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Minister fears public funding used for electioneering

Minister fears public funding used for electioneering

RNZ News3 days ago

media te ao Maori about 1 hour ago
Minister Tama Potaka is concerned that public funding may have been used for electioneering, after a Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency advertisement encouraging Māori to sign up for the Māori electoral roll was released this week. Potaka spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

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He said community leaders had an important role to play in maintaining dialogue between each other and sharing information. His department would continue to build trust and relationships with the ethnic communities, Hampton said. "It's not a destination, it's a journey, but the consequences of us not continue this journey are dire when it comes to national security." NZSIS would continue to shed light on foreign interference, provide information to community leaders, make sure the department was accessible and approachable, and its workforce reflected the communities, Hampton said. Mark Mitchell and ethnic community leaders at the Ethnic Advantage Conference. Photo: RNZ / Liu Chen Mark Mitchell, the minister for ethnic communities said New Zealand can't be naive and believe that it's invincible from foreign inteference. "We do have countries that try to interfere with their diasporas," he said. 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He said New Zealand should be proud of where it was but people needed to make sure they don't lose ground. "...Recognising always the ability to engage in peaceful protest and freedom of speech, but with that comes great responsibility, and with that also comes a clear message to do it whilst in a peaceful and tolerant way." Individuals should also take responsibility for the way they receive and process information, as there was a lot of disinformation and misinformation around, he said. Chief executive at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, Mervin Singham Photo: RNZ / Liu Chen Chief executive at the ministry, Mervin Singham, said social cohesion and countering foreign interference are interconnected. "From my perspective, the first line of defense [against] foreign interference is community cohesion," Singham said. 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There were resource tools on the ministry's website which people could use to educate themselves about the topics, for example where to go to report an interference, Singham said. Soon, the tools, launched earlier this year, would be available in 30 languages, he said. "They might be able to be more vigilant about how influence is slowly leading into interference, those sorts of things. This is where the power of the community lies." Community advocate Eva Chen. Photo: RNZ / Liu Chen Community advocate Eva Chen said the discussion on foreign interference was a good reminder, but more information and clarity was needed from the government. "I always felt that the topic of foreign interference is far away from our day-to-day lives but today hearing from the panel, I got to know that it isn't that far away." However, she would appreciate more guidance from the officials about the specific activities and what kind of information they need from the community. 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