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Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Friday, October 12, 2007

Mahuika keen to avoid OTS slips

OCTOBER 8. BULLETIN 2

The chairman of Te Runanga O Ngati Porou says they are determined to avoid the pitfalls encountered by other iwi who have opted to deal directly with the Office of Treaty Settlements.

Api Mahuika says he's optimistic tribal members will mandate the runanga to stop trying to get their claim heard by the Tribunal and sit down with OTS instead.

He says there is growing frustration among Ngati Porou at the delays in the Tribunal process.

Mr Mahuika says the runanga have been monitoring how negotiations with the Office of Treaty Settlements and other iwi have been proceeding.

“We've looked at the Ngati Whatua case
worthless pursuing anything at all,” Mr Mahuika.

Twenty-five thousand forms were delivered to eligible voters over the weekend and they have five weeks to respond.

SMOKING TARGETED IN COT DEATH CAMPAIGN

Smoking and also the habit of some Maori mums of sharing their bed with their babies, are again being highlighted as factors in keeping Maori cot death rates high.

The Ministry of Health says although there's been a decline in New Zealand cot deaths, Maori still made up about a third of the 45 cot deaths in 2004.

Pat Tuohy, the chief child advisor for the ministry, says babies whose mothers smoke while pregnant are almost six times more likely to die of the syndrome ... an alarming statistic but often still not enough to convince the mums to quit.

The Ministry of Health says to lower the risks of cot death, parents should sleep babies on their backs, breastfeed their infants and have a smokefree pregnancy and a smokefree home.

ROTORUA SEEKING MORE DEVELOPMENT

The Rotorua District Council is having another shot at a plan to help Maori landowners develop their land.

The council now has what it's calling the Mana Whenua policy to replace its Iwi Management funding plan.

And that will affect around 20 percent of the land in the Rotorua district.

Bella Tait ... the council's Maori research officer ... says the scheme is aimed at small Maori trusts and the hope is that more and more unoccupied Maori land will be developed, as the trusts become more confident and active in the resource consent process.

DIRECT NEGOTIATIONS ENDORSED

Direct negotiations are the way to go.

That's the view of John Tamihere, the politician turned broadcaster, who is back at the helm of West Auckland's Te Whanau O Waipareira Trust.

Mr Tamihere has whakapapa connections to both Hauraki and Ngati Porou, and says moves by the latter to seek a mandate to begin direct negotiations with the OTS are timely.

He says the slow pace of the Waitangi Tribunal process is bogging down a generation of Maori keen to look forward rather than back.

“We've got huge
OUT: allowed to proceed
Mr Tamihere says.

COUNCIL HELP FOR MARAE ACKNOWLEDGED

The idea of giving bureaucrats your cheque book may not appeal to everyone, but the project manager of the country's newest marae says that was the key to their success.

Mike Taane was among the 400 or so who gathered before dawn for the opening of Pukemokimoki marae, at Maraenui in Napier on Saturday.

The community has wanted a marae since people started moving to the city to get jobs at the meat works... during the Maori urban drift of the 1950s and 60s.

Mr Taane says fundraising and sponsorship were vital, and getting that money relied on an extremely high level of operational and financial transparency... which is where the Napier City Council came in.

“Money needs to be
OUT: Napier City Council,” Mr Taane says.

RUGBY MANIA OVER AFTER FRENCH TEST

It's time to give rugby a rest ... and attend to the Treaty. That's the view of ... Hone Harawira the Taitokerau MP... in the wake of the All Black's failure in Cardiff to survive their World Cup quarter final match against France.

He says the demands that many of us make of the All Blacks are ridiculous and it's time we sorted out our priorities..

Mr Harawira says now the All Blacks' run at the World Cup is over, New Zealanders have the chance to address more pressing issues. Treaty of Waitangi issues for instance.

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