Opinion: Ahuriri Regional Park doesn't need freedom camping, health resort, bird watch towers or waka landing site
THREE KEY FACTS
OPINION
Prompted by Annette Brosnan's recent article on proposed developments at Ahuriri Estuary, I attended the open day at Lagoon Park on Saturday to learn more about the new masterplan.
I was hoping to hear of progress concerning the stormwater treatment that the new Ahuriri Regional
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Otago Daily Times
05-07-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Mana means everything
I was talking to one of my work colleagues about "mana" and what it means to me and my whānau and she suggested I write about it in an article, so here we go. Mana as a word and a concept has become a part of the wider Kiwi experience. It's a word we use domestically and internationally. There are now modern terms such as mana-enhancing and mana-depleting behaviour and it's very much a part of New Zealand fabric. However, I will talk about it from my perspective. Every family has their own set of values and naturally Tahu's and my values aligned, being Māori, being from the same village, being from the same generation, our values were the same. That doesn't mean we agreed on everything because we didn't, but our values helped us raise our kids and run our household on the same page. I've talked before about our oldest boy. He was sent to test us, and he certainly did that. He challenged everything. He questioned the universe with existential issues when he was very young and spent a few months giving Tahu and I the sideways glance as he thought he was living in an alter universe and that we were aliens pretending to be his parents. Yes, that actually happened. He got up one morning and decided to put on a Mexican accent, inspired by a 2-dollar shop stick-on moustache and he apparently played that part the entire day at school, much to his teacher's frustration. Yes, my son wanted to test his teacher. He argued regularly with us about not going to school, and for no real reason, just to argue a point. Honestly, I spent years living with low-end anxiety about what son I was going to get every morning. So, when it comes to disciplining him, which was a regular occurrence, my husband nailed it most times with one value and that was mana. When I think about it, we talked about mana a lot and what that meant and how important it was to behave with mana, and that mana can be taken from you in the blink of an eye, with bad behaviour. You could take anything off my boy as punishment and it would mean nothing to him, but Tahu would take his mana from him, and that meant something. He would take his mana from him for an extended period and to get it back he had to do good deeds and behave (a tall ask). Taking his mana was crippling for him. Tahu would write up that time and that his mana was gone on a blackboard and write his good deeds as he went and he would constantly ask Tahu, "Pāpā, is my mana back yet?!" It was the only successful discipline tool we had with him, and it spoke to mana meaning everything to him. My son's ancestor whom he is also named after, HK Taiaroa, was a prolific writer, in te reo Māori and in English. He happened to also be a member of the House of Representatives for Southern Māori in his time and dedicated his life to fighting against the injustices of the Crown on his people. He was indeed a man who was bestowed with mana and his many deeds probably bolstered that notability. In his many writings he talks of mana in relation to leadership. Obviously we need to put this in context of his time as he was born in the 1830s, but I think his words allow us as Māori to consider the traditional expectations in a modern world. I think about this with my children as there is an expectation on them, like it or not. I have translated HKs words here; The Māori authority and custom differs from tribe to tribe. However in the case of Ngāi Tahu, the authority and chieftenship is a lore that has been long practised by the leadership of our people ... the people within those geneological lines understand and know who the oldest children are of the paramount chiefs. The descendants of those senior lines shall never be forgotten and the consequential authority. If that is forgotten, the authority and chieftenship of the sub-tribe and the authority over land and other important areas will not be passed on. HK's words leave me with a slight melancholy and an internal inquiry. Have I done enough as a parent, to school my children to lead? Are they armed with the right knowledge to then pass that on to the following generations? I do lose some sleep over this and particularly because their Dad isn't here to help them on that leadership trajectory. Nevertheless, circling back to mana. I do think my children understand the power of that value and the reputational risks that can impact on mana. I have done all I can to install the significance of that value within them and it's up to them to behave with mana and treat others in a mana-enhancing way, always.
NZ Herald
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Otago Daily Times
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- Otago Daily Times
Two die after ship collides with Brooklyn Bridge
Two people on board a Mexican Navy ship have died after it crashed into New York's Brooklyn Bridge at the weekend. The ship was festooned with lights and a giant flag when it collided with the landmark bridge on Saturday night, shearing the top of its masts. Several people were also injured, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said. Videos online showed the training vessel Cuauhtémoc as it approached the bridge over the East River, close to the Brooklyn side of the span, which connects the borough with Manhattan. Its 45-metre masts were too tall to clear the arched bridge at that point and toppled when the vessel, named after the last Aztec emperor, sailed underneath. The Mexican Navy said on social media late on Saturday that 22 people were injured on board the ship, of which 19 were receiving medical attention in local hospitals, and of those three were seriously injured. New York City's Adams put the injured total at 17. No diving rescue operations were needed because none of the 277 people onboard fell into the water, the Navy said. Naval cadets dressed in white uniforms could be seen dangling from the ship's crossbeams after the crash. A female cadet and a male Marine died from their injuries, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters on Sunday. Two of the injured remained in critical condition as of Sunday afternoon, the New York Police Department said. Sheinbaum said Mexico's Navy was investigating the cause of the crash and that injured cadets were "doing better." The United States National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating. New York police said mechanical issues had probably caused the crash, without providing further details. At one of the suspension bridge's bases, near the Brooklyn Bridge Park, online videos showed bystanders running in terror as the massive vessel hit the bridge and veered toward the shore. The bridge, a popular tourist attraction and a main conduit between Manhattan and Brooklyn, was completed in 1883. It was once the largest suspension bridge in the world. The bridge sustained no major damage, a New York City transportation official said. Traffic reopened in both directions after a preliminary inspection. Earlier, Mexico's foreign ministry said on social media that Mexico's ambassador to the US and other officials were assisting affected cadets and had been in contact with local authorities. The Cuauhtémoc was built at the Celaya Shipyards in Bilbao, Spain, in 1981, according to the South Street Seaport Museum, which said on its website it was co-hosting the vessel's visit to New York which had been scheduled to conclude on Saturday evening. The public was invited to come aboard the ship during its visit. The ship was disembarking from New York before heading to Iceland, the New York police official said.
