Category: Te Ao Māori

Source: Radio New Zealand

For the first time in over a decade the decreasing trend of Māori smoking rates has stalled leaving health advocates devastated.

The latest New Zealand Health Survey showed daily smoking among Māori adults 15 and over has increased slightly from 14.8 to 15 percent.

That increase was considered “statistically insignificant” and was within the survey’s margin of error but, it still amounted to about 99,000 people. The total daily smoking rate was 6.8 percent.

General Manager of Hāpai Te Hauora Jasmine Graham (Ngāti Kuri, Te Aupōuri) said unfortunately she was not surprised by the result.

The repeal of Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act (SERPA), which included the smokefree generation laws, has had a huge impact on New Zealand’s progress, or lack of progress, to Smokefree 2025, she said.

“It’s incredibly concerning and the reason is because these aren’t just numbers. These are people’s lives. So this is whakapapa. This is whānau who are passing away from tobacco-related illnesses from a product that is designed to firstly attract, addict and then kill.

“…We don’t want to see any stall in the numbers. We want to see those numbers decrease and especially reaching the end of 2025 and the goal that was set to be able to see a smoke-free Aotearoa by the end of this month.”

Graham said we still see about 5000 New Zealanders dying from the impacts of tobacco-related illnesses each year.

She said whānau Māori were going through a daily battle of addiction and having to make the conscious decision every day to try and not smoke.

“That’s not the fault of the whānau member or of the individual, that’s the fault of the industry. They’ve created this product to do just that, to keep you addicted. And when you have something as strong as nicotine in these products, that’s the problem.”

She encouraged any whānau battling nicotine addiction to reach out to their local stop smoking service.

“I’ve had some people ask [if], you know… they’re the reason why we haven’t reached [Smokefree 2025] and they’re only thinking of the stat numbers. And I’m like, absolutely not. Because none of the responsibility is on our community or our people. All of the responsibility sits on the industry.”

Associate Minister of Health Casey Costello said New Zealand had made great progress in reducing smoking rates – especially since 2018 when vapes became widely available.

The gains had been particularly noticeable for young people and for Māori, she said.

“When the NZ Health Survey began in 2011/12, over 37 percent of Māori were daily smokers. In the latest survey that figure was down to 15 percent. Since 2018, Māori smoking rates have halved and the latest stats show 118,000 Māori have quit smoking in the last five years.

“These reductions are really significant, no other country is making this sort of progress. But of course we still have a way to go – we want to stop people smoking to reduce the health impacts and there’s a particular focus on supporting Māori and Pacific populations where rates are higher.”

Costello said the challenge was that we were down to the most “stubborn” smokers. The highest smoking rates were for those over 45, she said.

“Marketing activity is targeting these groups, as are the country’s quit smoking providers. This is important as people are around four times more likely to quit smoking by using a stop smoking service, than by trying on their own.

“An updated Smokefree Action plan released at the end of last year sets out the range of approaches that are being taken to stop people smoking and target key groups.”

One of the improvements needed was timely referrals to quit smoking providers, she said.

“I’d really encourage people to make contact with those services.”

Graham said it was worth celebrating there had been so many people who had gone through their quit journey and come out the other side to live a smokefree life.

At the same time there had been many Māori movers and shakers who led the kaupapa of tobacco control boldly who should be celebrated, she said.

“I think it’s to be celebrated that we still want to see a smoke-free Aotearoa, whatever the date is, that we’re looking to be able to save lives.

“We’re not just talking about numbers or stats, we’re talking about the livelihood of our people.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A petition calling on the government to restore school boards’ legal duty to implement Te Tiriti o Waitangi will be presented to parliament on Monday.

The ‘Protect Te Tiriti in Education’ petition, organised by the National Iwi Chairs Forum (NICF) and supported by a coalition of national education organisations, has gathered almost 24,000 signatures, since its launch in early November.

It seeks to immediately reverse the recent amendment to Section 127 of the Education and Training Act, which removed schools’ requirement to embrace Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

At the time, Education Minister Erica Stanford said the Treaty was the crown’s responsibility, not schools’.

“School boards should have direction and we are giving very clear direction,” she said. “You need to ensure equitable outcomes for Māori students, you need to be offering te reo Māori and you need to be culturally competent.”.

Rahui Papa, chair of Pou Tangata – the NICF’s arm responsible for education – said Te Tiriti was the foundation of partnership in Aotearoa and removing it from education law undermined the country’s shared responsibility to support all learners, Māori and non-Māori.

“More than 23,000 people across Aotearoa have added their names to the petition, calling on this government to affirm its commitment to Te Tiriti and ensure that it still has a meaningful place in education.”

Despite the repeal already passing into law, Papa said the forum would present the petition to political leaders, “who are committed to fighting for an equitable, supportive and uplifting education system for our tamariki”.

Since the boards’ treaty requirements were removed, kura (schools) across the motu have publicly re-affirmed their commitment to it.

Te Rārangi Rangatira – a list compiled by lawyer and Māori rights advocate Tania Waikato – has grown daily.

By 4 December, 1618 schools, 32 principals’ associations and collectives, and 281 ECEs, kindergartens and kōhanga reo had pledged their support.

The repeal has also prompted Northland iwi Ngāti Hine and hapū Te Kapotai to file an urgent Waitangi Tribunal inquiry, arguing the change undermines the crown’s obligations to tamariki Māori and breaches Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The country’s largest education union – NZEI Te Riu Roa – has backed the claim.

The National Iwi Chairs Forum-led petition is supported by NZEI Te Riu Roa, the New Zealand Principals’ Federation, PPTA Te Wehengarua, Te Akatea Māori Principals Association, the Secondary Principals Association of New Zealand, Te Whakarōputanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa – New Zealand School Boards Association, Ngā Kura ā Iwi o Aotearoa and Te Rūnanga Nui o ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa.

Papa previously told RNZ the coalition collectively represented 88 iwi, and more than 95,000 teachers, principals, schools and kura.

“We agree with the Minister of Education, when she says that school boards play an important role in raising achievement,” he said. “Boards set the overall direction of a school or kura through their governance responsibilities and development of strategic plans.”

He said removing Te Tiriti from the one place every child in Aotearoa passes through “deprives our tamariki of the opportunity to learn about identity, belonging and partnership in a culturally responsive environment.”

“We will not sit idly by while this happens.”

The petition will be delivered on Monday afternoon at parliament.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The country’s largest education union, NZEI Te Riu Roa, is backing a claim by Northland iwi and hapū for an urgent Waitangi Tribunal inquiry into the government’s decision to remove school boards legal obligations to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

A statement of claim was filed on 19 November 2025 on behalf of Ngāti Hine and Te Kapotai, alongside a joint application for urgency.

The claimants say amendments to the Education and Training Act, and the reset of the New Zealand Curriculum – Te Mātaiaho, undermine Māori rangatiratanga, partnership, and equity in education.

The Treaty requirement, which was added to the Education Act in 2020, was stripped without consultation in November.

Education Minister Erica Stanford said at the time that Te Tiriti was the Crowns responsibility and not schools.

“School boards should have direction and we are giving very clear direction. You need to ensure equitable outcomes for Māori students, you need to be offering te reo Māori and you need to be culturally competent,” she said.

Since then, more than 1500 kura- around 60 percent of schools across Aotearoa – have publicly reaffirmed they will continue giving effect to Te Tiriti.

NZEI President Ripeka Lessels said principals and school boards were frustrated the change was made without any engagement.

“It seems to be the preferred pathway of this government to not consult about a whole lot of things,” she told RNZ.

“Not consulting shows this government is absolutely hell-bent on dismantling the Treaty of Waitangi in every aspect of the law.”

Lessels said the move risks weakening commitments to tikanga Māori, mātauranga Māori and te ao Māori within school plans and the local curriculum, “preventing ākonga Māori from ever seeing themselves or their culture reflected in what they learn.”

“The education system has under-served ākonga Māori, and this move to remove Treaty obligations from school boards is a regressive step that can only lead to further systemic disadvantage.”

She said the effects would be wider than just Māori learners, and the issue was ultimately about ensuring all ākonga see their language and identity valued in the place they spend most of their day.

“Language, culture and identity matter. They absolutely matter for children, irrespective of whose language, culture or identity it is. And in Aotearoa today, the Treaty of Waitangi is our founding document.”

In the last few weeks, Te Rārangi Rangatira, the list of schools who have reaffirmed their commitment to continue giving effect to Te Tiriti, has drawn criticism from government MPs.

Education Minister Erica Stanford previously told media she had heard from principals who felt “very unfair” and “nasty” pressure to sign the statements.

At that same standup, Stanford also reinforced her commitment to “fight for our kids.”

“My message to schools is what we expect is achievement to improve, especially for our tamariki Māori and if those schools are doing all of the things that we’re asking of them in section 127, including offering to being culturally responsive and ensuring that tamariki Māori have equal outcomes, and then if they wish to… honour the treaty or uphold the treaty over and above that, then they’re absolutely welcome to do that.”

In a Facebook post, National MP for Tauranga Sam Uffindell also described the statements from schools as “frankly disgusting” and alleged that unions were “standing over principals” to pressure them to sign what he described as “an anti-govt pledge.”

Lessels rejected claims that schools were being “pressured.”

“I think both of those MPs are out of touch with how schools operate,” she said.

“Schools are independent, autonomous bodies, and they’re self-managing … I don’t know a principal or a board that would ever let anything happen that they didn’t believe was right.”

Many schools had shifted their practice since the Education and Training Act was introduced four years ago, Lessels said, integrating Māori language, culture and identity into teaching and school planning.

“Since 2020, schools have understood the importance of children’s culture, identity and language …They can see there is value in endorsing the Treaty of Waitangi in their schools or working towards it.”

Evidence showed that centring children’s identity improved outcomes a particularly for Māori learners in kura kaupapa Māori – and that removing the legal duty to honour Te Tiriti went against that evidence, she said.

“It’s not rocket science. This removal is definitely not based in sound educational policy or even educational evidence at all. It’s an ideological political move.”

If the Tribunal granted urgency, the claim sought intervention preventing the repeal from taking effect.

The outcome they wanted was for the government to “reverse the policy,” and she encouraged whānau to remain strong through the process, Lessels said.

“Our schools genuinely want to make a difference for their children, and honouring Te Tiriti is the foundation of that.”

The Education Minister declined RNZ’s request for comment.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Five rafting wahine have paddled their way to the top after shovelling poo to get there.

The New Zealand Women’s R4 Rafting team from Rangitikei has made it to Malaysia to compete in the International Rafting Federation World Championships.

The team took out the Pacific Cup rafting championship in March after only practising four times together. From there, they were selected to go world-wide.

The team is made up of five people, including the captain Janey Megaw. Four are on the water, while a reserve waits in the wings with their coach.

Megaw said it’s a pretty surreal feeling to be out of Rangitikei and on the other side of the world, competing internationally for the first time.

They compete across four disciplines, first up was the sprint.

They started with the sprint.

“That is just a timed event, one boat on the river at a time and based on the fastest time,” said Megaw.

They took out gold in that division and are hoping to keep it that way.

Next comes head to head. They are seeded off the sprint times and race to the bottom against another team navigating buoys in the river.

“We’re up against the Czech’s first. So they’re tough… they’re tough buggers.”

Then it’s the slalom, much like a kayak slalom, but the gates a further apart so the raft can fit.

“That is a wicked technical event, and it is also timed… You get two chances to to record your time. So first one, generally you take nice and slow and just try not to make any mistakes by hitting the gates, because you get penalised time wise every time you hit one.”

Lastly, the down hill river race.

“That’s about 10 kilometres, you start in a bunch, and it’s the first one over the finish line at the end.”

Competing at an international event is not really where they expected to find themselves, said Megaw.

They combined two teams to compete in the Pacific Cup, a race with six women per boat.

With limited practice, the team wasn’t expecting good results but after the first event, they changed their tune.

“The first event, we won, and we were like, ‘far out, this is awesome… we should actually give this a nudge’,” Megaw said.

“Then we got told, ‘Oh, by the way, if you win, it’s a selection, so you’ll be the team that represents New Zealand and the next international rafting championships’.

“We were like, ‘what?”’

But despite their huge success, the team wasn’t sure it would make the next stage.

“t was a huge commitment, not only for us, but our friends, our family, the companies we work for, the fund-raising that was involved for us to get here”

The five women spent three days “grovelling around in shit” in the woolsheds to raise money.

Megaw is hoping that hard mahi pays off.

“We’re pretty keen to, you know, give it a nudge, take it on. We’re strong… and we’ve got a bit of mongrel… So we’ll just have to get in there.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Northland iwi Ngāti Hine and hapū Te Kapotai are calling for an urgent Waitangi Tribunal inquiry after the government removed school boards’ legal obligations to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

The claimants say the amendments to the Education and Training Act 2020, and the reset of the New Zealand Curriculum – Te Mātaiaho, undermine Māori rangatiratanga, partnership, and equity in education.

A statement of claim was filed on 19 November 2025 on behalf of Te Kapotai (Wai 1464/1546) and Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Hine (Wai 682/49), alongside a joint application for urgency.

The claimants argue the legislative and curriculum changes are inconsistent with Te Tiriti o Waitangi and cause “significant and irreversible prejudice” to Māori including:

• Schools being unable to uphold treaty guarantees of tino rangatiratanga and partnership.
• Unilateral Crown decision-making affecting Māori children and their whānau.
• Immediate damage to the Treaty relationship between Māori and the Crown.
• Loss of cultural safety, erosion of kaupapa Māori foundations, and disproportionate harm to tamariki Māori.
• Unequal access between Māori children to te reo Māori, tikanga, and mātauranga across schools.
• Increased resourcing burdens on the sector and school boards to adapt to the changes.

Claims submitted to the Tribunal state that the legislative and curriculum changes remove, weaken and deprioritise Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Veteran Māori broadcaster Waihoroi Shortland said that the legislative changes amounted to a modern re-enactment of the Treaty Principles Bill “by stealth,” effectively eliminating Te Tiriti from the statute book.

He argued the Crown’s actions form part of a “long pattern of removing Māori nationhood from law and policy.”

Kara George said the Crown had failed to engage with hapū, creating “culturally unsafe, assimilationist educational environments” and affecting tamariki Māori language, identity, and well-being.

Tumuaki Maia Cooper said the changes had led to burnout for kaiako, removed kaupapa Māori foundations from school practice, and eroded equity settings for tamariki Māori.

Educator and grandparent Arona Tipene said the changes were destabilising for Māori whānau and kaiako, led to a loss of cultural safety in schools, and disproportionately affected Māori children who rely on Te Tiriti obligations for protection of their identity, belonging, and well-being.

She said the removal of these foundations could cause permanent harm to current and future generations.

The claimants argued there is no alternative remedy for these breaches of Te Tiriti, and that urgent Tribunal intervention is required before the amendment comes into force in November 2026.

The Tribunal has directed the Crown and other interested parties to respond by Wednesday, 3 December.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A major three-year study has found Māori are being undercounted in prisons by around six percent, masking the true scale of incarceration and its impact on whānau.

The kaupapa Māori research project, TIAKI, examined the experiences of whānau entering and leaving prisons, combining national administrative data with interviews led by researchers with lived experience of incarceration.

Researchers at University of Otago, Wellington – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, Pōneke have completed two studies within the project.

The first found primary care services were not meeting the high health needs of Māori recently released from prison, with cost a major barrier.

The second found Māori were undercounted by around 405 people in prison data because Corrections was not following national ethnicity recording protocols.

Lead author Associate Professor Paula King (Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whātua, Waikato-Tainui, Ngāti Maniapoto) said the undercount affected resource allocation and government policy decisions.

She also criticised the state for failing to monitor the health and wellbeing of Māori both in prison and after release.

“What we expect is state accountability for state harms.”

Māori undercounted in prison

King said the team was guided by kairangahau (researchers) with lived experience of prison to investigate ethnicity data, building on long-standing concerns about Māori undercounting across official datasets.

Corrections’ recording did not align with Stats NZ standards, she said.

“People just aren’t statistics – these are whānau with tamariki, with communities. If you’re invisibilising Māori, you can’t monitor Crown actions or inactions, or accurately assess the impact of policies,” she told RNZ.

Māori were overrepresented at every stage of the criminal justice system: 37 percent of people proceeded against by police, 45 percent of people convicted, and more than half of the prison population at 52 percent – despite Māori making up only 17.8 percent of the population, according to Stats NZ data.

In women’s prisons, the proportion rose to 61-63 percent, King said, and would be even higher when undercounting was considered.

King said the undercount meant governments have underestimated how legislation affected Māori, including recent changes such as the Sentencing Reinstating Three Strikes Amendment Act 2025.

“The government’s got a directive to put more people in prison and for longer… the numbers are increasing.”

A Corrections spokesperson told RNZ ethnicity data was based on what prisoners self-report at reception, and people were encouraged to list multiple ethnicities, ranking them by preference.

“Corrections has proactively released data on the prison population, including breakdowns by lead offence, age and ethnicity dating back to 2009. Given how we present this on our website, for ease of understanding we have typically reported on what prisoners have self-reported as their primary ethnicity.”

The spokesperson said Corrections was always seeking to improve its collection and proactive reporting of data, and would begin publishing more detailed tables that reflected multiple ethnicities from early next year.

Data provided to RNZ shows that as at 30 November, 2025, Māori made up 52.3 percent of prisoners using primary ethnicity, and 56 percent when all reported ethnicities were counted.

“Both measures demonstrate Māori are overrepresented in the prison population,” the spokesperson said.

They said Corrections was committed to improving outcomes with and for Māori, “addressing the overrepresentation of Māori in the corrections system, and reducing reoffending”.

Racialised inequities across the system

King said the research reaffirmed long-standing inequities across policing, charging, prosecution, and sentencing.

“It’s longstanding – who the police choose to surveil, who gets charged, who is prosecuted, who gets longer sentences. These inequities are why the numbers of Māori in prison are so high.”

Those released from prison had three times the mortality rate of the general population, with the first month after release most dangerous.

Early deaths were linked to chronic conditions, suicide, alcohol poisoning, injuries, and traumatic brain injury. Mortality was worse for wāhine Māori.

The study found that only 76 percent of Māori released were enrolled with a Primary Health Organisation (PHO), leaving a quarter without access to subsidised care.

King said rules excluding people in prison from PHO enrolment drive that gap.

“Services aren’t meeting the high health needs of people released from prison… Māori providers are picking up the slack but are under-resourced and under-funded.”

A Ministry of Health spokesperson told RNZ they acknowledged the findings showing Māori recently released from prison have poorer health outcomes.

“We note the finding that around three quarters (76 percent) of Māori released from prison were enrolled with a general practice in the 12 months following their release. While most of this group are therefore engaged with a primary care provider, we recognise this level of enrolment is lower than for other population groups.”

They said enrolment was suspended during imprisonment because Corrections operated its own health services under a separate and exclusive funding agreement.

The ministry also said it has discussed prisoner enrolment settings with the Department of Corrections but while this work was underway, had no further comment.

Whānau-led solutions

Through interviews, whānau shared what would help after release: secure housing, employment or training pathways, culturally grounded programmes, and sustained whanaungatanga-based support.

“None of it is rocket science,” King said.

“People want to be well, and they want their whānau to be well… They talked about identity, culture, mentors, having someone walk alongside them, and programmes that prepare people for release rather than focusing on deficits.”

She said Māori providers already offered much of this support but have been underfunded for decades.

“If the highest proportion of people in prison are Māori, then why aren’t kaupapa Māori providers being commissioned to support re-entry? What is funded is overwhelmingly mainstream.”

Immediate steps the government could take included: removing PHO (Primary Health Organisations) exclusions, following standard ethnicity data protocols and integrating health and disability services across agencies so people did not fall through the gaps, King said.

“At the moment everything is siloed. Someone goes in with health needs, there’s no connection to their community care, and when they come out there’s nothing.

“Under Te Tiriti o Waitangi, [the Ministry of] Health has obligations to ensure Māori can access services and be transparent about their decisions.”

King hoped the research would support long-term system change.

“We’re trying to break cycles of harm for future generations, to create a world our mokopuna can live well in.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

For centuries, Māori built homes that were warm, dry, sustainable and centred on whānau.

Homelessness, damp houses and overcrowding were not part of te ao Māori.

Two researchers say the systems that displaced Māori from their kāinga still shape housing inequities today and the solutions lie in restoring Māori autonomy over how communities build.

Professor Deidre Brown (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu) has spent more than two decades researching Māori architecture.

She is a professor at Te Pare School of Architecture and Planning at Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland, and co-director of MĀPIHI, the Centre for Māori and Pacific Housing Research.

A few years ago, she and other Māori academics sat down to ask what issues most affected Māori and “what are the skills that we can bring to the table that might help?”.

“We all agreed housing was the No.1 critical issue that we could actually make a positive contribution to,” she told RNZ.

The rōpū went on to interview 30-40 stakeholders – from Kāinga Ora and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to Māori housing providers, marae, iwi, community groups and architects.

“We asked them, what are the challenges and opportunities in Māori housing?” she said.

Their work identified 130 interrelated factors influencing housing outcomes, with affordability as one.

MĀPIHI was formed from that research, with a mission “to increase the quality and supply of housing for Māori and Pacific people”.

Alongside Deidre Brown is architectural designer and new academic Savannah Brown (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Wai, Ngāpuhi), who is in the fourth year of her PhD examining how colonial building laws affected whare Māori – specifically in the Ngāti Whātua rohe.

She said the threads connecting traditional building systems and today’s policies were clearer than many people realise.

“I’ve always been interested in traditional whare Māori,” she said.

“Working in practice opened my eyes to the complexity, cost and barriers in today’s building system – legislation, codes, standards. When I compared that to how streamlined traditional building was, it made me want to understand what happened.”

From autonomy to restriction

Before colonisation, kāinga were self-determined, sustainable and organised at hapū level.

“We manaaki [look after] people,” Deidre Brown said. “The idea of someone being houseless or without whānau is outside our tikanga – it’s not part of our way of thinking.

“There was always provision of shelter.”

She said, because Māori had self-determination over their own lands, they always had dedicated areas for gathering materials like raupō, nikau and timber, and knowledge about harvesting in ways that kept those resources renewing.

“It’s what we’d now call the circular economy.

“Our people, our Polynesian navigators, they got here by knowing how to put things together and how to make them stay together.

“We had our own building technologies as well and they were highly socialised within our communities. People knew how to build.”

Savannah Brown said whare were built in response to demand – “a growing hapū, a new baby or a new whānau forming”.

Both researchers said misconceptions about traditional Māori houses – that they were cold, dirty or unsafe – came from colonial writers.

“Colonial authors claimed Māori housing made us ‘sick’, but evidence shows the opposite,” Deidre Brown said

She recalled her brother visiting a whare at Taupō Bay in the 1950s, a traditional whare with dirt floors.

“He remembers it as the cleanest house he’d ever seen.”

Savannah Brown said many early texts carried “white-superiority undertones”, using words like “savage” or “inferior”, yet the materials were climate-adapted and regionally specific.

“We evolved our architecture for centuries and post-contact legislation disrupted that progression.”

1842: A turning point

One of the earliest disruptions, the pair said, was the Raupō Houses Ordinance, passed in 1842 – just two years after the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

It imposed a £20 annual tax on existing raupō houses in the main centres and a £100 fine for anyone building a new one.

The plant raupō (Typha orientalis), also known as bulrush, is a common wetland plant in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Māori used raupō to build whare, including domestic dwellings and some early official buildings, by using the leaves and stalks for walls and thatching, and the pollen for other purposes.

The law was framed as a fire safety measure, but Deidre Brown was doubtful.

“There’s been research suggesting the government was concerned Māori builders were undercutting the new settler builders, because Māori could build out of raupō,” she said. “The ordinance was more about protecting newly arrived British carpenters.”

Savannah Brown said she read the original document at the National Archives and “touching it was profound”.

“Realising this single piece of paper marked the beginning of the decline of traditional Māori architecture.”

The ripple effects of this legislation were quick, they said. Use of traditional materials dropped, hapū lost access to wetlands and forests, as land was taken or drained, and rangatahi (young people) moved away from their kāinga, taking labour and expertise with them.

Through the early and mid-20th century, Māori home ownership declined sharply. Instead of homes being free to build and live in, and homelessness being “virtually unimaginable”, whānau Māori found themselves at the “bottom of the housing heap”, living in low-quality accommodation in the cities.

Government-built state houses helped some whānau, but the designs reflected European nuclear families, rather than Māori communal life.

“They just weren’t built for the bigger Māori families,” Deidre Brown said. “Six, maybe eight kids, lots of aunties and uncles coming in and out, bringing kai with them.”

Standard layouts placed bathrooms next to kitchens, breaching tikanga, and put houses at the front of sections, leaving little room for pōwhiri, visitors or tangihanga. Even hallways worked against whānau life.

“It prevented the singing and storytelling that went on in a traditional whare moe.”

Later, Māori were excluded from government mortgage support for decades – access began only in 1959.

In the 2023 census, Māori home ownership had fallen to 27.5 percent, and, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development’s latest insights report for June 2025, more than 60 percent of those experiencing homelessness identify as Māori.

“When legislation stopped us building for ourselves, autonomy disappeared,” Savannah Brown said.

Rebuilding autonomy

Both researchers said Māori-led solutions already existed and they may be the key.

Te Māhurehure Marae in Auckland’s Pt Chevalier and Ngāti Toa were among those creating papakāinga that wove housing into marae life, natural environments and cultural practice.

“They’ve done away with front yards and back yards, [and] people are closely linked to their wharenui,” Savannah Brown said.

“They have kura kaupapa, a community vegetable garden [māra kai], and they’re creating their own supply chain. In many ways, it’s like what their ancestors had in the 19th century, but using modern technologies.”

Savannah Brown said capability within whānau was key, but smaller hapū often struggled, as rangatahi moved to cities.

She also believed systems needed reform. One of her research areas was the possibility of a Māori building authority.

“There are huge misunderstandings at council level around tikanga Māori and whenua Māori,” she said. “Some processes become absurd… like marae having to seek resource consent from themselves.”

Both told RNZ that they hoped more Māori entered architecture to help shift the sector.

“Housing sits at the centre of wellbeing,” Deidre Brown said. “The more Māori we have in this sector, the better for our people.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Māori Queen Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po has launched the ‘Kotahitanga Fund’, a new multi-million-dollar Māori investment platform.

Te Arikinui made the announcement at the inaugural Ōhanga ki te Ao Māori Economic Summit in Hamilton on Saturday.

In her closing address, Te Arikinui said she was proud to launch the initiative as a “declaration” that Māori were ready to invest in “ourselves, in our brilliance and in the future we choose”.

“This fund is more than an investment tool,” she said. “To me, it’s an answer – at least the partial one – to the challenges of leveraging the collective strength and scale of the Māori economy.

“It enables us to achieve the scale, to make meaningful change and to grow the $126 billion Māori economy. No matter how the wind shifts, our course will hold.”

Some iwi had already pledged support for initial seed funding of approximately $100 million.

“We will be thoughtful about where we invest,” Te Arikinui said. “Every opportunity must deliver real outcomes for our people and solid returns that grow wealth for generations to come.”

Holding back tears, Te Arikinui credited late father Kiingi Tuheitia for the “vision” behind the new initiative.

“The vision of the Kotahitanga fund, belongs to him… and I will do everything in my power to execute this vision.” she said.

The announcement marked the end of the Ōhanga ki te Ao summit, where more than 200 iwi representatives, business leaders, sovereign wealth fund heads and other delegates gathered at Te Pā on the University of Waikato campus to talk through strategies on advancing indigenous economic initiatives, and growing the Māori economy.

They came from across the country, Asia, Australia, the Pacific, Europe and North America – all at the behest of Te Arikinui, who called for the summit during her first Koroneihana speech at Turangawaewae Marae in September.

‘Kohinga Koha’, a Māori business expo representing 158 marae and businesses from Tainui Waka, ran alongside the summit.

Among the attendees were former Air New Zealand chief executive and keynote speaker Greg Foran, and former Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr, who moderated a panel discussion on Pacific wealth and investment.

Speaking during the summit’s opening address, Te Tari o Te Kiingitanga chairperson Rukumoana Schaafhausen said growing the Māori economy to $126 billion did not happen through “individual action”, but through “relationships” and “kotahitanga”.

“Capital flows matter, but I want to suggest something radical.” she said. “The deals will come – they always do, when the foundation is right.

“What we need first – what the world desperately needs right now – is something much harder to build and infinitely more valuable. We need relationships built on trust, we need shared vision in a time of uncertainty and we need to re-imagine what’s possible, when we work together.”

Ngāi Tahu chair Justin Tipa was part of a panel discussion on growing indigenous economies. His iwi is one of the wealthiest in Aotearoa, worth more than $2 billion.

Tipa told RNZ the summit was an opportunity for Māori to look for investment from overseas.

“We absolutely must celebrate our own success in achieving thresholds $2-3-billion-dollar organisations – it’s wonderful – but actually on the global scale, it’s insignificant.”

He said the “real” economic power for Māori would be in their ability to collectivise.

“The opportunity for us as iwi Māori, as hapū Māori, small medium enterprises, is how do we coalesce together. How do we form strategic alliances that really unlock the opportunities of scale that would pose attractive propositions to the investors that are here engaging with us.

“There’s an absolute desire to be going out into the world, but it’s also about being in the right position to do so, having the right opportunities and not just growing for growing’s sake.”

Also in attendance was Duncan Bonfield, chief executive of the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds, who manage between $8-10 trillion in assets.

He told RNZ a “collectivised” approach to economics was attractive to members of his organisation.

“One of the interesting things is that we’re talking to more and more indigenous groups, who are looking to take control of their financial destinies – that’s a movement that’s going on across the world.

“There’s clearly an effort to unite by the various different iwi and that’s impressive – how that appears to be accelerating.”

The next Kohinga Koha business expo will be hosted in Tauranga Moana.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Campaigners have rejected statements from the Education Minister that schools are being pressured to reaffirm their commitment to Te Tiriti.

As of 27 November, more than 1300 schools have publicly reaffirmed they will continue giving effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi – despite the government removing school boards’ Treaty requirement from the Education and Training Act.

The movement of support for Te Tiriti from kura has grown rapidly in recent weeks through Te Rārangi Rangatira, a list compiled by lawyer Tania Waikato.

Waikato previously told RNZ the surge of support from kura sent a clear message that “everything this government is doing to try and remove Te Tiriti…is being resisted”.

“It’s totally organic. It’s not being led by any particular person or movement. It is a wonderful expression of kotahitanga.”

In recent days, the list has drawn criticism from the government MPs.

Education Minister Erica Stanford previously told media that while the Treaty requirement was being removed from legislation, kura were “absolutely welcome” to uphold Te Tiriti if they wished.

However, she also said she had heard from principals who felt “very unfair” and “nasty” pressure to sign the statements.

“Quite often they’re signing up when in fact it wasn’t something that they particularly wanted to do,” she said.

“But they feel that there’s pressure on them from certain people in society. And I think it’s frankly disgusting the behaviour, creating maps around the country and lists that people feel that they have to be on otherwise, you know, they’ll be maligned.”

She said “that kind of behaviour is awful”.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, National MP for Tauranga Sam Uffindell described the statements from schools as “frankly disgusting” and alleged that unions were “standing over principals” to pressure them to sign.

“Unions are standing over principals and school boards pressuring them to sign their anti-govt pledge. Frankly disgusting,” he wrote.

Waikato said kura, boards and principals’ associations had been sending in statements from across the motu of their own accord, and rejected suggestions of union involvement.

“My response to claims that the schools on Te Rārangi Rangatira were somehow pressured into signing up by imaginary union standovers or ‘nasty’ pressure is that the minister is now grasping at straws because the extremely unpopular policy that she didn’t consult widely on is being very firmly and very publicly rejected,” she told RNZ.

“Every single teacher, principal and proud parent that has contacted us… has done so voluntarily. Nobody forced them or pressured them.”

She compared the criticism to ACT leader David Seymour’s earlier suggestion that thousands of submissions opposing the Regulatory Standards Bill were written by “bots”.

“But even he has now backtracked… and recognised the right of these schools to exercise their freedom to choose to give effect to TeTiriti.”

Waikato said comments by Stanford and Uffindell characterising the growing list as “frankly disgusting” or “anti-government” were “concerning” and did not reflect what she was seeing.

“This isn’t the unions. It’s the people. They are speaking.

“None of the statements I’ve received have come from unions… they’re from schools, boards, churches and principals’ associations, including many in Tauranga,” she said.

“To say this is some anti-government pledge ignores what the minister herself has said – that schools are free to continue giving effect to Te Tiriti if they choose.”

She noted 21 collective statements on the list represented large principals’ associations, including more than 400 Auckland principals.

“What I can say with 100 percent certainty is that this list is voluntary and nobody has, or could, force a school to sign. The entire notion is preposterous.”

Waikato said people only had to take a moment to read a few of the hundreds and hundreds of letters from the schools on the growing list “to understand what it signals about those schools and their stance on Te Tiriti”.

“The core theme repeated over and over again is that Te Tiriti is our founding constitutional document. Period.”

Waikato said Te Tiriti o Waitangi “is not a political football or a compliance task”.

“‘It is a living covenant that calls us into right relationship with one another – a moral partnership grounded in justice, dignity and respect for the mana of all peoples’. That is a direct quote from the letter written by Aquinas College in Tauranga. And I think it speaks volumes about what Te Tiriti means to these schools.”

RNZ approached Stanford for further comment and was referred to her stand-up on Tuesday where she reinforced her commitment to “fight for our kids”.

“My message to schools is what we expect is achievement to improve, especially for our tamariki Māori and if those schools are doing all of the things that we’re asking of them in section 127, including offering to being culturally responsive and ensuring that tamariki Māori have equal outcomes, and then if they wish to… honour the treaty or uphold the treaty over and above that, then they’re absolutely welcome to do that.”

RNZ has also gone to Uffindell for comment.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Māori leaders have told the UN Committee on Eliminating Racial Discrimination (CERD) that racism against Māori has escalated under the current government.

New Zealand is signed up to the UN’s International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD). This requires the government to take action to eliminate racism and racial discrimination and promote understanding between all races in Aotearoa.

Under CERD, the government is required to regularly report on its progress at eliminating racial discrimination and supporting indigenous peoples, ethnic and religious minority groups to enjoy their rights and freedoms.

The government is presenting its report to CERD this week in Geneva, the committee will then publish draft findings and recommendations before the end of its 116th session, which concludes on 5 December 2025.

The session was opened by Minister of Justice Paul Goldsmith who told the committee that improving the lives of all New Zealanders, regardless of background, is the government’s priority.

He said he is confident the coalition government’s focus will build a strong economy which will benefit all New Zealanders including Māori.

“It’s the priority of the government to improve the lives of all New Zealanders including Māori and a key focus for this is the government using data, evidence and best practice to deliver social investment on the basis of need.”

Presenting on behalf of the National Iwi Chairs Forum Pou Tikanga and the Peoples Action Plan Against Racism, Tina Ngata told the committee that racism against Māori has escalated under the coalition government.

The Iwi Chairs Forum is one of around twelve organisations who have submitted shadow reports to the committee.

“For our report we’ve really highlighted what we have called the treaty assault, or hostility towards the treaty and that includes the Treaty Principles Bill, the Regulatory Standards Bill, the Treaty Clause Review where they have looked to remove a number of treaty clauses from legislation,” Ngata told RNZ.

The forum also raised concerns that affect other minorities, including the ban on puberty blockers, she said.

“One of the other key issues that we’ve raised is the way in which this government has inverted the language of racism. So an example of that is how David Seymour in a number of his submissions and in public communications has called treaty policies or treaty clauses forms of racism.”

Ngata said there is no one fix to these issues, but it is important to address it on as many fronts as possible, from your own whenua, to the UN, the courts and at select committee.

“The combination of our wānanga, the combination or our occupation, the combination of our hīkoi and our international work that together creates this pressure for government’s to either change how they are or to step to the side.”

Darlene Marks is part of the Kāhui Rangatahi of the Peoples Action Plan Against Racism, there to understand more about the processes at the UN and CERD and to give a young person’s perspective on the issues raised.

Marks told RNZ the removal of the requirement for school boards to give affect to Te Tiriti is one issue they are focused on.

“The first line for our rangatahi is our education system… so making sure that our first experience of Te Tiriti in action is actually upheld by not only our kura, our school boards but also by the government.”

Marks said young people are feeling the onslaught as every day brings a new issue.

“If these institutions can’t hold our government to account it’s hard to think of what else they can do, but it’s also important… making sure that if we don’t have these spaces to talk about these issues this this government is just going to continuously change the rhetoric of what is good and what is wrong in our country at the moment.”

A complaint presented to CERD this week by Māori Health leader Lady Tureiti Moxon is not part of the ordinary reviewing cycle.

Moxon is seeking for CERD to use its Early Warning and Urgent Action procedure, something it has only used once before for New Zealand.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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