
Far North Briefs: Treaty & Me lectures, enrol to vote
Treaty & Me
Network Waitangi Whangārei is running another free public lecture series about the Treaty of Waitangi/Te Tiriti o Waitangi. There were full houses at several of last year's sessions, despite negativity over Treaty-related issues, said spokeswoman Jette de Jong, pictured. The Treaty & Me series will run weekly at Oneonesix on Bank St in Whangārei, starting on July 23. The lectures cover a range of topics from 'whiteness' in Aotearoa, to Maori wards, from Treaty solidarity to tricky conversations. Each lecture is held at 12pm and 7pm, go to networkwaitangiwhangarei.org for details and to book.
Enrol to vote
Northlanders keen to vote in this year's local elections - including a poll to keep or remove Māori constituency seats - must be enrolled by August 1 to receive a standard voting pack. After this date, you'll need to cast a special vote. Meanwhile, people keen to stand for council also have until August 1 to get their nominations in. Anyone aged 18 and over can stand for election provided they're a New Zealand citizen, enrolled on the parliamentary electoral roll and are nominated by two electors whose names appear on the electoral roll within the constituency the candidate is standing for. More information about the upcoming elections and poll is available at www.nrc.govt.nz/elections
ID checks checked
Hashtags

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

1News
3 hours ago
- 1News
Te Pāti Māori, Greens outraged at 'marginalising' passport changes
Te Pāti Māori says the Government's changes to passports are an attempt to whitewash the national identity. The Government confirmed on Friday that New Zealand's passport is being redesigned to place the English words above the te reo Māori text. The new look won't start being rolled out until the end of 2027. Since 2021, passports have had "Uruwhenua Aotearoa" printed in silver directly above New Zealand Passport. Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden said the positioning of text on passports will change to reflect the Government's commitment to using English first. She said the redesign, which would be unveiled later this year, was being done as part of a scheduled security upgrade, ensuring no additional cost to passport holders. ADVERTISEMENT Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said the change diminishes the visibility of tangata whenua. "Our passport is not just a travel document, it's a statement of who we are as a nation. So, the stripping down of te reo Māori, or marginalising our indigenous identity, reflects this Government's sad obsession with erasing Te Tiriti o Waitangi and dragging us back to a monocultural past," she said. Ngarewa-Packer said the move undermined Aotearoa's reputation as a leading nation in recognising indigenous rights. "Restoring our reo took a long time. I mean imagine doing this in Ireland, imagine doing this to the Welsh. This was hard fought for. It's not re-ordering of words, the reformatting is deliberately done to undermine the mana [and] to sideline us tangata whenua." Not 'a positive vision' - Greens Green MP Benjamin Doyle. (Source: Green Party MP Benjamin Doyle said the move is not what New Zealanders need from the government. ADVERTISEMENT "We are seeing day by day, the rights and dignities of minority communities being stripped away while they leave the majority of New Zealanders suffering under the Government's current decisions," Doyle said. "This is not a positive vision for Aotearoa, this is not a positive step towards unifying kotahitanga and it's not benefiting anyone. Really, its just dog-whistling politics. It's the tail wagging the dog." The ACT Party celebrated van Velden's move on social media, saying the change would "restore English before te reo Māori - without costing taxpayers". The change comes as part of a deliberate push by the coalition to give English primacy over te reo Māori in official communications. New Zealand First's coalition agreement with National stipulates that public service departments have their primary name in English and be required to communicate "primarily in English" except for entities specifically related to Māori. It also includes an as-yet-unfulfilled commitment to make English an official language of New Zealand.


NZ Herald
a day ago
- NZ Herald
Elation as Whanganui gets voice in fast-track seabed mining decision
A decision on the application will be made by a panel created for the purpose. Whanganui councillor Charlotte Melser, who opposes Taranaki seabed mining, said the council now had the opportunity to influence the decision. 'It means our foot is in the door to have our say about how this proposal would negatively impact our district. I was elated,' she told Local Democracy Reporting. It was critical for the council to have a voice in the fast-track process because the legislation provided limited opportunities for public input, she said. Under the act, only relevant local authorities, identified iwi authorities and selected others can make written comments on applications. 'It cuts out the voices of community, scientists, environmentalists, divers – some of the people that know that marine area better than anyone,' Melser said. Whanganui councillor Charlotte Melser says it is crucial for the council to have its say about how a South Taranaki seabed mining proposal would negatively impact Whanganui. Photo / Tuakana Te Tana (single use only) 'We've had to fight tooth and nail just to get this far because Whanganui is not directly in the project zone.' TTR wants to extract up to 50 million tonnes of seabed material a year. It would recover an estimated 5 million tonnes of vanadium-rich titanomagnetite concentrate and then dump unwanted sediment back into the sea. Its application says the project would bring regional benefits, including 305 jobs with the miner and port upgrades at New Plymouth and Whanganui. TTR withdrew from an environmental hearing to apply for marine consents via the new fast-track approvals regime. The councils named as relevant local authorities can nominate a representative to the decision-making panel, provide written comments on the application and speak about those comments if a hearing is held. They met iwi, TTR and the expert panel's convenor, Jennifer Caldwell, on July 7 to discuss the expertise needed on the panel and the timing of its decision-making. Whanganui council chief executive David Langford summarised his council's position in a letter to Caldwell before the meeting. The key concerns were environmental, particularly the negative impact of the sediment plume, which would affect the Whanganui district; cultural, particularly the conflict of the proposal with Treaty obligations and settlements; and economic, specifically the adverse impact of the proposal on the district. 'Our council would like to emphasise the need for expertise to consider the potential economic disbenefit of the proposal with regards to its conflict with offshore wind farming in the Taranaki Bight.' Whanganui District had been identified as one of the best locations in the world for wind energy, and the council was pursuing opportunities for renewable energy investment, including offshore wind farming, Langford said. 'Our view is that this one project could stand in the way of other projects which would not only provide significant economic benefits for our district (and beyond), but also better align with the Government's strategic objectives around climate, energy and industrial transformation goals (for example, to double New Zealand's renewable electricity production by 2050).' The scale and nature of the proposed extraction, along with the resuspension of seabed sediments, could affect ecological and cultural features that each had a potential economic impact, he said. The complex and contentious nature of the application would mean a considerable amount of time would be required to reach a decision. 'Not only is the fast-track process and its underpinning legislation new, but the proposed mining activity is also a world first.' It would be important to include the council throughout the process. 'We do not believe we should be precluded from any step of this process on the basis that our council has filed a motion opposing the project – our relevance remains, regardless of our position.' In December last year, Melser's motion opposing the project won the unanimous support of fellow councillors. A public-excluded meeting of Taranaki Regional Council was expected to decide this week on a collective council nomination to the panel. Caldwell is expected to appoint a panel by late July. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

RNZ News
2 days ago
- RNZ News
Timeline suggests Trump changed his tune on Epstein after learning his name was in the files
Analysis by Aaron Blake , CNN Composite image of Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump. Photo: AFP / NEW YORK STATE SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY/HANDOUT The news Wednesday that Attorney General Pam Bondi told President Donald Trump back in May that his name appeared in the Jeffrey Epstein files isn't that surprising, in context. We've known the two men had a relationship dating back decades, and we've seen Trump's name appear in various previously released Epstein-related materials. Being in the documents isn't proof of any wrongdoing. But the news is significant in another way: It adds to questions about precisely why the administration changed its tune on the Epstein files . That doesn't mean there's been a cover-up of any actual Epstein-related misconduct by Trump; there remains no real evidence of that. But the administration clearly started downplaying the Epstein information - in a rather abrupt shift - around the same time Trump was told his name appeared in the files. What's more, sources familiar with the review told CNN the files appeared to include several unsubstantiated claims about Trump and others that the Justice Department found not to be credible. In other words, extensive disclosures could have at least created problems for Trump. And the administration appeared to abruptly move away from such disclosures. We'll get to the full timeline in a second. But a few key things stand out: Donald Trump and his kids, Eric and Ivanka Trump, are seen with Jeffrey Epstein in New York in 1993. Photo: Dafydd Jones via CNN Newsource And now, the full timeline. February-April: The hype and the big promises Feb 21: Attorney General Pam Bondi is asked by Fox News about an Epstein "client list," and she responds by saying that it's "sitting on my desk right now to review." (The administration has since claimed she was referring to other documents.) Feb 26: Bondi on Fox hypes a release of documents set for the following day, calling it "breaking news," and saying it will include "a lot of information." Feb 27: The White House invites right-wing social media influencers to the White House and gives them binders of Epstein-related documents. But the documents are mostly old news, and some influencers cry foul. March 1: Bondi tells Fox that Americans will "get the full Epstein files," subject to redactions to "protect grand jury information and confidential witnesses." March 3: Bondi tells Fox's Sean Hannity that DOJ has received a new "truckload of evidence" from the FBI. She adds that "everything's going to come out to the public." March 14: Bondi repeats on Fox Business Network that she has received a new "truckload of documents." She adds that "we will get out as much as we can, as fast as we can, to the American people, because they deserve to know." March 23: Bondi tells Fox News that "we are releasing all of these documents as soon as we can get them redacted to protect the victims …" April 22: President Donald Trump is asked in the Oval Office about when the Epstein files will be released and says, "100% of all of these documents are being delivered." May-June: The sudden downplaying May 7: Bondi claims there are "tens of thousands of videos of Epstein with children or child porn." Her public claim comes shortly before the release of a secretly recorded video in which she made a similar claim. Sometime in May: Bondi briefs Trump about the Epstein files and tells him his name appears in them, among several other high-profile figures, CNN has confirmed. The files appeared to include several unsubstantiated claims, including about Trump, that the DOJ found to be not credible, sources said. (The precise date of this briefing isn't clear, but White House officials noted Wednesday that Trump's name was already in the binders Bondi handed out earlier this year.) May 18: For the first time, the administration begins downplaying the Epstein conspiracy theories. FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino appear together on Fox News and say Epstein indeed died by suicide. This despite both of them having promoted the conspiracy theories before joining the FBI. May 19: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says the administration is "committed to releasing those files," but defers to the Justice Department on timing. May 29: Bongino on Fox again downplays the significance of what will soon be released. "There is nothing in the file at this point on the Epstein case," he says. "And there's going to be a disclosure on this coming shortly." He says the administration will release video of the jail on the day of Epstein's death that backs up that assertion. June 4: Bongino is pressed on Hannity's show about the lack of Epstein disclosures. He downplays the case as a "hot potato for folks" and then alludes to his own evolution on the subject: "I'm not paid for my opinions anymore. I work for the taxpayer now. I'm paid on evidence. That's it." June 5: Elon Musk claims while lashing out at Trump that the "real reason" the president is not releasing the Epstein files is because "@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files." He provides no evidence for his claims and later deletes the post, while expressing regret for some of the things he said about Trump. June 6: Patel appears on Joe Rogan's podcast and downplays the looming disclosures again. "We're gonna give you everything we can," Patel says, before adding that "we're not gonna re-victimize women. We're not going to put that sh*t back out there. It's not happening, because then he wins. Not doing it. You want to hate me for it, fine." Patel also appears to contradict Bondi's claim about "tens of thousands of videos of Epstein with children or child porn," telling Rogan the videos from Epstein's island are "not of what you want." July: The big memo - and the tortured explanations July 6: Axios breaks the news that the DOJ has officially concluded that Epstein died by suicide and there was no "client list," despite Bondi's comments in February. July 7: The DOJ releases an unsigned memo laying out these conclusions. DOJ says it won't release any further documents because much of it is under court-ordered seal. "Through this review, we found no basis to revisit the disclosure of those materials and will not permit the release of child pornography," the memo says. The memo also undercuts Bondi's claims of "tens of thousands of videos" of Epstein "with children or child porn." July 8: Trump for the first time lashes out at people still asking questions about Epstein, calling those questions a "desecration." He tells reporters: "Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy's been talked about for years." He cites recent deadly floods in Texas and adds: "I mean, I can't believe you're asking a question on Epstein at a time like this." The president will go on to make similar comments over the next two weeks, including baselessly suggesting various powerful Democrats are behind the Epstein files. July 15: Trump is asked about whether Bondi told him his name was in the files and denies it. "No, no, she's given us just a very quick briefing and - in terms of the credibility of the different things that they've seen," he says. July 23: We learn Trump is indeed in the files. - CNN