Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

The National Iwi Chairs Forum (NICF) has delivered a 24,000 strong petition into the hands of the Minister of Education calling for the immediate reversal of the amendment that removed school boards’ requirement to give effect to te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Minister of Education Minister Erica Stanford met with the NICF outside Parliament alongside MPs from other parties, where she accepted the petition with its 24,001 signatures.

Rāhui Papa is chair of the Mātauranga Iwi Leaders Group, the education arm of the National Iwi Chairs Forum. He told RNZ his group stood in solidarity with the many boards, teachers and students who backed the petition.

“From my viewpoint, any government should take the pulse of their people and should actually turn around and listen to their people when they see that it’s rubbing up against the consciousness of our own country.”

Papa said there needed to be a “resetting”.

“There needs to be reinstatement or absolutely making sure that Te Tiriti o Waitangi is in its highest form in any legislation,” he said.

Papa hit back at previous statements made by the minister, who said she had heard from some principals who felt the were being pressured to sign the statements of support for Te Tiriti.

“The messages that we have been receiving is that this has been something that is near and dear to the hearts of their BOT (Board of Trustees), of their communities and of their school system within their own school. This is something that has been a progress by them, on their own,” he said.

“Sure, schools could have opted not to be part of it, and some of them may have. But with over 60 percent of schools voluntarily signing up and voluntarily sending open letters for everyone to view and to peruse – that is just magnificent in itself.”

After receiving the petition Stanford told the crowd the government shares many of the same aspirations for tamariki Māori with the NICF. There were scattered boos from the crowd as she delivered her speech.

“To make sure that no matter what we’re resourcing, not matter what our policies are, that we are providing resources in te reo Māori, that we’re providing professional learning and development to kaiako, and that our laser focus is on raising achievement,” she said.

The importance of the Treaty of Waitangi in the Education Act has never been in question, she said.

Stanford said she was hopeful that the government and the NICF can work more closely together to improve outcomes for tamariki Māori.

“At the heart of all of this is tamariki Māori, doing right by them, making sure that they meet all of their future aspirations and they can go on to live the life they want.”

Labour Spokesperson for Education Willow-Jean Prime said the minister still isn’t listening to what the iwi, boards of trustees and schools are saying.

“The minister on the one hand saying she wants to continue to work with Māori on all of the things that are important for Māori education, yet here receiving a petition for an example of where she did not consult Māori, even though she was advised to.”

Prime said the petition and the more than 1600 schools who have publicly reaffirmed their commitment to Te Tiriti have sent a strong message to the minister.

NZEI Te Riu Roa president Ripeka Lessels was at Parliament to support the petition, she told RNZ that Te Tiriti o Waitangi and student achievement are not exclusive.

“You can have both, you can have Te Tiriti o Waitangi and give obligations to it, and still have student achievement. We already know that, we know that from Kura Kaupapa, we know that from Kura ā iwi. It can work and it does happen.”

Upholding Te Tiriti is crucial for creating truly equitable and inclusive schools where every tamariki can succeed, and the union will continue to fiercely advocate for it, she said.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Firefighters are scrambling to contain a fire burning in Tongariro National Park.

Sixteen fire vehicles, 60 firefighters and nine choppers are battling the blaze, now mapped at more than 320 hectares, which as of 5.30pm Monday was uncontained.

It comes just a month after another mass of wildfire ripped through 3000 hectares of the national park.

State Highway 47 is closed between the intersections with SH46 and SH48. Drivers are being asked to avoid the area or to detour through SH1 and SH49

A Fire and Emergency (FENZ) spokesperson earlier said the fires were southeast of the devastating blaze that took hold in the area last month.

FENZ director of operations Brendan Nally told Checkpoint it was the second fire to hit the maunga region in the past month.

“It’s incredibly distressing for everyone who lives in and around and loves the maunga, and particularly mana whenua, so we extend our condolences and thoughts that there’s another fire on their beloved mountain.”

Nally said part of the blaze covered an area burned by last month’s fire, and may have had more than one ignition point, but was now “one fire”.

“There’s some unsubstantiated reports about how this fire has started, and it’s possible that there is more than one seat of fire. But that will be worked through in the appropriate way. But we are dealing with one contiguous fire boundary…

“So what we’re saying is we have had some very early reports that there may be more than one seat of fire… I know that there’s a lot of people on social media and there’s lots of speculation out there, but you know, I prefer to give the public hard news, hard evidence when I know it for sure. And at the moment we don’t know, so a fire investigation has commenced.”

The cause of the fire was not yet known.

“It’s not contained. We’re hitting it hard and we’re hoping to have it mostly contained by nightfall, but we are preparing for several days of operations.”

Nally said they had learned lessons from the previous fire.

“That’s why we’re heading it very hard, very quickly this time. We’ve put a lot more resources on it a lot earlier. So nine helicopters, you can appreciate that it’s a significant commitment when we’re still only a few hours after fire start.

“So we know that the fuel type is difficult. We know that the terrain is difficult. We know that there [are] significant sites of significance there, and we also acknowledge that it has a huge impact for people who live and work on the mountain – so we’re biffing everyone at it.”

But there was limited resourcing, with fires elsewhere in the country to deal with too.

“Because of where we are in the time of day, we’re focusing on those containment lines. And then over the next two days we’ll knock it and we’ll bring in fixed-wing aircraft which are more efficient in that role, and we’ll use a mixture of ground crews on the ground, supported by aerial attack from rotary and fixed-wing aircraft.”

Nally said people who could not evacuate should keep windows and doors shut.

Smoke visible

Elyse Schroder told RNZ she lives south of the fire in the Ohakune township, and said she could see smoke drifting towards Ohakune and Tūroa.

She estimated she was about 40 kilometres in a straight line over the mountain from where the fire actually was.

“It looks quite similar to how it looked to start with, with the previous fire a couple of weeks ago,” she said.

“It’s quite still at the moment and very, very hot and barely a cloud in the sky, so it’s just sitting there rather than blowing away.”

SH47 WAIMARINO TO TONGARIRO – FIRE – 1:50PM
Due to vegetation fires, the road is CLOSED between SH46 and SH48. Follow the detour and allow extra time for travel. If travelling southbound, detour via SH1 and SH49. Reverse for northbound. ^AG pic.twitter.com/eGC9evsFVS

— NZ Transport Agency – Central North Island (@nztacni) December 8, 2025

The Department of Conservation (DOC) said FENZ was leading the response and it was working to understand the extent of the fires.

Nally said there was little threat to DOC infrastructure, with most of the “fuel” in those areas already burned out.

Chief executive of Hillary Outdoors, Hillary Campbell, said all students and staff at its Tongariro centre were safe and accounted for.

It had 90 students and 24 staff on-site.

Campbell said Hillary Outdoors had been in contact with the schools involved and those schools had been in direct contact with the students’ families.

Campbell said safety was the priority and they were monitoring the situation closely.

“We have a robust emergency management system that we follow and we have evacuation plans in place. So if an evacuation is required, we are prepared to move immediately.”

Ray Goff of Summit Shuttles said he saw plumes of smoke as he made his way down from Whakapapa ski field this afternoon.

He said the fire and closure of State Highway 47 was the last thing the area needed.

Goff said with the detours adding a couple of hours’ travel time, his was one of many shuttle companies weighing up what to do next.

“Devastating. Shit happens, unfortunately. We can’t predict what’s gonna happen with Mother Nature… I’ve got 30-odd customers that we need to get back from the end of Tongariro Crossing and we can’t do that, so we’re just waiting.”

It comes after a week-long rāhui was lifted on 17 November following another wildfire that ripped through 3000 hectares of the national park.

The large fire on the Central Plateau broke out on previous Saturday afternoon, triggering evacuations of trampers and residents, including Whakapapa Village.

Meanwhile, a stretch of State Highway 2 between Napier and Wairoa is shut as crews battle a fire at a pine plantation in Mohaka.

Fire and Emergency sent two helicopters and two trucks to the blaze, while 32 forestry industry firefighters were also responding.

FENZ said the fire measures about a kilometre by 300 metres.

Police said the road was shut between Mohaka Township Road and Te Kumi Road, and people should avoid the area and delay travel.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand