Waatea News: Māori Radio Station

Ken Laban joins Dale to wrap a huge weekend in hākinakina, with the Warriors bowing out of the NRL finals while Kiwi athletes delivered victories and records around the world.

The biggest heartbreak came at Eden Park, where the Warriors’ 2026 season ended with a 12-10 loss to the Newcastle Knights. The scores were locked 6-6 at halftime before Newcastle edged ahead, with a late Warriors try giving the home side one final chance before a missed conversion left them two points short.

Across the Tasman, the Sydney Roosters powered into the NRL preliminary finals, demolishing the Cronulla Sharks 46-10 after piling on 28 unanswered points in the second half.

There was plenty to celebrate internationally, with the Black Ferns continuing their unbeaten WXV Global Series campaign after a dominant 66-14 victory over Scotland in Edinburgh. New Zealand ran in 10 tries as their European campaign gathered momentum.

Kiwi endurance star Hayden Wilde was also back on top of the podium, winning the T100 race in France, while middle-distance runner Sam Tanner smashed the New Zealand road mile record at the World Road Running Championships.

Mountain biker Sam Gaze added another international victory with a sprint finish in the UCI Mountain Bike World Series, while Canterbury survived a major North Harbour comeback to secure a dramatic NPC win.

There was disappointment on the tennis court, however, as Japan defeated New Zealand 3-1 in the Davis Cup.

From Eden Park heartbreak to international triumphs, Ken Laban joins Dale to break down the winners, the big performances and the moments that shaped another packed weekend of sport.

#KenLaban #WeekendSports #Hākinakina #Warriors #OneNZWarriors #NRL #NRLFinals #BlackFerns #WXV #HaydenWilde #SamTanner #SamGaze #DavisCup #NPC #Rugby #RugbyLeague #Triathlon #Athletics #MountainBike #NZSport #Aotearoa #WaateaSports #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post WEEKEND SPORT WITH KEN LABAN: WARRIORS HEARTBREAK AS KIWI STARS SHINE appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson joins Waatea as a turbulent week at Parliament puts homelessness, conservation, the use of urgency and the future of te reo Māori firmly in the political spotlight.

The Government’s Move-on Orders legislation has passed its third reading, giving Police new powers aimed at dealing with low-level disorderly behaviour in public places. The Government says the measures will improve public safety and help prevent disorder from escalating, while opponents have raised concerns about the potential impact on homeless and vulnerable people.

The speed of lawmaking is also under scrutiny after Parliament dealt with a series of Government bills during extended sittings and urgency, adding to debate over how much time MPs and the public are being given to scrutinise significant legislative changes.

Meanwhile, Davidson joined the March for Nature in Auckland, where opposition to the Government’s conservation and environmental reforms was on full display. The Greens have promised to reverse key changes if elected, including removing what the party describes as an economic imperative for public conservation land and strengthening the role of Te Tiriti and tangata whenua in environmental decision-making.

The political battles come alongside a very different kaupapa — the celebration of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori.

The Greens used Māori Language Week to announce a $200 million, four-year commitment to te reo Māori initiatives, including additional support for teacher development, Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori and Te Mātāwai.

For Davidson, the issues intersect around a broader debate heading into Election 2026 — the place of Te Tiriti, tangata whenua, vulnerable communities and te taiao in the decisions being made at Parliament.

#MaramaDavidson #GreenParty #MoveOnOrders #Homelessness #HousingNotHandcuffs #MarchForNature #Conservation #TeTaiao #Kaitiakitanga #TeWikiOTeReoMāori #TeReoMāori #MāoriLanguageWeek #TeTiriti #TangataWhenua #Election2026 #NZPolitics #Aotearoa #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post DAVIDSON ON THE FRONT LINE: MOVE-ON ORDERS, CONSERVATION AND TE REO IN THE SPOTLIGHT appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere says the party is pursuing an ambitious agenda linking constitutional transformation, Treaty-based governance and economic self-determination as it heads towards Election 2026.

At the centre of the party’s platform is a push to give Te Tiriti o Waitangi greater constitutional force. Its recently announced policy includes a $220 million Mātike Mai Fund over four years, an independent Te Tiriti Commission and making Waitangi Tribunal recommendations binding.

Tamihere argues constitutional reform cannot be separated from the everyday economic challenges confronting whānau. His position is that political authority has limited value without greater Māori control over resources, investment and the institutions that influence economic outcomes.

That philosophy is also reflected in the party’s new Energy Sovereignty policy.

Te Pāti Māori is proposing a $1 billion Energy Sovereignty Fund to support Māori and community-owned energy assets, including renewable generation, batteries, microgrids and energy infrastructure on Māori land. It wants whānau, marae, hapū and iwi to become producers and owners of energy rather than simply consumers.

The policy also proposes stronger regulatory powers over excessive electricity prices and profits, a national energy plan and a pathway towards what the party describes as energy sovereignty by 2035.

For Tamihere, the different policies form part of the same political argument — that mana motuhake must include economic power as well as political representation.

With the election approaching, Te Pāti Māori is therefore asking voters to consider not only who governs Aotearoa, but how political, constitutional and economic power should be shared in the decades ahead.

#JohnTamihere #TePātiMāori #TeTiriti #ManaMotuhake #TinoRangatiratanga #EnergySovereignty #MāoriEconomy #MāoriBusiness #Whānau #Hapū #Iwi #RenewableEnergy #MāoriEnergy #ConstitutionalTransformation #WaitangiTribunal #Election2026 #NZPolitics #Aotearoa #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post POWER, OWNERSHIP AND TE TIRITI: TAMIHERE LINKS CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE TO ECONOMIC SOVEREIGNTY appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

Former All Black and Foodstuffs North Island owner-operator Eric Rush has stepped directly into the supermarket election debate, arguing National has got its proposed break-up of Foodstuffs wrong and is ignoring some of the bigger forces driving grocery prices.

Rush has questioned why National is proposing structural intervention against the New Zealand-owned Foodstuffs co-operative while Woolworths New Zealand, owned by the Australian-listed Woolworths Group, would remain intact. Foodstuffs traces its co-operative model back more than a century, with PAK’nSAVE, New World and Four Square stores operated by local owner-operators.

National has proposed separating PAK’nSAVE from New World and Four Square, subject to a Commerce Commission assessment of whether doing so would benefit consumers. Supporters argue another independently operating supermarket group could strengthen competition, while critics warn duplicated distribution, technology, purchasing and other infrastructure could increase costs.

Rush argues those shared systems are precisely what give locally owned stores the scale required to compete, particularly in smaller communities. He says separating them risks creating additional overheads that could ultimately find their way onto shoppers’ grocery bills.

He has also pointed to the different tax treatment of food across the Tasman. New Zealand applies 15 percent GST to groceries, while Australia exempts many basic food products from its 10 percent GST. BusinessNZ has similarly cautioned that international grocery-price comparisons need to account for those tax differences.

Rush says the debate also needs to look further up the food chain, including the regulatory and compliance costs faced by farmers and producers, rather than assuming supermarket structure alone explains what consumers pay at the checkout.

The supermarket sector is already subject to specific competition regulation, including a Grocery Supply Code covering Foodstuffs North Island, Foodstuffs South Island and Woolworths New Zealand, while the Commerce Commission has also examined whether stronger wholesale regulation is required to help competing retailers grow.

For Rush, the election debate therefore needs to go beyond simply breaking up one supermarket group and examine the full cost of getting food from the farm gate to the family dinner table.

#EricRush #Foodstuffs #Supermarkets #PAKnSAVE #NewWorld #FourSquare #Woolworths #GroceryPrices #FoodPrices #CostOfLiving #GST #Farmers #FoodProducers #SupermarketCompetition #GroceryReform #KiwiOwned #LocalBusiness #Election2026 #NZPolitics #Aotearoa #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post RUSH HOUR AT THE CHECKOUT: FORMER ALL BLACK JOINS FOODSTUFFS BREAK-UP PUSHBACK appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

Greenpeace Aotearoa Executive Director Dr Russel Norman says the turnout of around 12,000 people marching against the Government’s Conservation Amendment Bill demonstrates the strength of opposition among those concerned about the future of Aotearoa’s conservation estate.

The March for Nature was held in Auckland on Saturday, bringing together environmental organisations, conservation supporters and members of the public opposed to changes they fear could expose conservation land to greater commercial activity.

Greenpeace and Forest & Bird, which helped organise the march, say the Conservation Amendment Bill would open public conservation land to greater commercial exploitation and weaken protections for forests, rivers and native wildlife.

Norman says the scale of the demonstration shows conservation remains a major public issue and that thousands of New Zealanders are prepared to mobilise when they believe protected land and indigenous species are at risk.

The Government has presented its conservation reforms as a way of modernising the system and allowing the conservation estate to generate more economic activity while continuing to protect areas with important conservation values.

But opponents fear changing the balance between conservation and economic use could make it easier for activities such as mining, commercial development or other projects to proceed on land currently held for conservation purposes.

For Māori, the debate also intersects with kaitiakitanga, protection of indigenous biodiversity and the relationship between tangata whenua and te taiao.

Greenpeace says the campaign will continue beyond the march, with the organisation also gathering thousands of signatures for its campaign opposing the commercial exploitation or sale of conservation land.

With the election campaign gathering pace, the future of conservation land is now shaping up as another clear dividing line in the debate over how Aotearoa balances economic development with protection of te taiao.

#MarchForNature #GreenpeaceAotearoa #RusselNorman #ConservationAmendmentBill #Conservation #TeTaiao #Kaitiakitanga #Papatūānuku #Māori #TangataWhenua #NativeSpecies #Biodiversity #Environment #Climate #PublicConservationLand #ProtectNature #Election2026 #Aotearoa #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post 12,000 MARCH FOR NATURE: GREENPEACE SAYS CONSERVATION BILL HAS HIT A NERVE appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

Victoria Crockford, co-director of the Coalition to End Women’s Homelessness and former CEO of Community Housing Aotearoa, closely followed the Move-on Orders Bill as it progressed through Parliament last week and says the debate highlighted serious concerns about how homelessness is being addressed in Aotearoa.

The Summary Offences (Move-on Orders) Amendment Bill passed its remaining stages under urgency, with its third reading completed on Friday. The legislation gives Police new powers to order people engaging in specified disorderly or disruptive behaviour in public places to leave an area and stay away for a set period.

The Government says the legislation is designed to give Police better tools to deal with low-level public disorder, improve public safety and prevent disruptive behaviour from escalating, particularly around retail and hospitality areas.

But for homelessness advocates such as Irwin, the concern is what happens when those powers intersect with people who are already living without secure housing.

The original Bill specifically included begging and rough sleeping among the behaviours covered by the proposed regime, prompting strong opposition from organisations working with homeless people, rangatahi and vulnerable whānau.

Waatea has been following those concerns throughout the legislation’s progress. A coalition of 18 organisations has instead called for urgent action to get people sleeping rough into safe accommodation, arguing that homelessness needs housing and intensive social support rather than simply shifting people from one public space to another.

More than 4,700 people also backed an open letter opposing the legislation during the campaign against the changes.

For Irwin and other advocates, the debate is now moving from Parliament to the streets. With the legislation through its third reading, attention will turn to how the new powers are implemented and whether vulnerable people experiencing homelessness are connected with housing and support — or simply moved somewhere else.

#MoveOnOrders #KathieIrwin #Homelessness #WomensHomelessness #HousingNotHandcuffs #HousingCrisis #RoughSleeping #Whānau #WāhineMāori #Rangatahi #MāoriHousing #Poverty #SocialJustice #Housing #Police #HumanRights #PublicSafety #Election2026 #Aotearoa #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post MOVE THEM WHERE? HOMELESSNESS ADVOCATE WARNS NEW POLICE POWERS RISK PUSHING VULNERABLE PEOPLE FURTHER ASIDE appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

Green MP Hūhana Lyndon is weighing in on a turbulent week at Parliament, with the treatment of Māori in education, Move-On Orders, military-style youth academies and the political fireworks inside the House all coming under scrutiny.

The latest development is a significant Waitangi Tribunal finding that the Crown breached multiple principles of Te Tiriti through its national curriculum reforms.

The Tribunal found breaches of partnership, active protection, equity and good government, including inadequate engagement with Māori and insufficient protection for te reo Māori, tikanga and mātauranga Māori. It also found the Crown failed to sufficiently consider the aspirations of whānau, hapū and iwi for tamariki in Māori-medium and kaupapa Māori education.

The Tribunal concluded the changes caused prejudice, including damage to the Māori-Crown relationship, diminishing the mana of iwi and hapū and sending a message to Māori students and whānau that Māori knowledge was somehow less important. It has recommended the Crown return to genuine partnership with Māori in designing Māori-medium and kaupapa Māori curriculum through Te Marautanga o Aotearoa.

The findings are particularly relevant for Lyndon, who holds the Greens’ Māori Education and Māori Development portfolios and has previously challenged the Government’s direction on education and Te Tiriti.

At the same time, Lyndon is challenging the Government over Move-On Orders, amid concerns about homelessness and whether shifting vulnerable people from public spaces addresses the underlying shortage of safe housing.

She is also questioning the Government’s military-style youth academies, with the wider political argument centred on whether punishment and greater state powers will reduce offending or whether greater investment is needed in whānau, housing, health, education and early intervention.

Taken together, Lyndon says these debates go to a much bigger question for Māori: is government policy addressing the causes of disadvantage, or increasingly responding to vulnerable whānau after they have already reached crisis?

#HuhanaLyndon #GreenParty #WaitangiTribunal #TeTiriti #MaoriEducation #TeReoMaori #MataurangaMaori #MoveOnOrders #Homelessness #BootCamps #YouthJustice #Rangatahi #TamarikiMaori #Whanau #OrangaTamariki #Election2026 #NZPolitics #TeAoMaori #Aotearoa #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post HŪHANA LYNDON: FROM EDUCATION TO HOMELESSNESS, GOVERNMENT POLICIES FACE MĀORI SCRUTINY appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi says soaring electricity costs are about more than keeping the lights on, arguing Māori ownership and economic rangatiratanga must become part of the debate over Aotearoa’s energy future.

The party’s new Energy Sovereignty policy would establish a $1 billion fund to support Māori and community-owned energy assets, develop a long-term national energy plan and give regulators stronger powers to respond to what the party considers excessive electricity prices and profits.

Te Pāti Māori also wants whānau and communities generating or storing electricity to receive what it describes as fair value for that power, while setting a pathway towards energy sovereignty by 2035.

Waititi says the fundamental question is not simply how much renewable electricity Aotearoa produces, but who owns the generation, who receives the profits and whether whānau see the benefits through lower power costs.

The policy arrives as network costs place further pressure on household bills. The Commerce Commission says transmission and distribution account for just over 30 percent of an average electricity bill, with network costs expected to continue rising through to at least 2030 as infrastructure is replaced and upgraded.

But Waititi’s wider political focus is also on Te Tiriti and the treatment of Māori inside and outside Parliament, following the controversy surrounding co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer’s removal from the House this week.

That debate comes alongside a significant Waitangi Tribunal finding over the Government’s curriculum reforms. The Tribunal found Crown breaches of Treaty principles in the way changes affecting Māori education were developed, including shortcomings around partnership and consideration of Māori aspirations.

For Te Pāti Māori, the issues are connected by a broader argument about mana, ownership and decision-making — from who controls electricity infrastructure to who shapes the education of tamariki Māori.

With Election 2026 approaching, Waititi is putting a clear set of questions before voters: who owns the power, who makes the decisions, and how much authority should Māori communities have over the systems affecting their lives?

#RawiriWaititi #TePātiMāori #EnergySovereignty #PowerBills #Electricity #CostOfLiving #MāoriEconomy #Rangatiratanga #TeTiriti #WaitangiTribunal #MāoriEducation #DebbieNgarewaPacker #Whānau #Marae #Iwi #Hapū #Election2026 #NZPolitics #TeAoMāori #Aotearoa #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post POWER, TE TIRITI AND PARLIAMENT: WAITITI SAYS MĀORI ARE BEING ASKED TO PAY THE PRICE appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

After years of climate litigation led by Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Kahu kaumātua Mike Smith, Parliament has passed legislation blocking tort claims over emissions-related climate harm — reigniting debate over corporate accountability, access to justice and the Crown’s obligations to Māori.

The Climate Change Response (Tort Liability) Amendment Act 2026 passed its third reading on August 18 and received Royal assent on August 24. It creates a statutory bar preventing people and organisations from being held liable through tort law for climate-change effects caused or contributed to by greenhouse gas emissions.

The legislation directly affects Smith v Fonterra, the landmark case brought against Fonterra, Genesis Energy, Dairy Holdings, New Zealand Steel, Z Energy and BT Mining.

Smith argues major emitters should have legal responsibilities for their contribution to climate harm. His case includes public nuisance and a proposed new climate tort, while also arguing that tikanga Māori should inform the development of common law. In 2024, the Supreme Court unanimously allowed the case to proceed towards a substantive trial, without deciding whether Smith would ultimately succeed.

That trial had been scheduled for April 2027. The new legislation, however, expressly reaches existing proceedings and prevents tort liability for emissions-related climate effects.

The Government’s position is that climate policy and responsibility for emissions should be determined through legislation and regulation rather than individual civil claims, and that allowing parallel tort liability could create uncertainty for businesses and investors.

But opponents argue the law removes an important avenue for communities experiencing climate damage to test responsibility through the courts. Lawyers for Climate Action has also argued the legislation raises constitutional, access-to-justice and Te Tiriti concerns. Those are the organisation’s legal and policy assessments rather than findings by a court.

For Māori, the legislation is particularly significant because it explicitly covers conceptions of climate harm based on tikanga Māori, while its definition of those protected from tort liability extends to corporations, government departments and the Crown.

With marae, whenua Māori and coastal communities increasingly confronting erosion, flooding and other climate risks, the debate now extends well beyond one court case.

If communities cannot pursue major emitters through tort law for climate-related harm, where should responsibility for that damage ultimately sit?

#MikeSmith #ClimateChange #ClimateJustice #ClimateLaw #SmithVFonterra #TikangaMāori #TeTiriti #WhenuaMāori #Marae #ClimateAccountability #AccessToJustice #Kaitiakitanga #Environment #ClimateCrisis #Māori #TeAoMāori #Aotearoa #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post CLIMATE COURTS SHUT DOWN: MIKE SMITH CASE BLOCKED BY NEW LAW appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

As whitebait season gets underway around Aotearoa, freshwater conservationist Nic Naysmith is warning the tiny native fish behind one of New Zealand’s favourite seasonal foods are facing an increasingly uncertain future.

Whitebait is not a single species. The catch can include juveniles from several native freshwater species, with īnanga making up the overwhelming majority of the whitebait catch in most parts of the country.

Naysmith says one of the biggest challenges is the loss and degradation of the streamside habitat īnanga need to reproduce. They spawn among vegetation around the upper reaches of the saltwater influence in rivers and streams, making relatively small areas of riverbank critically important to the survival of the next generation.

The warning has become more urgent after the latest Department of Conservation conservation-status assessment moved īnanga from At Risk–Declining to Threatened–Nationally Vulnerable.

Through the National Īnanga Spawning Programme, Naysmith and the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust are working with communities, iwi, hapū, councils, landowners and whitebaiters to identify spawning sites and protect or restore the vegetation the fish need.

Simple measures such as fencing waterways from stock, restoring streamside plants, controlling pests and protecting known spawning areas can make a significant difference.

The kaupapa also carries a strong message about kaitiakitanga. Whitebait has long been part of the relationship between whānau and freshwater environments, but protecting that tradition means ensuring enough native fish survive to reproduce.

For Naysmith, the challenge is not necessarily about ending whitebaiting — it is about making sure there are still healthy populations for future generations.

As nets return to waterways this season, the question is bigger than what ends up in the frying pan: are we doing enough today to ensure our mokopuna will still know īnanga tomorrow?

#Whitebait #Īnanga #NicNaysmith #Kaitiakitanga #NativeFish #Freshwater #WhitebaitSeason #Conservation #Biodiversity #WaiMāori #MātaurangaMāori #Iwi #Hapū #Whānau #Environment #Aotearoa #TeAoMāori #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post WHITEBAIT WARNING: NIC NAYSMITH SAYS ICONIC NATIVE FISH NEED OUR HELP appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.