The story behind Te Tai Tokerau trust's Ahuwhenua Trophy win
farming te ao Maori 43 minutes ago
The Ahuwhenua Trophy is one of the most prestigious and contested awards for Maori farming. It dates back to 1933 and was established by Sir Apirana Ngata and the Governor General at the time, Lord Charles Bledisloe. This year the Northland-based Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Trust was awarded the trophy for excellence in Maori sheep and beef farming. Morris Pita is the co-chair of Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Trust, he speaks to Jesse about the honour.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Auckland New World ruins handed back to Foodstuffs
Photo: Lucy Xia A day after a massive blaze broke out at New World Victoria Park in central Auckland, the fire service has handed over the building - or what's left of it - to its owners, Foodstuffs. Fire crews left the scene of the fire that took more than 10 hours to extinguish on Wednesday afternoon, and the road had been cleared. But Fire and Emergency could still not reveal what caused the fire . Foodstuffs North Island's head of property Nick Hanson said he was one of the first people to look inside the ravaged supermarket . "Inside, it's a confronting scene. The building has been significantly affected by fire, smoke and water. "Much of the damage appears to be in the ceiling area, and ceiling panels have collapsed in several places. "The scale of what's needed to repair and rebuild will take time to assess." He said the pathway to re-opening the supermarket was unclear. He said they were working through options to support their 180 staff in the days and weeks ahead, and in the meantime, they would continue to be paid. Staff and shoppers outside were emotional seeing their workplace and beloved local supermarket in ruins. While working in the area for the past 20 years, Diana Robson said the shop was her favourite spot for a pick-me-up during the week. "It's quite sad. It was a store that had over and above. You could go to other supermarkets but this store had the little niche things you wanted and the staff were lovely and it was just a beautiful store." At the height of the fire, there were 23 firetrucks and 80 firefighters. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi Nora Galimberti said most of her co-workers shopped at the supermarket, which was across the road from them. "I'm gutted. Now I don't know where to shop for lunch. "We have about 40 people in the office and we all shop there daily." Another regular shopper was also looking for an alternative to their usual lunch: a New World chicken burger. "I work in the area quite close to Victoria Park. My colleagues and I come here almost every day to grab food so it's pretty devastating. We're going to have to find somewhere else now with cheap food." One resident hoped their local supermarket would be back soon. "I'm pleased nobody got injured or killed and I wish the owner a speedy re-build of their business. I wish everybody there well and I'm sad at the loss." In the meantime, he said he would make the longer trip to a New World in a neighbouring suburb. FENZ incident controller Phil Larcombe said the fire was particularly challenging because it was initially too dangerous to fight it from inside the building, which had been under renovation. At the height of the fire, there were 23 firetrucks and 80 firefighters, as well as support personnel on-site. Larcombe said the incident was a reminder for businesses to check their fire evacuation schemes were in place and meet requirements. He said they were relieved shoppers who were forced to abandon their shopping carts and vehicles got out safely and quickly. Since Wednesday, Larcombe said they had been letting people into the supermarket's parking garage to reunite them with their cars. He said there had been minimal damage to vehicles in the garage. But the rest of the building was not as lucky. Lacombe said it would likely be a write-off. "Unfortunately for the local community and the owners it's looking that way. "The building was very extensively damaged. It's unlikely anything will be salvageable. He said they were getting a better understanding of what caused the fire. A FENZ fire investigator and private fire investigators had been at the site. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Auckland supermarket in ruins after huge fire
life and society 23 minutes ago A supermarket boss says the first look inside a popular shopping spot ravaged by fire in central Auckland was a confronting scene. 24 hours after a massive blaze broke out New World Victoria Park forcing shoppers to abandon their trolleys and vehicles, the building was given back to Foodstuffs today. Staff and shoppers were emotional seeing their workplace and beloved local supermarket in ruins. Jessica Hopkins reports.

RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
Matariki and our diminishing night sky: Light pollution makes stars harder to see
First published on By Shea Esterling and William Grant* Many New Zealanders look to the skies to celebrate Matariki, but light pollution remains a major issue. Photo: Quin Tauetau This week, Aotearoa New Zealand officially celebrates Matariki for the fourth time, marked by the reappearance in the night sky of the star cluster also known as the Pleiades. Yet, ironically, the accompanying celebrations and the legislation that declares Matariki a public holiday miss the mark. They fail to promote and protect the country's dark skies, which are crucial to seeing the stars in this small constellation. While the law recognises Matariki's significance to Māori culture and heritage as the beginning of the Māori New Year, it does not acknowledge that it is predicated on the visual presence of the star cluster. Even where Matariki is not visible owing to weather conditions, the ability to see other celestial markers is important (for example Puanga/Puaka, also known as Rigel). Light pollution is a visual barrier to experiencing these important stars. Since the passage of the legislation, local councils across the country have marked the public holiday with various light displays. This year will be no different, with illuminated artworks, projections and lightboxes at Matariki festivals in several cities. Tirama Mai (bringing the light) will return to Ōtautahi Christchurch with brightly lit displays. Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland will see some of its most popular sites, including Queen Street, lit up as part of Tūrama , a series of large-scale, illuminated art installations. In Rotorua , Whakatū Nelson and Ōtepoti Dunedin , Matariki festivities include spectacular drone light shows which will light up the night sky. After initially ignoring Māori advice that fireworks are not appropriate to celebrate Matariki, many local councils have now abandoned them . But festivities will no doubt continue to contribute to light pollution and ignore the need to protect dark skies at night. These ill-conceived festivities are not surprising given the legislation fails to even mention dark skies. This is exacerbated by New Zealand emerging as a major player in the increasingly commercialised space sector which has developed rapidly since the first rocket lifted off from Mahia peninsula in 2017. Last year's Matariki celebrations in Rotorua. Photo: LDR/ Laura Smith Much of Aotearoa's landmass has some of the darkest skies on the planet. Based on land area, 74 percent of the North Island and 93 percent of the South Island rest beneath night skies that are either pristine or degraded only near the horizon. Indeed, the area affected by direct illumination is very low. Yet, intense urbanisation means only 3 percent of the population regularly experience such skies. About half of all New Zealanders can no longer see the Milky Way in winter. Globally, the visibility of stars (an indicator of the level of light pollution) decreased by 7-10 percent per year from 2011 to 2022 . The visibility of the night sky in New Zealand appears to be following a similar trend. Between 2012 and 2021, the area affected by light pollution grew at a rate of 4.2 percent above the global average . Advertising and tourism campaigns reinforce the perception that Aotearoa has dark skies, but visible satellites could soon outnumber the stars people can see, from New Zealand and worldwide. At present, there is no explicit domestic law protecting dark skies, nor any international laws. The law declaring Matariki a public holiday missed an important opportunity to provide such protection. To address this issue, a petition was presented to parliament in January 2023 calling for national legislation to promote and protect dark skies. In March this year, parliament responded it would not take further actions "due to other priorities on the government's resource management reform work programme". This is not surprising. Nevertheless, we call on the government to develop legislation for the governance of dark skies in Aotearoa New Zealand that incorporates mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge). While there are a variety of ways this could be achieved, controlling light pollution is the crux of the issue. Light pollution emanates both from unmitigated urban lighting as well as the expansion of satellite constellations, which is steadily forming a global net of moving points of light in space. An incremental approach could be a government-backed education programme to raise awareness of light pollution, followed by the development of a national policy for its control. An amendment to the Matariki public holiday law could then follow in recognition of the national interest. We are aware the challenges ahead are many. Yet, protecting dark skies is vital from a Māori perspective. Practically, such protections are crucial to the enjoyment and honouring of Matariki as we continue to risk disconnection from one of our most important natural features. * Shea Esterling is a Senior Lecturer Above the Bar at the University of Canterbury and receives funding from the Borrin Foundation. William Grant is a Lecturer in Law at the University of Canterbury, and does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. This story was originally published on The Conversation.