Waatea News: Māori Radio Station

Child Poverty Action Group is demanding accountability from the Government after it emerged that thousands of applications for emergency food assistance were recorded as being declined because food was not considered an essential need.

Information obtained by 1News under the Official Information Act shows the Ministry of Social Development used that decline category on more than 8,000 occasions over six years for Special Needs Grant applications involving food.

MSD says the category was selected because of an administrative coding error and maintains that using the wrong code does not necessarily mean the underlying decision to decline assistance was incorrect.

But Child Poverty Action Group says the explanation does not resolve the bigger issue — why families experiencing emergency hardship were being declined assistance at a time when food insecurity is increasing across Aotearoa.

The scale of demand provides a confronting picture of household hardship.

More than 318,000 people sought food grants during 2025, equivalent to almost six percent of New Zealand’s population.

Those people collectively made more than 1.4 million applications, meaning the average person sought assistance around four times during the year.

Most applications were approved, with MSD paying more than $130 million in food assistance, while the Ministry says between 94 and 96 percent of food grant applications are approved each year.

However, more than 88,000 Special Needs Grant food applications were declined in 2025, with the number of rejections increasing between 2023 and 2024 and remaining elevated last year.

MSD says staff processed more than 8.5 million applications during the six-year period and the incorrect decline code represented 0.094 percent of those applications.

The Ministry says some decline categories apply to particular forms of assistance but not others, and in these cases staff selected the wrong option.

Other applications were declined because MSD determined there was no immediate need or because the applicant was considered to have caused or contributed to their immediate financial situation.

For Child Poverty Action Group, however, the controversy raises wider questions about how emergency need is being assessed.

Its food security spokesperson Kelly Garton is calling for an apology and wants the Government to account for what happened to the people affected.

The critical unanswered question is whether those 8,000 cases were merely recorded incorrectly after otherwise valid assessments — or whether some people who genuinely needed emergency food assistance missed out.

The controversy comes against a deteriorating child poverty picture.

Child Poverty Action Group says around 169,300 children are now living in material hardship, representing 14.3 percent of New Zealand children, or approximately one in seven.

That is around 47,500 more children experiencing material hardship than in 2022.

The disparity is even greater for some communities.

CPAG’s latest analysis says approximately one in four tamariki Māori, one in three Pacific children and one in four disabled children are experiencing material hardship.

Those numbers mean the debate about food grants cannot be separated from the wider pressure facing whānau.

When rent, electricity, petrol, school costs and unexpected expenses consume the household budget, food can become one of the few remaining expenses families try to reduce.

For many families accessing emergency assistance, the problem is not necessarily poor budgeting.

It can take only one unexpected expense — a broken-down car, medical bill, rent increase or unusually high power account — to push a household already living week-to-week into crisis.

CPAG’s recent research found families receiving income support and those in low-wage employment are increasingly struggling to meet basic costs. It found some sole-parent households in private rentals can face weekly shortfalls approaching $200 against basic living and participation costs.

That helps explain why emergency food assistance can become recurring rather than exceptional.

The Government points to $45 million in community food support, alongside an additional $7 million for community food providers in 2026/27 and further investment in programmes providing breakfasts to children.

CPAG argues food banks and emergency assistance remain important but cannot substitute for household incomes sufficient to meet basic needs.

The controversy is emerging less than two months before the General Election and is likely to add further pressure on political parties to explain how they intend to address poverty and income adequacy.

CPAG has already launched its Enough 2026 campaign, calling on parties to address incomes, housing, health, disability and education and ensure children have enough food and other essentials to participate fully in their communities.

For Māori voters, the issue carries additional weight when tamariki Māori continue to experience material hardship at substantially higher rates.

There are legitimate questions for MSD about how the incorrect coding occurred, how it persisted across thousands of applications, whether affected cases have been reviewed and whether anyone who should have received assistance was denied it.

Because behind every application number is a person asking for help.

And when that request is for kai, food cannot become just another box on an administrative form.

#FoodIsEssential #ChildPoverty #ChildPovertyActionGroup #CPAG #MSD #WorkAndIncome #FoodGrants #FoodSecurity #FoodInsecurity #Tamariki #TamarikiMaori #Whanau #WhanauMaori #CostOfLiving #MaterialHardship #Poverty #IncomeSupport #SocialWelfare #Election2026 #MaoriHealth #MaoriWellbeing #TeAoMaori #Aotearoa #NZPolitics #NZNews #MaoriNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post FOOD IS ESSENTIAL: CHILD POVERTY GROUP DEMANDS ANSWERS OVER THOUSANDS OF MSD DECLINES appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

Labour’s Willie Jackson has accused the Government of displaying a cold-hearted attitude towards struggling families as controversy grows over thousands of emergency food grant applications being recorded as declined because food was not considered an essential need.

Speaking to Radio Waatea, Jackson says the revelations expose a wider problem with the way vulnerable New Zealanders are being treated at a time when unemployment, food insecurity and the cost of living are putting increasing pressure on whānau.

But Jackson also turned his attention to another group often invisible in public policy — the tamariki left behind when a parent is sent to prison — saying a recent Radio Waatea interview examining new research into parental incarceration shows how much more work needs to be done.

And on climate change, Jackson says Labour’s position is equally clear heading towards Election 2026: a Labour Government will not walk away from the Paris Climate Agreement.

The MSD controversy erupted after information obtained by 1News showed that over the past six years more than 8,000 Special Needs Grant applications for food were recorded as declined on the basis that food was not an essential need.

MSD says the wording resulted from an administrative coding error and does not mean the underlying decisions themselves were necessarily incorrect.

The scale of food hardship, however, is significant.

More than 318,000 people sought food grants during 2025, generating around 1.4 million applications. More than 88,000 applications were declined, while MSD paid more than $130 million in food assistance during the year. The Ministry says around 94 to 96 percent of applications are approved annually.

Jackson says the episode reflects what he sees as an increasingly hard approach towards people experiencing hardship.

His criticism comes as Child Poverty Action Group has also called for an apology and challenged the Government to explain how thousands of applications could carry such a reason.

MSD’s own rules explicitly provide for food grants where an applicant or their immediate family needs food, has no resources available and would otherwise need to rely on a food bank.

The issue is particularly relevant for Māori communities already facing disproportionately high unemployment and financial hardship.

For a whānau living from one payment to the next, an unexpected car repair, electricity bill, medical expense or rent increase can be enough to leave nothing for groceries.

The Government points to substantial investment in community food support. Budget 2026 provides ongoing funding of $8 million annually for food distribution infrastructure, with another $7 million for community food providers and food-security initiatives during 2026/27.

MSD itself acknowledges demand remains elevated largely because of continuing cost-of-living pressures.

Jackson’s argument, however, is that emergency support should be available when families reach crisis point rather than vulnerable people feeling judged or discouraged from seeking assistance.

Jackson is also reflecting on Radio Waatea’s recent interview about groundbreaking research examining what happens to children when their parent or primary caregiver is imprisoned.

The Borrin Foundation-funded project brings together researchers from the University of Auckland and AUT, including Professor Tracey McIntosh of Ngāi Tūhoe and Professor Khylee Quince of Ngāpuhi, Te Roroa, Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Kahungunu.

Researchers are examining whether the rights and interests of tamariki and rangatahi are adequately considered when courts make bail and sentencing decisions.

The existing evidence demonstrates why that question matters.

When fathers are imprisoned, previous research found 79 percent of children continue living with their mothers. When mothers are imprisoned, care arrangements are much more likely to change, with only 21 percent remaining with their fathers.

Women in prison are also almost three times more likely than men to have dependent children and more than twice as likely to be single parents.

For Māori, the consequences are particularly significant. Sixty-seven percent of women currently imprisoned are Māori, while Māori children are more likely to live in single-parent households, most commonly headed by mothers.

Jackson says the discussion reinforces how much work remains to be done across the justice system.

The research will examine what happens to children’s schooling, health, housing and care arrangements before and after a caregiver is imprisoned, as well as whether alternative sentencing approaches could better recognise the interests of dependent children.

The issue is not about removing accountability for offending.

It is about recognising that imprisonment can create consequences extending far beyond the person sentenced by the court.

When a primary caregiver disappears behind prison walls, tamariki can lose their home, school stability, daily contact with their parent and sometimes connection with wider whānau.

For Jackson, that demands greater attention to the intergenerational consequences of incarceration, particularly for Māori.

Jackson is also drawing a clear dividing line over climate policy, saying Labour will not withdraw New Zealand from the Paris Climate Agreement.

The issue is increasingly significant heading into the general election as political parties debate New Zealand’s future climate commitments, the Emissions Trading Scheme, forestry and the costs of meeting international emissions targets.

Labour has already signalled it wants to overhaul the ETS if elected, including reviewing how the scheme balances genuine emissions reductions against forestry offsets.

Jackson’s message is that whatever changes Labour makes domestically, abandoning New Zealand’s international climate commitments is not on the table.

For Māori, climate policy extends well beyond international diplomacy.

It reaches into whenua Māori, forestry, farming, fisheries, coastal communities, marae exposed to flooding and erosion, and the responsibilities of kaitiakitanga to future generations.

Food hardship, parental imprisonment and climate change may appear to sit in entirely different parts of government.

But Jackson says they ultimately raise the same political question ahead of Election 2026 — what responsibility does government have to the people most affected by the decisions it makes?

For whānau struggling to put kai on the table, tamariki whose parent disappears into prison, and communities facing the long-term consequences of climate change, those decisions are anything but theoretical.

They land directly in the lives of whānau.

#WillieJackson #Labour #NZLabour #MSD #WorkAndIncome #FoodGrants #FoodSecurity #FoodPoverty #CostOfLiving #Whanau #Tamariki #TamarikiMaori #WahineMaori #MaoriJustice #PrisonReform #ParentalImprisonment #ClimateChange #ParisAgreement #ParisClimateAccord #ClimateAction #Kaitiakitanga #Election2026 #NZPolitics #MaoriPolitics #TeAoMaori #Aotearoa #MaoriNews #NZNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post JACKSON FIRES BACK: MSD FOOD GRANT FAILURES, TAMARIKI BEHIND THE PRISON STORY AND PARIS ACCORD IN LABOUR’S SIGHTS appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

The debate over whether climate change belongs in New Zealand’s school curriculum risks missing a much bigger question — how do we prepare today’s tamariki and rangatahi for a world that will increasingly be shaped by a changing climate?

University of Auckland education expert Professor John Morgan says simply putting the words climate change into a curriculum is not enough. The challenge is deciding what young people need to know, how they should respond, and how schools can prepare them without leaving a generation overwhelmed by fear about the future.

The debate has intensified after climate change was omitted as a specific topic from the proposed Social Sciences curriculum for Years 1 to 10, although Education Minister Erica Stanford has indicated it will be restored.

For Morgan, the controversy opens a much deeper conversation about the purpose of education in a climate-altered world.

Climate literacy starts with understanding the science — how the climate system works, what is driving warming, how credible information can be assessed and what the consequences could be.

But Morgan argues knowledge alone does not necessarily change behaviour.

Young people will also have to grapple with decisions about mitigation, adaptation and potentially new technologies aimed at reversing or limiting climate change.

That could mean understanding how communities reduce emissions, how towns and cities adapt to rising seas and extreme heat, how economies transition towards lower-carbon industries, and what new skills and occupations will be needed along the way.

For Aotearoa, those questions are already moving beyond the classroom.

Floods, coastal erosion, extreme rainfall, drought and changing weather patterns are increasingly part of conversations about where people live, how infrastructure is built, how food is produced and how communities prepare for emergencies.

Morgan has previously argued that severe weather events themselves provide opportunities for students to explore climate, geography, housing, urban development and the decisions societies make about risk.

For Māori, climate education also has the potential to connect scientific knowledge with mātauranga Māori, kaitiakitanga and the relationship between tangata and whenua.

Climate change is not simply an abstract global problem when marae, urupā, papakāinga and coastal whenua may be exposed to flooding, erosion and sea-level rise.

Nor is the transition to a lower-carbon economy purely environmental.

It will affect forestry, farming, fisheries, energy, transport, employment and regional development — sectors where Māori workers, landowners, iwi organisations and businesses have significant interests.

University of Auckland sustainability education work has similarly highlighted a te ao Māori understanding in which people are part of the environment rather than separate from or above it.

That makes climate literacy potentially as much about whakapapa, responsibility and kaitiakitanga as carbon calculations.

There is another challenge facing teachers — how much reality can young people absorb without becoming overwhelmed?

Morgan says discussions with student teachers repeatedly encounter the tension between realism and hope.

Climate anxiety among children and young people has become an important consideration for educators, particularly when climate discussion becomes dominated by catastrophe, tipping points and predictions of an increasingly unstable future.

Ignoring those realities is not the answer.

But neither is teaching children that the future is already lost.

The educational challenge is to give rangatahi the ability to understand the seriousness of climate change while also providing the knowledge, skills and sense of agency needed to respond.

That could include everything from understanding scientific evidence and identifying misinformation to planning resilient communities, developing green technologies, participating in democratic decision-making and pursuing careers emerging from the transition economy.

Morgan says curriculum debates ultimately reveal something much bigger about what society believes education is for.

A curriculum is not simply a collection of subjects. It reflects what one generation believes the next generation needs to understand about the world it will inherit.

Morgan has previously argued that New Zealand’s wider curriculum debate has failed to adequately confront the implications of global warming and the need for more sustainable ways of living.

That makes the argument over climate change about much more than whether it receives a line in an official curriculum document.

The question is whether the education system is preparing young New Zealanders for the country they are actually going to inherit.

For today’s tamariki and rangatahi, that future will include difficult choices around energy, food, transport, housing, whenua, technology and economic development.

Teaching them that climate change exists is the easy part. Preparing them to understand it, adapt to it and help shape what comes next is the real test.

#JohnMorgan #ClimateChange #ClimateEducation #ClimateLiteracy #Education #NZCurriculum #SchoolCurriculum #Rangatahi #Tamariki #RangatahiMaori #MataurangaMaori #Kaitiakitanga #TeAoMaori #ClimateAction #ClimateAnxiety #GreenSkills #Sustainability #Environment #FutureGenerations #EducationNZ #Schools #Teachers #Election2026 #NZPolitics #Aotearoa #NZNews #MaoriNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post BEYOND THE TEXTBOOK: CLIMATE EDUCATION MUST GIVE RANGATAHI KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND HOPE appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

When a parent is sentenced to prison, they are not necessarily the only person whose life is turned upside down.

A major new research project is examining what happens to tamariki and rangatahi when a parent or primary caregiver is imprisoned, including whether their rights, wellbeing and care arrangements are being adequately considered when New Zealand courts make bail and sentencing decisions.

The Borrin Foundation-funded project brings together researchers from the University of Auckland and Auckland University of Technology, including Professor Khylee Quince, Professor Julia Tolmie, Professor Tracey McIntosh and Professor Barry Milne.

The research was initiated following a request from the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for New Zealand-based research into sentencing parents who are primary or sole caregivers and the consequences imprisonment can have for their children.

Other articles of interest in this thread:

Existing research points to a dramatic difference in what happens to children depending on which parent is imprisoned.

When fathers are imprisoned, 79 percent of children continue living with their mothers, meaning their primary living arrangements generally remain unchanged.

When mothers are imprisoned, however, the situation is reversed.

Only 21 percent of children remain with their fathers, meaning most experience some form of change to their care arrangements.

Women in prison are also almost three times more likely than imprisoned men to have dependent children and more than twice as likely to be single parents.

That means sending a mother to prison can potentially trigger an entirely separate chain of consequences for children who have committed no offence themselves.

Their home can change. Their caregiver can change. Their schooling can be disrupted. Their connection with siblings and wider whānau may be affected.

The new research wants to understand those consequences.

Professor Khylee Quince says the issue carries particular significance for Māori.

The research notes that Māori children are more likely to live in single-parent households, most commonly headed by mothers, while 67 percent of women currently imprisoned are Māori.

That means the consequences of maternal imprisonment can fall disproportionately on tamariki Māori and their wider whānau.

The research will investigate what happens when wāhine Māori continue trying to parent and manage whānau relationships from behind prison walls, sometimes without important institutions in their children’s lives, including schools, even knowing a parent has been incarcerated.

Professor Tracey McIntosh also points to the potential intergenerational impact. For some incarcerated wāhine, state care was already part of their own childhood experience, creating additional fear about what may happen to their tamariki when they are no longer able to care for them directly.

At the heart of the project is a challenging question for the justice system.

When a judge decides whether a parent should be imprisoned, how visible are the children who depend on that person?

The researchers will examine how New Zealand judges currently approach cases involving parents and caregivers, what information is available to the courts and how children’s interests are incorporated into bail and sentencing decisions.

They will also investigate how many children have a parent facing imprisonment, the demographics of those families, the offences involved and what arrangements are subsequently made for children’s care.

The project is not simply examining what happens inside the courtroom.

Researchers will use interviews, population data and engagement with community organisations and NGOs to understand what happens to children both before and after their caregiver is imprisoned.

That includes examining changes in where children live, school attendance and health outcomes.

Researchers will also examine the types of offending resulting in imprisonment, including drug and property offences, and how many parents are serving relatively short prison sentences.

That raises another important policy question.

A prison sentence may be relatively short for the adult being punished, but the disruption it creates in a child’s life could potentially last much longer.

Removing a primary caregiver can require new accommodation, new caregivers and new routines while potentially affecting a child’s education, health and sense of stability.

For tamariki Māori, there can also be questions around maintaining whakapapa, whanaungatanga and connections to wider whānau.

The study will examine international approaches alongside programmes already operating within New Zealand to determine whether there are better ways of dealing with cases involving parents and primary caregivers.

Researchers ultimately intend to develop recommendations for law reform and improved judicial practice.

That does not mean parents should escape accountability because they have children.

Instead, the research is asking whether the justice system adequately understands the wider consequences of imprisonment before making decisions that can fundamentally reshape a child’s life.

It is an important distinction.

The court sentences the offender.

But when that offender is also somebody’s mum, dad or primary caregiver, the consequences of that sentence can travel far beyond the prison gate.

And for thousands of tamariki and rangatahi, the new research is asking whether the justice system has been paying enough attention to the sentence they effectively serve as well.

#KhyleeQuince #Tamariki #Rangatahi #TamarikiMaori #Whanau #WahineMaori #Justice #CriminalJustice #Prisons #PrisonReform #Sentencing #Bail #ParentalImprisonment #ChildrenOfPrisoners #ChildrensRights #WhanauOra #Whakapapa #Whanaungatanga #ManaMotuhake #MaoriJustice #JusticeReform #Corrections #UniversityOfAuckland #AUT #BorrinFoundation #Research #SocialJustice #Aotearoa #NZNews #MaoriNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post THE HIDDEN SENTENCE: NEW STUDY ASKS WHAT HAPPENS TO TAMARIKI WHEN A PARENT GOES TO PRISON appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

Questions are being raised about whether some of New Zealand’s most vulnerable students are being transported to and from school as safely as they should be, after an independent review identified significant weaknesses in the system responsible for specialised school transport.

The review of Specialised School Transport Assistance, known as SESTA, found improvements are needed across communication, safety planning, driver capability, supervision, vehicle standards and the transport of students who use wheelchairs.

SESTA provides transport assistance for children and young people aged between five and 21 whose mobility or safety needs prevent them from travelling independently to school. The Ministry of Education contracts local providers to transport eligible students, while some families receive a conveyance allowance instead.

For the whānau relying on the service every school day, the findings raise a fundamental question: can parents have confidence their disabled tamariki are safe from the moment they enter a SESTA vehicle until they arrive at school?

The independent systems review was carried out between June and August and examined both the safety and effectiveness of SESTA.

An independent steering group included expertise spanning disability, education, transport, health and safety and lived experience.

It produced eight major recommendations, covering better information management and communication, clearer responsibilities, safer transitions between transport providers, stronger safety monitoring, improved driver capability, reviewing when additional adults should travel in vehicles, and tougher vehicle requirements around safety and comfort.

The Ministry of Education has accepted the findings and says it will immediately move to implement all eight recommendations and 28 priority actions, although proposals requiring additional funding will still be subject to cost-benefit analysis.

One of the strongest themes is information.

For many disabled students, knowing a name, address and school is nowhere near enough information to transport them safely.

Drivers may need to understand a child’s communication needs, mobility requirements, medical conditions, behaviour, sensory needs and what to do if something goes wrong.

The review’s first three recommendations all deal in some way with information: improving its quality and currency, strengthening how information is exchanged and ensuring everyone understands their responsibilities.

That matters because responsibility for SESTA is shared between caregivers, schools, providers, drivers and the Ministry.

Current rules state that drivers generally cannot touch students or leave vehicles unattended. School staff must therefore assist students getting into and out of vehicles at school, including fastening seatbelts and positioning devices where required.

For a child with complex needs, confusion about who is responsible for what can quickly move beyond an administrative problem and become a safety risk.

The review specifically calls for stronger driver capability and support.

SESTA drivers can be responsible for children with epilepsy, limited mobility, communication difficulties, reduced understanding, limited self-management or other conditions creating significant safety needs.

Existing guidance requires drivers to understand emergency evacuation procedures, monitor students during journeys, report unsafe behaviour and safely handle equipment travelling with students.

The independent review’s recommendation for greater driver capability therefore puts attention on whether training and support are sufficiently consistent across the country.

It also recommends reviewing the criteria for providing additional adults in vehicles, recognising that in some circumstances one driver may not be enough to safely manage the needs of the students being transported.

Vehicle requirements are another area singled out for improvement.

The review recommends strengthening standards to ensure both comfort and safety, an issue of particular importance for students travelling in wheelchairs or with specialist equipment.

The Ministry already provides funding for specialised equipment required for safe school travel, while SESTA eligibility specifically includes students with reduced mobility, chronic fatigue, medical conditions and limited motor skills.

For whānau, however, the standard cannot simply be whether transport exists.

It must be whether the vehicle, restraints, wheelchair arrangements, loading procedures and people operating the service are consistently capable of transporting their child safely.

The review is not a finding that the entire SESTA system is unsafe.

The Ministry says an important conclusion was that SESTA is highly valued and works well for most students and families most of the time. It also acknowledges the commitment of drivers, schools, families, providers and staff involved in delivering the service.

That distinction matters.

For many whānau, SESTA is what makes regular school attendance possible. Without suitable transport, some disabled children could face another barrier to accessing education.

But a service being essential does not remove the obligation to identify and correct weaknesses within it.

The findings also arrive amid a much wider national conversation about whether disability services are meeting the needs and rights of tāngata whaikaha Māori and their whānau.

Transport is part of educational participation.

If a disabled child cannot reliably and safely travel between home and kura, their right to participate fully in education can be compromised before the school day has even begun.

That makes implementation of the review important not only for transport policy but for disability equity.

The Ministry says it will continue working with students, whānau, caregivers, schools, providers and other stakeholders as the recommendations are implemented.

The test now will be whether the review produces measurable improvements on the road.

Because for parents handing their child over to a transport provider every morning, safe enough is not enough.

They need to know the driver understands their tamaiti, the vehicle is suitable, the right support is present and everyone knows exactly what to do when something goes wrong.

Getting disabled tamariki to school is not simply a transport contract. It is a duty of care.

#SESTA #Disability #DisabilityRights #DisabledStudents #Tamariki #Rangatahi #TangataWhaikaha #TangataWhaikahaMaori #Whanau #InclusiveEducation #SpecialEducation #SchoolTransport #StudentSafety #WheelchairSafety #Accessibility #EducationNZ #MinistryOfEducation #DisabilitySupport #EquityInEducation #MaoriEducation #TeAoMaori #Aotearoa #NZEducation #NZNews #MaoriNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post SAFE RIDE TO SCHOOL? REVIEW EXPOSES GAPS IN TRANSPORT FOR DISABLED TAMARIKI appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

As Te Wiki o te Reo Māori 2026 approaches, the message from Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori is clear — this is a week for the whole country to celebrate, speak and strengthen the language that belongs uniquely to Aotearoa.

Te Taura Whiri Chief Executive Ngāhiwi Apanui-Barr says Māori Language Week provides an opportunity to recognise how far te reo Māori has travelled while encouraging more New Zealanders to make the language part of their everyday lives.

This year’s Te Wiki comes as te reo Māori continues to be heard and seen across communities, workplaces, schools, broadcasting, sport, business, Parliament and national occasions.

For Apanui-Barr, that growing visibility matters because language revitalisation does not happen only inside classrooms or government agencies.

It happens when people use the reo.

The contemporary visibility of te reo Māori sits against a history in which generations of Māori experienced policies and social pressures that diminished the use of their language.

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori traces its modern origins to the Māori language petition presented to Parliament on 14 September 1972, carrying more than 30,000 signatures calling for te reo Māori to be taught in schools.

Māori Language Day followed, before the first Māori Language Week was held in 1975. Te reo Māori became an official language of New Zealand in 1987.

More than five decades after the petition reached Parliament, the language is increasingly present in places where previous generations fought simply for its recognition.

Today, greetings, place names, waiata, karakia and everyday kupu Māori have become increasingly familiar across public life.

Te reo is heard in Parliament, used by public institutions and businesses, carried across television and radio, celebrated at major sporting and cultural events and spoken within homes, kura, marae and workplaces.

That visibility is significant.

But visibility alone is not the same as revitalisation.

The longer-term challenge is growing the number of people who can speak te reo confidently and creating environments where Māori speakers can use their language naturally and regularly.

That means moving beyond a handful of familiar words during September and building te reo into everyday life throughout the year.

One of the strengths of Te Wiki is that participation does not require fluency.

For someone beginning their reo journey, it might mean learning correct pronunciation of Māori place names, introducing a mihi into the working day, learning a new sentence or using familiar kupu at home.

For workplaces, organisations and businesses, it can mean creating opportunities for staff to learn and use te reo beyond Māori Language Week.

For confident speakers, it can mean creating more spaces where the language is normal, visible and passed on to others.

The kaupapa is about participation rather than perfection.

Every conversation, every correctly pronounced ingoa Māori and every new speaker contributes to a much bigger revitalisation movement.

Apanui-Barr’s message also highlights the importance of leadership.

When te reo Māori is visible within Parliament and national leadership, it sends a message about the place of the language in modern Aotearoa.

But the future of te reo will not be secured by politicians alone.

Its strength will ultimately be determined in whānau, communities and workplaces — around kitchen tables, on sports fields, at kura, on marae and wherever another generation hears and uses the language.

For Māori, revitalisation remains fundamentally connected to identity, whakapapa, tikanga and tino rangatiratanga.

For the wider country, Te Wiki provides an invitation to participate in something distinctly Aotearoa.

That may ultimately be the biggest challenge of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori 2026.

The language will receive enormous visibility for seven days.

The measure of success is what happens on the eighth.

If the new kupu learned during Te Wiki continue to be spoken, if workplaces continue their reo programmes, if parents keep learning alongside their tamariki and if public leaders continue using the language when September is over, the week becomes more than an annual celebration.

It becomes another step towards normalisation.

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori is a chance to celebrate how far the reo has come — but its future will be built by what Aotearoa chooses to do with it every day that follows.

#TeWikiOTeReoMaori #TeReoMaori #MaoriLanguageWeek #NgahiwiApanuiBarr #TeTauraWhiri #ReoMaori #KoreroMaori #KiaKahaTeReoMaori #MataurangaMaori #TinoRangatiratanga #Whakapapa #TikangaMaori #Whanau #Rangatahi #Tamariki #MaoriLanguage #LanguageRevitalisation #Aotearoa #TeAoMaori #MaoriNews #NZNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post TE REO MĀORI BELONGS TO AOTEAROA: TE WIKI 2026 CALLS THE NATION TO CELEBRATE appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

A nationwide grassroots campaign is mobilising communities across Aotearoa to get people enrolled and ready to vote, with ActionStation Director Kassie Hartendorp of Ngāti Raukawa and Ngāti Tūwharetoa warning Election 2026 will be fought under significantly different enrolment rules.

Hartendorp is helping lead Together for the Vote, a community-driven campaign bringing together local organisers, volunteers, whānau and organisations to lift enrolment and participation before New Zealand goes to the polls on 7 November.

The immediate focus is simple but urgent — anyone wanting to vote must be enrolled by midnight on 25 October.

Unlike the previous two general elections, people will not be able to turn up during the voting period, enrol and then cast their ballot.

The scale of the challenge is significant.

The Electoral Commission said last month that more than 3.6 million people were enrolled, but estimated another 440,000 eligible New Zealanders were not.

Around 200,000 of those missing voters were aged between 18 and 24, putting rangatahi at the centre of efforts to increase participation.

Together for the Vote is responding by taking enrolment conversations beyond traditional political spaces and into communities.

ActionStation says people across electorates are organising events, talking with friends and whānau, attending markets and using their own networks to make sure eligible voters understand the new deadline.

The change to enrolment rules makes this year’s campaign particularly important.

Under the Electoral Amendment Act 2025, enrolment closes 13 days before election day.

Voting begins on 26 October, meaning anyone who has not enrolled by midnight the previous day will be unable to enrol during the voting period.

The Electoral Commission says this is different from the previous two general elections, when voters could enrol and vote at the same time.

That creates an additional risk for people who assume the rules remain unchanged.

It is also important for people who have recently moved to check their details. The Electoral Commission says large numbers of enrolment packs have been returned because voters are no longer living at their recorded address.

ActionStation is particularly concerned about the effect of the changes on communities that already face barriers to electoral participation, including Māori, Pacific peoples, young people, renters and people experiencing housing insecurity.

Hartendorp says community organisers are responding with considerable energy, with people working across electorates to ensure friends, relatives and neighbours are enrolled before the deadline.

For Māori, that makes whānau-to-whānau conversations potentially powerful.

A rangatahi enrolling for the first time may not be following daily political coverage or thinking about an election still weeks away.

But a conversation at the marae, workplace, sports club, market, kura or around the whānau table could determine whether that person is able to participate when voting begins.

The latest stage of Together for the Vote is Tāiki ē! Your Enrolment Festival, which launched this week as a nationwide community mobilisation.

Rather than depending solely on advertising telling people to enrol, the campaign wants communities themselves to lead the effort.

ActionStation says it is seeing local people organising enrolment activities and taking the message directly into their own networks.

The Electoral Commission is simultaneously stepping up its official campaign, sending more than two million enrolment reminder emails and establishing face-to-face enrolment hubs around the country.

Being enrolled previously does not necessarily mean everything is ready for 2026.

People who have moved should check their address, while anyone who expected an enrolment pack but did not receive one is being encouraged to check their details.

Those enrolled by 4 October can also receive an EasyVote card, while 25 October remains the final enrolment deadline.

For Māori enrolling for the first time, there is still the opportunity to choose between the Māori roll and general roll. Existing Māori voters are now inside the pre-election period in which changing between those rolls is restricted.

Hartendorp’s work with ActionStation has previously included campaigns around Te Tiriti, Māori wards, workers’ rights and community organising.

Together for the Vote is now applying that organising model to electoral participation.

The campaign itself has an openly progressive political orientation, but its enrolment message highlights a fact applying to every eligible voter regardless of political preference.

If you are not enrolled by 25 October, you cannot vote in Election 2026.

With around 440,000 eligible people estimated to have been missing from the roll and approximately 200,000 of them aged 18 to 24, the next several weeks could determine whether a substantial group of New Zealanders gets to participate in choosing the next Government.

For Hartendorp and Together for the Vote, that means Election 2026 does not begin when the polling booths open.

It begins now — in communities, workplaces, markets and whānau conversations across Aotearoa.

#KassieHartendorp #TogetherForTheVote #TaikiE #ActionStation #Election2026 #Vote2026 #EnrolToVote #MaoriVote #MaoriElectorates #Rangatahi #RangatahiMaori #YouthVote #Whanau #YourVoteMatters #Democracy #Voting #ElectoralCommission #ElectionDeadline #GetOutTheVote #CommunityOrganising #NgatiRaukawa #NgatiTuwharetoa #TeAoMaori #Aotearoa #NZPolitics #NZElection #NZNews #MaoriNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post TĀIKI Ē! COMMUNITY-LED CAMPAIGN RACES TO GET WHĀNAU ENROLLED BEFORE ELECTION DEADLINE appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

Gisborne Hospital’s emergency department is facing mounting pressure as nurses prepare to strike over staffing levels they say are putting both patients and exhausted frontline workers at risk.

More than 30 emergency department nurses are expected to stop work for one hour on Wednesday, September 9, from 2.30pm to 3.30pm, as the New Zealand Nurses Organisation escalates concerns about what it considers unsafe staffing.

The industrial action comes during an exceptionally difficult winter for the health system, with Gisborne Hospital dealing with a surge of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus cases alongside increased staff sickness.

Nurses say the situation inside the emergency department has reached breaking point, with some working back-to-back 12-hour shifts as the remaining workforce tries to keep up with demand.

The staffing problem has been compounded by the loss of experienced nurses. The emergency department has reportedly lost 10 senior nurses over the past year, while just two new nurses have been recruited so far this year.

Health New Zealand has proposed additional staffing including 1.4 full-time-equivalent permanent nursing positions, a 0.8 FTE six-month nursing position and a 0.8 FTE healthcare assistant. Nurses argue that is insufficient to replace the experience and capacity lost from the department.

The human impact is also becoming increasingly apparent.

One Gisborne emergency nurse reported working about 30 hours beyond her contracted hours during a single fortnight, while nurses have described exhaustion, low morale and growing anxiety about their ability to provide the level of care patients deserve.

For Tairāwhiti, the pressure carries particular significance. Emergency nursing representatives say the region has significant numbers of patients with complex and chronic conditions alongside limited access to general practice, increasing reliance on hospital services.

The problems in Gisborne are not isolated.

At Waikato Hospital, emergency nurses have reported more than 300 presentations within a 24-hour period and waits stretching beyond eight to 10 hours. Some patients have reportedly been forced to lie on emergency department floors after becoming exhausted while waiting for care.

The wider health system is simultaneously grappling with a sharp increase in respiratory illness, adding further pressure to already stretched emergency departments.

The Gisborne action follows another health and safety strike at Waitākere Hospital’s Muriwai ward in July, while emergency nursing representatives have indicated similar staffing frustration exists at hospitals including North Shore, Auckland, Middlemore and Christchurch.

Health New Zealand says Gisborne Hospital’s emergency department will remain open during Wednesday’s planned strike and contingency measures will be put in place to maintain patient care and service continuity.

The organisation says it is reviewing nursing staffing levels in Tairāwhiti to determine the workforce capacity, capability and skill mix required to provide safe care.

Health NZ has also acknowledged August brought particularly high demand alongside increased sickness among clinical staff and says patients with the most urgent medical needs continue to be prioritised.

But the dispute is increasingly about more than one roster or one emergency department.

The decision by more than 30 Gisborne nurses to take health and safety industrial action highlights a growing question for the health system: how long can hospitals continue relying on exhausted staff working additional and extended shifts before workforce shortages begin translating into even greater risks for patients?

For nurses in Tairāwhiti, Wednesday’s walkout is intended to send a clear message that they believe that point has already been reached.

#GisborneHospital #Tairawhiti #Gisborne #Nurses #NZNO #NursingShortage #HealthCrisis #EmergencyDepartment #ED #Healthcare #PatientSafety #NurseStaffing #HealthWorkforce #WinterIllness #Influenza #RSV #MaoriHealth #HauoraMaori #Hauora #TeAoMaori #Aotearoa #NZHealth #HealthNZ #BreakingNews #NZNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post BREAKING POINT: GISBORNE ED NURSES TO WALK OFF JOB AS STAFFING CRISIS DEEPENS appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

Hundreds of New Zealanders are waiting for the chance to see clearly again, prompting a renewed call for whānau across Aotearoa to have one potentially life-changing conversation — what should happen to their eye tissue after they die?

Organ Donation New Zealand Clinical Director Dr Jo Ritchie is encouraging New Zealanders to talk openly about eye tissue donation as the country struggles to secure enough locally donated corneas to meet demand.

At the end of 2025, more than 550 people were waiting for a corneal transplant, while many others required donated sclera — the white part of the eye — following disease, injury or trauma.

The shortage means New Zealand continues to rely partly on donated tissue from overseas, particularly Australia. Research from the New Zealand National Eye Bank has identified an overall decline in donors from public hospitals alongside increasing reliance on Australian donors.

The potential impact of a single donation is significant.

The two donated corneas from one person can restore sight for two recipients, while scleral tissue can be used in reconstructive procedures benefiting as many as another eight people.

Corneal transplantation can help people affected by blindness, severe eye trauma, tumours and degenerative conditions including keratoconus.

That condition is particularly important for Māori and Pacific communities.

Organ Donation New Zealand says Aotearoa has one of the world’s highest rates of keratoconus, with Māori and Pacific peoples disproportionately affected. Around a quarter of those diagnosed may eventually need a transplant, and some of the people waiting for treatment are school-aged children.

One of the barriers is the misconception that only people with perfect eyesight can become eye tissue donors.

In reality, almost anyone aged between 10 and 85 can be considered for eye tissue donation, regardless of where or how they die.

Wearing glasses or having poor eyesight does not automatically rule someone out.

People who have undergone LASIK surgery or have conditions including cataracts, glaucoma or retinopathy may still be able to donate because the cornea and sclera can remain suitable for transplantation.

Many people with diabetes, heart disease and even some cancers may also potentially donate eye tissue, although medical specialists ultimately determine suitability.

That makes eye tissue donation very different from organ donation.

Fewer than one percent of deaths occur in the circumstances necessary for organ donation, generally involving a patient receiving ventilation in intensive care. Tissue donation, however, can be possible following death in a much wider range of circumstances.

Eye tissue donation can be facilitated through hospitals, hospices and funeral services around the country.

The procedure can take place up to 48 hours after death and generally takes around 30 minutes.

The donation does not normally delay funeral arrangements or prevent whānau from bringing their loved one home. An open-casket viewing remains possible, with the process designed so there is no change to the person’s outward appearance.

For whānau considering tikanga, cultural or spiritual requirements, Organ Donation New Zealand’s clinical process specifically provides for cultural and spiritual support, including Māori health services where appropriate.

New Zealand does not have a legally binding national register that guarantees someone’s organs or tissues will be donated after death.

A donor indication on a driver licence records an intention, but it is not legally binding. Ultimately, consent is sought from the person’s whānau following their death.

That is why Dr Ritchie’s message is focused as much on conversation as registration.

A New Zealand study cited by Organ Donation New Zealand found 90 percent of participants would agree to donation on behalf of a loved one if asked, yet only around 20 percent had actually discussed donation intentions with their loved ones.

That gap can become crucial at a time when grieving whānau are being asked to make difficult decisions.

Knowing beforehand what a loved one wanted can make that decision considerably clearer.

The New Zealand National Eye Bank says around 350 people require corneal transplants each year, and since 1991 it has supplied nearly 8,000 corneas to New Zealand patients.

Meanwhile, Organ Donation New Zealand recorded 57 tissue-only donors during 2025, involving donations including corneas, sclera and heart valves.

Behind those statistics are people waiting for something many of us take for granted — the ability to see their children, read, study, work, drive and independently navigate the world around them.

And unlike many of the challenges facing the health system, helping address this shortage can begin with something remarkably simple.

Have the kōrero with your whānau.

Because after one life ends, the gift of donated eye tissue could allow someone else to see theirs again.

#GiftOfSight #EyeDonation #EyeTissueDonation #CorneaDonation #CornealTransplant #OrganDonationNZ #ODNZ #NZNationalEyeBank #JoRitchie #DonateLife #OrganDonation #TissueDonation #Keratoconus #MaoriHealth #PacificHealth #HauoraMaori #Whanau #HaveTheKorero #Health #EyeHealth #Vision #Blindness #Transplant #Aotearoa #NZHealth #NZNews #MaoriNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post THE GIFT OF SIGHT: HUNDREDS WAIT AS KIWIS URGED TO TALK ABOUT EYE DONATION appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

The Government is being urged to urgently partner with tāngata whaikaha Māori after the Waitangi Tribunal found significant parts of Aotearoa’s disability system continue to disadvantage Māori and expose whānau to culturally unsafe care.

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation says the findings in Hauwhaikaha – The Disability System Report amount to a damning assessment of a system that has failed to adequately recognise Māori as both Māori and disabled people.

Released on September 3 as part of the Wai 2575 Health Services and Outcomes Kaupapa Inquiry, the report found the Crown had failed to properly provide for tino rangatiratanga, partnership, equity and Māori participation in disability decision-making.

The Tribunal’s investigation was extensive, involving 48 claimants, 13 interested parties and 11 weeks of hearings between 2022 and 2024.

It found Māori have a significantly higher prevalence of disability than non-Māori, while tāngata whaikaha Māori experience greater unmet need and systemic barriers to accessing disability support.

Evidence presented to the Tribunal described a disability system that is fragmented, complicated and difficult for whānau to navigate.

The Crown itself accepted tāngata whaikaha Māori experience higher unmet need and are frequently marginalised within the health and disability system.

The Tribunal found the Crown had historically failed to properly involve tāngata whaikaha Māori in designing disability services, policies, strategies and action plans.

It also found Māori had not been sufficiently supported or resourced to participate in system-level decision-making.

NZNO kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says the findings reinforce concerns Māori nurses and whānau have raised for years about the importance of cultural safety.

The Tribunal found Crown training and professional development had failed to ensure the disability workforce was culturally competent, resulting in too many cases where tāngata whaikaha Māori received culturally unsafe care.

Māori are also under-represented within the health and disability workforce, affecting the cultural capability of services and the experiences of those receiving care.

The findings are particularly significant as debates over cultural safety continue across the health sector.

NZNO argues cultural safety cannot be reduced to occasional competency training and that the Tribunal’s findings demonstrate the real consequences when services fail to understand the cultural identity and needs of the people receiving care.

The Tribunal also found kaupapa Māori providers are not receiving sufficient funding or support to deliver the culturally appropriate services tāngata whaikaha Māori need.

Those providers were recognised as essential to sustaining hauora Māori and as expressions of tino rangatiratanga.

Funding barriers can leave whānau struggling to obtain timely, sustainable and appropriate services, while Māori living in rural communities can face additional barriers including long travel distances, fewer services and greater costs.

The report also identified racism and discrimination as barriers experienced within the disability system.

The Tribunal made specific findings concerning Kāpō Māori, including Māori who are blind, deafblind or vision-impaired; Tāngata Turi, Māori who are deaf or hard of hearing; and Māori living with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

For Kāpō Māori, the Tribunal identified inadequate funding for culturally appropriate services and problems created by a system primarily centred around individual rather than collective and whānau-centred support.

For Tāngata Turi, it found inequitable health outcomes and insufficient action to increase the availability of trilingual interpreters.

For Māori affected by FASD, it found significant gaps in access to disability services and recommended changes including reviewing eligibility criteria and developing Māori community-led services.

NZNO is now calling for the Government to act on the findings rather than allowing another major Waitangi Tribunal report to gather dust.

Among the changes it wants progressed are co-designed Māori-Crown disability services, greater Māori representation in governance and management, stronger monitoring of cultural safety, transparent reporting of inequitable outcomes and explicit Te Tiriti and equity requirements within Crown service contracts.

It also wants the monitoring of Māori health and disability outcomes previously undertaken by Te Aka Whai Ora restored in some form.

That issue was specifically addressed by the Tribunal, which recommended appropriate replacements for the monitoring role previously held by the now-disestablished Māori Health Authority, including monitoring health services delivered within prisons.

Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston’s office says consideration of the Tribunal’s findings will take time because a response needs to be coordinated across several government agencies.

Those agencies include Health, Social Development, Māori Development, Corrections, Education and ACC.

But for tāngata whaikaha Māori and their whānau, the findings follow years of evidence, lived experience and advocacy.

The Tribunal has now formally concluded that the state disability system does not properly recognise or provide for the tino rangatiratanga and mana motuhake of tāngata whaikaha Māori.

Its recommendations call for viable partnership models co-designed with Māori and meaningful Māori participation in the design and delivery of disability services.

The challenge now moves from establishing whether inequity exists to determining what the Government intends to do about it.

#TangataWhaikahaMaori #DisabilityRights #MaoriDisability #Hauwhaikaha #Wai2575 #WaitangiTribunal #NZNO #KerriNuku #TeTiriti #TinoRangatiratanga #ManaMotuhake #CulturalSafety #HealthEquity #HauoraMaori #MaoriHealth #KaupapaMaori #KaapoMaori #TangataTuri #FASD #DisabilityServices #HealthWorkforce #Whanau #Accessibility #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs #Aotearoa #NZHealth #NZNews #MaoriNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea

The post UNSAFE AND UNEQUAL: NURSES DEMAND GOVERNMENT ACT AFTER DAMNING MĀORI DISABILITY FINDINGS appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.