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Category: Pacific Report

  • ‘What’s good for Māori is good for everyone’ – Hīkoi ends with peaceful protest

    By Ashleigh McCaull, RNZ News journalist

    Aotearoa New Zealand’s capital Wellington Pōneke turned into a sea of black, white and red today, as more than 42,000 people supporting te Hīkoi mō te Tiriti overflowed Parliament’s lawn and onto the streets.

    Supporters then headed to Waitangi Park, where a post-hīkoi concert took place.

    Thousands of supporters already at Parliament greeted the hīkoi when it entered the gates, with haka and the sound of the pūtātara (Māori shell trumpet) ringing out across the lawn.


    42,000 people at Parliament during Hīkoi.   Video: RNZ News

    Among the dignitaries towards the front of the hīkoi was Māori Queen Nga wai hono i te po, who stood alongside Hone Harawira, Tuku Morgan and Te Pati Māori MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke.

    Fireworks were let off several times at Parliament.

    One kuia told RNZ she was happy the Hīkoi stayed peaceful and did not end up like the anti-mandate protest at Parliament more than two years ago.

    Horomona Horo travelled from Waikato in opposition to the Treaty Principles Bill.

    “The purpose of it is to stand up against the atrocities of not just this government, but governments of the past as well, and the discrepancies that have happened over the years.”

    When asked what he thought of Treaty Principles Bill architect David Seymour’s short appearance on the forecourt, Horo said the day was not about him, but more about everyone coming together and uniting.

    The national hīkoi converges at Parliament Grounds on 19 November 2024.
    The national Hīkoi converges at Parliament Grounds. Image: Reece Baker/RNZ

    “At the end of the day, if you speak for your people, you need to show up. And not show up to blink an eye or two, but to actually show up in good times and bad times and in celebration as well as in times like today, where he knows he’s done wrong and he knows the things that need to happen.

    “He cannot turn his words back on what he’s already said,” Horo said.

    After everything wrapped up at Parliament, traffic came to a standstill as a haka broke out on on the intersection of Bunny Street and Featherston Street.

    The hikoi against the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill reaches Parliament.
    The Hikoi against the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill reaches Parliament. Image: VNP/Phil Smith

    ‘Kill the Bill!’
    Seymour and his caucus were escorted by several police officers when they briefly ventured out to Parliament’s forecourt, and were greeted by the crowd chanting “kill the Bill”.

    The ACT Party leader said yesterday that he would assess the mood of the crowd first before deciding whether or not to engage with them.

    Te Pati Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi was speaking to the crowd at the time Seymour came out and encouraged them to chant “kill the Bill” to give a clear message for the ACT leader.

    After five minutes, Seymour turned and headed back inside the building.

    The crowd chants”kill the Bill”.         Video: RNZ News

     

    Later this afternoon, the official ACT instagram page posted a video with Seymour saying this was a speech he had hoped to deliver to Hīkoi supporters who had marched from all across the motu.

    “They’d see that I’m actually a New Zealander like them — in fact, one who is whakapapa Māori, who would like to see a better world with more homes being built, more infrastructure, better jobs, better health and education.

    “That would be a constructive discussion to have, but sadly not one that is possible when you see New Zealand as a compact of two collectives defined by ancestry.

    “It may be that we find New Zealand is not mature enough to have this discussion, I suspect that’s wrong,” Seymour said.

    In response to the crowd chanting “kill the Bill”, he said he encouraged Hīkoi supporters to read the Bill.

    Seymour later told RNZ Checkpoint that the Hīkoi was “not representative” of New Zealand, and only 0.2 percent of Māori were at the Parliament protest.

    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was asked before Question Time whether he would prefer the bill to be disposed of before Waitangi Day commemorations in Feburary.

    “[The bill] is not something I like or support, but we have come to a compromise.

    “Now, it’s in the hands of Parliament, it’s now in the hands of the select committee, they work through the timing from here on through, as they should.”

    Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters called the Hīkoi a “waste of time” as the Treaty Principles Bill was “dead on arrival”.

    The Bill was fatally flawed and never going to work, he said, and Hīkoi attendees should know that.

    ‘I’m not worried about sales’
    While the Hīkoi made its way to Parliament, business owners and staff watched and filmed from their doorways as the masses went past.

    The hīkoi protesting against the Treaty Principles Bill in Wellington on 19 November 2024.
    The Hīkoi protesting against the Treaty Principles Bill in Wellington on 19 November 2024. Image: RNZ/Reece Baker

    Every store RNZ visited at the time the Hīkoi was passing through was empty, but several business owners on Willis Street said they did not mind the disruption and supported the cause.

    Capricorn Spirit owner Susan Cameron said the Hīkoi was for a good cause.

    “I’m not worried about sales,” she said. “We’ve got to tell Parliament as a whole country that we do not stand for this.”

    To those on the Hīkoi, she said: “Good on you. Well done. I wish I could be with you, but at this moment I can’t, I need to be here, but I support everything you’re standing for here.”

    Meanwhile, Dixon Street coffee shop Swimsuit had to call in back-up as customer numbers were similar to the store’s busiest Saturdays.

    Barista Sarah Green said five staff were on deck for 320 orders — many of which were for multiple coffees.

    Flags fly high in Waitangi Park
    The meeting point for the hīkoi this morning was at Waitangi Park, which was dominated by either tino rangatiratanga flags, toitu te tiriti flags or the flag for the United Tribes.

    RNZ spoke to a few people on their thoughts about Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill.

    “I think he’s a very arrogant man, at the end of the day he says he’s got Māori in him, he still uses white rules to try and rule the rest of the country. Well, it ain’t his land, it belongs to us. We were the first ones here so we own it. And our tipuna, they were good people but now he’s trying to do this to us and it’s not fair,” said Kathleen Mihaere.

    “I don’t like him, okay? He needs to wake up and realise this is our whenua, we own this. You fellas are visitors and if you are one of us, be one of us,” said Sheena Tonihi.

    “What’s good for Māori is good for everyone, we come here as peace, we love everyone no matter who you are, where you come from. But yeah, what’s good for Māori is good for everyone,” said Henare Karepe.


    Thoughts on David Seymour voxies.     Video: RNZ News

     

    Before the hīkoi got underway, singer Stan Walker also went out and sang for the crowd.

    The hīkoi later returned to the park from Parliament for an evening concert.

    Marching before dawn
    More than 2000 people set off from the Hutt Valley at about 4am this morning and met with another group coming from Porirua on Wellington’s waterfront before they marched to Parliament.

    Some participants arriving on horses.
    Some Hīkoi participants arriving on horseback. Image: RNZ/Pokere Paewai

    When the hīkoi reached a third of the way through the 14km journey to Wellington train station, it was met with lots of toots from passing traffic, mostly trucks at that time of the morning.

    People on a passing train were videoing the hīkoi as it went by.

    There were babies and elderly and hundreds of tino rangatiratanga flags flying.

    Damian from Naenae said today’s hīkoi was hugely significant.

    He said even though the Treaty Principles Bill was unlikely to make it past the second reading, the fact it was before Parliament at all was an injustice, and people felt that in their wairua.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    Hikoi in welly
    Hīkoi participants. Image: RNZ/Phil Pennington

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Kiwi pilot kidnapping in West Papua leads to police raids in Australia

    By Duncan Graham

    An alleged plot involving firearms and threatening the life of New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens when held hostage in Papua this year is being investigated by the Australian Federal Police.

    The case involves “advancing a political cause by the separation of West Papua from Indonesia . . . with the intention of coercing by intimidation the governments of New Zealand and Indonesia”.

    Named in the AFP search warrant seen by MWM is research scholar Julian King, 63, who has studied and written extensively about West Papuan affairs.

    He has told others his home in Coffs Harbour, Queensland, was raided violently earlier this month by police using a stun grenade and smashing a door.

    During the search, the police seized phones, computers and documents about alleged contacts with the West Papua rebel group Organisasi Papua Merdeka, OPM (Free Papua Organisation) and a bid to seek weapons and ammunition.

    However, no arrests are understood to have been made or charges laid.

    King, a former geologist and now a PhD student at Wollongong University, has been studying Papuan reaction to the Indonesian takeover since 1963. He has written in a research paper titled “A soul divided: The UN’s misconduct over West Papua” that West Papuans:

    ‘live under a military dictatorship described by legal scholars and human rights advocates as systemic terror and alleged genocide.’

    Also named in the warrant alongside King is Amatus Dounemee Douw, confirmed by MWM contacts to be Australian citizen Akouboo Amatus Douw, who chairs the West Papua Diplomatic and Foreign Affairs Council, an NGO that states it seeks to settle disputes peacefully.

    Risk to Australia-Indonesia relations
    The allegations threaten to fragment relations between Indonesia and Australia.

    It is widely believed that human rights activists and church organisations are helping Papuan dissidents despite Canberra’s regular insistence that it officially backs Jakarta.

    Earlier this year, Deputy PM Richard Marles publicly stressed: “We, Australia, fully recognise Indonesia’s territorial sovereignty. We do not endorse any independence movement.”

    In August, Douw alleged Indonesian troops shot Kiwi Glen Conning on August 5 in Central Papua. The government version claims that the pilot was killed by “an armed criminal group” after landing his helicopter, ferrying local people who fled unharmed.

    When seized by armed OPM pro-independence fighters in February last year, Mehrtens was flying a light plane for an Indonesian transport company.

    He was released unharmed in September after being held for 593 days by the West Papua National Liberation Army (Tentara Pembebasan Nasional Papua Barat – TPNPB), the military wing of the OPM.

    Designated ‘terrorist’ group, journalists banned
    OPM is designated as a terrorist organisation in Indonesia but isn’t on the Australian list of proscribed groups. Jakarta bans foreign journalists from Papua, so little impartial information is reported.

    After Mehrtens was freed, TPNPB spokesman Sebby Sambom alleged that a local politician had paid a bribe, a charge denied by the NZ government.

    However, West Papua Action Aotearoa spokesperson Catherine Delahunty told Radio NZ the bribe was “an internal political situation that has nothing to do with our government’s negotiations.”

    Sambom, who has spent time in Indonesian jails for taking part in demonstrations, now operates out of adjacent Papua New Guinea — a separate independent country.

    Australia was largely absent from the talks to free Mehrtens that were handled by NZ diplomats and the Indonesian military. The AFP’s current involvement raises the worry that information garnered under the search warrants will show the Indonesian government where the Kiwi was hidden so that locations can be attacked from the air.

    At one stage during his captivity, Mehrtens appealed to the Indonesian military not to bomb villages.

    It is believed Mehrtens was held in Nduga, a district with the lowest development index in the Republic, a measure of how citizens can access education, health, and income. Yet Papua is the richest province in the archipelago — the Grasberg mine is the world’s biggest deposit of gold and copper.

    OPM was founded in December 1963 as a spiritual movement rejecting development while blending traditional and Christian beliefs. It then started working with international human rights agencies for support.

    Indigenous Papuans are mainly Christian, while almost 90 percent of Indonesians follow Islam.

    Chief independence lobbyist Benny Wenda lives in exile in Oxford. In 2003 he was given political asylum by the UK government after fleeing from an Indonesian jail.  He has addressed the UN and European and British Parliaments, but Jakarta has so far resisted international pressure to allow any form of self-determination.

    Questions for new President Prabowo
    Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is in the UK this week, where Papuans have been drumming up opposition to the official visit. In a statement, Wenda said:

    ‘Prabowo has also restarted the transmigration settlement programme that has made us a minority in our own land.’

    “For West Papuans, the ghost of (second president) Suharto has returned — (his) New Order regime still exists, it has just changed its clothes.”

    Pleas for recognition of Papuan’s concerns get minimal backing in Indonesia; fears of balkanisation and Western nations taking over a splintered country are well entrenched in the 17,000-island archipelago of 1300 ethnic groups where “unity” is considered the Republic’s foundation stone.

    Duncan Graham has a Walkley Award, two Human Rights Commission awards and other prizes for his radio, TV and print journalism in Australia. He now lives in Indonesia. He has been an occasional contributor to Asia Pacific Report and this article was first published by Michael West Media.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Hīkoi day 9: 35,000 join as Treaty Principles Bill protest reaches Parliament

    RNZ News

    More than 35,000 people today gathered as Aotearoa New Zealand’s Hīkoi mō te Tiriti overflowed from Parliament’s grounds and onto nearby streets in the capital Wellington Pōneke.

    Eru Kapa-Kingi told the crowd “Māori nation has been born” today and that “Te Tiriti is forever”.

    ACT leader David Seymour was met with chants of “Kill the bill, kill the bill” when he walked out of the Beehive for a brief appearance at Parliament’s forecourt, before waving to the crowd and returning into the building.


    The Hikoi at Parliament today. Video: RNZ News

    The Treaty Principles Bill architect, Seymour, said he supported the right to protest, but thought participants were misguided and had a range of different grievances.

    Interviewed earlier before Question Time, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said it was up to Parliament’s justice committee to decide whether the select committee process on the Treaty Principles Bill should be shortened.

    The select committee will receive public submissions until January 7, and intends to complete hearings by the end of February.

    Waitangi Day uncertainty
    It means the Prime Minister will head to Waitangi while submissions on the bill are still happening.

    Luxon was asked whether he would prefer if the bill was disposed of before Waitangi Day commemorations on February 6

    “It’ll be what it will be.

    “Let’s be clear — there is a strong depth of emotion on all sides of this debate.

    “Yes, [the bill] is not something I like or support, but we have come to a compromise.”

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Hikoī day 8: Te Pāti Māori co-leader speaks of ‘sense of betrayal’ over bill

    RNZ News

    ACT leader David Seymour has spoken out on Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke’s haka in Parliament as a Hīkoi against his controversial Treaty Principles Bill converges on Wellington.

    The Te Pāti Māori MP was suspended for 24 hours and “named” for leading the haka during the first reading of the bill last Thursday.

    Seymour told reporters the haka “was designed to get in other people’s faces”, to stop the people who represent New Zealanders from having their say, particularly because those doing it left their seats.

    The action was a serious matter, and if a haka was allowed one time, it left the door open for other disruptions in Parliament at other times.

    Labour’s vote against the decision to suspend Maipi-Clarke from the House was an indication it thought such behaviour was appropriate.

    People should be held accountable for their actions, Seymour added.

    Asked by reporters if Seymour should speak to the Hīkoi, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said his voice had already been heard, and described Māori feeling “a sense of betrayal”.

    The bill should never have come into the House, she said.

    A ferry carrying protesters from the South Island is now on its way across the Cook Strait as final preparations are made in the capital for tomorrow’s gathering at the Beehive.

    In Wellington, commuters are being warned to allow extra time for travel, and add one or even two hours to their trips to work on Tuesday even as extra buses and train carriages are put on.

    Māori Queen to join Hīkoi
    A spokesperson for the Kiingitanga movement said although this was a period of mourning in the wake of the death of her late father, the Māori Queen would be joining the Hīkoi in Wellington.

    Te Arikinui Kuini Nga Wai Hono i te Po confirmed late last night she planned to be at Parliament tomorrow.

    Speaking to RNZ’s Midday Report, spokesperson Ngira Simmonds said while it was uncommon for a Māori monarch to break the period of mourning, Kuini Nga Wai Hono i te Po would be there to advocate for more unity between Māori and the Crown.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Fiji’s mainstream media fight for survival in social media era

    By Georgia Brown, Queensland University of Technology

    Fijian newsrooms are under pressure to adapt as audiences shift away from traditional media such as newspapers, radio, and television, in favour of Facebook and other social media platforms.

    Asia Foundation research showed that Fijians ranked Facebook as their third most significant source of information about covid-19 during the pandemic, surpassing newspapers and “word of mouth”, despite recognising social media as their least trusted choice.

    Radio and television still exceeded Facebook, but surveys during the pandemic reveal the increasing significance of Facebook and other social media, such as Twitter, YouTube and TikTok as widely used sources of news, particularly for Fijians younger than 45.

    A survey revealed that of Fiji’s 924,610 population, 551,000 were social media users in January 2023. Facebook, the country’s most popular platform, limits access to people aged 13 and older. Of those eligible in Fiji to create an account in 2023, 71 percent used Facebook.

    Australian National University researcher Jope Tarai attributes the rise in social media usage in the 2010s to the 2006 coup and subsequent change in Fijian leadership, suggesting it “cultivated a culture of self-censorship”.

    “The constrained political context saw the emergence of blogging as a means of disseminating restricted information that would have conventionally informed news reporting,” Tarai says.

    Tarai says concerns about credibility of blogs meant this avenue was replaced by Facebook, “which was more interactive, accessible via handheld devices and instantaneous”.

    Increased media freedom
    With the increased media freedoms that have arisen following Fiji’s change in government at the end of 2022, newspapers and other traditional newsrooms should be poised to reassert themselves, but they face significant challenges due to the global shift in how people consume information.

    As audiences migrate to newer digital platforms, newsrooms that have traditionally depended on physical newspaper sales and advertising revenue are now under increasing pressure to adapt.

    Fiji Times editor-in-chief Fred Wesley says news outlets are struggling to capture the attention of younger audiences through conventional formats, prompting a shift towards social media platforms to enhance audience engagement and boost traffic.

    “Young people are not going to news websites or reading physical papers,” he says. “Young people are getting their news from social media.”

    The University of the South Pacific’s technical editor and digital communication officer, Eliki Drugunalevu, says he has observed a growing preference among the general Fijian population for receiving news through social media as opposed to traditional outlets.

    “When people refer to a certain news item that came out that day or even the previous day, they just go to their social media pages and search for that news item or even go to the social media page of that particular news outlet to read/access that story,” he says.

    Drugunalevu identifies two contributors to this shift.

    ‘At your fingertips’
    “Everything is just at your fingertips, easily accessible,” he says. “Internet charges in Fiji are affordable now so that you can pretty much be online 24/7.”

    Newsrooms across Fiji are not oblivious to this shift. Editors and journalists are recalibrating their strategies to meet the demands of a digital audience.

    Islands Business managing editor Samantha Magick says the abundance of readily available online content has resulted in young people refraining from paying for it.

    “I think there’s a generational shift. My daughter would never pay for any news, would never buy a newspaper to start with. She would probably never think about paying for media, unless its Netflix,” she says.

    However, Magick believes social media can be leveraged to fulfil evolving audience demands while offering fresh advantages to her organisation.

    “Social media for us is a funnel to get people to our website or to subscribe,” she says. “Facebook is still huge in the region, not just in Fiji [and] that’s where a lot of community discussions are happening, so it’s a source as well as a platform for us.”

    Magick says incorporating social media in her organisation requires her to stay more vigilant on analytics, as it significantly influences her decision-making processes.

    ‘Understanding content’s landing’
    “There’s all that sort of analytic stuff that I feel now I have to be much more across whereas before it was just generating the content. Now it’s understanding how that content’s landing, who’s seeing it, making decisions based on that,” she says.

    Fiji TV digital media specialist Edna Low says social media data analytics like engagement and click-through rates provide valuable insight into audience preferences, behaviours and demographics.

    “Social media platforms often dictate what topics are trending and what content resonates with audiences, which can shape editorial decisions and coverage priorities,” she says.

    Fiji TV’s director of news, current affairs and sports, Felix Chaudhary, echoes this.

    “We realise the critical importance of engaging with our viewers and potential viewers via online platforms,” he says. “All our new recruits/interns have to be internet and social media savvy.”

    Transitioning his organisation to a fully online model is the path forward in the digital era, Chaudhary says.

    “Like the world’s biggest news services, we are looking in the next five to ten years to transitioning from traditional TV broadcast to streaming all our news and shows,” he says. “The world is already moving towards that, and we just have to follow suit or get left behind.”

    As TikTok gains increasing popularity among younger Fijians and social platforms introduce initiatives to combat misinformation, it seems possible that social media could snatch the top spot for Fijian’s primary news source.

    It is clear that newsrooms and journalists must either navigate the evolving digital trends and preferences of audiences or risk becoming old news.

    Catrin Gardiner contributed research to this story. Georgia Brown and Catrin Gardiner were student journalists from the Queensland University of Technology who travelled to Fiji with the support of the Australian Government’s New Colombo Plan Mobility Programme. This article is published in a partnership of QUT with Asia Pacific Report, Asia Pacific Media Network (APMN) and The University of the South Pacific.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • NFP president slams Labour leader for ‘hallucinating’ about Fiji governance

    By Anish Chand in Nadi, Fiji

    National Federation Party president Parmod Chand has described Fiji Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry as a “self-professed champion of the poor” and criticised him over “hallucinating” about the country.

    Chand made the comment when responding to remarks made by Chaudhry during FLP’s Annual Delegates Conference in Nadi on Saturday.

    Chaudhry described Fiji’s coalition government leadership as self-serving and lacking integrity, transparency and accountability.

    “As the un-elected Finance Minister in the regime of Frank Bainimarama after the 2006 coup, [Chaudhry] famously stated that people must learn to live with high prices of basic food items essentials,” said Chand.

    “The coalition government has been for the past 23 months re-establishing the foundation for genuine democracy, accountability, transparency and good governance dismantled firstly by the regime that Chaudhry was an integral part of for 18 months”.

    “The likes of Mahendra Chaudhry can continue hallucinating”.

    The current Coalition Finance Minister is Professor Biman Prasad, who is leader of the NFP.

    Republished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Hīkoi day 8: Significant disruption expected when thousands converge on capital

    RNZ News

    New Zealand’s hīkoi against the Treaty Principles Bill could be one of the largest rallies that the capital has seen for years, Wellington City Council says.

    The Hīkoi mō te Tiriti will arrive in Wellington tomorrow, and locals are being warned to expect disruption and plan ahead.

    Yesterday, about 5000 people filled the square in Palmerston North before the convoy headed south, stopping for a rally in Levin.

    Thousands of supporters were then welcomed at Takapūwāhia Marae, in Porirua, north of Wellington.

    They will have a rest day in Porirua today before gathering at Wellington’s Waitangi Park on tomorrow morning, and converging on Parliament.

    “There is likely to be some disruption to roads and highways,” the council said in a statement.

    ‘Plan ahead’ call
    “Please plan ahead if travelling by road or rail on Tuesday, November 19, as delays are possible.”

    The Hīkoi will start at 6am, travelling from Porirua to Waitangi Park, where it will arrive at 9am.

    It will then depart the park at 10am, travelling along the Golden Mile to Parliament, where it will arrive at midday.

    The Hīkoi will return to Waitangi Park at 4pm for a concert, karakia, and farewell.

    State Highways 1 and 2 busier than normal.

    Police said no significant issues had been reported as a result of the Hīkoi.

    A traffic management plan would be in place for its arrival into Wellington, with heavier than usual traffic anticipated, particularly in the Hutt Valley early Tuesday morning, and on SH2 between Lower Hutt and Wellington city.

    Anyone living or working in the city should plan accordingly, Wellington District Commander Superintendent Corrie Parnell said.

    Police ‘working with Hikoī’
    “Police have been working closely with iwi and Hīkoi organisers, and our engagement has been positive.

    “The event as it has moved down the country has been conducted peacefully, and we have every reason to believe this will continue.

    “In saying that, disruption is expected through the city centre as the hīkoi makes its way from Waitangi Park to Parliament.

    “We’ve planned ahead with NZTA, Wellington City Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council, local schools, retailers and other stakeholders to mitigate this as best possible, but Wellingtonians should be prepared for Tuesday to look a little different.”

    Protesters in Dannevirke during day 6 of Hīkoi mō te Tiriti.
    Riders on horseback have joined the Hīkoi along the route. Image: RNZ/Pokere Paewai

    Wellington Station bus hub will be closed, with buses diverted to nearby locations.

    Metlink has also added extra capacity to trains outside of peak times (9am-3pm).

    Police said parking was expected to be extremely difficult on Tuesday, especially around the bus hub, Lambton Quay and Parliament grounds.

    Wellingtonians were being to exercise patience, particularly on busy roads, Parnell said.

    “We ask you to allow more time than normal to get where you are going. Plan ahead by looking at how road closures and public transport changes might affect you, and expect that there will be delays at some point throughout the day.”

    PM: ‘We’ll wait and see’
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he was playing his approach to the Hīkoi “by ear”.

    He has been at his first APEC meeting in Peru, but will arrive back in New Zealand today.

    He said he was open to speaking with members of the Hīkoi on Tuesday, but no plans had been made as yet.

    “We haven’t made a decision. We’ll wait and see, but I’m very open to meeting, in some form or another.

    “It’s obviously building as it walks through the country and gets to Wellington, and we’ll just wait and see and take it as it comes.”

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Survey warning on Papua ‘box ticking’ mega estates project goes unheeded

    By Stephen Wright for Radio Free Asia

    Indonesia’s plan to convert over 2 million ha of conservation and indigenous lands into agriculture will cause long-term damage to the environment, create conflict and add to greenhouse gas emissions, according to a feasibility study document for the Papua region mega-project.

    The 96-page presentation reviewed by Radio Free Asia was drawn up by Sucofindo, the Indonesian government’s inspection and land surveying company.

    Dated July 4, it analyses the risks and benefits of the sugar cane and rice estate in Merauke regency on Indonesia’s border with Papua New Guinea and outlines a feasibility study that was to have been completed by mid-August.

    COP29 BAKU, 11-22 November 2024
    COP29 BAKU, 11-22 November 2024

    Though replete with warnings that “comprehensive” environmental impact assessments should take place before any land is cleared, the feasibility process appears to have been a box-ticking exercise. Sucofindo did not respond to questions from RFA, a news service affiliated with BenarNews, about the document.

    Even before the study was completed, then-President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo participated in a ceremony in Merauke on July 23 that marked the first sugar cane planting on land cleared of forest for the food estate, the government said in a statement.

    Jokowi’s decade-long presidency ended last month.

    Excavators destroy villages
    In late July, dozens of excavators shipped by boat were unloaded in the Ilyawab district of Merauke where they destroyed villages and cleared forests and wetlands for rice fields, according to a report by civil society organisation Pusaka

    Hipolitus Wangge, an Indonesian politics researcher at Australian National University, told RFA the feasibility study document does not provide new information about the agricultural plans.

    But it makes it clear, he said, that in government there is “no specific response on how the state deals with indigenous concerns” and their consequences.

    The plan to convert as much as 2.3 million ha of forest, wetland and savannah into rice farms, sugarcane plantations and related infrastructure in the conflict-prone Papua region is part of the government’s ambitions to achieve food and energy self-sufficiency.

    Previous efforts in the nation of 270 million people have fallen short of expectations.

    Echoing government and military statements, Sucofindo said increasingly extreme climate change and the risk of international conflict are reasons why Indonesia should reduce reliance on food imports.

    Taken together, the sugarcane and rice projects represent at least a fifth of a 10,000 square km lowland area known as the TransFly that spans Indonesia and Papua New Guinea and which conservationists say is an already under-threat conservation treasure.

    Military leading role
    Indonesia’s military has a leading role in the 1.9 million ha rice plan while the government has courted investors for the sugar cane and related bioethanol projects.

    The likelihood of conflict with indigenous Papuans or of significant and long-term environmental damage applies in about 80 percent of the area targeted for development, according to Sucofindo’s analysis.

    The project’s “issues and challenges,” Sucofindo said, include “deforestation and biodiversity loss, destruction of flora and fauna habitats and loss of species”.

    It warns of long-term land degradation and erosion as well as water pollution and reduced water availability during the dry season caused by deforestation.

    Sucofindo said indigenous communities in Merauke rely on forests for livelihoods and land conversion will threaten their cultural survival. It repeatedly warns of the risk of conflict, which it says could stem from evictions and relocation.

    “Evictions have the potential to destabilize social and economic conditions,” Sucofindo said in its presentation.

    If the entire area planned for development is cleared, it would add about 392 million tons of carbon to the atmosphere in net terms, according to Sucofindo.

    That is about equal to half of the additional carbon emitted by Indonesia’s fire catastrophe in 2015 when hundreds of thousands of acres of peatlands drained for pulpwood and oil palm plantations burned for months.

    Then-President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo participates in a sugar-cane planting ceremony in Merauke
    Then-President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo participates in a sugar-cane planting ceremony in the Merauke regency of South Papua province in July. Image: Indonesian presidential office handout/Muchlis Jr

    Indonesia’s contribution to emissions that raise the average global temperature is significantly worsened by a combination of peatland fires and deforestation. Carbon stored in its globally important tropical forests is released when cut down for palm oil, pulpwood and other plantations.

    In a speech last week to the annual United Nations climate conference COP29, Indonesia’s climate envoy, a brother of recently inaugurated president Prabowo Subianto, said the new administration has a long-term goal to restore forests to 31.3 million acres severely degraded by fires in 2015 and earlier massive burnings in the 1980s and 1990s.

    Indonesia’s government has made the same promise in previous years including in its official progress report on its national contribution to achieving the Paris Agreement goal of keeping the rise in average global temperature to below 2 degrees Celsius.

    “President Prabowo has approved in principle a program of massive reforestation to these 12.7 million hectares in a biodiverse manner,” envoy Hashim Djojohadikusumo said during the livestreamed speech from Baku, Azerbaijan.

    “We will soon embark on this programme.”

    Prabowo’s government has announced plans to encourage outsiders to migrate to Merauke and other parts of Indonesia’s easternmost region, state media reported this month.

    Critics said such large-scale movements of people would further marginalise indigenous Papuans in their own lands and exacerbate conflict that has simmered since Indonesia took control of the region in the late 1960s.

    Republished from BenarNews with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Western media ‘parrots Israeli propaganda’ over Gaza, says analyst

    Pacific Media Watch

    A media studies professor at Qatar’s Doha Institute for Graduate Studies has completed empirical studies examining Western media coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza — and his findings have been highly critical.

    Professor Mohamad Elmasry found that Western media have failed to do much more than “parrot Israeli propaganda regarding al-Shifa Hospital [in Gaza City] and the war more generally”.

    Western news outlets, such as BBC, CNN, Sky News, MSNBC, Fox News — and others that are frequent sources of news in New Zealand — “tended to rely overwhelmingly on Israeli and pro-Israeli sources,” he told Al Jazeera.

    “Palestinian sources were mostly neglected as were pro-Palestinian sources.

    “It’s not a conspiracy; it’s not as though journalists are showing up to work and saying, ‘we’re really going to make the Israelis look good today’.

    “But there is a structural problem [in the media] today,” Dr Elmasry added.

    “Western news organisations simply do not get Israel-Palestine right.”

    US ‘scoffs’ at international law
    In a separate interview yesterday, Dr Elmasry blamed the United States for ignoring international law to lead the world to “where we are” over the ongoing Gaza genocide with no end in sight.

    “About 95 percent of Israel’s weapons come from the United States and Germany, so as long as those countries scoff at the idea of international law, we won’t get anywhere with the calls for an arms embargo against Israel,” Dr Elmasry said.


    Professor Mohamad Elmasry on why there is a stalemate over Gaza genocide. Video: Al Jazeera

    “There has been a suggestion that there might be a draft resolution put forward at the United Nations Security Council,” he added.

    “There is no question in my mind that nearly all of the countries on the Security Council would support that resolution”.

    All countries except for the US, Dr Elmasry added.

    “There is also no question in my mind that the United States would veto it, so one of the reasons why we are where we are is because of the United States.”

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Plea to bar Prabowo from UK as Indonesian security forces crack down on Papuan rally

    Asia Pacific Report

    A West Papuan advocacy group for self-determination for the colonised Melanesians has appealed to the United Kingdom government to cancel its planned reception for new Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.

    “Prabowo is a blood-stained war criminal who is complicit in genocide in East Timor and West Papua,” claimed an exiled leader of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), Benny Wenda.

    He said he hoped the government would stand up for human rights and a “habitable planet” by cancelling its reception for Prabowo.

    Prabowo, who was inaugurated last month, is on a 12-day trip to China, the United States, Peru, Brazil, and the United Kingdom.

    He is due in the UK on Monday, November 19.

    The trip comes as Indonesian security forces brutally suppressed a protest against Indonesia’s new transmigration strategy in the Papuan region.

    Wenda, an interim president of ULMWP, said Indonesia was sending thousands of industrial excavators to destroy 5 million hectares of Papuan forest along wiith thousands of troops to violently suppress any resistance.

    “Prabowo has also restarted the transmigration settlement programme that has made us a minority in our own land. He wants to destroy West Papua,” the UK-based Wenda said in a statement.

    ‘Ghost of Suharto’ returns
    “For West Papuans, the ghost of Suharto has returned — the New Order regime still exists, it has just changed its clothes.

    “It is gravely disappointing that the UK government has signed a ‘critical minerals’ deal with Indonesia, which will likely cover West Papua’s nickel reserves in Tabi and Raja Ampat.

    “The UK must understand that there can be no real ‘green deal’ with Indonesia while they are destroying the third largest rainforest on earth.”

    Wenda said he was glad to see five members of the House of Lords — Lords Harries, Purvis, Gold, Lexden, and Baroness Bennett — hold the government to account on the issues of self-determination, ecocide, and a long-delayed UN fact-finding visit.

    “We need this kind of scrutiny from our parliamentary supporters more than ever now,” he said.

    Prabowo is due to visit Oxford Library as part of his diplomatic visit.

    “Why Oxford? The answer is clearly because the peaceful Free West Papua Campaign is based here; because the Town Hall flies our national flag every December 1st; and because I have been given Freedom of the City, along with other independence leaders like Nelson Mandela,” Wenda said.

    This visit was not an isolated incident, he said. A recent cultural promotion had been held in Oxford Town Centre, addressed by the Indonesian ambassador in an Oxford United scarf.

    Takeover of Oxford United
    “There was the takeover of Oxford United by Anindya Bakrie, one of Indonesia’s richest men, and Erick Thohir, an Indonesian government minister.

    “This is not about business — it is a targeted campaign to undermine West Papua’s international connections. The Indonesian Embassy has sponsored the Cowley Road Carnival and attempted to ban displays of the Morning Star, our national flag.

    “They have called a bomb threat in on our office and lobbied to have my Freedom of the City award revoked. Indonesia is using every dirty trick they have in order to destroy my connection with this city.”

    Wenda said Indonesia was a poor country, and he blamed the fact that West Papua was its poorest province on six decades of colonialism.

    “There are giant slums in Jakarta, with homeless people sleeping under bridges. So why are they pouring money into Oxford, one of the wealthiest cities in Europe?” Wenda said.

    “The UK has been my home ever since I escaped an Indonesian prison in the early 2000s. My family and I have been welcomed here, and it will continue to be our home until my country is free and we can return to West Papua.”

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • NZ’s Treaty Principles Bill ‘inviting civil war’, says former PM Shipley

    RNZ News

    A former New Zealand prime minister, Dame Jenny Shipley, has warned the ACT Party is “inviting civil war” with its attempt to define the principles of the 1840 Te Tiriti o Waitangi in law.

    The party’s controversial Treaty Principles Bill passed its first reading in Parliament on Thursday, voted for by ruling coalition members ACT, New Zealand First and National.

    National has said its MPs will vote against it at the second reading, after only backing it through the first as part of the coalition agreement with ACT.

    Voting on the bill was interrupted when Te Pāti Māori’s Hauraki Waikato MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke tore up a copy of the bill and launched into a haka, inspiring other opposition MPs and members of the public gallery to join in.

    Dame Jenny, who led the National Party from 1997 until 2001 and was prime minister for two of those years, threw her support behind Maipi-Clarke.

    “The Treaty, when it’s come under pressure from either side, our voices have been raised,” she told RNZ’s Saturday Morning.

    “I was young enough to remember Bastion Point, and look, the Treaty has helped us navigate. When people have had to raise their voice, it’s brought us back to what it’s been — an enduring relationship where people then try to find their way forward.

    “And I thought the voices of this week were completely and utterly appropriate, and whether they breach standing orders, I’ll put that aside.

    “The voice of Māori, that reminds us that this was an agreement, a contract — and you do not rip up a contract and then just say, ‘Well, I’m happy to rewrite it on my terms, but you don’t count.’

    Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipa-Clarke led a haka in Parliament after the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill
    Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipa-Clarke led a haka in Parliament and tore up a copy of the Treaty Principles Bill at the first reading in Parliament on Thursday . . . . a haka is traditionally used as an indigenous show of challenge, support or sorrow. Image: RNZ/Samuel Rillstone

    “I would raise my voice. I’m proud that the National Party has said they will not be supporting this, because you cannot speak out of both sides of your mouth.

    “And I think any voice that’s raised, and there are many people — pākeha and Māori who are not necessarily on this hikoi — who believe that a relationship is something you keep working at. You don’t just throw it in the bin and then try and rewrite it as it suits you.”

    Her comments come after Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called the bill “simplistic” and “unhelpful”, and former Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson — who negotiated more settlements than any other — said letting it pass its first reading would do “great damage” to National’s relationship with Māori.


    The Treaty Principles Bill reading vote.    Video: RNZ News

    Dame Jenny said past attempts to codify Treaty principles in law had failed.

    “While there have been principles leaked into individual statutes, we have never attempted to — in a formal sense — put principles in or over top of the Treaty as a collective. And I caution New Zealand — the minute you put the Treaty into a political framework in its totality, you are inviting civil war.

    “I would fight against it. Māori have every reason to fight against it.

    “This is a relationship we committed to where we would try and find a way to govern forward. We would respect each other’s land and interests rights, and we would try and be citizens together — and actually, we are making outstanding progress, and this sort of malicious, politically motivated, fundraising-motivated attempt to politicise the Treaty in a new way should raise people’s voices, because it is not in New Zealand’s immediate interest.

    “And you people should be careful what they wish for. If people polarise, we will finish up in a dangerous position. The Treaty is a gift to us to invite us to work together. And look, we’ve been highly successful in doing that, despite the odd ruction on the way.”

    She said New Zealand could be proud of the redress it had made to Māori, “where we accepted we had just made a terrible mess on stolen land and misused the undertakings of the Treaty, and we as a people have tried to put that right”.

    “I just despise people who want to use a treasure — which is what the Treaty is to me — and use it as a political tool that drives people to the left or the right, as opposed to inform us from our history and let it deliver a future that is actually who we are as New Zealanders . . .  I condemn David Seymour for his using this, asking the public for money to fuel a campaign that I think really is going to divide New Zealand in a way that I haven’t lived through in my adult life. There’s been flashpoints, but I view this incredibly seriously.”

    ‘Equal enjoyment of the same fundamental human rights’
    In response, David Seymour said the bill actually sought to “solve” the problem of “treating New Zealanders based on their ethnicity”.

    “Te Pāti Māori acted in complete disregard for the democratic system of which they are a part during the first reading of the bill, causing disruption, and leading to suspension of the House.

    “The Treaty Principles Bill commits to protecting the rights of everyone, including Māori, and upholding Treaty settlements. It commits to give equal enjoyment of the same fundamental human rights to every single New Zealander.

    “The challenge for people who oppose this bill is to explain why they are so opposed to those basic principles.”

    On Thursday, following the passing of the bill’s first reading, he said he was looking forward to seeing what New Zealanders had to say about it during the six-month select committee process.

    “The select committee process will finally democratise the debate over the Treaty which has until this point been dominated by a small number of judges, senior public servants, academics, and politicians.

    “Parliament introduced the concept of the Treaty principles into law in 1975 but did not define them. As a result, the courts and the Waitangi Tribunal have been able to develop principles that have been used to justify actions that are contrary to the principle of equal rights. Those actions include co-governance in the delivery of public services, ethnic quotas in public institutions, and consultation based on background.

    “The principles of the Treaty are not going away. Either Parliament can define them, or the courts will continue to meddle in this area of critical political and constitutional importance.

    “The purpose of the Treaty Principles Bill is for Parliament to define the principles of the Treaty, provide certainty and clarity, and promote a national conversation about their place in our constitutional arrangements.”

    He said the bill in no way would alter or amend the Treaty itself.

    “I believe all New Zealanders deserve tino rangatiratanga — the right to self-determination. That all human beings are alike in dignity. The Treaty Principles Bill would give all New Zealanders equality before the law, so that we can go forward as one people with one set of rights.”

    The Hīkoi today was in Hastings, on its way to Wellington, where it is expected to arrive on Monday.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • NZ’s Treaty Principles Bill haka highlights tensions between Māori tikanga and rules of Parliament

    By Lillian Hanly, RNZ News political reporter, Craig McCulloch, RNZ deputy political editor, and Te Manu Korihi

    Te Pāti Māori’s extraordinary display of protest — interrupting the first vote on the Treaty Principles Bill — has highlighted the tension in Aotearoa New Zealand between Māori tikanga, or customs, and the rules of Parliament.

    When called on to cast Te Pāti Māori’s vote, its MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke instead launched into a haka, ripping a copy of the legislation in half.

    She was joined by other opposition MPs and onlookers, prompting Speaker Gerry Brownlee to temporarily suspend Parliament and clear out the public gallery.

    Brownlee subsequently censured Maipi-Clarke, describing her conduct as “appallingly disrespectful” and “grossly disorderly”.

    Maipi-Clarke was named and suspended, barring her from voting or entering the debating chamber for a 24-hour period. She also had her pay docked.


    Te Pāti Māori about to record their vote.   Video: RNZ/Parliament
    ‘Ka mate, ka mate’ – when is it appropriate to perform haka?

    The Ngāti Toa haka performed in Parliament was the well-known “Ka mate, Ka mate,” which tells the story of chief Te Rauparaha who was being chased by enemies and sought shelter where he hid. Once his enemies left he came out into the light.

    Ngāti Toa chief executive and rangatira Helmut Modlik told RNZ the haka was relevant to the debate. He said the bill had put Māori self-determination at risk – “ka mate, ka mate” – and Māori were reclaiming that – “ka ora, ka ora”.

    Haka was not governed by rules or regulation, Modlik said. It could be used as a show of challenge, support or sorrow.

    “In the modern setting, all of these possibilities are there for the use of haka, but as an expression of cultural preferences, cultural power, world view, ideas, sounds, language – it’s rather compelling.”

    Modlik acknowledged that Parliament operated according to its own conventions but said the “House and its rules only exist because our chiefs said it could be here”.

    “If you’re going to negate . . .  the constitutional and logical basis for your House being here . . . with your legislation, then that negates your right to claim it as your own to operate as you choose.”

    He argued critics were being too sensitive, akin to “complaining about the grammar being used as people are crying that the house is on fire”.

    “The firemen are complaining that they weren’t orderly enough,” Modlik said. “They didn’t use the right words.”

    Robust response expected
    Modlik said Seymour should expect a robust response to his own passionate performance and theatre: “That’s the Pandora’s Box he’s opening”.

    Following the party’s protest yesterday, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi told reporters “everyone should be proud to see [the haka] in its true context.”

    “We love it when the All Blacks do it, but what about when the ‘blackies’ do it?” he said.

    Today, speaking to those gathered for the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti in Rotorua, Waititi said the party used “every tool available to us to use in the debates in that House”.

    “One of those tools are the Māori tools we take from our kete, which is haka, which is waiata, which is pōkeka — all of those things that our tīpuna have left us. Those are natural debating tools on the marae.”

    What does Parliament’s rulebook have to say?
    Parliament is governed by its own set of rules known as Standing Orders and Speakers’ Rulings. They endow the Speaker with the power and responsibility to “maintain order and decorum” in the House.

    The rules set out the procedures to be followed during a debate and subsequent vote. MPs are banned from using “offensive or disorderly words” or making a “personal reflection” against another member.

    MPs can also be found in contempt of Parliament if they obstruct or impede the House in the performance of its functions.

    Examples of contempt include assaulting, threatening or obstructing an MP, or “misconducting oneself” in the House.

    Under Standing Orders, Parliament’s proceedings can be temporarily suspended “in the case of any grave disorder arising in committee”.

    The Speaker may order any member “whose conduct is highly disorderly” to leave the chamber. For example, Brownlee ejected Labour MP Willie Jackson when he refused to apologise for calling Seymour a liar.

    The Speaker may also “name” any member “whose conduct is grossly disorderly” and then call for MPs to vote on their suspension, as occurred in the case of Maipi-Clarke.

    Members of the public gallery can also be required to leave if they interrupt proceedings or “disturb or disrupt the House”.

    ‘Abusing tikanga of Parliament’
    Seymour has previously criticised Te Pāti Māori for abusing the “the tikanga of Parliament,” and on Thursday he called for further consequences.

    “The Speaker needs to make it clear that the people of New Zealand who elect people to this Parliament have a right for their representative to be heard, not drowned out by someone doing a haka or getting in their face making shooting gestures,” Seymour said.

    Former Speaker Sir Lockwood Smith told RNZ the rules existed to allow rational and sensible debate on important matters.

    “Parliament makes the laws that govern all our lives, and its performance and behaviour has to be commensurate with that responsibility.

    “It is not just a stoush in a pub. It is the highest court in the land and its behaviour should reflect that.”

    Sir Lockwood said he respected Māori custom, but there were ways that could be expressed within the rules. He said he was also saddened by “the venom directed personally” at Seymour.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Hīkoi day five: 10,000 join as Treaty bill protest halts traffic in Rotorua

    RNZ News

    An estimated 10,000 people have marched through Rotorua today as part of Hīkoi mō te Tiriti protesting against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill.

    Due to the size of the group, Fenton Street was blocked temporarily as the Hīkoi went through, police said.

    It is anticipated that this afternoon the main Hīkoi will travel via Taupō to Hastings, where participants will stay overnight.

    Meanwhile, in Gisborne, a smaller hīkoi of around 80 people left Te Poho-O-Rāwiri Marae this morning heading south, accompanied by several vehicles.

    There have been no problems reported at any of these locations.

    Hīkoi activation events have now concluded for Te Waipounamu South Island ahead of their convoy to Parliament.

    Tuesday, November 19 will mark day 10 of the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti and kotahitanga o Ngā Iwi ki Waitangi Park — everyone will meet at Waitangi Park on Wellington’s waterfont before walking to the steps of the parliamentary Beehive.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.


    Hīkoi treaty bill protest heads south from Rotorua. Video: RNZ News

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Call for expanded Local Democracy Reporting scheme as NZME plans to shut community papers

    RNZ News

    A group representing local councils in Aotearoa New Zealand is calling for the Local Democracy Reporting programme to be expanded after the media company NZME announced a proposal to close 14 community newspapers.

    The LDR programme funds local authority coverage at various publications and is managed and funded by RNZ with support from NZ On Air.

    It covers most regions, apart from Waikato, Hawke’s Bay, the Kāpiti Coast, Otago, and parts of Manawatū-Whanganui and Canterbury.

    Local Government NZ, a body representing most councils, said the programme should be expanded to all communities.

    “Community newspapers have long played a key role in councils sharing what’s happening locally — from roading, parks and emergency management to big decisions about the future of their region,” LGNZ president Sam Broughton said in a statement.

    Broughton was concerned NZME’s plan to shut 14 papers would have a devastating impact on a combined 850,000 readers.

    “We are concerned that a move like this could have a negative impact on turnout in next year’s local elections.”

    Isolating rural communities
    Central Hawke’s Bay mayor Alex Walker said the lack of news coverage would isolate rural communities.

    “The axeing of the 14 newspapers would mean that communities like Hawke’s Bay are left with a single subscription-only news outlet, that’s focused more on urban areas,” she said.

    “These newspapers are also an effective two-way communication tool between council and the people they serve; particularly our older or more remote population who do not always have access to electronic media.”

    The group suggested that the LDR programme’s scope be expanded to cover the rest of the country.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • NZ’s Treaty Principles Bill is already straining social cohesion – a referendum could be worse

    ANALYSIS: By Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato and Claire Breen, University of Waikato

    With the protest hīkoi from the Far North moving through Rotorua on its way to Wellington, it might be said ACT leader David Seymour has been granted his wish of generating an “important national conversation about the place of the Treaty in our constitutional arrangements”.

    Timed to coincide with the first reading of the contentious Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill yesterday — it passed with a vote of 68-55, the hīkoi and other similar protests are a response to what many perceive as a fundamental threat to New Zealand’s fragile constitutional framework.

    With no upper house, nor a written constitution, important laws can be fast-tracked or repealed by a simple majority of Parliament.

    As constitutional lawyer and former prime minister Geoffrey Palmer has argued about the current government’s legislative style and speed, the country “is in danger of lurching towards constitutional impropriety”.

    Central to this ever-shifting and contested political ground is te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi. For decades it has been woven into the laws of the land in an effort to redress colonial wrongs and guarantee a degree of fairness and equity for Māori.

    There is a significant risk the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill would undermine these achievements, as it attempts to negate recognised rights within the original document and curtail its application in a modern setting.

    But while the bill is almost guaranteed to fail because of the other coalition parties’ refusal to support it beyond the select committee, there is another danger. Contained in an explanatory note within the bill is the following clause:

    The Bill will come into force if a majority of electors voting in a referendum support it. The Bill will come into force 6 months after the date on which the official result of that referendum is declared.

    Were David Seymour to argue his bill has been thwarted by the standard legislative process and must be advanced by a referendum, the consequences for social cohesion could be significant.

    The referendum option
    While the bill would still need to become law for the referendum to take place, the option of putting it to the wider population — either as a condition of a future coalition agreement or orchestrated via a citizens-initiated referendum — should not be discounted.

    One recent poll showed roughly equal support for and against a referendum on the subject, with around 30 percent undecided. And Seymour has had success in the past with his End of Life Choice Act referendum in 2020.

    He will also have watched the recent example of Australia’s Voice referendum, which aimed to give a non-binding parliamentary voice to Indigenous communities but failed after a heated and divisive public debate.

    The lobby group Hobson’s Pledge, which opposes affirmative action for Māori and is led by former ACT politician Don Brash, has already signalled its intention to push for a citizens-initiated referendum, arguing: “We need to deliver the kind of message that the Voice referendum in Australia delivered.”

    The Treaty and the constitution
    ACT’s bill is not the first such attempt. In 2006, the NZ First Party — then part of a Labour-led coalition government — introduced the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Deletion Bill.

    That bill failed, but the essential argument behind it was that entrenching Treaty principles in law was “undermining race relations in New Zealand”. However, ACT’s current bill does not seek to delete those principles, but rather to define and restrain them in law.

    This would effectively begin to unpick decades of careful legislative work, threaded together from the deliberations of the Waitangi Tribunal, the Treaty settlements process, the courts and Parliament.

    As such, in mid-August the Tribunal found the first iteration of ACT’s bill

    would reduce the constitutional status of the Treaty/te Tiriti, remove its effect in law as currently recognised in Treaty clauses, limit Māori rights and Crown obligations, hinder Māori access to justice, impact Treaty settlements, and undermine social cohesion.

    In early November, the Tribunal added:

    If this Bill were to be enacted, it would be the worst, most comprehensive breach of the Treaty/te Tiriti in modern times. If the Bill remained on the statute book for a considerable time or was never repealed, it could mean the end of the Treaty/te Tiriti.

    Social cohesion at risk
    Similar concerns have been raised by the Ministry of Justice in its advice to the government. In particular, the ministry noted the proposal in the bill may negate the rights articulated in Article II of the Treaty, which affirms the continuing exercise of tino rangatiratanga (self-determination):

    Any law which fails to recognise the collective rights given by Article II calls into question the very purpose of the Treaty and its status in our constitutional arrangements.

    The government has also been advised by the Ministry of Justice that the bill may lead to discriminatory outcomes inconsistent with New Zealand’s international legal obligations to eliminate discrimination and implement the rights of Indigenous peoples.

    All of these issues will become heightened if a referendum, essentially about the the removal of rights guaranteed to Māori in 1840, is put to the vote.

    Of course, citizens-initiated referendums are not binding on a government, but they carry much politically persuasive power nonetheless. And this is not to argue against their usefulness, even on difficult issues.

    But the profound constitutional and wider democratic implications of the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, and any potential referendum on it, should give everyone pause for thought at this pivotal moment.The Conversation

    Dr Alexander Gillespie is professor of law, University of Waikato and Claire Breen is professor of Law, University of Waikato. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • NZ’s Hīkoi challenging controversial draft bill ‘redefines activism’, says Herald

    Pacific Media Watch

    As thousands take to the streets this week to “honour” the country’s 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, the largest daily newspaper New Zealand Herald says the massive event is “redefining activism”.

    The Hīkoi mō te Tiriti has been underway since Sunday, with thousands of New Zealanders from all communities and walks of life traversing the more than 2000 km length of the country from Cape Reinga to Bluff and converging on the capital Wellington.

    The marches are challenging the coalition government Act Party’s proposed Treaty Principles Bill, introduced last week by co-leader David Seymour.

    The Bill had its first reading in Parliament today as a young first time opposition Te Pāti Māori MP, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, was suspended for leading a haka and ripping up a copy of the Bill disrupting the vote, and opposition Labour Party’s Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson was also “excused” from the chamber for calling Seymour a “liar” against parliamentary rules.

    After a second attempt at voting, the three coalition parties won 68-55 with all three opposition parties voting against.

    In its editorial today, hours before the debate and vote, The New Zealand Herald said supporters of Toitū te Tiriti, the force behind the Hīkoi, were seeking a community “reconnection” and described their kaupapa as an “activation, not activism; empowerment, not disruption; education, not protest”.

    “Many of the supporters on the Hīkoi don’t consider themselves political activists. They are mums and dads, rangatahi, professionals, Pākehā, and Tauiwi (other non-Māori ethnicities),” The Herald said.

    ‘Loaded, colonial language’
    “Mainstream media is often accused of using ‘loaded, colonial language’ in its headlines. Supporters of Toitū te Tiriti, however, see the movement not as a political protest but as a way to reconnect with the country’s shared history and reflect on New Zealand’s obligations under Te Tiriti.

    “While some will support the initiative, many Pākehā New Zealanders are responding to it with unequivocal anger; others feel discomfort about suggestions of colonial guilt or inherited privilege stemming from historical injustices.”

    The Herald said that politicians like Seymour advocated for a “multicultural” New Zealand, promising equal treatment for all cultures. While this vision sounded appealing, “it glosses over the partnership outlined in Te Tiriti”.

    “Seymour argues he is fighting for respect for all, but when multiculturalism is wielded as a political tool, it can obscure indigenous rights and maintain colonial dominance. For many, it’s an unsettling ideology to contemplate,” the newspaper said.

    “A truly multicultural society would recognise the unique status of tangata whenua, ensuring Māori have a voice in decision-making as the indigenous people.

    “However, policies framed under ‘equal rights’ often silence Māori perspectives and undermine the principles of Te Tiriti.

    “Seymour’s proposed Treaty Principles Bill prioritises Crown sovereignty, diminishing the role of hapū (sub-tribes) and excluding Māori from national decision-making. Is this the ‘equality’ we seek, or is it a rebranded form of colonial control?”

    Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke
    Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke . . . led a haka and tore up a copy of Seymour’s Bill in Parliament. Image: TVNZ screenshot APR

    Heart of the issue
    The heart of the issue, said The Herald, was how “equal” was interpreted in the context of affirmative action.

    “Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel argues that true equality acknowledges historical injustices and demands action to correct them. In Aotearoa, addressing the legacy of colonisation is essential,” the paper said.

    “Affirmative action is not about giving an unfair advantage; it’s about levelling the playing field so everyone has equal opportunities.

    “Some politicians sidestep the real work needed to honour Te Tiriti by pushing for an ‘equal’ and ‘multicultural’ society. This approach disregards Aotearoa’s unique history, where tangata whenua hold a constitutionally recognised status.

    “The goal is not to create division but to fulfil a commitment made more than 180 years ago and work towards a partnership based on mutual respect. We all have a role to play in this partnership.

    “The Hīkoi mō te Tiriti is more than a march; it’s a movement rooted in education, healing, and building a shared future.

    “It challenges us to look beyond superficial equality and embrace a partnership where all voices are heard and the mana (authority) of tangata whenua is upheld.”

    The first reading of the bill was advanced in a failed attempt to distract from the impact of the national Hikoi.

    RNZ reports that more than 40 King’s Counsel lawyers say the Bill seeks to “rewrite the Treaty itself” and have called on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and the coalition government to “act responsibly now and abandon” the draft law.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Collins and Rocket Lab challenged over satellites linked to Israeli war crimes

    Asia Pacific Report

    The Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) has written to the Minister for Space Judith Collins and Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck to warn that satellites being launched from the Māhia Peninsula are “highly likely” to conduct surveillance for Israel.

    And also to assist in the commission of war crimes in Gaza and in Lebanon, said PSNA national chair John Minto.

    “Three companies are of particular concern to us: BlackSky Technology, Capella Space, and HawkEye 360,” Minto said in a statement.

    “In particular, BlackSky has a US$150 million contract to supply high temporal frequency images and analysis to Israel,” Minto said.

    “We believe it is highly likely that BlackSky provides data to Israel which it uses to target civilian infrastructure across Gaza and Lebanon.”

    Minto said that PSNA understood that Rocket Lab had launched satellites for BlackSky since 2019.

    The advocacy group also aware that by the end of 2024, Rocket Lab was expected to begin deploying BlackSky’s constellation of next generation earth observation satellites, with improved capability.

    Asking for suspension
    “We are asking the minister and Rocket Lab to suspend all further satellite launches for BlackSky, full stop,” Minto said.

    “For Capella Space and HawkEye 360, we are asking that the minister suspend satellite launches from the Māhia Peninsula until an investigation has taken place to assure New Zealanders that further launches will not put us in breach of our commitments under international law.

    “New Zealanders don’t want our country used to support war crimes committed by Israel or any other country”, he said.

    “If we are serious about our responsibilities under international law, including the Genocide Convention, then we must act now.”

    Stopping the satellite launches was the “least we can do”.

    A PSNA support lawyer, Sam Vincent, said: “New Zealand has solemn responsibilities under international law which must trump any short-term profit for Rocket Lab or the convenience of our government.”

    He said that all three companies were sponsors of a geospatial intelligence conference in Israel taking place in January 2025 [Ramon GeoInt360], of which the Israel Ministry of Defence and BlackSky were “leading partners” and HawkEye 360 and Capella Space were sponsors.

    Minto added: “All the alarm bells are ringing. These companies are up their eyeballs in support for Israel.”


    This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • NZ’s Treaty Principles Bill passes first reading after Māori MP evicted over haka

    RNZ News

    New Zealand’s controversial Treaty Principles Bill passed its first reading in Parliament today and will now go to the Justice Committee for consideration as the national Hīkoi continued its journey to the capital.

    Opposition Te Pati Māori’s Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke was suspended from the House following a haka.

    Maipi-Clarke interrupted the vote on the Bill’s first reading with the Ka Mate haka taken up by members of the opposition and people in the public gallery.

    Meanwhile, thousands continued their Hīkoi mō te Tiriti on the fourth day towards Wellington opposed to the draft legislation.

    A huge crowd earlier stopped traffic in Hamilton as the national Hīkoi made its way through the city.

    During the haka by Maipi-Clarke, Speaker Gerry Brownlee rose to his feet.

    When it finished, he suspended Parliament and asked for the public gallery to be cleared.

    First vote attempt disrupted
    It caused enough disruption that the Speaker suspended Parliament during the vote on the first reading.

    Labour’s Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson was ejected from the House after calling the Bill’s sponsor ACT leader David Seymour a “liar” — breaking parliamentary rules.

    When the House returned, Brownlee said Maipi-Clarke’s behaviour was “grossly disorderly”, “appallingly disrespectful”, and “premeditated”.

    The government parties voted in favour of the Bill, with opposition parties voting against.

    The bill passed its first reading in spite of the opposition Greens calling for its MPs to be allowed to vote individually on their conscience.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    Labour MP Willie Jackson “excused” from the House.  Video: RNZ

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Hīkoi day four: Setting off from Huntly on way to Wellington – bill reading

    RNZ News

    Thousands of people are continuing their North Island hīkoi as the legislation they are protesting against, the Treaty Principles Bill, gets its first reading in Parliament today.

    The hīkoi enters day four and headed off from Huntly, destined for Rotorua today, after it advanced through Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau yesterday.

    Traffic was at a standstill in Kirikiriroa Hamilton and the hīkoi has filled the road from one side to the other.

    Meanwhile, members of the King’s Counsel, some of New Zealand’s most senior legal minds, say the controversial bill “seeks to rewrite the Treaty itself” and are calling on the prime minister and the coalition government to “act responsibly now and abandon” it.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Hundreds of Israel lobbyists ‘writing America’s news’, reveals new probe

    Pacific Media Watch

    Hundreds of former employees of Israel lobbying groups such as AIPAC, StandWithUs and CAMERA are working in top newsrooms across the United States, writing and producing America’s news — including on Israel-Palestine, reports a new investigation.

    These outlets include MSNBC, The New York Times, CNN and Fox News, says the MintPress News inquiry written by Alan MacLeod.

    “Some of these former lobbyists are responsible for producing content on Israel and Palestine — a gigantic and undisclosed conflict of interest,” MacLeod writes.

    “Many key US newsroom staff were also formerly Israeli spies or intelligence agents, standing in stark contrast to journalists with pro-Palestine sentiments, who have been purged en masse since October 7, 2023.”

    This MintPress News investigation is part of a series detailing Israel’s influence on American media.

    An earlier report exposed the former Israeli spies and military intelligence officials working in US newsrooms.

    “The fight for control over the Israel-Palestine narrative has been as intense as the war on the ground itself,” writes MacLeod.

    Criticised for ‘distinct bias’
    “US media have been widely criticised for displaying a distinct bias towards the Israeli perspective.”

    However, MacLeod said this new investigation had revealed “not only is the press skewed in favour of Israel, but it is also written and produced by Israeli lobbyists themselves”.

    “This investigation unearths a network of hundreds of former members of the Israel lobby working at some of America’s most influential news organisations, helping to shape the public’s understanding of events in the Middle East.

    “In the process, it helps whitewash Israeli crimes and manufacture consent for continued US participation in what a wide range of international organisations have described as a genocide.”

    The report author, Alan MacLeod, is senior staff writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017, he published two books, Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent and writes for a range of publications.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • West Papuan leader makes ‘raise our banned flag’ plea over new threat

    Asia Pacific Report

    An exiled West Papuan leader has called on supporters globally to show their support by raising the Morning Star flag — banned by Indonesia — on December 1.

    “Whether in your house, your workplace, the beach, the mountains or anywhere else, please raise our flag and send us a picture,” said United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) interim president Benny Wenda.

    “By doing so, you give West Papuans strength and courage and show us we are not alone.”

    The plea came in response to a dramatic step-up in military reinforcements for the Melanesian region by new President Prabowo Subianto, who was inaugurated last month, in an apparent signal for a new crackdown on colonised Papuans.

    January 1 almost 63 years ago was when the Morning Star flag of independence was flown for the first time in the former Dutch colony. However, Indonesia took over in a so-called “Act of Free Choice” that has been widely condemned as a sham.

    “The situation in occupied West Papua is on a knife edge,” said the UK-based Wenda in a statement on the ULMWP website.

    He added that President Prabowo had announced the return of a “genocidal transmigration settlement policy”.

    Indigenous people a minority
    “From the 1970s, transmigration brought hundreds of thousands of Javanese settlers into West Papua, ultimately making the Indigenous people a minority in our own land,” Wenda said.

    “At the same time, Prabowo [is sending] thousands of soldiers to Merauke to safeguard the destruction of our ancestral forest for a set of gigantic ecocidal developments.

    “Five million hectares of Papuan forest are set to be ripped down for sugarcane and rice plantations.

    “West Papuans are resisting Prabowo’s plan to wipe us out, but we need all our supporters to stand beside us as we battle this terrifying new threat.”

    The Morning Star is illegal in West Papua and frequently protesters who have breached this law have faced heavy jail sentences.

    “If we raise [the flag], paint it on our faces, draw it on a banner, or even wear its colours on a bracelet, we can face up to 15 or 20 years in prison.

    “This is why we need people to fly the flag for us. As ever, we will be proudly flying the Morning Star above Oxford Town Hall. But we want to see our supporters hold flag raisings everywhere — on every continent.

    ‘Inhabiting our struggle’
    “Whenever you raise the flag, you are inhabiting the spirit of our struggle.”

    Wenda appealed to everyone in West Papua — “whether you are in the cities, the villages, or living as a refugee or fighter in the bush” — to make December 1 a day of prayer and reflection on the struggle.

    “We remember our ancestors and those who have been killed by the Indonesian coloniser, and strengthen our resolve to carry on fighting for Merdeka — our independence.”

    Wenda said the peaceful struggle was making “great strides forward” with a constitution, a cabinet operating on the ground, and a provisional government with a people’s mandate.

    “We know that one day soon the Morning Star will fly freely in our West Papuan homeland,” he said.

    “But for now, West Papuans risk arrest and imprisonment if we wave our national flag. We need our supporters around the world to fly it for us, as we look forward to a Free West Papua.”

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Senior NZ lawyers call for Treaty Principles Bill to be abandoned

    By Lillian Hanly, RNZ political reporter

    Members of the King’s Counsel, some of New Zealand’s most senior legal minds, say the controversial Treaty Principles Bill “seeks to rewrite the Treaty itself” and are calling on the prime minister and the coalition government to “act responsibly now and abandon” it.

    More than 40 KCs have written to the prime minister and attorney-general outlining their “grave concerns” about the substance of the Treaty Principles Bill and its wider implications for the country’s constitutional arrangements.

    The bill is set to have its first reading in the House on Thursday, and has led to nationwide protests, with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon himself calling it “divisive”.

    Its architect, ACT leader David Seymour, has said the purpose is to provide certainty and clarity and to “promote a national conversation about their place in our constitutional arrangements”.

    “I can see why they don’t like the Treaty Principles Bill. Everyone gets a say, even if you’re not a KC,” Seymour said in a statement.

    “The debate over the Treaty has until this point been dominated by a small number of judges, senior public servants, academics, and politicians.”

    He said the select committee process would finally “democratise” the debate.

    Co-governance, ethnic quotas
    “The courts and the Waitangi Tribunal have been able to develop principles that have been used to justify actions that are contrary to the principle of equal rights. Those actions include co-governance in the delivery of public services and ethnic quotas in public institutions.

    “The Treaty Principles Bill provides an opportunity for New Zealanders — rather than the courts and the Waitangi Tribunal — to have a say on what the Treaty means. Did the Treaty give different rights to different groups, or does every citizen have equal rights? I believe all New Zealanders deserve to have a say on that question,” Seymour said.

    The senior members of the independent bar view the introduction of the bill (and the intended referendum) as “wholly inappropriate as a way of addressing such an important and complex constitutional issue”.

    The letter states the existing principles (including partnership, active protection, equity and redress) are “designed to reflect the spirit and intent of the Treaty as a whole and the mutual obligations and responsibilities of the parties”. They say the principles now represent “settled law”.

    The letter said the coalition’s bill sought to “redefine in law the meaning of te Tiriti, by replacing the existing ‘Treaty principles’ with new Treaty principles which are said to reflect the three articles of te Tiriti”.

    The hīkoi passes through Dargaville, Tuesday, 12 November 2024.
    The hīkoi passing through Dargaville yesterday. Image: Layla Bailey-McDowell/RNZ

    The lawyers say those proposed principles do not reflect te Tiriti, and, by “imposing a contested definition of the three articles, the bill seeks to rewrite the Treaty itself”.

    The Treaty Principles Bill, they say, would have the “effect of unilaterally changing the meaning of te Tiriti and its effect in law, without the agreement of Māori as the Treaty partner”.

    Historical settlements
    The proposed principle 2 “retrospectively limits Māori rights to those that existed at 1840”, they said, and the bill states that “if those rights ‘differ from the rights of everyone’, then they are only recognised to the extent agreed in historical Treaty settlements with the Crown”.

    The lawyers said that erased the Crown’s Article 2 guarantee to Māori of tino rangatiratanga.

    “By recognising Māori rights only when incorporated into Treaty settlements with the Crown, this proposed principle also attempts to exclude the courts, which play a crucial role in developing the common law and protecting indigenous and minority rights.”

    They also explained the proposed principle 3 did not “recognise the fundamental Article 2 guarantee to Māori of the right to be Māori and to have their tikanga Māori (customs, values and customary law) recognised and protected in our law”.

    They said it was not for the government of the day to “retrospectively and unilaterally reinterpret constitutional treaties”.

    “This would offend the basic principles which underpin New Zealand’s representative democracy.”

    They added that the bill would cause significant legal confusion and uncertainty, “inevitably resulting in protracted litigation and cost”, and would have the “opposite effect of its stated purpose of providing certainty and clarity”.

    In regards to the wider process and impact of the bill, they pointed to a lack of meaningful engagement as well as the finding by the Waitangi Tribunal that the Bill was a breach of the Treaty.

    The ACT Party has long argued the original articles have been interpreted by the courts, the Waitangi Tribunal and successive governments — over decades — in a way that has amplified their significance and influence beyond the original intent.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • COP29: Does NZ have the credibility to lead carbon trading talks?

    By Eloise Gibson, RNZ climate change correspondent

    New Zealand’s Climate Change Minister Simon Watts is going to the global climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan next week, where he will be co-leading talks on international carbon trading.

    But the government has been unable to commit to using the trading mechanism he is leading high-level discussions about, and critics say he is also vulnerable over New Zealand’s backsliding on fossil fuels.

    New Zealand has consistently pushed for two things in international climate diplomacy — one is ending government subsidies for fossil fuels globally, and the other is allowing carbon trading across international borders, so one country can pay for, say, switching off a coal plant in another country.

    COP29 BAKU, 11-22 November 2024
    COP29 BAKU, 11-22 November 2024

    Nailing down the rules for making sure these carbon savings are real will be an area of focus for leaders at the COP29 summit, starting on 11 November.

    But as Watts gets ready to attend the talks, critics say his government is vulnerable to accusations of hypocrisy on both fronts.

    In a bid to bring back fossil fuel exploration, the government wants to lower financial security requirements on oil and gas companies requiring them to set aside money for the costs of decommissioning and cleaning up spills.

    The coalition says the current requirements — brought in after taxpayers had to pay to deal with a defunct oil field — are so onerous they are stopping companies wanting to look for fossil fuels.

    Billion dollar clean-ups
    At a recent hearing, Parliament’s independent environment watchdog warned going too far at relaxing requirements could leave taxpayers footing bills of billions of dollars if a clean-up is needed.

    The commission’s Geoff Simmons spoke on behalf of Commissioner Simon Upton.

    “The commissioner was really clear in his submission that he wants to place on record that he doesn’t think it is appropriate for any government, present or future, to offer any subsidies, implicit or explicit, to underwrite the cost of exploration.”

    The watchdog said that would tilt the playing field away from renewable energy in favour of fossil fuels.

    Energy Minister Shane Jones says the government’s Bill doesn’t lower the liability for fixing damage or decommissioning oil and gas wells, which remain the responsibility of the fossil fuel company in perpetuity.

    But climate activist Adam Currie says that only works if the company stays in business.

    “The watering down of those key financial safeguards increases the risk of the taxpaper having to yet again pay to decommission a failed oil field.

    “Simon Watts is about to go to COP and urge other countries to end fossil fuel subsidies while at home they are handing an open cheque to fossil fuels  .. This is a classic case of do as a say, not as I do.”

    Getting flack not feared
    Watts says he does not fear getting flack for the fossil-friendlier changes when he is in Baku, citing the government’s goal of doubling renewable energy.

    “No I’m not worried about flak, New Zealand is transitioning away from fossil fuels . . . gas [from fossil fields] is going to need to be a means by which we need to transition.”

    Nor does he see an issue with the fact he is jointly leading negotiations on a trading mechanism his own government seems unable to commit to using.

    Watts is leading talks to nail down rules on international carbon trading with Singaporean Environment Minister Grace Fu. Her country has struck a deal to invest in carbon savings in Rwanda.

    New Zealand also needs international help to meet its 2030 target, but the coalition government has not let officials pursue any deals. NZ First refuses to say if it would back this.

    Watts says his leadership role is independent of domestic politics and ministers around the world are keen to nail down the rules, as is the Azerbaijan presidency.

    “Our primary focus is to ensure that we get an outcome form those negotiators, our domestic considerations are not relevant.”

    Paris target discussions
    He said discussions on meeting New Zealand’s Paris target were still underway.

    His next challenge at home is getting Cabinet agreement on how much to promise to cut emissions from 2030-2035, the second commitment period under the Paris Agreement.

    Countries are being urged to hustle, with the United Nations saying current pledges have the planet on track for what it calls a “catastrophic” 2.5 to 2.9 degrees of heating.

    A new pledge is due for 2030-2035 in February.

    A major goal for host Azerbaijan is making progress on a deal for climate finance.

    Currently OECD countries committed to pay $100 billion a year in finance to poorer countries to adapt to and prevent the impacts of climate change.

    Not all the money has been paid as grants, with a large proportion given as loans.

    Countries are looking to agree on a replacement for the finance mechanism when it runs out in 2025.

    Watts said New Zealand would be among the nations arguing for the liability to pay to be shared more widely than the traditional list of OECD nations, bringing in other countries that can also afford to contribute.

    Oil states such as UAE have already promised specific funding despite not being part of the original climate finance deal.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Hīkoi day three: Thousands of protesters walk across Auckland Harbour Bridge

    RNZ News

    Thousands of supporters of Aotearoa New Zealand’s hīkoi mō te Tiriti — a march traversing the length of Aotearoa in protest against the Treaty Principles Bill and government policies impacting on Māori — have crossed the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

    RNZ reporters with the march said it was swaying and rocking as the protesters descended on the Westhaven side of the bridge.

    Earlier, Auckland commuters were advised to plan ahead as the hīkoi makes its way over the Harbour Bridge.

    Waka Kotahi and police say the two outer northbound lanes closed from 8.30am on Wednesday and would not re-open until around 11am. Some other on- and off-ramps will also be closed until further notice.

    The hīkoi begins the Harbour Bridge crossing.  Video: RNZ News
    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.


    This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • The last voyage of the Rainbow Warrior – Rongelap podcast series

    ABC Radio Australia and RNZ

    You probably know about the last moments of the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior in 1985.

    But what do you know about the environmental campaign ship’s last voyage before it was bombed by French secret agents in New Zealand on 10 July 1985?

    Where had it come from, why was it there and what was it doing?

    Find out in The Last Voyage of the Rainbow Warrior, a six part podcast series produced by an ABC Radio Australia and RNZ partnership.

    The series was written and hosted by James Nokise of the ABC with writers and producers Justin Gregory (RNZ) and Sophie Townsend.

    The series was assisted by Pacific journalist David Robie, author of Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage of the Rainbow Warrior; and editor Giff Johnson, Eve Burns and Hilary Hosia of the Marshall Islands Journal; along with many Marshall Islanders who spoke to the podcast crew or helped with this project.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • NZ abuse in care apology called PR stunt,’tokenistic’ by some survivors

    By Lillian Hanly, RNZ News political reporter

    Survivors of abuse in care arrived at Parliament today to hear the formal apology from the state which oversaw and inflicted harm on children.

    Public sector leaders from Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry of Health, New Zealand Police, and Ministry of Education also apologised, as did the public service commissioner and the solicitor-general, at an event preceding Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s national apology in the House.

    By the afternoon, many survivors were still trying to absorb what had been said and what it meant, with some saying it was a “PR stunt,” some calling the speeches “hollow” and others not willing to believe the words until they saw action.


    Abuse in state care — survivor reactions.   Video: RNZ

    During his apology, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said many survivors did not want to engage with the current compensation process — but more than 3500 were — and he signalled there would be an extra $32 million funnelled into that system “while we work on the new redress system”.

    Opposition leader Chris Hipkins said he formally joined with the government in its apology, saying the day was a significant step forward.

    “Today is a hugely important day for all of you, to finally hear what the Crown has failed to give you for all of these years, an apology.”

    Ken Clearwater, a long-time advocate for survivors, was at the event, saying he heard some great words but it was about “what action needs to go with it”.

    “Everyone’s saying the right things, but if you look at the policies and stuff we have at the moment, that’s not helping our children.”

    He believed National, leader of the coalition government, was going to have to change a lot of their policies.

    “So we’re apologising for what happened in the past, but the policies are still in place that are making it no different than when we were in the past.

    ‘Hollow words .. . dangerous’
    “To have hollow words at this stage would be, would be pretty dangerous.”

    Signs from protestors sit outside Parliament during the apology for abuse in state care
    Signs from protesters sit outside Parliament during the apology for abuse in state care today. Image: VNP/ Louis Collins/RNZ

    He said there had to be a belief the government would look into things, “but there’s got to be a survivor voice”.

    He mentioned Tu Chapman, a survivor who spoke at the event, who pointed out only having five minutes to speak as a survivor at an apology for survivors.

    “So once again, the survivor voice is not forefront, and I think that that’s what they’re going to have to look at, is how they get more more of the survivor voice in whatever policies they look at.”

    Another survivor, Reihana Tahau, who had been in state care in the 1980s, agreed, saying he found it ironic there was an apology on one hand while the government goes through the process of appealing Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act.

    For him, he said, “that’s the opposite, that’s counterintuitive” because 7AA was helping to stop bringing children into care.

    “I can’t understand why they would appeal something that is actually working.

    ‘Mistrust, systematic trauma’
    “And for me, my mistrust and systematic trauma, I can’t help but feeling that they’re not genuine in that, because if they were genuine, they wouldn’t be taking a thing which would potentially set up another generation for trauma.”

    He acknowledged the apology was a step in the right direction, but “it still feels like a PR thing”.

    “I do find it hard to trust people that read off a paper, because I talk from my heart.”

    He said the speech from the prime minister was “part of his job” and he did not know how “authentic that is”.

    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon
    Reihana Tahau questioned how genuine Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s apology was. Image: RNZ

    Another survivor, Nicky, also said it was a “PR stunt”, and would not provide closure.

    “This is a PR stunt for the prime minister to look good.”

    Ardern thanked
    She acknowledged Dame Jacinda Ardern for initiating the apology.

    “We’d like to thank her for starting it, but they’ve sat on things, you know, for a quarter of a century we’ve been battling.

    “We’re old, we’re broken but we’re still fighting.”

    She called specifically for Salvation Army orphanages to be investigated and for their charitable status to be investigated.

    “The government paid them to abuse me. We want that money.

    “Where did that money go? It didn’t go in our care, it didn’t go in our food, and they worked us like child labour, just like Gloriavale [a small and isolated Christian community located on the West Coast of the South Island].”

    Survivors in the room muttered or called out during the speeches, reacting — but saved their strongest reaction for Solicitor-General Una Jagose.

    Boos, cries of ‘shame’
    As she rose to speak, she was met with boos, and cries of “shame” and “disgrace”. One woman stood and turned her back. Another shouted: “You wanted us dead.”

    Another survivor, who listened quietly and intently throughout the proceedings with tears streaming at times, said he wanted to hear what the public sector leaders had to say.

    He said what Jagose said needed to be said.

    “I’m disappointed, because I’m a lawyer, I’m disappointed that she was howled down and I couldn’t hear all that she said.”

    He said he thought Jagose would be used by the government as a scapegoat.

    “Us lawyers have to speak for the people we represent, whether they’re good or bad.

    “And we shouldn’t be hung drawn and quartered because we’ve been instructed to say something or do something or fight something.”

    Clearwater said he could not believe she was there.

    ‘Nobody wanted her there’
    “By the noise there, nobody wanted her there, and so that was a bad choice on the government’s part.”

    Tu Chapman spoke on behalf of survivors at the event, and did not think the chief executives should have been at the event apologising.

    “It’s like putting the cart before the horse so to speak.”

    Chapman was angry the prime minister left before hearing some speeches, saying it was “tokenistic”.

    “I think he should have been there to listen to us, so that he could actually, authentically and genuinely apologise to us in the House this afternoon or early this morning.

    “And it might have been a little bit more meaningful, because quite right now, it just feels tokenistic.”

    Another survivor said the speeches today were “very empty, hollow”.

    ‘Carbon copy’ speech
    He said the prime minister’s speech seemed to be a “carbon copy” of when he had been there for the tabling of the report.

    In regards to the solicitor-general, he acknowledged “she was able to take what was getting handed to her and listen to it”.

    “She actually took it on and then spoke when she could.”

    He said the others seemed to want to get over with the speech fast, “that’s not how you do apologies”.

    “You take what’s coming, surely they knew there was going to be some heckling going on.”

    His message to the prime minister was not to wait, “take action now”.

    Survivors representing mothers and adopted children said they felt they had been missed out of the equation.

    More about abuse victims
    One acknowledged today was more about abuse victims, but there could be a separate apology for mothers and their children that were “taken from them unlawfully and unwilling”.

    “We would like the history of losing our children told in this country.

    “I’ve flown from Australia for this and for the few words that were said, I really thought it was pretty poor.”

    They want a full inquiry into what happened and an apology.

    Another said in regards to the apologies, there were “some people who probably needed a brandy after getting up and speaking and apologising for the departments they worked for”.

    “There was one in particular who shouldn’t have been there at all, who shouldn’t represent anybody, let alone the Crown.”

    Healing process
    Piiata Tiakitai Turi-Heenan said today was needed as part of the healing process for survivors, “this is a start”.

    She also did not think the speeches were authentic.

    “The words that were authentic came from the survivors themselves.”

    She said if the government was looking for answers, they will come from “sitting down with the survivors and sorting everything out with them, rather than around a table with people who have had no experience of surviving”.

    On the disruption of the speeches, she said “those were emotions”.

    “The focus was on silencing those emotions, but that’s exactly why we are where we are today, because they were silenced in the first place.

    “You have permission to not be silent anymore.”

    Heart ‘on sleeve’
    Another survivor said his heart was “on his sleeve at the moment”.

    He had been speaking to various MPs after the event who assured him there was support across the House to make changes.

    “I believe they’re sincere, but I’m still, I’m still thinking that I might get let down, but I’m hoping I’m wrong. I’m hoping that it does go ahead.

    “Where to for me from here is that I’m gonna keep on doing what I do, until further notice, until I know for a fact, well, this is real.”

    Chapman added the journey was only just beginning again for the survivor community.

    “Another mechanism for us now is to actually encourage our survivor community to be more intentional about their engagement with the Crown, with ministers, and hold them to account.”

    The new redress scheme
    The minister in charge of the government response, Erica Stanford, told RNZ Checkpoint the current redress system was not perfect but the announced $32 million of funding to increase capacity and get through claims faster would help.

    While some survivors queried why redress could not be addressed sooner, Stanford said nobody expected the government would be able to “turn on a dime” and deliver something straight away.

    “We will have something up and running next year,” Stanford said, but she could not commit to an exact date.

    Outbursts from survivors during the apology had been expected, Stanford said, due to the amount of “raw emotion” in the room.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Hīkoi mō te Tiriti sets off from Whangārei on day two

    RNZ News

    Emotions are running high as the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti has been welcomed to Laurie Hill Park in Whangārei by mana whenua.

    Thousands have arrived to support the kaupapa — young and old, tangata whenua and tangata tiriti, all to make a stand for the rights of Māori.

    The crowd have joined in waiata before being addressed by rangatira.

    An RNZ reporter at the scene says among the crowd, emotions are high and tears can be seen in some people’s eyes.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Trump win, 1.5 C warming breach weigh on UN climate ‘finance COP’

    By Sera Sefeti of Benar News

    Pacific delegates fear the implications of a Trump presidency and breach of the 1.5 degree Celsius warming target will overshadow negotiations on climate finance at the UN’s annual COP talks that have started in Azerbaijan this week.

    At the COP29 summit — dubbed the “finance COP” — Pacific nations will seek not just more monetary commitment from high-emitting nations but also for the funds to be paid and distributed to those countries facing the worst climate impacts.

    With the US as one of the world’s largest emitters, it is feared Trump’s past withdrawal from the Paris Agreement could foreshadow diminished American involvement in climate commitments.

    COP29 BAKU, 11-22 November 2024
    COP29 BAKU, 11-22 November 2024

    “We have our work cut-out for us. We are wary that we have the Trump administration coming through and may not be favourable to some of the climate funding that America has proposed,” Samoan academic and COP veteran Salā George Carter told BenarNews.

    “We will continue to look for other ways to work with the US, if not with the government then maybe with businesses.”

    Salā Dr George Carter
    President’s Scientific Council member Salā Dr George Carter (right) at the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) preliminary meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan. Image: Dylan Kava/PICAN

    This year, for the first time, a COP President’s Scientific Council has been formed to be actively involved in the negotiations. Carter is the sole Pacific representative.

    Past COP funding promises of US$100 billion annually from developed countries to support vulnerable nations “has never been achieved in any of the years,” he said.

    Disproportionate Pacific burden
    Pacific nations contribute minimally to global emissions but often bear a disproportionate burden of climate change impacts.

    Pacific Island Climate Action Network regional director Rufino Varea argues wealthier nations have a responsibility to support adaptation efforts in these vulnerable regions.

    “The Pacific advocates for increased climate finance from wealthier nations, utilizing innovative mechanisms like fossil fuel levies to support adaptation, loss and damage, and a just transition for vulnerable communities,” Varea told BenarNews.

    COP29 is being held in the capital of Azerbaijan, the port city of Baku on the oil and gas rich Caspian Sea, once an important waypoint on the ancient Silk Road connecting China to Europe.

    The country bordering Russia, Iran, Georgia and Armenia is now one of the world’s most fossil fuel export dependent economies.

    About 40,000 delegates will attend COP29 from all the U.N. member states including political leaders, diplomats, scientists, officials, civil society organizations, journalists, activists, Indigenous groups and many more.

    All nations are party to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and most signed up to the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and the 1.5 degree target.

    Priorities for Pacific
    Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Baron Waqa in a statement yesterday said “the priorities of the Pacific Islands countries, include keeping the 1.5 degree goal alive.”

    “The outcomes of COP 29 must deliver on what is non-negotiable – our survival,” he said.

    Delegates of Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)
    Delegates of Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) formulated their negotiating strategies at preliminary meetings in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, in preparation for COP29 talks. Image: Dylan Kava/PICAN

    Ahead of COP29, the 39 members of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) — representing the Pacific, Caribbean, African, Indian, and South China Sea — met in Baku to discuss negotiation priorities to achieve the 1.5 degree target and make meaningful progress on climate finance.

    Pacific negotiators have historically found COP outcomes disappointing, yet they continue to advocate for greater accountability from major polluters.

    “There have been people who have come to COP and refuse to attend anymore,” Carter said. “They believe it is a waste of time coming here because of very little delivery at the end of each COP.”

    Papua New Guinea is not attending in Baku in an official capacity this year, citing lack of progress, but some key PNG diplomats are present to support the Pacific’s goals.

    Climate data last week from the Europe Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service predicted 2024 will be the hottest year on record, and likely the first year to exceed the 1.5 degree threshold set in Paris.

    Science becoming marginalised
    Delegates worry science is becoming marginalised in climate negotiations, with some “arguing that we have reached 1.5, why do we continue to push for 1.5?,” Carter said.

    “Although we have reached 1.5 degrees, we should not remove it. In fact, we should keep it as a long-time goal,” he said.

    Carter argues for the importance of incorporating both scientific evidence and “our lived experience of climate change” in policy discussions.

    The fight for the Paris target and loss and damage funding has been central to Pacific advocacy at previous COPs, despite persistent resistance from some countries.

    The 1.5-degree target is “a lifeline of survival for communities and people in our region and in most island nations,” Varea said.

    He stressed the need for “a progressive climate finance goal based on the needs and priorities of developing countries, small island developing states (SIDS), and least developed countries (LDC) to enable all countries to retain the 1.5 ambition and implement measures for resilience and loss and damage (finance).”

    “As Pacific civil society, we obviously want the most ambitious outcomes to protect people and the planet.”

    Pacific negotiators include prominent leaders, such as President Hilde Heine of the Marshall Islands, Vanuatu’s Special Envoy Ralph Regenvanu, Tuvalu’s Climate Change Minister Maina Talia and negotiators Anne Rasmussen from Samoa and Fiji’s Ambassador Amena Yauvoli.

    Republished from BenarNews with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Hīkoi mō te Tiriti day one: ‘Lets make this hīkoi build a nation’

    RNZ News

    From the misty peaks of Cape Reinga to the rain-soaked streets of Kawakawa, Aotearoa New Zealand’s national hīkoi mō Te Tiriti rolled through the north and arrived in Whangārei.

    Since setting off this morning numbers have swelled from a couple of hundred to well over 1000 people, demonstrating their opposition to the coalition government’s controversial Treaty Principles Bill and other policies impacting on Māori.

    Hundreds gathered for a misty covered dawn karakia at Te Rerenga Wairua, the very top of the North Island, after meeting at the nearby town of Te Kāo the night before.

    Among them was veteran Māori rights activist and former MP Hone Harawira. He says the hīkoi is about protesting against a “blitzkreig of oppression” from the government and uplifting Māori.

    Harawira praised organisers of the hīkoi and set out his own hopes for the march.

    “It’s been a great start to the day . . .  to come here to Te Rerenga Wairua with people from all around the country and just join together, have a karakia, have some waiata and start to move on. We’re ready to go and Wellington is waiting — we can’t keep them waiting.

    “One of our kuia said it best last night. The last hīkoi built a party — the Māori Party — [but] let’s make this hīkoi build a nation. Let us focus on that,” Harawira said.

    Margie Thomson and her partner James travelled from Auckland to join the hīkoi.

    She said as a Pākeha, she was gutted by some of the government policies toward Māori and wanted to show support.

    The national hīkoi passes through Kaitaia on 11 November 2024.
    The national hīkoi passes through Kaitaia. Image: Peter de Graaf

    “The spirit of the people here is really profound . . . if people could feel they would really see the reality of the kāupapa here — the togetherness. This is really something, there is a really strong Māori movement and you really feel it.”

    By lunchtime the hīkoi had reached Kaiatia where numbers swelled to well over 1000 people. The main street had to be closed to traffic while supporters filled the streets with flags, waiata and haka.

    Tahlia, 10, made sure she had the best viewl, as people lined the streets as Te Hīkoi mō te Tiriti draws closer to Kawakawa, on its first day, 11 November, 2024.
    Tahlia, 10, made sure she had the best view, as people lined the streets as Te Hīkoi mō te Tiriti drew closer to Kawakawa, on the first day, 11 November, 2024. Image: RNZ/Peter de Graaf

    The hīkoi arrived in Whangārei this evening after covering a distance of around 280 km.

    Kākā Porowini marae in central Whangārei was hosting some of the supporters and its chair, Taipari Munro, said they were prepared to care for the masses

    “Hapu are able to pull those sorts of things together. But of course it will build as the hīkoi travels south.

    “The various marae and places where people will be hosted, will all be under preparation now.”

    Hirini Tau, Hirini Henare and Mori Rapana lead the hīkoi through Kawakawa, on 11 November, 2024.
    Hirini Tau, Hirini Henare and Mori Rapana lead the hīkoi through Kawakawa today. Image: RNZ/Peter de Graaf

    Three marae have been made available for people to stay at in Whangārei and some kai will also be provided, he said.

    Meanwhile, the Māori Law Society has set up a phone number to provide free legal assistance to marchers taking part in the hīkoi.

    Spokesperson Echo Haronga said Māori lawyers wanted to support the hīkoi in their own way.

    “This helpline is a demonstration of our manaakitanga as Māori legal professionals wanting to tautoko those people who are on the hīkoi. If a question arises for them, they’re not quite sure how handle it during the hīkoi then they know they can call this number they can speak to a Māori lawyer.”

    Ngāti Hine Health Trust staff, and others, wait to welcome Te Hīkoi mō te Tiriti, as it draws closer to Kawakawa, on its first day, 11 November, 2024.
    Ngāti Hine Health Trust staff and others wait to welcome Te Hīkoi mō te Tiriti, as it drew closer to Kawakawa today. Image: RNZ/Peter de Graaf

    Haronga stressed that she did not anticipate any issues or disturbances with the police and the helpline was open to any questions or concerns not just police and criminal enquiries.

    “It’s not actually limited to people causing a ruckus and being in trouble with the police, it also could be someone who has a question . . . and they wouldn’t know otherwise where to go to, you can also call us for that if it’s in relation to hīkoi business.”

    Hīkoi supporters will stay in Whangārei for the night before travelling to Dargaville and Auckland’s North Shore tomorrow.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.


    This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • NZ Speaker reverses journalist bar from abuse apology at Parliament

    By Giles Dexter, RNZ political reporter

    An investigative journalist who was barred from attending New Zealand’s national apology to survivors of abuse in care has now been granted accreditation.

    Parliament’s Speaker has now granted temporary Press Gallery accreditation to journalist Aaron Smale for tomorrow’s apology for abuse in care. He must, however, be accompanied by a Newsroom reporter at all times.

    It follows a significant backlash from survivors and advocates to the initial decision.

    Smale has covered abuse in care, and the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the abuse, for eight years. His work has appeared in multiple publications and websites, including Newsroom, Newshub, The Listener, The Spinoff and RNZ.

    Last week, speaker Gerry Brownlee declined an application from Newsroom for Smale to report on the apology.

    Parliament’s Press Gallery had asked for an explanation, as a refusal was quite rare, especially when a reporter met the gallery’s criteria for accreditation.

    It was told the application was declined, with the Speaker citing Smale’s conduct on a prior occasion.

    This afternoon, the Press Gallery wrote to the Speaker, requesting a more fulsome explanation.

    Speaker’s about-turn
    In an about-turn, the Speaker approved the application.

    Speaker Gerry Brownlee in select committee.
    Speaker Gerry Brownlee in select committee. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith

    The initial decision to decline Smale’s application was met with backlash by survivor groups and advocates, as well as politicians and Newsroom itself.

    At a media conference at Parliament in July, Smale and the Prime Minister had an exchange over the government’s law and order policies, and whether the Prime Minister would acknowledge the link between abuse and gang membership.

    According to Newsroom, Smale had also attended a media event at a youth justice facility in Palmerston North, and pressed Children’s Minister Karen Chhour over whether it had been appropriate to associate the memory of the Māori Battalion with the new youth justice programme.

    “The Beehive was in touch with us to say they believed he had been too forceful and too rude, in their view, in those two occasions,” Newsroom’s co-editor Tim Murphy told RNZ’s Nine to Noon programme.

    Murphy said that Smale had conceded he had pushed the children’s minister “a bit far”.

    “But the one in Parliament, he was asking specific questions and kept asking them of the Prime Minister and I think that became irritating to the Prime Minister,” Murphy said.

    ‘Most informed’ of journalists
    Describing Smale as “the most informed, possibly, probably of all New Zealand journalists” on the issue of abuse in state care institutions, Murphy said political discomfort should not be a reason to exclude Smale, and the ban should not stand.

    “He should be there, and he should be asking questions, because he’ll know more than virtually everybody else who could be,” he said.

    Murphy said Smale’s intention for his coverage of the apology itself was to write an observational piece through the eyes of survivors, and he was not intending to “get into a grilling.”

    The Royal Commission Forum, an advisory group to the commission, said denying Smale accreditation was “profoundly concerning” and a damaging decision in the lead-up to the apology.

    The Green Party said it was alarmed by the move, and said it set a dangerous precedent.

    “As a society that values the role of the Fourth Estate, we should value the work of journalists like Aaron, because it helps us take a critical look at where we have gone wrong and how we may move forward,” said the Green Party’s media and communications spokesperson Hūhana Lyndon.

    “Barring a leading journalist from an important event like this speaks to this government’s lack of accountability. It is something we might expect in Putin’s Russia, not 21st century Aotearoa New Zealand.”

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.