Category: Te Ao Māori

Source: Radio New Zealand

Kiingitanga representative Rahui Papa says the coalition has done some good, but has been challenging for Māori – and that sometimes the Crown should not be involved.

He says Māori will be willing to work with any political party, no matter the colour.

Politicians were welcomed to Rātana Pa with a pōwhiri this afternoon.

Papa says with an election date of 7 November, Māori will be listening to what parties say about what is best for them.

He pointed out the irony that the day after the election – 8 November – was the same date Tahupotiki Wiremu Rātana received his vision.

He says Māori have had their ear to the ground on economics, but emphasises the value of mana motuhake and families supporting one another at home.

The Māori Queen Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po was welcomed to Rātana with a powhiri this morning, ahead of political parties arriving.

Sitting beside her was Te Rangimaheu Te Heuheu, the new Ariki of Ngati Tuwharetoa, making his first visit to Ratana since the passing of his father Sir Tumu te Heuheu in September, aged 84.

Speaking to media, Waikato-Tainui leader Tuku Morgan said the relationship between the Crown and Māori had become “pretty fractured” under the current government.

He said Māori now had a “greater sense of urgency” to find creative ways to work together.

“When you’re pushed into a corner, and when you’re marginalised and minimised they way we have been… it makes us much more united in our view to find innovative ways to survive in the long term.”

Morgan pointed to the Māori Queen’s new business investment platform – the “‘Kotahitanga Fund” – as an example of that innovation. The multimillion-dollar venture would provide funding for Māori entrepreneurs and businesses.

“We can’t rely on the Crown to do everything for us. That is a fallacy,” he said. “Despair is not an option.”

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi are both absent, surveying damage and helping local communities after the recent storms.

Tama Potaka and Nicola Willis are representing National.

They are attending along with Labour leader Chris Hipkins and members of the Greens, New Zealand First and Te Pāti Māori.

MPs speaking at Rātana

Labour leader Chris Hipkins told reporters the prime minister had made the “right decision” to skip the commemorations to instead visit weather-hit communities.

“It is the right place for him to be at the moment,” Hipkins said.

“I do want to extend, on behalf of the Labour Party, our thoughts to… those who have tragically lost loved ones, those who are still uncertain about what’s going on, those who have had to leave their homes.”

Speaking at Rātana, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer told RNZ her own Te Pāti Māori colleagues had also stayed in their electorates to support those affected.

“My message to them was: you’re not to leave your people.”

Ngarewa-Packer says the leader of the nation needed to be where the biggest hurt was – and in fact should have visited sooner.

“The prime minister’s advice was probably a bit slow… he probably should have been there yesterday… we know previous leaders would have done.

“Looking after those that are hurting at the moment is the priority.”

Climate crisis?

Ngarewa-Packer said the flooding drove home the seriousness of the climate crisis and the need to future-proof vulnerable communities.

“Why does it always take a tragedy for us to be able to sit there and say well, maybe, we do need to listen to the experts?”

Hpkins said the flooding was an undeniable consequence of climate change.

“You’d have to have your head buried in the sand to not recognise the fact that what were previously once-in-a-hundred-year events are now happening all of the time,” he said.

But NZ First leader Winston Peters dismissed some of the “alarmism” linking the flooding to climate change.

“It’s not new. We’ve had higher tides. I’ve seen them myself as a younger boy,” Peters said.

In a remarkable acknowledgement, Peters said the government had not done enough to prepare communities for such disasters:

“I’m just giving you the honest answer… we’ll have clear plans going forward to do better and do more with the New Zealand people.”

Green co-leader Marama Davidson told reporters the government had neglected to invest in infrastructure to protect communities from extreme weather events.

“That impacts on real people’s lives and loss of livelihood.”

Kamaka Manuel, spokesperson for the Tumuaki of the Rātana Church, acknowledged whānau across the North Island who have been impacted by flooding and landslips over the past few days.

“Our thoughts and our prayers go out to our whānau that are in those areas and for the whānau that are experiencing loss as a result of those horrific events that have happened in the last 24 hours,” he said.

Despite the devastation elsewhere, Manuel said the celebrations at Rātana Pā have proceeded well, with Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po and the new Ariki of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Rangimaheu Te Heuheu Tukino IX, welcomed onto the marae this morning.

“It’s been lovely to have them all here and return to Rātana Pā.”

Manuel said this year the hui has returned to older traditions, with 24 January dedicated to rangatahi celebrations.

“As a young fella growing up here, the 24th was a sport parade in the morning and we would all get on the parade and donate our colours of where we came from. Obviously pertinent to our hāhi. And it’s going to be a wonderful opportunity for my own mokopuna to be a part of that and relive some of those childhood memories of their koroua,” he said.

He said the return to these traditions allows mōrehu to come together ahead of the founder’s birthday on 25 January, while placing rangatahi at the heart of the celebrations.

Manuel said the hui also symbolises the importance of Māori unity.

“Today’s coming together and arrival of our Queen and also our Ariki really, really symbolises just how important the kotahitanga o te iwi Māori is, in this aspect.”

While the Prime Minister will not attend due to ongoing weather disasters across the North Island, Manuel said the kaupapa of Rātana remains unchanged, with the Māori Queen and Ariki still participating and political parties being welcomed.

“We’ve already seen the Queen herself initiate a pathway that is of a view to really showing the powerfulness of kotahitanga amongst te iwi Māori,” he said.

“For us, it’s around ensuring that we are conducive to those efforts and that we are continuing to be unified and support…ensuring that our value system is also brought in parcel and parcel with that mana motuhake.”

Manuel said Rātana continues to be regarded as the first national hui of the Māori calendar.

“We’re excited to see what our rangatahi have prepared. They’re feeling quite empowered to be able to have a strong input into the running of the hui,” he 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

The Māori Queen Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po has been welcomed to Rātana with a powhiri this morning, ahead of political parties arriving in the afternoon.

Sitting beside her was Te Rangimaheu Te Heuheu, the new Ariki of Ngati Tuwharetoa, making his first visit to Ratana since the passing of his father Sir Tumu te Heuheu in September, aged 84.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi are both absent, surveying damage and helping local communities after the recent storms.

Tama Potaka and Nicola Willis will represent National.

They, along with Labour leader Chris Hipkins and members of the Greens, New Zealand First and Te Pāti Māori, are to be welcomed with a pōwhiri at 3pm.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Indigenous leaders from across the Pacific and beyond will gather at Waitangi next month for a 10-day wānanga focused on protecting and restoring the Pacific Ocean, Te Moana Nui a Kiwa.

Taiātea: Gathering of the Oceans Voices, Views and Leadership Symposium will bring together more than 20 Indigenous ocean leaders, marine scientists and researchers from Canada, Australia, Hawai’i, Niue, Rapa Nui and the Cook Islands, alongside Māori leaders from across Aotearoa.

The symposium was last held in 2019 and centres on weaving Indigenous knowledge and leadership into ocean protection, climate resilience and future decision-making.

A public forum will be held at Te Tiriti o Waitangi Marae (Te Tii Marae) on 4 February, coinciding with Waitangi celebrations in Paihia. The forum is open to the public and will focus on Indigenous approaches to kaitiakitanga, tino rangatiratanga and mana motuhake in marine governance.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi Marae chair Ngāti Kawa Taituha (Ngāpuhi) said the gathering reflects the deep responsibility iwi and hapū hold to the moana.

“We are looking forward to again welcoming our manuhiri from the Pacific and the motu, as the Taiātea Forum shares and discusses the practice of Tino Rangatiratanga and Mana Motuhake.”

Taituha said like Te Tii, the moana was a taonga to be cared for and treasured.

Taiātea leader Sheridan Waitai (Ngāti Kuri, Te Rarawa, Tainui) said the hui was about strengthening long-standing relationships between Indigenous peoples who share common responsibilities to the ocean.

“We are connected through our shared kaitiakitanga of taonga and our ecosystem,” she said.

“As kaitiaki of the moana, it is important we come together to discuss what others have achieved with similar constraints, learn about what is working, what isn’t, and move forward together with purpose.”

Following the Waitangi forum, Indigenous leaders will travel to Tūwharetoa and Whanganui to meet with haukāinga, take part in further knowledge exchanges and discuss specific case studies in freshwater and marine management.

Taiātea lead researcher Lisa Te Heuheu (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Maniapoto) said the gathering continues kōrero around protecting mātauranga Māori and taonga tuku iho (treasure handed down by ancestors), aligning with the Wai 262 ‘Tiaki Taonga’ framework.

“The knowledge held by our haukāinga is at the heart of this kaupapa,” Te Heuheu said.

“These exchanges create space for people to share lived experiences, learn from one another and strengthen relationships to the ocean.”

Organisers say the symposium is designed to support Indigenous-led solutions to environmental challenges, while also creating opportunities for collaboration with researchers, agencies and non-government organisations.

Taiātea leaders are inviting marae, hapū, iwi, environmental groups, government agencies and marine researchers to attend the public forum at the Waitangi Forum tent on 4 February.

Waitai said keeping the forum open was key to building collective momentum around moana protection.

“This is about growing the collective to gain momentum in the protection of our moana and in that way our knowledge exchange is inclusive,” 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

Fast-rising Māori roots reggae artist Ngatainui Ratu, known by his stage name TAWHAKI, says his music is about turning inherited trauma into something positive – and encourages rangatahi Māori to believe in a future they may not yet be able to see.

Named Emerging Artist under 25 (Te Tohu Kaipūoro Rangatahi Hou) at the 2025 Māori Music Awards, the 20-year-old is quickly becoming one of the standout voices of new generation of musicians in Aotearoa.

His tracks ‘The Valleys’ and ‘Roaming’ have gone viral across social media, placing him among a growing wave of rangatahi gaining momentum alongside artists such as Te Wehi and Hori Shaw.

While his songs have found a wide audience online, TAWHAKI said their success was never something he anticipated.

“I didn’t expect it to blow up as much as it did,” he told RNZ. “It’s just cool to see our people re-indigenise to who they are in their own way.”

‘The Valleys’, one of his most well-known tracks, began as a song shared quietly with whānau.

“I first sang ‘The Valleys’ at my uncle’s birthday… It was something personal I kept to myself.

“My uncle encouraged me to put it online, and suddenly I was out of my comfort zone, just a boy from the middle of nowhere.”

Much of his songwriting centres on identity, pride, and the ongoing impacts of colonisation. He said those themes were drawn directly from the kōrero passed down through his whānau.

“My nannies and my koros, all they’ve spoken about is how they’ve suffered trauma over the years and over the lifetime they’ve lived,” he said.

“All I’m saying is, how do we turn this trauma into something positive? A positive mindset so we can all work together as one.”

One of the key messages woven throughout his lyrics is the idea of belief, such as believing in outcomes that may feel out of reach.

In ‘The Valleys’, the lyrics “Koi te mata pūnenga, maiangi te mata pūihoiho” reflect the idea of believing in the unbelievable. he said.

“We need to believe the unbelievable, asking how we reconnect and live alongside the people who colonised our lands.”

TAWHAKI said music was a tool for holding space for stories that were often left unspoken.

“That’s what music’s about at the end of the day – it’s speaking the untold stories that our people have told, but they’re just scared to tell the story.

“And it’s kids like us that have grown up in the society where people torment you and dishonour you… The question is how [do] we flip that story and make it a positive?”

TAWHAKI grew up immersed in te ao Māori and music.

“Tipu ake ahau ki te pā o Waiwhetū, ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara. I reira au i ako ai i ngā wheako o te ao waiata.”

He spent his early years in kōhanga reo and kura kaupapa Māori, and credited his talents to the likes of his whānau. His māmā and his grandparents were also musicians.

“Singing’s just been a part of my life since the day I came out of my mum’s womb.”

TAWHAKI was also raised within kapa haka, which he said helped shape both his voice and worldview.

“Tipu ake ahau ki roto ki ngā mahi kapa haka. Koira tōku ao, ko te ao ō te waiata.”

Growing up Māori-medium education, TAWHAKI said using te reo Māori in his music came with a sense of responsibility to future generations.

“I hope people take something from my music and write it into their own scriptures. It’s up to us to create pathways for the next generation so they don’t have to live the way we live today.”

In the current political climate, TAWHAKI believed it was important for Māori storytelling to be future-focused.

“It’s up to us to become the ancestors of tomorrow. I don’t care about narratives. I care about the future.”

Winning Te Tohu Kaipūoro Rangatahi Hou, TAWHAKI said, was a collective achievement.

“It’s beyond words, but it’s not just my achievement,” he said. “It’s not a one man’s band. It takes a whole village and a whole pā to raise a child.”

His strongest support system remained close to home.

“My mum and my grandparents, they’re the foundation of my whare,” he said.

“Ko rātou tōku poukaiawha, tōku pou tuarongo, tōku pou matua o tōku whare. They’ve enabled me to build my whare by myself, with their support.”

As his audience continued to grow, TAWHAKI said he had become increasingly aware of the responsibility that came with visibility.

“I come from a family where all I see is red, just like some people see blue,” he said.

“It’s cool to interact with people around the world that see many colours, and we’re all the same at the end of the day.”

He said seeing people from all walks of life come together through waiata was his “drive to keep going”.

“Not just for my family, but for families who suffer like mine did.”

At just 20 years old, he was also a father to two young daughters.

“I’ve got two beautiful kids, and this is for them,” he said. “I want to show that stepping away from that life is actually cool.

“Turn left down a pathway you don’t know, one day it will give you more than the life you were shown.”

With tour dates planned across the country and growing interest in his music, TAWHAKI said he was content to let the future unfold.

“I just jumped on the waka,” he said. “Whatever the future has for me, it has for me.”

For rangatahi Māori hoping to follow a similar path, his advice was to “just be yourself”.

“Koira te uho o tō ake manawa.” [Being yourself], that is your core. There’s nothing better than being yourself. Being yourself is the pinnacle of your world.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Te Maruata – the national committee of Māori elected members within LGNZ – is celebrating the largest ever cohort of Māori elected members in local government.

But it is also looking towards the challenges ahead in the next three years, culminating in 2028 where Māori wards at 24 councils will be phased out.

Members of Te Maruata met in Wellington in December 2025, with Dinnie Moeahu and Aubrey Ria elected as co-chairs for the next three years.

Gisborne District Councillor Aubrey Ria said almost two-thirds of Māori elected members are new to their roles.

“Our network has grown to over 160 Māori elected members this term, up from 145 members in 2022 – this is our largest-ever number. This includes 64 Māori ward councillors across 37 local councils and 13 Māori constituency members across 5 regional councils,” she said.

New Plymouth District Councillor, Dinnie Moeahu said among the key challenges for the next triennium will be the RMA reforms, the governments rates capping directive, as well as the proposal to ditch regional councils, which he said “wasn’t anticipated at all.”

“But we do know that at least we’ve got a full term with a strong level of Māori representation across Aotearoa at a local government level to hopefully help continue to influence and provide education and awareness to kaupapa that is deeply entrenched and embedded in hapū, iwi.”

Among the key concerns with the local government shake up is where will the provisions of Te Tiriti o Waitangi land and whether there will be a tangata whenua voice in the Combined Territories Boards which are proposed to replace regional councils, he said.

Moeahu said the widespread introduction of Māori Wards saw an increase in Māori participation in local government from 2019 onwards.

“So 2028 will severely impact Māori representation on councils and the aftermath of that, again, will still be determined. So currently right now, we’ve got three years to help our communities, to build bridges, to advocate on behalf of our communities.”

Under the Local Government Act there are statutory obligations to Māori and Moeahu said there may be a portion of elected members that may not be aware of how that works practically inside councils.

“But with the growth of Māori representation there’s been this ability to walk alongside elected members, councils and communities to identify that there’s a lot of good things that are coming from te ao Māori. I know from Ngā Iwi o Taranaki, from that standpoint, I mean, we’re one of the biggest, if not the biggest, developers in our region, one of the biggest employers across the construction sector in our regions, therefore one of the largest ratepayers in our region.”

A lot of iwi who have completed their Treaty Settlements are now reinvesting in their communities, he said.

“Working alongside Māori isn’t a negative. It’s actually really beneficial for the hauora of our community. So that’s something that a Māori perspective can offer to council and the reasons why it’s important to build and strengthen these relationships from a council standpoint with hapū and iwi, because collectively we can make some real positive impacts that’ll benefit the entire community.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Marlborough’s only kaupapa Māori general practice, Manu Ora, has received funding for the next three years with evidence showing it’s early intervention model benefits both its patients and the wider healthcare system.

The Blenheim based practice was established in mid-2021 by Dr Sara Simmons and Dr Rachel Inder in partnership with Te Piki Oranga a Māori health services provider in Te Tauihu.

Co-founder Dr Sara Simmons (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Māmoe, Waitaha) said it was born from a desire to provide care in a te ao Māori way for the community’s most vulnerable.

“Our partner organisation is Te Piki Oranga, so that’s a Māori wellness service here in Te Tauihu and we were really lucky to kind of gain their support a they recognised that we had something that could kind of close the loop of care for whānau Māori in the region from their perspective, because they have nurses and social workers and addiction services and mental health services and some other social services as well, but they didn’t have any GPs.”

Simmons said they soon realised the service needed to be run as a not for profit entity rather than the traditional GP business model. Only 28 percent of Manu Ora’s funding is provided through the government.

“We rely on funding for 72 percent of our costs. So, you know, that community support is just so critical. And we’ve been really lucky to have that and to get some recognition on a wider stage… We’re four and a half years in, and we’re kind of excited about where to next and what the future will bring and hopefully seeing some of those big stats turn the corner for our whānau Māori,” she said.

The Rātā Foundation awarded $165,000 to Manu Ora over three years, which Simmons said is their first multi year contract from an external organisation and will provide a degree certainty to their work.

Simmons said they spent much of the practice’s first year planning and engaging with local whānau and community to create a service that would reflect their needs.

“Both Rachel and I are born and bred in the Wairau, and although I whakapapa to further south, down in Wairewa, you know, I’ve grown up going to Omaka Marae and connecting with our Māori community locally, and so we just really kind of opened the door and asked the question. And I think what people identified with was, the desire to do something different and the desire to do something that was really designed from the ground up to really benefit our community. So, we didn’t start with any preconceived ‘this is what we think it should look like,’ we really just asked that question of our whānau and kind of went from there.”

It’s a privilege to be able to provide care in a kaupapa Māori model, she said.

“It stemmed from a desire to do something different, a desire to do something that we thought was the right thing to do for our whānau Māori in the area… When we started having kōrero with people about what we wanted to do, that’s when we really thought, yeah, this is something that our community needs, because I think in Marlborough, in particular, many people have their eyes shut to the kind of poverty and the needs that is out there.

“I mean, we’ve got strong primary industry, and I think people see all of that, and don’t see the housing insecurity, and the kai insecurity, and the job insecurity, and then the kind of flow-on effects from that onto people’s mental health and their hauora, their overall well-being.”

Simmons said when the practice first opened, there was some concern from established practices in the region about their approach.

“It’s a reflection of the region really not providing care for our whānau Māori in a way that is really best for them. And, you know, we look at the stats and whānau Māori are less likely to seek out healthcare and then even when they do, they’re less likely to receive gold standard care. And so those impacts, you know, in the big picture, that health inequality is just, well, it’s massive and it’s really heartbreaking, you know, and to look at my tamariki and know that their life expectancy is seven or eight years less than non-Māori their same age – that’s kind of why we do what we do is, is to look to benefit, not only the whānau who we’ve got enrolled with us now, but our future generations.”

An independent evaluation by Sapere (2022) reported: “Stakeholders identify to us that these high needs vulnerable whānau likely would not have [otherwise] connected with general practice or would not have received an appropriate level of service, and only occasionally would have been seen by the DHB in its hospital, usually in a crisis situation.”

Manu Ora maintains a lower patient-to-GP ratio of 1:900, compared to the national average of 1:1,700. Nearly 50 percent of the practice’s patient roll is Māori, compared to 13 percent at other Blenheim practices; over 50 percent of staff, and 80 percent of the Board, whakapapa Māori.

Simmons thanked the team at Manu Ora, saying they are lucky to have a group of both Māori and non-Māori clinicians who can provide whānau centred care.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Waka Ama paddlers and officials have paid tribute to Ngāti Korokī Kahukura kaumātua and staunch supporter of waka ama, Karaitiana Tamatea.

Tamatea, of Ngāti Korokī Kahukura and Te Aitanga a Mahaki, died on Saturday – the day before the biggest Waka Ama Sprint Nationals in history began.

Racing at Lake Karāpiro was paused on Monday morning and kaihoe raised their paddles in acknowledgement of Tamatea’s passing as his whānau departed to Maungatautari Marae.

Waka Ama Aotearoa New Zealand chief executive Lara Collins told RNZ they worked closely with Tamatea and Ngāti Korokī Kahukura to host the nationals.

“Karaitiana, his wife Te Rairi, all of their whānau, hapū, they have been involved in helping us host the event since the event came back to Karapiro in 1999. So since then, they’ve had a really big involvement behind the scenes, you know, the level of manaakitanga that they’ve shown all of the VIPs and guests over the years is just, it’s incredible.”

Tamatea was the driver from Ngāti Korokī Kahukura in waka ama, a kaupapa that was dear to his heart, she said.

“Losing him the day before the event started on Saturday, we really wanted, you know, to [pay tribute] to him as much as we can to make this the best waka ama nationals there’s ever been just for him, because I know how much he loved this kaupapa.

“So the fact that the whānau was able to call in yesterday on their way to Maungatautari Marae, we paused racing and had a really amazing send-off for him here at the venue and the opportunity for all of our waka ama whānau to just give him and his whānau love and aroha while they’re here and then send them on their way to the marae. And it was a really special moment and I think one that people will remember for a long time.”

In a post on Facebook, Waka Ama Aotearoa NZ said: “We are reminded by his famous saying ‘he pakanga ki tai, he rongopai ki uta’, although waka ama is competitive on the water, we are all whānau when we return to land and to look after one another, while enjoying the sport we all love.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Up to a third of Māori land is considered landlocked, meaning owners have no physical access to land they own without obtaining the consent of neighbouring owners.

The Outdoor Access Commission Herenga ā Nuku Aotearoa released its first report on the state of public land access in Aotearoa last week, which identified landlocked whenua as one of the biggest challenges to public access in 2025.

The report divides land in Aotearoa into three types, private (non-tangata whenua) land which makes up 51.8 percent, state-owned land (44 percent) and private tangata whenua land with only 4.3 percent.

Tāmaki Makaurau regional field advisor Dot Dalziell said up to a third of Māori landholding is locked, but the problem was particularly acute in the Taihape area, where it is more than 70 percent.

Māori land is often very significant in connecting New Zealanders to the outdoors, so landlocking impacted all New Zealanders, she said.

“What it can give rise to is a very ironic situation or many ironic situations where, you know, we’re going into negotiations with mana whenua who have responsibility for land, whatever that relationship might be legally and we’re asking for public access or support for public access or hosting of public access. The irony being that, you know, maybe not on that bit of land, but other other parts of the of their whenua, they don’t have access themselves.”

Herenga ā Nuku strategic relationships manager Doug Macredie said the commission thought of tangata whenua land in several different ways.

First there is “ahu whenua” or “ture whenua” – land that survived confiscation and has been retained in Māori ownership. This land may or may not have legal public access, but may also operate within informal community protocols allowing informal access or “access by protocol”, he said.

Second is land returned to Māori by way of Treaty settlements. These often have public access clauses and requirements that remain once the land is returned.

Third is land where owners and governance bodies are not identified or established, much of which is administered by Te Tumu Paeroa, the Office of the Māori Trustee.

“We acknowledge fully here at Herenga ā Nuku that mana whenua, mana whenua whānui, mana whenua a hapū, mana whenua a tangata, kind of overrides this idea of legal ownership. And we as Māori all understand that our tribal jurisdictions and our border connections with other hapū and iwi covers all the whenua in Aotearoa.

“Now, it’s outside of the legal framework, but of course, tuturu in our ngākau, in our manawa, in our whakapapa is that understanding that the whole of Aotearoa is under the banner of what I call mana whenua whānui,” Macredie said.

Macredie is a trustee of several blocks of whenua – one of which was landlocked – which he said meant going “cap in hand” to neighbours to find ways to access it.

“My mum, my uncles, my koroua and so forth, never, ever got to go across that land… and not that it’s not possible that I can reverse that with helicopters and things like that, but unless you’ve got capability, resourcing, knowledge and support, how do the people break through even to get in touch with their land, to touch it, to feel it, to see it, let alone build a trust or a governance board and undertake initiatives to do stuff on and with the land?”

Macredie said another term he’s heard is “DOC locked”, with whenua Māori completely surrounded by Department of Conservation land.

“There are different degrees of landlocked. So in the case of one particular block that I know of, it technically has paper roads and technically you can walk, clamber, climb, scurry, burrow your way through to the block and stay within the boundaries of these paper roads. If you’ve got all the gear, ropes, crampons and half a day to get there. Whereas if you were to go across a neighbouring landowner’s paddock, you’d be there in 20 minutes,” he said.

DOC locked or semi-locked land blocks were often used by neighbouring private landowners, for grazing and forestry where boundaries slightly converged, and also by recreationists “in the know”, he said.

“For example, the block that I’m a trustee on has a beautiful, beautiful waterfall on it. People go to that waterfall, the people, the recreationists that are in the know just go walking straight across our block, which is not necessarily a problem to us. But that’s a typical situation when you’re not empowered or able to manage and govern your block for all those reasons, then it will just default to other uses by people that are enabled and empowered to get there and use it.”

Macredie said while landlocking was a massive problem for Māori owners, many of these land blocks were beautiful, remote, rugged and pristine which could be an opportunity, particularly in ecotourism.

But to take advantage of any opportunity took time, expertise and resource, he said.

“The issues are not all about lines on maps, etc., but they’re also about awareness and capability and resourcing for the people… to make connection with lands, to govern, to manage and to undertake initiatives and there are immense barriers to that. And so it’s not the role of our agency to address all of that because we’re only dealing with the public access element.

“But we are fully aware of how the public access dimension and the aspirations and the reality of tangata whenua relative to land can and do work together when managed and guided in the right way.”

‘Building the spirit of our country’

Macredie said only a relatively small amount of New Zealand’s land was public, which was divided again into what was accessible and what was not.

“You’ve got to say, well, what is the definition of accessible? What’s accessible for somebody who’s an experienced tramper with all the gear and the latest Subaru four wheel drive and enough money to put petrol in the tank is not necessarily accessible for every other person.

“So accessibility, freedom to enjoy and to be in and around this beautiful land for all New Zealanders, and particularly with some with some pronounced take (issues) from a tangata whenua lens, I think it’s a major, major challenge. But it’s also an incredible opportunity around building the spirit of our country and also releasing opportunities through ecotourism or other community initiatives… that are both good for the people, good for the place and good for the economy.”

Dalziell said a real life example can be found in Te Ara Tipuna, a proposed 500-kilometre walking trail along the East Coast from Gisborne to Ōpōtiki, traversing several Māori land blocks on the way.

The trail would link up existing bits of public access and help reconnect the diaspora of Ngāti Porou back to the whenua, she said.

Dalziell said equitable access Aotearoa New Zealand’s great outdoors was what mattered.

“I’m thinking of the young people the rangatahi of Papakura and a place that’s really cherished… There’s a beautiful series of swimming holes up Hays Creek heading into the Hunua. And the only way to get there is up the side of a very windy, rural road that’s got very little shoulder and has a lot of quarry trucks on it because there’s a quarry up in the area as well.

“So that’s what I have in mind when I think about the kind of equitable distribution of outdoor access and what might need to change in the future,” 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

As 2025 ticked over into 2026, Parakai Springs near Helensville officially became Kaipātiki Hot Springs, the traditional name for the area which reflects the whakapapa of tangata whenua Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara.

The change comes as Te Poari o Kaipātiki ki Kaipara assumes management of the hot springs. The governors of Te Poari are appointed by Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara and Auckland Council in equal numbers.

Te Poari chairperson Mihi Blair said Kaipātiki literally translates to the abundance of pātiki, flounder, which the Kaipara area is quite famous for.

The area was prized by Ngāti Whātua tūpuna for its abundance of healing, thermal waters, she said.

“The wai was always used for recovery for all our wounded warriors during cold and warm days, and also the abundance across the wetlands and the swamps and tidal areas was always rich with kai, manu, eel tuna, and lots of kuharu and, you know pātiki, of course.”

How Kaipātiki became Parakai

Blair said her whānau have a close history with Kaipātiki. In the early 1900s there was some confusion because there were two places called Kaipātiki in Auckland, one in Kaipara and one in Birkenhead, she said.

“So the mail used to get misdelivered quite a bit.”

“There was a community meeting held in the rohe of Kaipara and it was actually my great, great grandmother, Annie Emma Hamilton from Ngāti Maniapoto, who rightly got up and said, why don’t we just change Kaipara and switch it over and turn it to Parakai.

“So that decision itself has had a massive historical impact. It was a decision made on practicality, quite solutions focused she was, but it changed history. So from a whānau point of view, it’s something that we held dearly.”

It was a natural decision to return the name Kaipātiki to the area, she said.

“I was born and raised in the Kaipara area in Hellensville and so from Ngāti Whātua, there was no stories being told in our rohe, within our playgrounds, within our schools and that. So we’re really taking this kōrero really seriously for the Kaipara area and we want to ensure that we bring not only our own uri along, but we also want to bring the community along that journey.”

Blair said since 2011 when Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara and the Crown agreed to a settlement, the iwi has been focussed on sharing the history of the area.

The Parakai Recreation Reserve, which surrounds the springs, had already been renamed Kaipātiki Reserve so it was a natural decision to rename the springs at the conclussion of the previous lease on 31 December 2025, she said.

Blair thanked the previous lease holders Parakai Springs Limited for their contribution to the economic growth of the area over the past three decades.

Te Poari o Kaipātiki ki Kaipara will now assume management of the springs in partnership with Belgravia Leisure, who also work in partnership with Rotorua iwi Ngāti Whakaue running the Wai Ariki Hot Springs, she said.

“[Belgravia] will bring in their expertise and they’ve done a really amazing job of supporting and ensuring that all our kaimahi there have been onboarded successfully and that actually the pools have remained open over this busy summer period. We had a very high, high influx of those who attended in the new year. So, you know, whānau going there to use the pools, having BBQs. So the only difference that actually happened was the name change.”

Blair said Te Poari are looking forward to seeing what can be developed and making sure the community are well involved in the design and the future of the pools.

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