Latest news with #Maori
Otago Daily Times
2 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Tour of the night sky from hot pools
Bathers in Hanmer Springs will be able to soak up the night sky while relaxing in a hot pool during the upcoming Matariki celebrations. A guided tour of the galaxy is being offered by the Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa, in partnership with Manuka Skies, on June 20, while bathers enjoy the warmth of the thermal pools. HSTPS marketing executive Sacha Beams says the evening is open to 50 people who will gather at 7.30pm for canapes and drinks, before donning their togs and slipping into the soothing waters of the Rainbow and Rock Pools where they will get a close up view of the night sky thanks to Manuka Skies' huge telescope, and a projector. They will be guided around the galaxy by the Manuka Skies owners Brent and Kara Proffitt. Sacha says while the visibility of Matariki is at its best between 4am and 6am, instead of waiting until the wee small hours of the morning to honour its place in Maori culture, Kara will take guests on a tour of the night sky and Matariki's place within it. Kara's Maori heritage is connected to Tuahiwi Marae in North Canterbury, and growing up she was always fascinated by the stars. ''On the evening, we'll be talking about the role of Matariki in the Maori Lunar Calendar, the meaning of each of the sisters and how to find her in the sky, how these relate to the past, present and future, and how they relate to other objects in the night sky. ''While Matariki is not viewable in the evening at this time of the year - currently rising early morning in the east - we'll be looking into other stellar objects through our telescopes as we learn to navigate our night skies,'' she says. Kara says it's hoped those taking part will finish the night having a greater understanding of what Matariki is all about and why it is relevant and important in Aotearoa. Brent and Kara began their business venture Manuka Skies near Hanmer Springs in 2023, offering a night-time adventure which allows people to experience the beauty of the dark skies and learn about the wonders both within and beyond our own galaxy. Using a range of telescopes, people can explore different star clusters, nebulae, and far away galaxies. They acquired a rare 1980 scope and a 3.5 metre dome, and run interactive tours to the ridgeline of Mt Rodney near the village. Manuka Skies takes clients on a trip around the cosmos using lasers, binoculars and a range of quality telescopes, and have astrophotography equipment for deep sky imaging. Their business grew from humble beginnings at Waiau, where they ran the Waiau Motor Camp, and started up the North Canterbury Astro Group in 2021. After selling the camp Brent and Kara set about finding a private site to use, and found their ideal home in the surrounds of Hanmer Springs.
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Stormy seas ahead for new skipper
Depending on your political alignment, the swearing in of David Seymour as deputy prime minister on Saturday was either a glorious achievement or the stuff of nightmares. For most though, it will be business as usual. Deputy prime minister is an important role, but not one of grave constitutional importance. It being shared is a novel situation born of this government being a three-way coalition, but it was an eminently practical solution to what might have been a problem if the role had been the sole province of one person for three years. Those who doubt whether Mr Seymour has what it takes to assume command when Christopher Luxon is not about are, presumably, unaware that Mr Seymour has been acting prime minister on several occasions when both Mr Luxon and former deputy prime minister Winston Peters were out of the country. The ship of state was safely kept off the rocks then, as it will no doubt be again when Mr Seymour temporarily assumes the helm: he is a more than capable man, with a firmly ingrained sense of personal responsibility. There are others who believe that the stability of the government will be weakened by a tyro deputy prime minister taking charge, especially one who is given to speaking his mind — and who unapologetically has said that he has no intention of changing that. Those people also forget that Mr Peters is hardly a shrinking violet, and that the coalition remained stable despite some choice outbursts in the past 18 months from the elder statesman of New Zealand politics. Having said all that, much of Mr Seymour's time in the next few months will be spent trying to shepherd through his Regulatory Standards Bill, the second highly controversial piece of legislation he has sought to enact this term. The first was, of course, the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill. Despite the inevitability of it being voted down it still attracted enormous opprobrium and inspired the largest protest march seen in Wellington in many years. Its fallout is still glowing bright, as Parliament considers what to do with the three Te Pati Maori MPs who disrupted the voting on the doomed Bill. Many of those opposed to the Regulatory Standards Bill are the same people, and for many of the same reasons. The Bill is intended to clarify and improve New Zealand's law-making process, and many of the checks and balances which it proposes are not unknown in other countries. However, in this country the Treaty of Waitangi exists as safeguard of the legal rights of Maori, and any attempt to circumvent the Treaty was always going to cause controversy. The Bill itself is largely silent on the Treaty, and its proponent did not mention it at all in his first reading speech. The Opposition surely mentioned it though and spared no punches: "an absolutely vile piece of legislation" was one of the milder condemnations, while Te Pati Maori called on people to mobilise to stop the Bill in its tracks. For Mr Seymour. the Bill is an exercise in cutting the red tape which he claims is holding New Zealand back. He is no doubt right that there are examples of overregulation, and that it can be obstructive to people's individual or corporate endeavours. But some regulations, such as environmental and health standards, exist for good reason and any effort to weaken those protections warrants intense scrutiny. Likewise, so does any attempt to diminish the guarantees afforded by the Treaty of Waitangi, which for all some may wish otherwise remains the foundation stone of New Zealand's existence. The Bill, unlike the Treaty Principles Bill, enjoys the support of both governing parties, albeit that New Zealand First has suggested that it needs improvements. That obviously enhances its chances of becoming law but equally amplifies the opposition to it. Parliament's computer system, which collapsed under the weight of submissions on the Treaty Principles Bill, has staggered again under the welter of opinion on this Bill — almost certainly negative opinion. A full and rigorous select committee process is going to be critical to public acceptance of this proposed law change: it is unfortunate that the committee chose not to extend the public submission period. Mr Seymour's leadership will now be under the spotlight. He will need to exercise Solomonic wisdom, given that battle lines are firmly drawn.
Kiwiblog
3 days ago
- Politics
- Kiwiblog
Youth Parliament more representative than Parliament?
I was interested in how the demographics of the Youth Parliament (selected by MPs) compares to the demographics of Parliament itself (elected and selected by parties). The comparison is: Youth MPs MPs NZ Female 50% 46% 50% Male 46% 53% 49% Other 3% 1% 1% European 56% 61% 68% Maori 24% 24% 18% Pacific 12% 7% 9% Asian 19% 10% 17% Other 5% 1% 2% So in terms of gender, closer to the NZ population for women. In terms of ethnicity, Parliament has far fewer Asian MPs than the general population, but in Youth Parliament they are slightly over-represented. Likewise for Pacific.
Leader Live
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
Protests over ‘please walk on me' flag artwork prompt its removal from gallery
The Suter Art Gallery in the city of Nelson said it had taken down the work by Maori artist Diane Prince due to escalating tensions and safety fears. The episode mirrored an Auckland gallery's removal of the work amid a public backlash in 1995. This time, the flag was meant to remain on display for five months. Instead, it lasted just 19 days, reigniting long-running debates in New Zealand over artistic expression, national symbols and the country's colonial history. Police told the Associated Press that officers were investigating 'several' complaints about the exhibition. The piece, titled Flagging The Future, is a cloth New Zealand flag displayed on the floor with the words 'please walk on me' stencilled across it. The work was part of an exhibition, Diane Prince: Activist Artist, and was meant to provoke reflection on the Maori experience since New Zealand's colonisation by Britain in the 19th century. Ms Prince created the piece in 1995 in response to a government policy that limited compensation to Maori tribes for historical land theft. 'I have no attachment to the New Zealand flag,' she told Radio New Zealand in 2024. 'I don't call myself a New Zealander. I call myself a Maori.' New Zealand's reckoning with its colonial past has gathered pace in recent decades. But there has been little appetite among successive governments to sever the country's remaining constitutional ties to Britain or change the flag's design. New Zealand is among countries where desecrating the national flag is considered taboo and prohibited by law. Damaging a flag in public with intent to dishonour it is punishable by a fine of up to 5,000 New Zealand dollars, but prosecutions are fleetingly rare. As in the United States and elsewhere, the country's flag is synonymous for some with military service. But for others, particularly some Maori, it is a reminder of land dispossession, and loss of culture and identity. Protests against the artwork in the city of Nelson, which has a population 55,000, included videos posted to social media by a local woman, Ruth Tipu, whose grandfather served in the army's Maori Battalion during the Second World War. In one clip, she is seen lifting the flag from the floor and draping it over another artwork, an action Ms Tipu said she would repeat daily. A veterans' group also denounced the piece as 'shameful' and 'offensive'. City council member Tim Skinner said he was 'horrified' by the work's inclusion. But others welcomed it. Nelson's deputy mayor, Rohan O'Neill-Stevens, posted on social media 'in strong defence of artistic expression and the right for us all to be challenged and confronted by art'. The work was perhaps expected to provoke controversy and in the exhibition's opening days, the Suter Gallery defended its inclusion. But a statement on its Facebook page late Thursday said a 'sharp escalation in the tone and nature of the discourse, moving well beyond the bounds of respectful debate' had prompted the flag's removal. 'This should not be interpreted as a judgment on the artwork or the artist's intent,' the statement said.
Belfast Telegraph
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Belfast Telegraph
Protests over ‘please walk on me' flag artwork prompt its removal from gallery
The Suter Art Gallery in the city of Nelson said it had taken down the work by Maori artist Diane Prince due to escalating tensions and safety fears. The episode mirrored an Auckland gallery's removal of the work amid a public backlash in 1995. This time, the flag was meant to remain on display for five months. Instead, it lasted just 19 days, reigniting long-running debates in New Zealand over artistic expression, national symbols and the country's colonial history. Police told the Associated Press that officers were investigating 'several' complaints about the exhibition. The piece, titled Flagging The Future, is a cloth New Zealand flag displayed on the floor with the words 'please walk on me' stencilled across it. The work was part of an exhibition, Diane Prince: Activist Artist, and was meant to provoke reflection on the Maori experience since New Zealand's colonisation by Britain in the 19th century. Ms Prince created the piece in 1995 in response to a government policy that limited compensation to Maori tribes for historical land theft. 'I have no attachment to the New Zealand flag,' she told Radio New Zealand in 2024. 'I don't call myself a New Zealander. I call myself a Maori.' New Zealand's reckoning with its colonial past has gathered pace in recent decades. But there has been little appetite among successive governments to sever the country's remaining constitutional ties to Britain or change the flag's design. New Zealand is among countries where desecrating the national flag is considered taboo and prohibited by law. Damaging a flag in public with intent to dishonour it is punishable by a fine of up to 5,000 New Zealand dollars, but prosecutions are fleetingly rare. As in the United States and elsewhere, the country's flag is synonymous for some with military service. But for others, particularly some Maori, it is a reminder of land dispossession, and loss of culture and identity. Protests against the artwork in the city of Nelson, which has a population 55,000, included videos posted to social media by a local woman, Ruth Tipu, whose grandfather served in the army's Maori Battalion during the Second World War. In one clip, she is seen lifting the flag from the floor and draping it over another artwork, an action Ms Tipu said she would repeat daily. A veterans' group also denounced the piece as 'shameful' and 'offensive'. City council member Tim Skinner said he was 'horrified' by the work's inclusion. But others welcomed it. Nelson's deputy mayor, Rohan O'Neill-Stevens, posted on social media 'in strong defence of artistic expression and the right for us all to be challenged and confronted by art'. The work was perhaps expected to provoke controversy and in the exhibition's opening days, the Suter Gallery defended its inclusion. But a statement on its Facebook page late Thursday said a 'sharp escalation in the tone and nature of the discourse, moving well beyond the bounds of respectful debate' had prompted the flag's removal. 'This should not be interpreted as a judgment on the artwork or the artist's intent,' the statement said.
