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Scoop
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Why Gisborne Locals Are Pushing Back Against Relaxed Alcohol Rules
Article – Zita Campbell – Local Democracy Reporter The council consulted on excluding 'Sensitive Sites Provisions' in the CBD. Two-thirds of the public who responded to a Gisborne District Council community consultation have opposed relaxing the local alcohol policy (LAP) rules in the city centre, citing the need to protect schools, marae and sensitive sites from alcohol harm. However, some businesses and individuals are backing a rule change to help revitalise the city as they fear it is becoming a 'ghost town'. Gisborne District Council consulted on excluding 'Sensitive Sites Provisions' within its central business district after adopting its current local alcohol policy in June 2024. Sensitive site rules stop new liquor licences being issued – aside from cafes, restaurants, and special licences – within 150m of sites such as marae, schools, spiritual facilities and recreational areas. Rongowhakaata Iwi Trust chair Connie Maynard said the proposal to remove the provisions within the CBD was 'disappointing' as marae were protected under the policy. Rongowhakaata had the mana whenua iwi rights over the land consulted on and opposed the amendments, she told the alcohol policy hearings on Tuesday morning. For Māori, the issues with alcohol began with the landing of Captain James Cook (his second voyage here) in 1773, Maynard said. 'For whatever reason, we latched on to alcohol and grew to have a dependency on it. It continues to disproportionately and negatively impact Māori.' The council proposed to either amend and remove the Sensitive Sites Provisions from the CBD or maintain the status quo. During the consultation, which ran for a month from February 28, the council received 207 submissions – 137 were in support of keeping the provisions, 69 wanted them removed and one submitter was unsure, according to the council hearing submissions panel report. Kura Kaupapa Māori O Hawaiki Hou moved on to a premise at the end of Gisborne's main road in 2019. In 2023, the group appealed a new liquor licence granted to Anjuna Beer Garden, a few doors down from the kura. The application was withdrawn last year. Te Amohare Hauiti-Parapara, submitting on behalf of the kura, said that opposing the application was 'emotionally taxing'. As a whānau-led kura, she said she represented the kura's whānau, who strongly supported retaining the current rules which were a positive step in the application of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. 'Particularly the principle of active protection of a taonga and our future tribal base, as defined by the Waitangi Tribunal.' Under the option to relax the rules, the District Licensing Committee (DLC) would also have the discretion to grant exemptions to the sensitive sites rule for applications outside the city. Hauiti-Parapara said the proposed change would directly impact their kura and put other kura outside the city at risk. 'Removing the existing protections risks exposing our tamariki to the promotion of alcohol in an environment that should be focused on nurturing their wellbeing,' she said. Submitter Kristen Maynard, who was in favour of keeping the restrictions, said few licence applications had been rejected under the Sensitive Sites rule. Robbie McCann, father of Ben McCann, whose licence for Anjuna Beer Garden was appealed by the Kura, also submitted. He was one of two submissions presenting at the hearing in support of removing the rule. 'Without commercial interest, you won't have a city.' McCann said there were 34 vacant buildings on the main street. 'We're very close to a ghost town … it's a crisis situation for building owners and business owners alike' He noted that during early engagement, 82% disagreed with the provisions while 18% agreed. This engagement process received 62 submissions and 1067 votes through the council's 'Participate' platform and Facebook page. McCann said he believed the council had not targeted to get the full spread of people during this round of public consultation. 'I only found out by fluke … that's why you've got a little bit of a difference this time.' Off-licences such as bottle stores had a greater risk of creating alcohol harm than on-licences – such as bars – because it was in a controlled environment, McCann said. During his submission, police officer Isaac Ngatai, who has been the alcohol prevention officer in the region for 14 years, disagreed with off-licences being the main issue during his submission. 'Over 70% of the incidents that we deal with are alcohol harm-related. That's not just from off-licences; that's from people returning home from on-licences,' he said. Resident John Wells presented his submission in support of removing the sensitive site rules. Wells said he had nothing against sensitive sites in the CBD, but they should operate under the same conditions and terms as any other business. 'CBD means 'central business district' … that is where businesses are supposed to be,' he said. According to the council report, the option to keep restrictions was supported by Tri-Agencies, which encompasses NZ Police, the National Public Health Service and the Chief Licensing Inspectorate. Several local community groups, as well as Tūrehou Māori Wardens Trust, Te Aroha Kanarahi Trust, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki Trust and individuals, also gave written submissions in favour of keeping the current provisions. Several businesses and individuals submitted in support of removing the rule. Reasons provided included revitalising the CBD, supporting businesses and providing more controlled environments for individuals, the report said. Council sustainable futures director Joanna Noble said if the hearings committee made a recommendation, the adoption of the amendments would take place at a meeting on May 8. – LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Scoop
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
‘Me tū, me haka!': Te Pāti Māori MPs defend haka in Privileges Committee written submissions
The MPs refused to appear in person, citing a lack of fairness and disregard for tikanga Mori. Te Pāti Māori MPs say their haka protest during the Treaty Principles Bill debate was an expression of tikanga, not a breach of parliamentary rules – and they are standing by their actions. All three MPs – Rawiri Waititi, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke – submitted individual written statements to the Privileges Committee but refused to appear in person on Wednesday, citing a lack of fairness and disregard for tikanga Māori. They intend to continue with their own public hearing on 7 May. Privileges Committee chair Judith Collins said the Committee have considered the matter and will be meeting again in the first sitting block to consider these actions further. In a document provided to RNZ, the MPs argued that the haka was a form of constitutionally protected political expression and a response to what they called 'the worst potential legislative breach of Te Tiriti in our generation' – a reference to the ACT Party's controversial Treaty Principles Bill which was voted down on its second reading, on 10 April. Alongside their collective submission, the three MPs each provided individual written statements. Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi said in his written submission that four of his tīpuna signed te Tiriti at Te Kaha in June 1840, 'Koina taku here ki te Tiriti o Waitangi nā aku tīpuna mātua i te pō i waitohu i roto i te mana me te tapu o te iwi. Ki te rāwekeweke tētahi i te mana me te tapu o te Tiriti, kai rāwekeweke i te mana me te tapu o ngā mātua tīpuna i waitohungia, i tā moko ngia i te Tiriti,' he said. 'He pērā tā David Seymour me tana pāti a ACT, he mea rāwekeweke i te Tiriti o Waitangi hai whakaiti i te mana o te Māori ki Aotearoa nei.' Waititi said other MPs also performed the haka because the government was tampering with te Tiriti and diminishing the mana of Māori in Aotearoa. 'Koina te waahi tika mō te haka. Ki te ngāueue te wairua ki roto i te tangata ki te puta i ngā riri, i ngā tauoro, i ngā whakahē ki tētahi kaupapa takahī mana, takahī tapu me tū, me haka!' Waititi said he would not apologise for performing the haka and that he has long been using the haka in Parliament, including during his maiden speech in 2020. 'E kore awahau a whakapāha mō te haka, ko wahau te haka, ko te haka ko wahau!' He also put forward a motion for the House to consider including a haka must be allowed in Parliament, Māori customs must be embedded in the Standing Orders and Speakers Rulings, and that all members of Parliament must be educated in Te Tiriti o Waitangi before swearing in. 'Me panoni te oati, me waihanga i tētahi mea hou kia whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi.' In her written submission, co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said standing in Parliament as both a Taranaki wahine and MP during the Treaty Principles Bill debate felt like being 'under siege'. 'Not just politically, but spiritually, culturally, and generationally,' she said. 'It felt like being surrounded by a sea of indifference – where our cries for justice were debated like ideology, our Treaty rights negotiated like currency, and our identity reduced to an economic inconvenience.' Ngarewa-Packer said tikanga is law – it reflects how Māori live, deliberate, and carry truth across generations. 'When government allows bills that politicise the legitimacy of equity, it denies the historical and ongoing causes of inequity to Māori. It pretends that colonisation never happened. It silences the very voices Te Tiriti was supposed to protect.' She said performing Ka Mate in the House was a response to injustice, 'a declaration of identity', and an expression of political debate. 'I spoke with my body, my whakapapa and my wairua. It is how our tūpuna confronted wrongs. It is how we honour our departed. It is how my kuia resisted, united, and stood,' Ngarewa-Packer said. 'To rise and haka in Parliament as a Taranaki wahine elected to stand for Māori is not a breach of decorum – it is an act of survival. It is tikanga. It is mana. It is truth. And the truth is we should never have been forced into a position to defend our treaty rights, that is the obligation on all governments, whether they like it or not.' Hauraki-Waikato MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke also stood by her actions and said while she accepted the haka disrupted the voting process, she 'will not apologise' for performing haka. She said her party met with Speaker Gerry Brownlee following the incident to explain the cultural significance of her actions. 'I explained to him that there was nothing personal between him and me. I understand the rules of this House, and I acknowledge them; however, on this day, this House did not acknowledge the laws of this land, Tikanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.' Maipi-Clarke said she was representing the thousands of people who marched to Parliament in protest, and the more than 300,000 who made submissions – 90 percent of which opposed the bill. She also questioned why she was called to the committee at all, given she had already faced sanctions. 'At this hui, my Co-Leader, Rawiri asked, and I quote, 'Will there be any double jeopardy in this? Hana-Rawhiti has already done her time.' The Speaker then replied, 'No, there won't be.'' She described the Treaty Principles Bill as the culmination of a year of 'detrimental bills' that have 'devastatingly affected' Māori and said the debate about haka and tikanga missed the bigger point. 'My first words in Parliament were a maioha or traditional karanga. From then on, I haven't stopped articulating myself in my first language, Te Reo Māori… enacting my traditional customs and practices.' 'I will not justify my forms of expression within this House. The bigger conversation is not the Bill itself or haka but how this House picks and chooses when they want to acknowledge Tikanga Māori, Te Reo Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.'
