Latest news with #KaupapaMāori
Scoop
08-07-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Te Whatu Ora Offer Further Devalues Māori
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora's removal of both clauses involving Māori from their offer in collective bargaining shows not only disrespect but a spurning of their legal obligations, NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says. New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) has been involved in protracted talks with Te Whatu Ora for months. The new offer from Te Whatu Ora to NZNO members on 30 June failed to include Tikanga Allowance and Kaupapa Māori dispute resolution process clauses. "These clauses were included in the previous offer in May but have been removed without explanation in the latest offer," Kerri Nuku says. "With massive Māori health needs and a huge shortage of Māori nurses this move devalues them and would further motivate them to move on to overseas countries like Australia. With cultural obligations to their community, the big picture is that this would further perpetuate gaps in health care, including Māori continue to die at a faster rate." Te Whatu Ora has an obligation to Māori, starting from Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022, she says. These obligations require Te Whatu Ora to actively protect Māori interests, ensure equitable health outcomes, and support Māori self-determination in health matters. "But moves such as these seem to be strategic in the systemic eradication of Māori rights by the coalition Government." Kerri Nuku says two weeks before the offer from Te Whatu Ora, the Health Minister promised changes to the Healthy Futures Act 'would also strengthen the Hauora Māori Advisory Committee (HMAC)'. "I strongly doubt this is what the HMAC would advise. It seems that they're either speaking with forked tongues, or one hand does not know what the other is up to. "We call on the Minister to encourage Te Whatu Ora to reinstate the clauses back into the offer."
1News
20-06-2025
- Politics
- 1News
New classrooms for Kura Kaupapa announced
The government has announced $28 million will be spent on building more "safe, warm and dry classrooms" for tāmariki in Māori full immersion schools. Twenty new classrooms will be built across four providers, and work will begin on the first stage of a new school north of Auckland. Eight classrooms at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Ara Whanui in Lower Hutt Six classrooms at Te Wharekura o Arowhenua in Invercargill Four classrooms at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Hokianga in Kaikohe Two classrooms at Te Wharekura o Kirikiriroa in Hamilton The new development, for Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngāringaomatariki in Kaiwaka, will eventually have 19 classrooms, Minister of Education Erica Stanford said on Friday. "This Matariki, I am proud to be celebrating the Māori New Year with investing in the future of our tāmariki so they have the spaces and support they need to flourish." ADVERTISEMENT Construction on the modular buildings is expected to begin in the next 12 months. "Safe, warm and dry learning environments are essential for effective teaching and learning," Stanford said. "By using modular construction, we can deliver classrooms more quickly and make our investment go further." She said it was part of a $50 million Budget allocation to deliver 50 new classrooms for Māori medium and Kaupapa Māori education. "We remain committed to properly resourcing our bilingual education system and lifting achievement for Māori students. That includes ensuring our tāmariki have warm, safe and dry classrooms to thrive in," Stanford said. The announcement was made at Takaparawhau, Bastion Point, during Matariki Hautapu celebrations with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. National did not support making Matariki a holiday when it became one in 2022.
RNZ News
18-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
'By Seymour, for Māori?' - Tama Potaka defends Māori targeted funding cut
Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka says the government has serious fiscal issues and most agencies have had to cut back. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone The Māori Development Minister has defended attacks by the opposition arguing he allowed targeted Māori funding to disappear under his watch. Speaking in the Māori Affairs select committee for scrutiny week, Labour MP and former Māori development minister Willie Jackson said specific funding for Māori initiatives had fallen significantly since Tama Potaka took over. He also questioned whether Potaka was being influenced by Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour , who disagrees with targeted funds based on race. Jackson said while he did not doubt "for one second" that Potaka was committed to pushing kaupapa Māori, he was "failing" in terms of Māori-specific funding. "You've had this decrease in terms of Māori funding, targeted funding, across the portfolio, and you have a deputy prime minister who believes funding us is racist... so how are you dealing with that?" Jackson asked. Potaka said he did not share that view and encouraged others in the room to "amplify" that. "What often happens is that certain views are given some really enhanced coverage, and others that I think are just as legitimate are not." "We have a very important series of commitments emanating out of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Treaty of Waitangi... good kāwanatanga or rangatiratanga or ōritetanga, however many tangas we might want to refer to and that provides a very constitutional bedrock for our existence as a country. It amplifies and reflects some things that were already existing," Potaka said. Potaka said funding allocated to the Māori Women's Welfare League was an example of the government's commitment to Māori funding. Pushed again by Jackson on what "confidence" Potaka could give that Māori initiatives would be prioritised, Potaka said some of those initiatives "did not sync" with the government's current direction. "This government, and I as the minister, are in a space where we've got serious fiscal issues, and I don't need to belabour that, but taking the debt up from $5 billion to $100 billion did not help, over five or six years, prior to us coming in. "All agencies have basically cut back, except for Health, Education, Defence and Police, all agencies have had to take a haircut. That includes my agencies... the view that 'we don't have confidence because your agency has less money than last year', I think is misplaced given the fiscal context." The government was focused on tilting the support towards economic development, rather than bits and bobs all over the place, Potaka said. Budget 2025 saw the end of the Whai Kāinga , Whai Oranga housing fund which saw the government allocate over $700 million to help iwi build thousands of homes in 2021. That money has been redirected to the government's broader Flexible Housing fund, a move which Jackson said "betrayed" the kaupapa. "[Māori] can't get their heads around it, that you would betray a kaupapa and open up competition, now that Māori providers have to compete with mainstream providers, very unfair. Former Māori development minister Willie Jackson said said specific funding for Māori initiatives had fallen significantly since Tama Potaka took over. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone "You're the minister responsible for the biggest transfer of money from Māori to mainstream in the history of ministers," Jackson said. Potaka gave a mihi to the "architects" of the scheme and said their work was "absolutely outstanding". "In terms of the Whai Kāinga, Whai Oranga budget that has effectively been centralised and reallocated," Potaka said. "Some of that was the $200 million announced for 400 or more new homes, I announced in Waitangi week, that includes the 150 homes that are being built right now... in Gisborne, and a whole range of other homes. A whole range of other homes and sites across the motu, including up in Kaitaia and Rotorua and central North Island and other places." Jackson said that figure showed how Potaka had "failed miserably" in the housing area. "That's a far cry from what we talked about when we set Whai Kāinga, Whai Oranga up. "So basically, it's 'By Seymour, for Māori' now, isn't it? Not 'By Māori, for Māori'," Jackson said. "I reject that opinion presented as a question," Potaka said. "What has happened is that the commitment over Whai Kāinga, Whai Oranga, a lot of that was consumed in the 1000 homes [built] through the Labour-led government and the 1000 homes that have been approved in 18 months - by the way, we didn't take five years - through this government. "Those homes are on the go. Some have been delivered, and some are yet to be delivered, and actually, the capacity of Māori housing developers to deliver massively is evolving," Potaka said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Otago Daily Times
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Speech contest winner gets ‘heart-warming' response from peers
Receiving a roaring haka was a "heart-warming" moment for a Dunedin secondary student who took top honours in a Māori speech competition. King's High School student Zane Rakete-Gray, 16, won the Korimako senior English contest at the Ōtākou and Murihiku Ngā Manu Kōrero regional speech competition at the Dunedin Town Hall yesterday. Zane placed first in both impromptu and prepared speeches categories. For his prepared speech, Zane spoke about what the world could look like in 2085 if the present coalition government got its way. "There won't be a competition like this in 2085, our language will be dead, the land will be destroyed beyond repair and our environment will not be good enough to live in." The competition was a good way to express his culture to the rest of the country, if not the world, he said. "It just shows that there is still people who can speak Māori." When he was announced the winner, a haka erupted in the town hall from his peers in the King's and Queen's High Schools' kapa haka group, He Waka Kōtuia. "It was a bit heart-warming." For the Ta Turi Kara junior English contest winner Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Otepoti student Ngaki Kiore, 14, speaking was about showing her peers they could stand on a stage and speak their minds. "There is a place for you here, whether you speak te reo Maori or not." Ngaki's sister Matoia Wilson won the senior English competition in 2009 and Ngaki was proud to follow in her sister's footsteps. Her speech was about connection to her ancestors and why her Māori correspondence school's curriculum offered the best opportunity for students to succeed, Ngaki said. "At Kura Kaupapa we are not just based off learning, we are based off how we can grow in ourselves." About 40 speakers from 23 schools across Otago and Southland took part n over two days. Zane and Ngaki will be joined by Pei Te Hurinui Jones senior Māori contest winner Hana Davis and Rawhiti Ihaka junior Māori contest winner Kyra Bachelor-Tata at the national finals in Whanganui this September.
Scoop
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Supporting More Tamariki Māori To Flourish
Press Release – New Zealand Government An additional $60m of ring-fenced funding for Mori Medium and Kaupapa Mori Education property, which will deliver up to 50 new classrooms to support the network, providing access to immersion schooling for approximately an additional 1,100 konga. Minister of Education The Government is delivering over $100 million in investment through Budget 2025 to ensure more tamariki Māori thrive at school. 'This Government is firmly committed to properly resourcing our bilingual education system and lifting achievement for Māori students. Our Budget 25 investment delivers on the commitments through our Māori Education Action Plan, which takes a practical approach to strengthening outcomes for ākonga Māori,' Education Minister Erica Stanford says. This investment encompasses: $10 million to launch a new Virtual Learning Network (VLN) for STEM education (Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics) subjects in Kaupapa Māori and Māori Medium education settings, addressing the shortage of qualified STEM teachers proficient in both subject matter and te reo Māori. This will fund 15 kaiako to deliver online STEM education to up to 5,577 Year 9-13 ākonga. $4.5 million to develop comprehensive new te reo matatini and STEM curriculum resources and teacher supports for approximately 2,000 Year 9–13 learners in Kaupapa Māori and Māori Medium education. For the first time ever, students will be able to study Shakespeare, international literature, and iconic New Zealand works, including The Bone People entirely in te reo Māori. $2.1 million to develop a new Māori Studies subject for Years 11–13, offering students to deepen their understanding of Māori cultural practices, narratives, knowledge, and language. This new learning area will be developed byMātauranga Māori experts and will support learners to grow their knowledge of Māori culture, narratives, philosophies, Mātauranga and language. $14 million into training and support for up to 51,000 teachers/kaiako in Years 0-13 schools to learn te reo Māori and tikanga as appropriate benefiting over 560,000 students. An additional $60m of ring-fenced funding for Māori Medium and Kaupapa Māori Education property, which will deliver up to 50 new classrooms to support the network, providing access to immersion schooling for approximately an additional 1,100 ākonga. $4.8 million to appoint seven new curriculum advisors for Kaupapa Māori and Māori medium education to support kaiako in implementing the redesigned Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, including Rangaranga Reo ā-Tā, Poutama Pāngarau, and Hihira Weteoro, benefiting over 27,000 ākonga. $4.1 million to support the sustainability and data capability of the Kohanga Reo Network. $3.5 million to support WAI 3310 Waitangi Tribunal Education Services and Outcomes Kaupapa Inquiry. 'Each of these investments aim to drive student achievement for our tamariki Maōri so they thrive in the classroom. The Budget 2025 Māori education package delivered alongside investments support every child so they get the very best start and grow the New Zealand of the future'.
