too many problems, like a man whose plan had worked.

And labour fell into the trap. Labours line that this is the budget for the few was blown out the water by the announcments. All week we had goff and co telling us how the rich were going to get richer and that key and english were looking after their rich mates - that is all true but the public perception after this budget will be that labour were scaremongering, panicing, loose cannons and just trying to score political points. That is the dark art of managing public perception. Lower expectations and then beat them. Labour helped lower them and the gnats have reaped the rewards. I am not sure what else goff could have done - he really is out of his league with key.

So on close up we had the shock of hearing that all of the commenters liked the budget and no one was anti - where was goff? Why wasn't he on to counter the gnats? - because no one cares what he says, least of all the broadcasters.

The left need champions to fight the right. We need a leader, we need some inspiration because unless we focus the energy on OPPOSING we will get a few more years of Dim.B. Key

phil meet love

Song for goff

Rock on--gold dust woman
Take your silver spoon,
And dig your grave

Heartless challenge
Pick your path and I'll pray

Wake up in the morning
See your sunrise--loves--to go down
Lousy lovers--pick their prey
But they never cry out loud

Did she make you cry
Make you break down
Shatter your illusions of love
Is it over now--do you know how
Pick up the pieces and go home.

Rock on--ancient queen
Follow those who pale
In your shadow

Rulers make bad lovers
You better put your kingdom up for sale

Did she make you cry
Make you break down
Shatter your illusions of love
Is it over now--do you know how
Pick up the pieces and go home.

stop degrading our traditions

I agree with Shane Jones on this one. A powhiri for mickey fucken mouse is just a joke. Why are our traditions and mana being degraded in this way? You got it - money - and if that isn't the weakest reason to devalue te ao maori I don't know what is.

From Stuff

"Labour MP Shane Jones has called for a debate over when official Maori welcomes are used, saying the current "dial-a-powhiri" is devaluing a national treasure.

Mr Jones' comments come after a powhiri was performed by Ngati Whatua kapa haka group Te Puru o Tamaki for Disney characters Mickey and Minnie Mouse, ahead of the Disney on Ice show in Auckland.

The Northland-based Labour list MP described the welcome as a "joke" and "a wake up call", saying a debate about when powhiri were appropriate was "long overdue".

It is good that jones is raising this issue because with the rugby world cup coming up we are bound to see all sorts of eyebrow raising acts.

too little too late Hone

Good statement Hone but with the budget today it is too little too late.
From Stuff

"Hone Harawira has broken ranks with the Maori Party to speak out against a GST rise in today's Budget as an attack on the poor.

"...the GST decision had also put it in an impossible position with its supporters who would expect the party to challenge any tax hitting the poorest New Zealanders hardest."

The Maori Party is bound by its coalition agreement to support the Budget. Mr Harawira made it clear that a decision on opposing the GST rise had been taken out of his hands by the caucus so he would still vote to support the Budget.

But he said he could not do so without speaking out – comments that could put him on a collision course with the party. He was having difficulty supporting a tax increase that made things easier for the wealthy "at the expense of those in need".

"GST hits poor people the hardest because nearly all of their money is spent on things that you pay GST on – food, petrol, electricity – so any increase is going to really hurt them."

It was an issue that affected not just Maori New Zealanders but "poor people generally".

Yes today the day when GST is raised to 15% will be a difficult day for many people. Of course the well off won't even notice but most are not well off - most are not well off at all.

So the maori party will vote for the government. It is a sad day when pragmatisim beats conviction.

police shame

It really is difficult to get your head around. That the police would have 108 child abuse files sitting around gathering dust for a couple of years and meanwhile the brave people that made the complaints, that forced themselves to seek help - have been left without any help at all. What a terrible plight those people have gone through and are still going through today as the cases are only now being followed up.

From NZH

"Wellington police had been working to ease the backlog with a special operation, investigating more than 100 files since December and making 30 arrests."

When are we going to realise that arresting and putting people away in jail is not the answer. We need to look at the causes of this situation. Why is this happening?

The truth is we need to fix the foundations of this country up. That will support tangata whenua and also support everyone else. We won't fix this issue unless we look deeply at the cause - and the cause is partly due to injustice that permeates our society - from it's formation to today.

Update from Stuff

"In the Wairarapa, 108 cases were unallocated, files were uninvestigated on average for five years and, in some cases, victims lived with their alleged abusers all that time."

"Wairarapa's top police officer and a senior detective are facing possible disciplinary action over the mishandling of child abuse files."

"The IPCA found there was also a backlog of child abuse cases in Rotorua and Westport."

An average of five years - resign - you have let everyone down.

weta got the ju

I need some good old fashioned music.

Aoraki is Ngāi Tahu, Ngāi Tahu is Aoraki

It has been interesting watching the slippery lies and dis/mis-information from john key around Tuhoe and their settlement negotiations.

The line now is that if Te Urewera was given back to Tuhoe to manage then this would create some precedent that other iwi would take up. What a load of bull. Is that what has happened with treaty settlements so far - no. It is just more made up misinformation from the representative of the people of this country - shit no wonder he won the Dim Bulb award.

From NZH

"Prime Minister John Key says giving the Te Urewera National Park to Tuhoe could have opened the way for other iwi to put strong cases for ownership of national parks, including Whanganui, Egmont, Ngauruhoe and possibly Aoraki/Mt Cook."

"The Ngai Tahu settlement includes provision for Aoraki/Mt Cook to be gifted to the iwi and then re-gifted to the nation. However, that clause has not yet been acted upon and it is up to Ngai Tahu to decide when to trigger it."

So Aoraki has not yet been gifted back - well I say let us never do that. Let us keep Aoraki away from the clutches of those who would treat him with disrespect and exploit him. We must NEVER give our sacred mountain away - it is not ours to give, it is our mokopuna's and their's.

"Mr Key's justification for the decision was rejected by Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia.

"None of those cases is similar to Tuhoe so you can't compare those iwi to Tuhoe. This is an opportunity for the Crown to make good and doing what is right, not looking over the shoulder at other iwi and trying to make Tuhoe think that because of those other iwi they're not going to get their settlement."

Key is a major embarassment - I'm calling him Dim. B. Key after the new award he got.

marae hotels?

I'm not sure I see this initiative as the right way to go.

From NZH

"A tour company is teaming up with iwi to offer up to 10,000 beds at marae during the Rugby World Cup.

Tourists will be charged between $80 and $200 per night for meals, transport to and from games, and lessons on Maori culture."

I am all for marae creating innovative funding opportunities, and if it can be done via cultural tourism - even better. But something is nagging in me that if these people are coming for the rugby - are they really interested in maori culture? And if they aren't - is the marae just then a hotel with some carvings? Each marae will have to decide that case, and I have faith in the choices that will be made.

"A New Zealand Experience product manager David Tanenui said some marae will offer a "five-star" option while others will be communal backpacker-style lodgings. Some marae stood to earn $100,000 from the plan, but their main motivation was to offer overseas guests some Maori hospitality."

I hope that that remains the kaupapa. I really respect the views of Ngarimu Blair.

"Ngarimu Blair, a trustee of Ngati Whatua o Orakei in Auckland, confirmed they had been approached about hosting visitors during the tournament.

He said: "If we did, we would only offer it to high-end market and families. I couldn't see us opening our marae to the Barmy Army to come and spew all over our sacred carvings.

"We would only consider it by going the whole hog, with the powhiri and meals, sharing our histories and sharing each other's company."

Now we are talking about a whole experience. Perhaps that is the way to go, create a total immersion package for the visitors, really build the connections and context and leave people with a life-changing experience. This is a different way than the "I'm going to the rugby and need a place to stay" mentality that many visitors will have.

For a couple of different right-wing views on this matter go to roarprawn and cactus kate.

some thoughts on our alcohol culture

Alcohol - it's time to talk straight.

The Sunday Star-Times had three excellent articles on this subject.

Finlay MacDonald discusses his youth drinking war-stories and the observation, "There but for the grace of god go I."

I totally understand because I can say the same - When i grew up in Mosgiel, at 15 and 16 we drank to get drunk. Someone, often everyone, was sick, someone usually coma-ed out, another asleep in the gutter or a garden. We were lucky to make it through too, very lucky indeed.

As Finlay says in his final paragraph,

"And while all that takes the several lifetimes it will to have any effect, pray your teenager doesn't become one of the tragic statistics any culture that sanctions the mass promotion and consumption of a powerful psychoactive drug will always and inevitably produce."

Why is this happening and how did we let it get to this.

An article by Richard Boock gives us a glimpse - liquor advertising, sport and money.

We ask out young people to be sportsmen and women, to train to be the best they can be, meanwhile all of the uniforms are splashed with alcohol companies, the advertising, the image. What are we teaching our youth, what are they learning about alcohol and society.

Nicely stated by Richard,

"Even then, it was surprising to hear tennis' Heineken Open director Richard Palmer claiming earlier this month that the event would be placed in jeopardy if the sponsorship from Heineken was lost.

"When you think of Steinlager you think of the All Blacks, and when you think of the All Blacks you think of Steinlager," he said, apparently oblivious to the point he was making. The thought that primary school kids watching the All Blacks are sub-consciously developing a relationship with alcohol is precisely the problem with liquor advertising in sport."

And it is a big problem indeed.

It is time to really consider this question of the 'culture of alcohol abuse' in this country.
Rosemary McLeod states

"But anyone who goes out late at night and looks for teenagers will find them drunk, comatose, violent, stupid, endangered, and running wild. These are our daughters and sons, shagging someone they met five minutes ago, throwing up and collapsing in their own vomit, picking fights over imagined slights and driving cars they can't control. Don't imagine your own aren't among them.

This has happened and is happening and will happen into the future unless we actually address the issues causing that  'culture'.

One of the issues causing the 'culture' is the situation regarding the indigenous people of this country. The tangata whenua - maori.

The injustice that has occured has created a country with a crooked foundation. This is manifest in many ways , from 'The cinema of Unease',  to the rates of child abuse. And alcohol abuse and the 'culture of drinking' is another manifestation.

Are we trying to not think about the underlying structure of the country we love? Are we trying to forget so that we can get on with being one country? We know wrong has been committed and we know people have been hurt and we know, deep inside, that we must fix these things yet we struggle to do that because short-term politicians don't really think about the good of all in society. If they did they would accept the reality of what has happened here and then we could move into a different phase, a phase of rebuilding. But rebuilding from correct foundations. When those foundations are fixed then the legitimate pride in this country and all it's citizens can manifest instead of the twisted abuse that comes forth at the moment.

By resetting the foundations of this country we restore mana. This flows onto all people. Everyone's mana is enhanced. We cannot fix our societal problems without looking at the society that has created the problems. It is time to front up.

And it can be done - just consider the haka that James's friends gave for him. It didn't matter how many maori were there, it was the feeling, the emotion - that is what the haka is about - that is the connection between peoples. Te ao maori is inclusive and that haka was a great example of that.

Te Kohanga o Kaikai-a-Waro is wahi tapu

Awesome news about the rediscovery of this ancient pa site. It is sacred and deserved protection.
From The Press

"A Maori pa discovered in a North Canterbury township is being considered for wahi tapu (sacred site) status by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.

The pa, named Te Kohanga o Kaikai-a-Waro after a historical name for the area, was uncovered during earthworks at the Pegasus Town subdivision in 2007.

Pegasus Town cultural adviser Te Marino Lenihan, who liaised with the property developers, Ngai Tahu iwi and Ngai Tuahuriri hapu regarding the site, said the pa was an important part of New Zealand's heritage.

Lenihan said the pa was believed to be at least 500 years old, which was "well before" their Ngai Tahu ancestors arrived in the region.

It is not by chance that our past is being revealed - it is all around us, it is everywhere. 

Many times when they disturb paptuanuku, they find remnants of older times. We must treat these taonga as sacred and preserve them and learn from them.

NZRU and SARU apology to maori

So both the South African and NZ rugby unions have now apologised for excluding maori players from tours to SA. I'm afraid it is pretty meaningless - too late and with the world cup coming up it is obvious the NZRU just want no waves leading up to and during the tournament. But notwithstanding that, it is a positive that the actual apology has been made.

From Stuff

"Today, on behalf of the New Zealand Rugby Union, we wish to say sorry first and foremost to those Maori players who were not considered for selection for teams to tour South Africa or to play South Africa," the statement said.

"We apologise to the families of those players and to the wider Maori community who were affected directly or indirectly by the decisions taken to not include Maori players for those teams and tours.

"It was a period in which the respect of New Zealand Maori rugby was not upheld and that is deeply regretted."

I think that should read "It was a period when the respect of Maori was not upheld and that is deeply regretted."

"The NZRU first set out to consider this issue in 2009 as we prepared for the centenary of New Zealand Maori in 2010 and believed it was right to ask for advice from the NZMRB.

Jeepers only started thinking about it last year - epic fail.

The SARU have also widened their apology.

"A number of Maori rugby players became innocent victims of the racist ideology of our former government, a policy that oppressed the daily lives of all black South Africans," Hoskins said in a statement.

"Those policies also denied thousands of talented black sportsmen and women the opportunity to compete for selection for South Africa's national sports teams.

"As the current guardians of the game of rugby union it is therefore appropriate that we take this opportunity to apologise to those Maori players who may have been excluded from selection and to the offence this may have caused to the Maori community.

"But, even more importantly, this is the opportunity to apologise on behalf of rugby to black South Africans who were denied the opportunity to represent not only their country but also their provinces throughout those long dark years because of the connivance of our predecessors in the systematic suppression of the majority."

They are sorry and we can be thankful for that and I hope it goes someway to creating a farier and more just society there and here.

key calls tuhoe cannibals

Key calls Tuhoe cannibals.

From Radio NZ

"The good news is that I was having dinner with Ngati Porou as opposed to their neighbouring iwi, which is Tuhoe, in which case I would have been dinner," he said, "which wouldn't have been quite so attractive."

Maori party it is time to go! This cannot be acceptable in any way. Mana dictates a strong response.

The Standard have a good post on this

As does Lew at Kiwipolitico

collectivist wealth creation for maori

Sometimes we cannot see the woods for the trees. We are caught up in our world and it seems like our world is the only world - but it isn't. The capatilist mode of creating wealth seems like the only way to go - but is it? Are their alternatives and how could they relate to righting the injustices facing Tuhoe and maori in general.

Maps has written on this subject in this post entitled The 'First White Marxists' reach Tuhoe Country and, as usual his analysis is thought-provoking, very high quality and actually makes sense. Reading the Maps is my favorite blog. The comments are also outstanding.

Teaser from the conclusion

"There is no reason why Tuhoe could not retain returned land and resources in collective ownership and develop their land and resources for the benefit of the whole iwi. There are already examples of iwi who are opting for the collectivist 'Polynesian mode of production' model of development over the 'corporate' model."

I really recommend a visit to Reading the Maps.

brownlee goes for the old divide divide approach - ho hum

Brownlee going for the old divide divide approach. You can't cut maori away from the anti mining people gerry, you are a total buffoon. But a total buffoon with a ministerial warrant.

From NZH

"About 80 anti-mining protesters jeered Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee as he arrived in Thames yesterday to talk to local iwi.

The protesters waved banners and chanted as Mr Brownlee dashed from his car through the rain into the Thames War Memorial Civic Centre.

Mr Brownlee refused to answer questions from journalists as he met iwi leaders at a hui at which the Hauraki Kaumatua Kaunihera Council was invited to discuss views about opening up conservation land for mining.

Officers from the Ministry of Economic Development, Crown Minerals and the Department of Conservation were also at the hui to answer technical questions."

Bloody hell - just doing our job doesn't cut it you lot - how can you look at yourself in the mirror. I hope the money is worth it.

Good write up here on Frogblog

Te Runanga o Makaawhio say no to 1080

The issue of possums and 1080 is a big one. There are arguments on both sides of the debate which deserve consideration. Possums have to go - no doubt about that. Te Runanga o Makaawhio are saying no to 1080 in their rohe.

From The Dominion Post

"Te Runanga o Makaawhio deputy chairman Terry Scott said yesterday that the Bruce Bay hapu of Ngai Tahu had never been happy with the toxin and the runanga had now ruled it would no longer agree to its use. Some drops had already been signed off, however, including the biggest yet, planned for this winter to cover from Hokitika to Whataroa."

Mr Scott said Makaawhio realised there had to be some form of possum control and previously signed its consent as an affected party, while imposing conditions on where 1080 should be dropped.

"One of the problems is, there has been no ongoing research into alternatives. For more than 50 years, constantly the response from politicians was, `we are working on it'. That's a very easy answer. We don't want the poison on our land."

Yes where are the alternatives?

I agree with Makaawhio - poisoning the land is just not the answer.

Ngāi Tahu Election Update

Congratulations Gail - the Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu representative recently confirmed for Moeraki

Confirmed representatives to date are

Waihao - Gerald Te Kapa Coates
Tūāhuriri - Tutehounuku Korako
Arowhenua - Quentin Hix
Ōraka-Aparima - Stewart Bull
Koukourārata- Elizabeth Cunningham
Makaawhio - Tim Rochford
Ōtākou - Tahu Potiki
Taumutu - Sandy Lockhart
Rāpaki - Wally Stone
Waewae - Lisa Tumahai
Puketeraki - Matapura Ellison
Wairewa - James Daniels
Hokonui - Terry Nicholas
Moeraki - Gail Tipa

4 to go

gingercrush at the standard

In response to this post at The Standard, commenter gingercrush has replyed. It is a very good reply that i am reproducing here.

"I don’t think so. The main issue in regards to the Foreshore and Seabed is title. Maori don’t like the idea of “public domain” that National is pushing and that is the sticking point. The fundamentals of the Foreshore and Seabed are rather agreeable except for the matter of title. You and Marty G and most on the left fundamentally misunderstand Maori’s position on the Foreshore and Seabed. In the end the Maori Party will agree to the solution ultimately made because it delivers more than what they would ever get via court process only and is better than what they’ll get with Labour which is shite.

You also make the huge mistake and this seems to be rather consistent amongst all “Standard” writers. In that what you see as irrelevant such as DRIP and whanau ora etc that you classify as meaningless is wholly important to the Maori Party. You lot can feel free to dismiss them but they’re not being dismissed by the Maori Party.

Look at how your article is positioned. Its basically the same crap you and Marty G have been doing week in and week out. Its a misconception that what you see as betrayal for Maori and what you see as meaningless wins for the Maori Party is somehow the same view held by the Maori Party. When its not. Its fantasy bullshit writing of two people who don’t want National and the Maori Party working together (never wanted them to work together). Who fundamentally misunderstand who the Maori Party are and what the Maori Party wants. You barely cover the issue of Tuhoe because you actually don’t care about it. Instead, you just want to repeat the same set of lies, the same set of mistruths and the same fantasy left-wing view of what you believe the Maori Party should be about.

That’s why you include this paragraph: Then we have to add all the times the Nats have openly gone against the Maori Party’s position – the Fire at Will Bill, minimum wage, ETS (how humiliating that was), tertiary education, GST increase. The Maori Party has even had to vote for some of these policies, which it fundamentally opposes, or sacrifice its confidence and supply deal.. When in reality it actually has nothing to do with the Maori Party and one can’t imagine they the Maori Party didn’t understand where National came from on many of those issues. Also in regards to the ETS. The Maori Party got their forestry deal so how that can embarassing to them is beyond me.

In essence what John Key did in regards to Tuhoe was stupid and no doubt does put real pressure on the relationship with the Maori Party. They’ve been spooked when they should have given what Tuhoe wanted despite how acrimonious that is amongst National Party members. That they didn’t showed political opportunism of the worst kind. The real sadness of it all is that Labour and the left aren’t even screaming against it. Phil Goff basically agrees with John Key.

What the whole thing shows is that no matter who is in government. Whether that is Labour or National. Both of the big parties will actively agitate and dog-whistle Maori for politics sake. Of course you’ll deny that. That’s no big surprise but its real and its unfortunate. Therefore, no matter who the Maori Party goes with and what happens in 2011. They’re always going to face opposition as both parties will continue to have progress and then back-track for white/pakeha New Zealand will always be murmuring in the background.

It is a good thread with lots of interesting comments.

Ngapuhi begins to present it's case to the Waitangi tribunal

This countries largest tribe Ngapuhi is presenting it's case to the Waitangi tribunal. They have a very strong case and I wish them well.

From NZH

"... the idea that its chiefs surrendered their mana to Queen Victoria defies belief, the Waitangi Tribunal was told yesterday.

Northern leader Erima Henare said chiefs rose to power through merit by proving themselves in war. Every single one present in 1840 at the signing of the Treaty was a battle-hardened warrior.

Each would have been clear that under the treaty - which was explained to them by missionaries - their tino rangatiratanga, chieftainship, was guaranteed to them under article two of the treaty.

"To suggest then, that men from that cultural milieu would, or could, surrender their personal and hapu sovereignty without a fight is again absurd.

"Every rangatira present would have not merely been offended by unjustified suggestions for them to surrender sovereignty, but would have been outraged and would have acted accordingly."

Ejection from the country or worse would have followed, he said. "The fact that Te Tiriti was signed and that the foreigners were not annihilated is the best evidence that no demand to cede sovereignty was made."

That is such a great point that is hardly ever raised. Mana was/is everything and many maori were killed all around this country when someone's mana was attacked or reduced. To think that maori would have laid down their mana is nonsense and stupid - it actually does defy belief.

So what happened - try lies, deceit, misinformation, abuse, and a bit more lying.

cowardly gnats

Cowards - that is the truth, National are cowards - all of those politicians are weakness personified. Te Urewera taken off the table in the negotiations with Tuhoe. It is their home and they still live there and it was stolen from them - pretty simple really - if you have a backbone that is.

From Stuff

"The government has made it clear to negotiators embroiled in discussions over Urewera National Park that its vesting in local iwi is ''unacceptable''.

Prime Minister John Key today broke with convention by announcing the government's position part way through negotiations, apparently to head-off the idea gaining traction at a hui this weekend bringing together Tuhoe.

Mr Key insisted yesterday the reason for ruling Urewera out of negotiations was because it fell outside the broad principles in operation for other treaty negotiations.

Tuhoe had proposed vesting the park in the iwi in return for universal access and universal rights.

UNIVERSAL ACCESS AND RIGHTS - not too scary key I would have thought. This is not the end of this story - in fact i believe this, if actually followed through, will be a major major point of contention that will cause untold division and conflict.

Update 1
Radio NZ

"Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia says she's extremely disappointed the Government has ruled out vesting ownership of the Urewera National Park in the people of Tuhoe.

Prime Minister John Key says to do so would not fit within the generally accepted principles of other settlements.

Mrs Turia says the decision is devastating and the Crown is creating a fresh grievance.

Tuhoe says the Government has succumbed to fears about a public backlash.

Unfortunately because the gnats are really thick, especially pinocchiokey - they do not realise what they have started rolling with this - Tariana knows.

Update 2
From Stuff

"The Maori Party is furious with the Government for ruling out handing over Urewera National Park to Tuhoe and has accused it of acting dishonourably."

Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia said last night the announcement was an outrage and issued a strongly worded statement saying that the Government should reconsider its position and Tuhoe had behaved with honour throughout the negotiating process only to face an 11th hour rejection of their key claim.

Speaking on Radio New Zealand this morning she went further.

"To have the rug pulled and take them back to square one I don't think is very honourable actions, it doesn't meet the fairness, equity and justice issues - it's appalling and I am extremely disappointed... I just don't really know the Crown which has committed these injustices in the past can actually create another one."

This may drop this government.

rugby shame shame shame

Imagine you have worked your guts out to make the team – the all blacks, to be considered a hero, to be accepted by all who own everything and have all the power. You have accepted that sport is the great equaliser, that sport makes you feel accepted in this country of your ancestors. And then they say you can’t go, you aren’t white, you are maori and you think about the land and your whanau and your mates at the club and the little boys that come up and want to just be near you, and you think about the farm and your kids and you drop your head and walk on.

A lot of apologies are needed.

Equality for all.
Freedom for all.
Respect for all.

From Stuff

"South Africa's sport and recreation minister, Rev Makhenkesi Arnold Stofile, has officially apologised to Maori players left out of All Blacks tours to the republic in 1928, 1949 and 1960 because of their race.

Stofile also praises the Kiwi "heroes and heroines" who put their bodies on the line in the bloody protests against the 1981 Springbok tour.

NZRU said no comment - as usual they are as, if not more, guilty that SARU. That world cup is coming so I'd advise you to sort out your skeletons NZRU. I have to say that I have no time for rugby - the '84 tour was when we parted company and bugger all has changed since then.

RIP Joyce

Joyce and Charlotte

Today we celebrate the life of Joyce. She lived for pretty well 90 years and is the great-grandmother of Kahu, my son. She is an artist, a mother, a wife, a woman. I really liked Joyce and when she moved to Christchurch a few years ago it was a move too far for me.

Travel safe on your journey Joyce.

outstanding landscape deserves outstanding protection

Outstanding landscape under threat - but the miners say it is out of the way up the Nevis Valley so it doesn't matter. It is worth noteing as we have this fight against mining on schedule 4 protected lands that we have many places that deserve protection. The land contained within schedule 4 is only a sample of our outstanding lands and whilst we must stop their feeble attempts at mining that land we must also be mindful of the rest of the land, not contained within that schedule, also needs protecting. Maybe I am anti-mining - it does feel like a violation and we have so few unabused places. How many outstanding landscapes do we have left? If we take the effort to attribute the title 'outstanding landscape' to a place don't we then have an obligation to maintain that?

From The ODT

"Resource consent has been sought for an alluvial gold mining operation in the Nevis Valley in an area classified as an outstanding landscape.

Golden Bush Mining Ltd has sought land use consent from the Central Otago District Council to extract gold from a previously mined area at Schoolhouse Creek Flats. It already holds a mining permit for a 785ha block and planned to mine three strips of land within that block.

The council's landscape assessment maps identify the area as outstanding landscape.

As part of the operation, the mining company has also sought resource consent from the Otago Regional Council to take water from a mining pit next to a watercourse, for land use consent to alter the bed of a watercourse and to obtain a discharge permit.

The proposed mine was in a remote area. The closest dwelling was kilometres away so the possibility of dust being a nuisance was "practically nil".

A report prepared by ecologist and botanist Neill Simpson said the operation could be carried out over much of the site with minimal effect on the long-term ecological values of the area, providing places containing threatened plants were excluded.

There is a bit more to protect up the Nevis Valley than just threatened plants - although obviously they should be protected. This area has a rich history before they began digging for gold as evidenced by the large moa hunter sites found and subsequently lost. This valley was a lifeway for maori. And this area is very important for maori. It is an outstanding landscape with a outstanding history and future - if we protect it.

"The operation would comprise an open pit of "modest size" with the gold recovery plant on pontoons, floating in the mine pond."

It's a dirty business mining for gold - even on 'modest'scales.

Mana for Waikato-Tainui

A historic day for Waikato-Tainui iwi and the Waikato river. It is a groundbreaking solution to restoring the river and it's mauri - that will be good for all people.

From NZH

"Tainui and the Crown will jointly govern, restore and protect the Waikato River under the terms of a Treaty of Waitangi claim settlement enacted by Parliament yesterday.

The public galleries of the debating chamber were packed with iwi members and the Maori King, Tuheitia, was seated beside Speaker Lockwood Smith as the Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Bill was passed on a voice vote.

It had cross-party support with the exception of the Act Party.

Working together is the way to go. Actualising kaitiaki responsibility to tangata whenua is the way to go. Creating a celebration that binds people together is the way to go. Congratulations to all who worked for the kaupapa.

There is still a long way to go, but we must recognise and rejoice in these achievements.

release the report

Our coastlines are very important to us.

We have some very real challenges facing our coastlines so why is the government choosing not to release a report into coastlines? Who would know... waiting for the F&S repeal? Waiting on the mining debate? Waiting on people to be looking in another direction? Forest and Bird are putting the pressure on.

From Scoop

One of the report’s authors, Philip Woollaston, today publicly released the statement because of his anger at the Government’s refusal to release it.

"Forest & Bird calls on the Minister of Conservation to better protect New Zealand’s coastline by following up on a report the Government refuses to release."

Forest & Bird North Island Conservation Manager Mark Bellingham says “The Government is not properly managing coastal planning. We need the Department of Conservation and local government to be more active in taking care of our coastlines,”

“Poor coastal planning is about to drive the New Zealand fairy tern in Auckland and Northland to extinction as coastal developments encroach on this bird’s last few breeding sites.

“On the Hauraki Plains, nutrients from dairy farming are threatening to unleash a major algal bloom on to the Firth of Thames, the Miranda bird coast and aquaculture areas.

“This report recognises the threats to coastal landscapes and biodiversity. It offers solutions to water pollution from the land affecting coastal areas, and encourages a bigger role for iwi and hapu in coastal planning and management. Forest & Bird wants to see it put into action.”

As would I.

All terns are such wonderful birds - amazing flyers, sleek and swift, long wings and tail, also known as sea swallows  - just beautiful - one of my favorite birds - the white-fronted tern's also known as tara, are more viewable than the fairy tern (tara-iti). Release the report and let's get on with protecting and strengthening the inhabitants and ecosystem of our coastlines.

Ahi-kā-roa - great blog

A great blog that i visit is Ahi-kā-roa. I recommend a visit if you want good overviews of  'Current issues in the law relating to Māori and other Indigenous Peoples'.

There is a post up talking about the Tuhoe Settlement negotiations.

As Carwyn says in his conclusion on that post

"Establishing new relationships between iwi/hapū and the Crown is a vital part of the Treaty settlement process. Without such new relationships it is impossible to move towards any form of reconciliation."

I agree that we must find the way through and that will mean thinking and acting in new ways. But those new ways are also old ways.

whanau ora lemonade

I am strangely pleased that the amount of funding for whanau ora is so low compared with what was expected. It is better to pilot this and iron out any areas that need it. That way will lead to better results. I believe in providing holistic help to whanau and families when they need it and I want whanau ora to deliver on its potential but i don't want it to lead to nepotism or jobs for the boys. This result is also good for the people who fear whanau ora to be the thin edge of the privatisation sword. It could very well be, we must be vigilant and keep a very close eye on the program. The modest funding will ensure a uncontrollable beast is not created. I still support this kaupapa because i believe that it doesn't matter what the neocons think they are trying to do, maori will morph the program into something that works for maori and for others.

From TRACY WATKINS - The Dominion Post

"The much-anticipated Whanau Ora programme has been scaled back to a $134 million programme over the next four years - well short of the $1 billion cost bandied around in its early stages.

There will be 20 Whanau Ora "providers" contracted in the first round and Mr Key said they would be held accountable for results.

Mrs Turia said the $134 million in funding over four years would enable Te Puni Kokiri, the Social Development Ministry and the Health Ministry working together to help families.

While the government shied away from labelling its initial investment a pilot programme, Mrs Turia confirmed that up to $20 million over four years would be spent researching, evaluating and monitoring the implementation and results.

This is a good approach because the only way to make it work it is to be flexible and adjust where necessary. You can only do that if you know what's going on.

Toi Moko coming home

The return of Toi Moko from France is a good decision. Thank you to all concerned. All of our people should be bought home.

From NZH

"The French National Assembly decided to adopt a law so toi moko (mummified Maori heads) held in French institutions can be returned to New Zealand.

Since 2003, New Zealand has sought to repatriate Toi Moko and koiwi tangata Maori (Maori ancestral remains) from museums around the world.

Toi moko and koiwi tangata form part of some museum collections of Pacific artefacts dating from the 19th century. Almost 40 institutions worldwide have collaborated in similar repatriations so far.

"This is a matter of great significance to Maori," said Dr Sharples. "Maori believe that, through their ancestors' return to their original homeland, their dignity is restored, and they can be put to rest in peace among their families."

Toi moko and koiwi tangata are repatriated to Te Papa on an interim basis, and Te Papa works closely with iwi to determine their attributed place of origin, for eventual burial where possible on ancestral lands.

This is the way to do it, well done to Te Papa.

My only concern around this issue is that everytime there is a TV item on this, they show the Toi Moko - this seems very disrespectful to me.

visual poem

a long stretch with

finger-seeking, a reach

to speak. Returning

 

alone - a slowmotion tear.

greedy gerry forced to undergo mining diet

More truth about mining

brownlee exposed for the greedy guts that he is

From Stuff

"Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee has conceded he had to dramatically scale back plans to investigate mining on conservation land after the Cabinet rejected proposals to open up nearly half a million hectares.

The Government has proposed allowing prospecting on 7058ha of protected land, but Cabinet papers show Mr Brownlee and Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson originally recommended 467,517ha.

That's right he wanted 467,517 hectares to be available for mining but they ended up with 7,058 hectares. Look at those two numbers - 467517 verses 7058 - they went for 1.5% of what they really wanted.

They still want it - greedy gerry is constantly saying "feed me" FEED ME!

The highest rate of native vegetation loss since European colonisation

We know that monoculture is dangerous. We know that growing cows where they aren't meant to be is silly and expensive and we know that for every lovely dairy farm they build - there is a massive loss in native habitat and ecosystems - we know this and now it has been confirmed.

From Stuff

"Intensive farming is destroying native plants at the fastest rate since European colonisation, Landcare Research says.

"Analysis ... confirms that agricultural intensification over the past 10 years has led to the highest rate of native vegetation loss since European colonisation," the Crown research institute's report said.

The highest rate of native vegetation loss since European colonisation - that is the truth and it is hard to swallow. We are worse now than we have ever been - not better.

"Landcare ecologist Bill Lee said moves to intensive farming practices over the past decade had "dramatically" wiped out native plants and animals."

"The Canterbury Plains have probably suffered the highest level of biodiversity loss of any ecological region in New Zealand."

He said biodiversity losses included shrubs, herbs, lizards and large invertebrates.

Fish species had suffered from pollution and loss of habitat from water extraction.

Once it's gone - it can't come back... when you're out of the blue and into the black.

"Labour has renewed its call for a halt to tenure review on the South Island's lakeside properties."

I agree with looking into tenure review - there is something really wrong with that approach but labour were fended off successfully by Nick Smith when he said

"The irony of Labour and the Greens criticising biodiversity loss from this report is that they were in government for nine of the last 10 years that it refers to,"

That is smiths answer - do nothing and blame everyone else.

I well remember being in Otautahi, just out of town and looking around and noticing that every single plant and animal I could see was introduced - not a native. And that is our shame that we have wanted this country to be so different to what it is that we are willing to just cut and paste the introduced for the native.

It is not right and it must stop.

remembering 40 years ago

Monday, May 4, 1970 - 40 years ago at Kent State University, members of the Ohio National Guard fired 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds, killing four students and wounding nine others, one of whom suffered permanent paralysis.

Killed (and approximate distance from the National Guard):

Jeffrey Glenn Miller; 20, 265 ft (81 m) shot through the mouth - killed instantly
Allison B. Krause; 19, 343 ft (105 m) fatal left chest wound - died later that day
William Knox Schroeder; 19, 382 ft (116 m) fatal chest wound - died almost an hour later in hospital while waiting for surgery
Sandra Lee Scheuer; 20, 390 ft (120 m) fatal neck wound - died a few minutes later from loss of blood

Wounded (and approximate distance from the National Guard):

Joseph Lewis Jr. 71 ft (22 m); hit twice in the right abdomen and left lower leg
John R. Cleary 110 ft (34 m); upper left chest wound
Thomas Mark Grace 225 ft (69 m); struck in left ankle
Alan Michael Canfora 225 ft (69 m); hit in his right wrist
Dean R. Kahler 300 ft (91 m); back wound fracturing the vertebrae - permanently paralyzed from the chest down
Douglas Alan Wrentmore 329 ft (100 m); hit in his right knee
James Dennis Russell 375 ft (114 m); hit in his right thigh from a bullet and in the right forehead by birdshot - both wounds minor (died 2007)
Robert Follis Stamps 495 ft (151 m); hit in his right buttock (died June 11, 2008)
Donald Scott MacKenzie 750 ft (230 m); neck wound

brownlee struggling and out of his depth

I am a little boy out of my depth

The Council of Trade Unions have publically stated their opposition to mining schedule 4 conservation land.

From Yahoo

"CTU president Helen Kelly said the mineral value of Schedule 4 land had been exaggerated and it did not outweigh the potential damage to other industries and the environment.

Also, most mining industry operators were internationally owned so many of the benefits would "immediately flow overseas".

"Any move to alter the status of Schedule 4 areas would be unwelcome and against the wider interests of the country," Ms Kelly said.

This was a 'bit of a surprise' for gerry - typically lazy and useless

"Mr Brownlee said while their comments were predictable it was still a surprise that they would oppose mines their members could work in.

"They don't like the Schedule 4 stuff but they support mining in general."

gerry it is not that hard to follow - even someone as challenged as you should be able to grasp it.

"I think people are just reacting to what they understand the proposal to be. It is in fact a very very moderate and modest proposal to enable further exploration in those areas, it's not a commitment to mining in those areas, although we do want the mining sector in general to grow," Mr Brownlee told reporters.

"I don't want to be disrespecting about the position they're taking. We've said we're going into a consultation process, clearly the march forms part of that public expression."

You are twisted brownlee - the 'stocktake' bullshit just doesn't fly - it is not modest or moderate when you initially wanted to put 90% of Rakiura National Park into mining. Your so called consultation is just a joke - guess what - we don't care about your consultation process - we are saying no and No again and thrice NO!!!

mountain cows

We have to keep a close watch on the plans to farm dairy cows anywhere and everywhere. They continue to choose the most inappropriate areas - such as the Mackenzie country.

From stuff

"The Environment Court has approved a large-scale dairy farm in the Upper Waitaki, rejecting a warning from regional councillors that the development would be too big for the area.

But the decision has already been criticised by the Aoraki Conservation Board and the Green Party because of the farm's impact on the environment.

The court has granted Little Ben Dairy effluent and land use consents to farm more than 1400 cows for 25 years, 6km from Lake Benmore, just north of Omarama.

Environment Court judge John Jackson said a decision was reached after mediation between ECan staff, Little Ben and the Department of Conservation.

DOC Twizel manager Rob Young said the department agreed to the consent after it was assured the owners would erect stock-proof fences 20m from the Ben Omar Swamp reserve, and there were appropriate penalties if nitrate levels were exceeded.

This is just crazy - the figures put out recently show that a high percentage of dairy farms do not currently comply with the clean streams accord. These farmers cannot do the right thing now - why do you think they will change and do the right thing into the future - they won't.

"ECan wetland ecologist Mark Davis said the Ben Omar Swamp was "one of the most important remaining wetlands in the Waitaki and Mackenzie basins". The consent conditions require that the discharge area be 165 metres from the swamp.

At last year's hearings, the ECan panel said there was insufficient information about possible cumulative effects because dairying was new in the area.

This wetland will be diminished, it will be compromised and it will be abused. And of course there is insufficient information - you aren't supposed to grow cows in that area - but when the cows do come in big numbers - there presence will certainly be felt.

The facts

"Little Ben is a subdivision of Buscott Station. Its directors are Mervyn McCabe and Richard Gloag.

The farm is near Ben Omar swamp, part of which was on conservation land.

The company initially applied for a 35-year consent to farm 1400 cows.

ECan was willing to approve a 750-cow operation for 10 years.

Little Ben went to the Environment Court, which has agreed to let the company farm 1400 cows for 25 years.

Up to 7560 litres of raw effluent a day would be produced by the proposed farm. It would be stored in two ponds and spread over 120 hectares on the farm.

As Idiot/Savant says

"The government should not be allowing this. We should keep the MacKenzie brown, for the benefit and enjoyment of all New Zealanders, not turn it into another cow paddock for the benefit of the few."

I agree with that view entirely.

Aboriginal News Group Press Statement

Press Release

Aboriginal News Group Press Statement
05.01.2010

“The Pioneer has before declared that our only safety depends upon the total extermination of the Indians. Having wronged them for centuries, we had better, in order to protect our civilization, follow it up by one more wrong and wipe these untamed and untameable creatures from the face of the earth. In this lies future safety for our settlers and the soldiers who are under incompetent commands. Otherwise, we may expect future years to be as full of trouble with the redskins as those have been in the past.” - L. Frank Baum

To the Original Peoples of the Fourth World and all International Press Services:

At high noon today US Army helicopters of the US Seventh Cavalry air division attempted to land their Blackhawk aircraft upon Lakota Sacred Burial grounds in South Dakota. The presence of military aircraft from this unit is a sad and insulting reminder of the slaughter of more than 300 American Aboriginals on December 29,1890 when soldiers of the US 7th Cavalry gunned down more than 300 Aboriginal Minneconjou Lakota refugee children, women, infants and the elderly at what is now called Wounded Knee in South Dakota Indian Country. The military then left the bodies of their victims to decay unburied in the driving snow.

According to reports from Indigenous Rights Movement Radio host Wanblee this afternoon, Lakota resident Theresa TwoBulls was given less than 24 hrs notice that three US Army 7th Cavalry helicopters would make a landing on the sacred burial grounds at Wounded Knee. As of this writing, the US military was confronted by angry but peaceful and steadfast community resistance as the Aboriginal people of the area have so far, according to reports from Lakota people on the ground, managed to prevent the aircraft from touching Indigenous ground.

For all American Aboriginals of the Americas, this is a sacred area. This is the place where the promise of a people died while fleeing from a genocidal US military unit hell-bent on liquidating the continent of its Indigenous population. There has never been any official apology offered for this massacre and the military awards bestowed upon the genocidal aggressors involved in this conflict still stand, as does a physical monument in honour of the US Army killed during Custer’s “last stand” against a defiant and united Indigenous resistance to their own demise.

The history of the US Army 7th Cavalry is important to understanding the level of violence used against Indigenous peoples. It is important to remember that after the US Seventh Cavalry officially ended the "Indian Wars" at home, they were then dispatched to do battle against Indigenous Filipinos struggling to maintain their hard-won national independence from the colonialist Spanish. In other words, the US War Department sent this very same unit to do overseas what was done here to the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. In this historical light, it is only logical for Indigenous peoples to assume that the Obama administration is attempting to make a political point out of this spectacle. Only, what sort of message are you sending by insulting and humiliating a people already suffering from five centuries of continuous pro-Europocentric, anti-Indigenous genocide?

This domestic military action is a deliberate insult and an obvious message of ongoing colonialism, state-sponsored racism and apathetic Indigenous genocide to all Indigenous peoples across the Fourth World; to the whole of the Lakota/Dakota Nation; and to the Indigenous residents of Pine Ridge and Wounded Knee. The symbolism of dispatching the Seventh Cavalry to Wounded Knee in an attempt to land weapons of mass destruction on Aboriginal sacred ground tells us how little this government, and this particular administration, respects the people of Indian Country and our significant historical perspective as survivors of the racist Euro-settler xenophobic purges waged against the Indian in the Americas.

To make matters worse, this action comes on the heels of newly-passed legislation in Arizona state that requires law officers to racially-profile anyone they believe “looks”, “sounds” or “dresses” like an illegal immigrant, a thinly veiled “race law” that directly effects both our Indigenous sisters and brothers native to Occupied Mexico as well as the Native American population of Arizona in the United States. Given that most Indigenous peoples of the Americas share the same general physiotype and more often than not, similar Spanish last names, the passage of this guideline will without a doubt lead to widespread abuses against that state’s brown-skinned population. The legal door now opened, Texas and other states led by neo-confederate constituencies are moving to pass their own anti-immigrant/anti-Indigenous directives that will broadly effect anyone and everyone who could be perceived by the colonial European majority as a “foreign invader”.

The Obama administration has shown America and the world that they are no different than any other previous US government in their view that the American Indian on both sides of the US border is nothing more than a prop or a tool to be displayed only when it is useful to promote the “contemporary” 21st century neo-colonialist capitalist agenda. The Obama administration, an office headed by a man of African descent, has shamed itself and all those who have supported his candidacy in arrogantly dismissing the memory of our people interred at Wounded Knee by rubbing the military might of the historically anti-Indigenous 7th Cavalry in our faces by forcibly entering Indian Country in an attempt to land their machines of war on top of the bodies of our ancestral dead.

Clearly, the culture war against the American Indian is not over. Welcome to the new American century.

- The Aboriginal News Group

For more information on the incident go here

the past, the present, the future

Part of the negotiation of the Tuhoe settlement is the position that if the crown apologises then the iwi that worked with the crown should also apologise. As you can imagine - this is problematic.

From NZH

"Tuhoe leaders say a Crown apology for 19th century injustices would be meaningless unless tribes, namely Ngati Porou, Ngati Kahungunu and Te Arawa, who fought with colonial forces also say sorry."

"Te Arawa representative Toby Curtis would say only that the iwi-to-iwi matter was extremely sensitive."First and foremost this matter would have to be discussed by Te Arawa."

"AUT University pro vice-chancellor Maori Pare Keiha has Rongowhakaata tribal links to Te Kooti and had ancestors who were killed by the religious and guerrilla leader.

But he was wary of the concept of an apology.

"I have no doubt whatsoever that our own people were not all kind and caring - but that's also the history of humankind.

"I'm always very cautious to revise history because whether you call it civil wars or internecine fighting, none of us were there."

This question of apologies from iwi who worked with government forces to oust other iwi from their homelands is a complicated and senstive issue. I think that all iwi have come to the realisation that during those times the nature of the forces against maori meant that the divide approach worked and that the coloniser forces used maori for their own ends - to get the land.

All maori ultimately were victims - the ones that thought they could stall the taking of their lands by working against their traditional enemies were victims because as soon as they were not needed - their land was taken too and any mana that they thought they had aquired by hanging around pakeha was shown to be an illusion.

And other maori, like many Tuhoe, protected Te Kooti and paid for it very severely. These people resisted colonisation, they resisted the stealing of the land and they paid the price by having the land confiscated and stolen anyway. 

We cannot know the pressures on a people being swamped and losing everything - what would we do? What are we doing now?

Any sorting out of this issue should be done in the traditional way on the marae - not via law.