Tena koe Tuwharetoa,

I am dissapointed at Labour and New Zealand first, but more so at Labours Maori MP's. For them to sell us out in a deal that does nothing for us Maori, is truely wrong.

This foreshore bill is the biggest mistake in 5 years of this Labour governments term in office and they will see how big of a problem it is, when Maori vote at the next election.

Our people need to unite, and our people need to get out and vote this coming election.

2005 will see a change in government, and I believe that we as Maori can and will play a greater role in politics and in the governance of this country.

15/11/2004 07:41 PM
NewstalkZB

The High Court has reserved its decision on an application to strike out an appeal against Government plans to hand over ownership of Rotorua lakes to local Maori.

Justice McKenzie heard legal argument from both sides earlier today.

Counsel for the crown Virginia Hardy says the Government never said it felt legally compelled to offer the settlement to Te Arawa as claimed by the Lakes Protection Society.

Ms Hardy says it is not appropriate for the case to go to trial.

However counsel for the society, David Schnauer argues that a media statement released by the Crown does not adequately state the Crown's legal position and consequently stifles public debate.

More than 2000 computer words have been translated into Maori through a joint Microsoft and Maori Language Commission initiative.

Now it's up to Waikato University to get it all online.

Microsoft managing director Ross Peat was in Hamilton this week meeting the university's School of Maori and Pacific Development and the Maori Language Commission to firm up the project.

Once it's complete mid next year, it means people can download a language interface pack and run Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Office in Maori.

The Ngati Tuwharetoa – Mighty River Power Development Group was established as a result of a partnership agreement between Ngati Tuwharetoa and Mighty River Power in October 2002. The Development Group is charged with the task of supporting Ngati Tuwharetoa in cultural, educational and economic development. The Development Group is near the completion of its policies and strategic direction for the next five years in these delivery areas.

The Development Group is conducting a hui-a-iwi to discuss with Ngati Tuwharetoa hapu its policies and strategic directions in all of its delivery areas. All members of Ngati Tuwharetoa hapu are invited to attend. Some transport is being provided. Please contact the Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board to confirm numbers if you and/or your whanau wish to attend.

He panui tenei mo nga whanau o tuwharetoa. kua tae mai te wa mo te hura pohatu o to matou tupuna.

Nau mai haere mai ki a tatou katoa..

Crown and Contact Energy reach resolution on Crown lands at Wairakei
Mark Burton, Minister of Tourism and State Owned Enterprises and Taupo MP, and Contact Energy Ltd today announced an agreement that protects the current and future use of Crown lands at Wairakei, Taupo, for recreation, tourism, forestry, and geothermal electricity generation.

Mark Burton and Contact Energy chief executive Steve Barrett both welcomed the agreement, saying it was a good outcome for the Crown, Contact, and Taupo.

“Under the 1988 Deed of Sale, Contact acquired the exclusive right to access the land at Wairakei for geothermal purposes and the right to install and operate equipment,” said Mark Burton.

“However, that agreement left some important matters undecided, including defining the area over which the rights applied, the nature of those rights, and the status of and protections for tourism operators and forests in the area, among others.

The Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board says the public has nothing to fear from its 1992 agreement with the Crown over Lake Taupo and its tributaries.

A free public right of access for recreational use of the lake and its waters was guaranteed under a 1926 agreement between the Crown and Tuwharetoa and was reconfirmed by the 1992 Agreement. As part of the 1992 agreement, the trust board gained legal authority to grant licences to commercial users of the lake bed.

Ngati Tuwharetoa's historical actions as Kaitiaki (stewards) of Lake Taupo and its environs have contributed profoundly to the value of the lake's recreational and tourism value trust board secretary Rakeipoho Taiaroa said as far as the trust board is concerned, Tuwharetoa is considering exercising its property rights as any property owner would, when someone else sought to utilise that property for commercial gain.

With still almost three months to go, this year is shaping up as a critical one for Maori, and one of extraordinary progress.

It began with growing national polarisation over the seabed and foreshore debate, followed by Don Brash's infamous Orewa speech. Both propelled Treaty of Waitangi issues and race relations to the top of the nation's political agenda.

Rattled, the Government slammed the brakes on many race-based initiatives. This year looked set to be a low point for Maori progress.

Remarkably, however, the exact opposite has occurred. During the past nine months, a number of significant marker posts have secured, strengthened and empowered Maori, as never before.

What makes us yearn for home. Is it family, friends, food?

For me living in South Korea, it is the mountains of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, Ruapehu and the beautiful Pihanga with Turangi nestled at her feet.

It is the river of Tongariro, that flows so magestically, feeding Lake Taupo and breathing life into the heart of Tuwharetoa.

It is my whanau, the ones who still enjoy the beauty of the area, those who have moved on,but never forget their home, and those who have passed on, now watching over us.

This is what I miss, being so far from home.

But in my heart, I will forever love our mountains, our lakes, our rivers and my whanau.

The Government is to enter negotiations with central North Island tribe Tuwharetoa over their property rights under a 1992 settlement which gave them ownership of the Taupo lake bed and the beds of some of its tributaries.

A spokesman for Conservation Minister Chris Carter, the minister in charge of the negotiations, today said the talks would start in the middle of next week.

Ngati Tuwharetoa believe that the settlement entitles the Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board to charge a licence fee to commercial operators, including for the use of air space above Lake Taupo, which would cover floatplane landings, bungy jumping and bridges over rivers, the an Auckland paper reported today.