Latest news with #Iwi
Scoop
25-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Government Sacrificing Hapū, Iwi Tiriti Rights For Offshore Profits
Press Release – Te Pati Maori Ngarewa-Packer called out the Governments political gambling, We all want economic prosperity for our communities, but enabling unproven, speculative ventures to bypass environmental due process signals desperation not development . Te Pāti Māori is demanding to know how the government can justify fast tracking a replica of a seabed mining application that was already rejected by the supreme court in 2021. 'Trans-Tasman Resources, a company with no operational experience, is back to the table with the same outdated and incomplete data the Supreme Court ruled against, but this time they're being waved through a political back door' said Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. 'The Fast-track panel is being asked to assess their application based on environmental assumptions that are nearly a decade old. There's no new seabed monitoring, no updated marine mammal data, and no clear understanding of cumulative risks to the moana.' In the application lodged on the EPA website last Friday, even TTR's own experts admit gaps in data on endangered species like whales and seabirds. Yet, the Government continues to promote this proposal as 'economic growth' while ignoring the real environmental cost. 'This is high-risk capital with low public return and what's worse will be signed off by three Ministers with no obligation to heed hapū, Iwi and whānau concerns. The government has trampled Te Tiriti and betrays all Zealanders, by sacrificing our coastal waters for offshore investors.' The 2025 Budget, announced on Thursday, saw an additional $200 million taxpayer funded hand out to offshore oil and gas companies. Ngarewa-Packer called out the Government's political gambling, 'We all want economic prosperity for our communities, but enabling unproven, speculative ventures to bypass environmental due process signals desperation not development .' Once the EPA expert panel is confirmed, the recognised Iwi and Councils have 20 working days to make a submission.
Scoop
25-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Government Sacrificing Hapū, Iwi Tiriti Rights For Offshore Profits
Press Release – Te Pati Maori Ngarewa-Packer called out the Governments political gambling, We all want economic prosperity for our communities, but enabling unproven, speculative ventures to bypass environmental due process signals desperation not development . Te Pāti Māori is demanding to know how the government can justify fast tracking a replica of a seabed mining application that was already rejected by the supreme court in 2021. 'Trans-Tasman Resources, a company with no operational experience, is back to the table with the same outdated and incomplete data the Supreme Court ruled against, but this time they're being waved through a political back door' said Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. 'The Fast-track panel is being asked to assess their application based on environmental assumptions that are nearly a decade old. There's no new seabed monitoring, no updated marine mammal data, and no clear understanding of cumulative risks to the moana.' In the application lodged on the EPA website last Friday, even TTR's own experts admit gaps in data on endangered species like whales and seabirds. Yet, the Government continues to promote this proposal as 'economic growth' while ignoring the real environmental cost. 'This is high-risk capital with low public return and what's worse will be signed off by three Ministers with no obligation to heed hapū, Iwi and whānau concerns. The government has trampled Te Tiriti and betrays all Zealanders, by sacrificing our coastal waters for offshore investors.' The 2025 Budget, announced on Thursday, saw an additional $200 million taxpayer funded hand out to offshore oil and gas companies. Ngarewa-Packer called out the Government's political gambling, 'We all want economic prosperity for our communities, but enabling unproven, speculative ventures to bypass environmental due process signals desperation not development .' Once the EPA expert panel is confirmed, the recognised Iwi and Councils have 20 working days to make a submission.
Scoop
25-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Government Sacrificing Hapū, Iwi Tiriti Rights For Offshore Profits
Te Pāti Māori is demanding to know how the government can justify fast tracking a replica of a seabed mining application that was already rejected by the supreme court in 2021. 'Trans-Tasman Resources, a company with no operational experience, is back to the table with the same outdated and incomplete data the Supreme Court ruled against, but this time they're being waved through a political back door' said Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. 'The Fast-track panel is being asked to assess their application based on environmental assumptions that are nearly a decade old. There's no new seabed monitoring, no updated marine mammal data, and no clear understanding of cumulative risks to the moana.' In the application lodged on the EPA website last Friday, even TTR's own experts admit gaps in data on endangered species like whales and seabirds. Yet, the Government continues to promote this proposal as 'economic growth' while ignoring the real environmental cost. 'This is high-risk capital with low public return and what's worse will be signed off by three Ministers with no obligation to heed hapū, Iwi and whānau concerns. The government has trampled Te Tiriti and betrays all Zealanders, by sacrificing our coastal waters for offshore investors.' The 2025 Budget, announced on Thursday, saw an additional $200 million taxpayer funded hand out to offshore oil and gas companies. Ngarewa-Packer called out the Government's political gambling, 'We all want economic prosperity for our communities, but enabling unproven, speculative ventures to bypass environmental due process signals desperation not development .' Once the EPA expert panel is confirmed, the recognised Iwi and Councils have 20 working days to make a submission.
NZ Herald
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Students do Gisborne Boys' High proud at Super 8 Cultural Festival
Super 8 traditionally refers to a specific group of secondary schools known for their strong rugby programmes. That has extended to other sports and events over the years. The Super 8 Cultural Festival gives students the opportunity to take part in kapa haka, Pasifika performance, dance, theatresports, drama, oratory, debating, solo and group music, chess and visual art at senior and junior level. 'The Super 8 Cultural event is magnificent and the talent on display was amazing,' Cairns said. 'For the festival to run in one venue at a central location makes the event accessible and allows all students to showcase their abilities to large audiences on a national level.' This year GBHS students were involved in kapa haka, chess, junior and senior debating, junior and senior oratory, senior solo music and group music. Next year, the school hopes to field teams in all categories. Cairns said the boys represented themselves and the school admirably and skilfully, as was reflected in their success. The band Iwi, comprising six Year 12 and 13 students, was second-equal in the group music category. The three Year 9 and 10 students who made up the junior debating team were second in their first-ever competition. 'Participating and performing in the arts allow students to master skills that will help them to become confident young men who are competent communicators, capable and comfortable at making connections with others,' GBHS director of arts David Lindup said. 'The festival provides an extended opportunity for our students to participate at a level which they do not have locally.' The Super 8 focus shifts to rugby on Saturday, with Gisborne Boys' High School First XV playing Palmerston North in Gisborne.
NZ Herald
16-05-2025
- Health
- NZ Herald
From criminal to mentor: Lesley Allen's quest to tackle Northland's drug problems
From criminal to mentor The tipping point in Allen's life came when she moved North four years ago- and found purpose helping others make the break from drugs - as a mentor at the community-based Whakaoranga Whānau Recovery Hub, in Kaikohe. The hub delivers government funded programmes and services for addicts, using Māori cultural models of practice, and has its office on the same street where young people have been seen smoking meth in broad daylight. Part of the kaupapa of the Recovery Hub is reconnecting addicts with what Allen calls their cultural compasses. Allen is a volunteer advocacy and peer support person at the hub and has helped hundreds manage their way through bureaucratic systems. Allen admits she arrived at the hub a broken person and had all but given up on herself. 'My recidivist offending came down to me having no whenua, nowhere to call home ... I never knew who I was as a Māori person. My cultural identity was lost' Allen told the Herald. Allen has lapsed back into her addiction at times. 'The four years I have been at the hub, I have turned my life around ... But I did lapse. I had been clean before that for years,' she told the Herald. Her greatest supporter Allen is supported by Rhonda Zielinski (Ngāpuhi) who runs Whakaoranga Whānau Recovery Hub. It's a passion project for her: her own home has a number of cabins where recovering addicts can stay. The registered nurse told the Herald anyone working with addicts in Northland is fighting an uphill battle. 'Every addict I have ever known say they use methamphetamine because it numbs the pain from hunger, depression or stops the pain of being bashed up,' Zielinski, told the Herald. 'Methamphetamine is not in our DNA. We come from a line of chiefs and drugs is not our kaupapa.' Zielinski said seeing former addicts like Allen giving back to others has been inspiring. 'Lesley is willing to help anyone who needs our services and make that first move to our whare,' she said. Zielinski estimates her own mahi has helped and supported thousands. Northland's uphill battle with drugs Wastewater testing has shown methamphetamine use tripled in Northland last year - it's now the meth capital of New Zealand. Last week the Herald revealed Ngāpuhi leadership had called upon local and national government to crack down on the rising drug epidemic in Northland like they did in Ōpōtiki. The hard-handed approach by police in Ōpōtiki was criticised by local Māori there, but Northland Iwi told the Herald they are desperate to get their young people off the gear. Police Minister Mark Mitchell told the Herald earlier this month that police can't solve the issue by themselves and the Northland community needs to take control. 'We will do what we can to support the community,' he said. 'It requires local government, community and strong iwi leadership to get at the heart of the social issues that are driving this.' Zielinski's mission It was while managing a Māori health provider that Zielinski first worked with people struggling with addiction. 'I saw potential in them and even though they were there for their own treatment I could see what great mentors they could be' she said. One recovering addict, Jane Beamsley, stayed in her home - then personally funded the early days of the Recovery Hub. These days, they receive funding from the Ministry of Health and have grown to deliver anger management courses, kapa haka, community services, te reo and pro social classes, as well as electronic monitoring bail addresses for people leaving prison. When their 14-bed boarding house in Kaikohe was closed down by the council due to alleged fire risk, the electronically-monitored residents were rehoused in cabins on Zielinski's farm. She is planning another 10-bed intensive programme at another property she owns in Kaikohe. Zielinski said though she and Allen and the others who work or volunteer at the hub are not blood relatives, they are whānau. 'Lesley has helped hundreds navigate their way through difficult places like justice and MSD and has become part of our Whakaoranga Whānau Recovery Hub whānau. 'And though none of us have blood ties, we are kaupapa whānau. 'I believe the biggest thing we offer addicts and their whānau is hope - that's all anyone can have.'
