Kia kaha Native Affairs

Written By: - Date published: 10:03 am, April 15th, 2014 - 37 comments
Categories: Media - Tags: , , ,

Maori tv Mihi forbes

Maori TV’s Native Affairs show has been engaged in some impressive investigative journalism.

Last night it presented the story on how the Maori Party arranged a fundraiser at the Northern Club at $5,000 a head with John Key as the guest of honour.  For this price guests were promised a confidential chat with the PM.  It is a sign of how far the Maori Party leaders have drifted from Maoridom that they should rely on an exorbitantly  priced fundraiser held at the bastion of Auckland’s corporate society and with a right wing Prime Minister as guest to fund their election campaign.

Māori Television’s analysis of the story was sharp.  Paddy Gower provided compelling criticism of the event.  Mike Williams clearly described the event for what it was.  Holding a fundraiser in the Northern Club with John Key in attendance made it look like a National Party fundraiser rather than a Māori Party fundraiser.

In characteristic style Shane Jones has given his take on the issue.  Of the Māori Party he has said:

They’re nothing more now than the prime minister’s personal kapa haka group.”

The prime minister was clearly trying to give the Maori Party a lifeline, but it was up to iwi to throw them that lifeline “not the corporate donors of the northern club.”

The event shows how close this election is going to be.  National is providing life support to the Māori Party and is willing to embrace by jettisoning one or more of its MPs so that one party whose leader has not ruled out chemtrails but has ruled hour anthropogenic climate change and another party who is favourably inclined to legalise incest may be elected.  And with one of its propaganda machines being under a certain amount of scrutiny things are not going well for Key.  I await with interest the results of Felix Marwick’s OIA request for information about Key’s contact with Cameron Slater and David Farrar.  The result has been turned down on the basis that “it would involve too much research and collation”.  Has there been that much contact that the collection of the information would require too much resource to be applied?  Or is it that Key is terrified of the precise nature of the links between his office and Slater being disclosed?

Māori Television has broken another important issue, that of the rather liberal spending habits with the Trust’s credit card shown by some members of the Kohanga Reo Trust.  The trust’s response in banning Native Affairs Reporters from a recent press conference is appalling.  The Trust needs to be brought into line.  The movement is far too important to be damaged by this sort of behaviour.

Kia kaha Native Affairs and Mihirangi Forbes.  Along with Suzy Ferguson from Morning Report and Felix Marwick it is good to see Journalists asking the hard questions.

37 comments on “Kia kaha Native Affairs ”

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  1. captain hook 1
    15 April 2014 at 11:06 am

    I am very impressed with Native Affairs.
    They seem to be fearless and the polar opposite of the sniveller now operating on morning report and the hair and teeth jobs on TV1.
    A breath of fresh air and they are doing the job that journalists are supposed to do and not cosying up to the party in power so they can get a job in their offce later.
    Keep it up.
    The whole country is behind you.

  2. Papa Tuanuku 2
    15 April 2014 at 11:16 am

    put the ‘a’ in kia please

    • mickysavage 2.1
      15 April 2014 at 11:18 am

      Thanks Papa. Not sure how I missed that!

      • marty mars 2.1.1
        15 April 2014 at 11:27 am

        What about the macrons?

        • mickysavage 2.1.1.1
          15 April 2014 at 11:32 am

          I checked Marty and I was not aware that macrons were used. Happy to amend if you could confirm they should be applied.

          • bad12 2.1.1.1.1
            15 April 2014 at 11:39 am

            Marty is pulling your leg, i think, try ‘speaking’ a macron…

            • marty mars 2.1.1.1.1.1
              15 April 2014 at 11:50 am

              Of course you speak it – what do you think it is for?

              • weka …
                15 April 2014 at 12:11 pm

                +1

                Is that a kaka or a kākā or a kakā? (for people really averse to macrons, we can say kaka, kaakaa, kakaa instead, although there are problems with that too which is why most people now use macrons).

              • bad12 …
                15 April 2014 at 3:27 pm

                Lolz Marty Mars, most of the speakers of Maori i know would look at you like you had just dropped in from outer space if you asked them if they were speaking their macrons,(the usual reaction i would suggest would be what the fuck is a macron)…

                • marty mars …
                  15 April 2014 at 3:48 pm

                  I’d never ask them that. A few have been fortunate to be raised with fluent speakers and I suppose the macron (long vowel length) is almost automatic, but most haven’t – most have been raised with te reo Māori as a second language and there are also many adult learners.

                  Why are macrons used in the Māori language?

                  It’s important to make a distinction between long and short vowel length. We believe macrons are the most efficient way to mark long vowel length and advocate the use of macrons in all but a few cases. It is sometimes argued that while the need to mark the distinction between some pairs of words is obvious ( tara / tāra, and keke / kēkē / kekē), and there is no reason to mark the long vowel length of the particles nga, na and mo. We believe there is no good reason not to mark the long vowel sound in such words. Macrons must reinforce a simple message for learners of Māori: “all macronised vowels are pronounced LONG”. Macronising all words means consistency for all Māori speakers.

                  http://www.tetaurawhiri.govt.nz/english/faq/lang.shtml

                  I’m simple enough to want to keep it simple.

                  • Ake Ake Ake …
                    16 April 2014 at 6:54 am

                    With spoken English, it might be the difference between saying John Key sleeps between the sheets, or between the shits.

          • marty mars 2.1.1.1.3
            15 April 2014 at 11:48 am

            sorry micky wasn’t meaning that – i have a bee in my bonnet about this at the moment – perhaps I’ll try to write a guestpost with easy ways to add macrons and thus ‘spell’ the words correctly.

            http://www.maoridictionary.co.nz/search?idiom=&phrase=&proverb=&loan=&keywords=maori&search=

            An example of the difference a macron makes

            kēkē

            1. (verb) to quack (as a duck).
            Kēkē kau ana te pārera (W 1971:112). / The duck quacks.

            2. (noun) armpit.
            Ka kowhera te uira i roto i ngā kēkē o Tāwhaki (NM 1928:45). / The lightening burst forth from inside the armpits of Tāwhaki.

            3. (noun) area under the wing of a bird at the place where the wing is attached to the body.
            Ko te pōhoi taringa nō te huruhuru maheni o te kēkē o te toroa (TTT 1/9/1924:s4). / The feather ornament for the ear is of smooth feathers from under the wing of the albatross.

            kekē

            1. (verb) to creak.

            keke

            1. (loan) (noun) cake.
            Ko tētehi o aua keke i waiho hei tukutuku ki ngā whanaunga, i ia wāhi, i ia wāhi o Aotearoa, o Te Waipounamu (TW 21/2/1876:72). / One of those cakes was left to be sent to relatives in each part of the North and South Islands.

            http://www.maoridictionary.co.nz/search?idiom=&phrase=&proverb=&loan=&keywords=keke&search=

            It is my stuff but as I say it is irritating that we cannot seem to give one of our official languages its ‘correct spelling’ when written.

            • weka 2.1.1.1.3.1
              15 April 2014 at 12:19 pm

              I think it’s also about encouraging good pronunciation. If we take the time to use macrons, then we make more visible the differences in how words are spoken and the importance of saying them properly for good communication. That’s also about maintaining the language.

            • Zolan 2.1.1.1.3.2
              16 April 2014 at 10:25 am

              Technological obstacles and elitist attitudes will only discourage wider adoption. Macrons are useful as a guide, but harmful if obligatory.

              (Using a loan word as your example doesn’t really demonstrate much, either.)

      • weka 2.1.2
        15 April 2014 at 12:14 pm

        Micky, have a look here for macron usage http://kupu.maori.nz/Show.aspx?page=10

        Also, online dictionaries for looking up which words need a macron. I find this one easiest http://www.maoridictionary.co.nz/

  3. Saarbo 3
    15 April 2014 at 12:34 pm

    Native Affairs has always been NZ’s number 1 TV current affairs show….A must watch every Monday night.

    • bad12 3.1
      15 April 2014 at 4:48 pm

      That’s true, and it is laughable for those dissing Maori TV for exposing the spending, the culture, and the cozy little lifetime sinecures arranged at the Kohanga Reo National Trust along with the ‘goings on’ with the Private Entity attached to the Trust on the basis of ”that is not the Maori way”,

      i would simply suggest that the cozy little Private Entity set up as an off-shoot of the Kohanga Reo trust itself that reports to no-one in the wider Kohanga Reo whanau is hardly the Maori way either, it looks to be more the work of the Pakeha Tax Lawyers who are famous for finding novel ways in making who should be accountable to the people unaccountable,

      The Kohanga Reo trust should collectively hang their heads in shame for the barring of Maori Television from its press conferences,not only does this make the whole trust look petty, it makes the Trust look like it has something to hide…

    • Will@Welly 3.2
      15 April 2014 at 10:57 pm

      100%

  4. Philj 4
    15 April 2014 at 1:34 pm

    xox
    Maori Party or National Party? Hmmmm…Time to jump the waka?

  5. Tracey 5
    15 April 2014 at 1:45 pm

    what will thenew head of maori tv think?

    mickey, is it the northern club or auckland club that was men only into the 90’s

  6. Weepu's beard 6
    15 April 2014 at 2:30 pm

    Watch for Maori TV’s funding to be cut. It’s the kind of punitive response this government is becoming known for.

  7. Weepu's beard 7
    15 April 2014 at 2:37 pm

    Question: Who specifically is able to turn down an OIA request on the grounds of it being too much work?

    Further, why does the Prime Minister’s office not record who he spoke to, when, and about what*? Can’t be that hard, unless there’s something to hide.

    *Excepting topics of national security of course, conversations with other countries leaders, for instance. But then, what possible topics of national security could the Prime Minister be speaking to Cameron Slater about? How to attack the opposition? How to steal a laptop? How to shoot a goat?

    • Tracey 7.1
      15 April 2014 at 5:11 pm

      they do it often. the dbh often used that as an excuse for not supplying me with stuff. once they told me the cost would be over $100k.

  8. bad12 8
    15 April 2014 at 4:36 pm

    While we are on Maori TV,(macron thought but not inserted, specially on the Tv bit i would need Billy T to figure that one out for me),

    Tena Koe to any from the channel who might have a read of this, the debate as i understand it within the network(and slightly beyond),is that some see Maori television becoming solely broadcast in the reo,

    One vote opposed here thank you, there are a number of logical reasons why the current channel should carry on with its current bi-lingual format, the first is there is already a Te Reo channel which broadcast fully in Maori, should there be the ‘need’ for programing from the bi-lingual channel to be broadcast fully in Maori it would seem a simple enough task to simply do voice overs for such programs and air them on the Te Reo channel,

    There are as many if not more Maori that do not have the full use of the language as there are those fluent in Te Reo and it would seem a shame to shut such viewers out of fully understanding the channel and its programing simply because of ‘language purity’,

    If the channel goes into a full broadcast of te reo a large slice of the Maori viewers along with all the visitors with no language skills at all are likely to stop watching such favorites as Native Affairs,

    It would be a shame to change the current format and then realize that half the viewers have been lost…

  9. bad12 9
    15 April 2014 at 4:58 pm

    Tau Henare, obviously sat among the silver spoon brigade supping at the trough for far too long, on RadioNZ National News at Midday Henare was quoted as attributing the denigrating verb Bigots to those who are decrying the use of the political prostitute, Slippery the Prime Minister, by the Maori Party as the star attraction at their 5 grand a seat fund raiser,

    Henare then went on to defend the Maori Party by saying words in the vein of,”what are they expected to do stand outside KFC and rattle collection boxes”,

    i can only spit at the use of such a Bigoted Racial Stereotype by a Maori politician when speaking about His own people, hopefully someone up North gets up close and personal with Tau in the near future and delivers that message to Him…

    • Tracey 9.1
      15 April 2014 at 5:14 pm

      by a former politician advertising himself to white boards of directors.

      for my part i thought doing a saussie sizzle at the mansion would have been key’s style for the mp

    • Weepu's beard 9.2
      15 April 2014 at 8:46 pm

      Tau Henare forsook his own people long ago. He will not realise it for years to come.

      • North 9.2.1
        16 April 2014 at 4:07 am

        He’s been paid to be, and in one way or another will always be, the racists’ boy, the elitists’ boy.

        Respected by no one. That includes his masters past and present.

        ‘Ray Henry of the union’. Hahaha. ‘The Honourable Tau Henare of the National Party List’. Hahaha. ‘A pair of now and forever very comfortable, very unprincipled, very grubby hands’.

        That’s the one.

  10. Will@Welly 10
    15 April 2014 at 11:10 pm

    Native Affairs has been a favourite in the Welly household for a number of years. That, and TV3’s “The Nation” were must see programmes. John Campbell also fills the spot.
    TVNZ – what a complete waste of space !!
    The trouble is National/Act/even the Maori Party hate being confronted with the truth.
    How does the Maori Party reconcile itself with John Key’s ambition to disestablish the Maori seats – when he came into Parliament that was part of his agenda, and what we can see, as time goes by, the more he implements his agenda.

    • North 10.1
      16 April 2014 at 3:12 am

      “How does the Maori Party reconcile itself with John Key’s ambition to disestablish the Maori seats – when he came into Parliament that was part of his agenda,……..”

      It doesn’t need to of course. Key keeps quiet about it for the most part…….comforts his subliminally racist anti-Maori electorate with a little mention from time to time, Sharples does a staged spew, then it gets put away again. It’s nudge nudge wink wink stuff. Torya and silly old plastic tiki Sharples hold onto their baubles in their duplicitous double political lives. I guess even that hilarious spectacle of the poacher turned gamekeeper Ken Mair gets his share of the goodies. What a farce !

      Meanwhile in the North where I’m placed such that my direct daily interactions would be 70% with Maori, I hear and see the Maori Party almost exclusively considered kupapa, a lost-its-mana irrelevancy ‘owned’ by Key. Infrequently is the expression loud. It’s polite rather but it’s there. The knowing smile of distaste, the shake of the head, the quick roll of the eyes, the quiet snigger.

      What goes on in the hearts of the Maori Party that they don’t shrivel up in shame ?

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