Waatea News: Māori Radio Station

A major international review has found nicotine vaping is more effective than traditional nicotine replacement products such as patches and gum for helping people stop smoking, findings with particular significance for Māori as Aotearoa continues to grapple with stubbornly high smoking rates and rapidly rising vaping.

The latest Cochrane review examined 80 randomised controlled trials involving almost 30,000 participants and found high-certainty evidence that nicotine e-cigarettes produce higher smoking quit rates than nicotine replacement therapy.

For every 100 people attempting to quit, researchers found around eight to ten people using nicotine vapes successfully stopped smoking for at least six months, compared with about six people using nicotine replacement therapy. The updated analysis estimates vaping produces around four additional quitters for every 100 people compared with patches and gum.

The findings add significant new weight to the debate over whether vaping should be viewed not simply as another public health problem, but also as a potential harm-reduction and smoking cessation tool for existing smokers.

That debate matters for Māori because despite dramatic progress over the past decade, smoking inequities remain substantial.

The latest 2024/25 New Zealand Health Survey shows 15 percent of Māori adults smoke daily, compared with 6.8 percent across the total adult population.

Māori daily smoking has fallen significantly over the longer term, but the latest figures show the remaining gap is considerable. The Ministry of Health also cautions that smoking rates have flattened nationally over the past three years after years of decline.

The challenge is therefore no longer simply demonstrating that Māori smoking can be reduced. It is finding ways to maintain that momentum and reach those whānau who continue to smoke.

The same data that strengthens the argument for vaping as a smoking cessation tool also illustrates why the issue is complicated.

Daily vaping among Māori adults has reached 27.5 percent, the highest rate of any major ethnic group measured by the New Zealand Health Survey.

Across the entire adult population, 11.7 percent vape daily.

The Ministry of Health says increases in vaping have mirrored decreases in smoking among some groups, but cautions that survey data alone cannot prove that vaping caused the reduction in smoking.

That creates an important distinction for policymakers.

The potential benefits of a smoker switching completely from combustible cigarettes to a regulated nicotine vape are very different from a young person who has never smoked becoming dependent on nicotine through vaping.

Effective public health policy therefore needs to deal with both realities at the same time.

The Cochrane researchers found strong evidence that regulated nicotine e-cigarettes outperform nicotine replacement therapy for smoking cessation.

They also found vaping may outperform behavioural support or attempting to quit without support, although the evidence for those comparisons is less certain.

Serious adverse events were uncommon across the studies, and researchers did not detect evidence of serious short-term harm from nicotine e-cigarettes. However, they emphasise that larger and longer studies are still required to fully understand long-term safety. The trials also involved regulated nicotine vaping products, meaning the findings should not automatically be applied to illicit products or vapes containing other substances.

That distinction is critical.

The research does not conclude that vaping is harmless.

It asks a different question: for somebody who already smokes cigarettes and wants to stop, does nicotine vaping help them quit?

On that question, the evidence is becoming increasingly strong.

For Aotearoa, the challenge may now be developing policy sophisticated enough to separate smoking cessation from recreational uptake.

Measures designed to stop rangatahi and non-smokers becoming addicted to nicotine need to coexist with effective cessation options for adults who are already smoking.

For Māori health providers, that could mean ensuring whānau receive clear information about the relative risks of smoking and vaping while maintaining access to evidence-based cessation support.

New Zealand’s overall daily smoking rate has fallen from 16.4 percent in 2011/12 to 6.8 percent in 2024/25, while the estimated number of daily smokers has nearly halved. But Māori remain well above the country’s smokefree target.

The latest international evidence therefore adds another layer to an increasingly complex public health conversation.

The objective should not be to create another generation dependent on nicotine. But for people already smoking, the evidence increasingly suggests vaping may provide another pathway away from something considerably more deadly.

#Vaping #Smoking #QuitSmoking #Smokefree #HarmReduction #Nicotine #CochraneReview #HauoraMaori #MaoriHealth #HealthEquity #MaoriSmoking #SmokingCessation #Vape #Tobacco #Rangatahi #Whanau #PublicHealth #HealthResearch #NewZealandHealthSurvey #SmokefreeAotearoa #Addiction #HealthPolicy #MaoriNews #Aotearoa #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea #WaateaDigital

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Green MP Hūhana Lyndon says rising child poverty, sweeping changes to environmental law and the escalating dispute over protection of the Waikato and Waipā rivers are becoming part of a much bigger conversation about how Māori interests, Te Tiriti commitments and future generations are being treated by the Government.

With the election approaching, Lyndon says Māori whānau are increasingly confronting decisions that reach across several areas at once — from whether tamariki have enough to live on, to the protection of whenua and wai and the ability of iwi to exercise meaningful influence over decisions affecting their rohe.

The concerns come as the Government faces significant opposition from Waikato-Tainui and other river interests over its decision to defer key requirements of Waikato Regional Plan Change 1 until the end of 2032.

PC1 was developed to reduce contaminants entering the Waikato and Waipā rivers and forms an important part of the long-term effort to restore their health and wellbeing.

The Waikato River Authority says the deferral includes Farm Environment Plans and requirements intended to reduce contaminant losses, pushing back what the Environment Court had regarded as an essential first step towards achieving Te Ture Whaimana o Te Awa o Waikato.

Waikato-Tainui has delivered a particularly strong response.

Chair Tukoroirangi Morgan says the Government’s intervention follows around 14 years of work involving iwi, farmers, growers, councils, industry, environmental organisations and communities.

Waikato-Tainui argues delaying the protections places political considerations ahead of the health of the awa and risks undermining commitments arising from the Waikato River settlement.

Waikato Regional Council has also expressed disappointment, saying it was not consulted before the Government announced changes affecting PC1.

The council says the plan was originally developed through a collaborative process involving sector, industry and community representatives and was specifically designed to address degraded water quality in the Waikato and Waipā rivers.

The controversy has therefore moved well beyond a technical argument over farming regulation.

For Waikato-Tainui, the awa is a tūpuna and the obligation to restore its health is intertwined with whakapapa, kaitiakitanga and commitments established through the Treaty settlement process.

For Lyndon and the Greens, the Waikato dispute also sits within a broader concern about the direction of the Government’s environmental reforms.

The Government argues its replacement resource-management system will reduce unnecessary regulation and provide greater certainty for farming, housing, infrastructure and economic development.

Critics fear that drive could weaken protections for freshwater, biodiversity and the ability of mana whenua to influence decisions affecting their environment.

The PC1 dispute provides a particularly significant test because the restoration of the Waikato River is governed not simply by ordinary environmental policy but by Te Ture Whaimana, the long-term Vision and Strategy arising from the Waikato River settlement framework.

Lyndon says environmental policy cannot be separated from the social conditions facing Māori.

Child poverty remains a major concern heading into Election 2026, with Māori tamariki disproportionately represented among children experiencing material hardship.

For the Greens, decisions around benefits, housing, wages, healthcare and public services ultimately determine whether whānau have enough resources to provide children with secure homes, nutritious food and opportunities to participate fully in their communities.

That creates a common thread between issues that might otherwise appear unrelated.

Who carries the cost of today’s political decisions — and what is being left for the next generation?

When environmental protections are postponed, mokopuna inherit the consequences for the awa.

When housing, incomes and essential services fail to keep pace with need, tamariki experience the consequences now.

With the November election drawing closer, Lyndon argues those questions should be central to how Māori assess the competing political choices before them.

The Government maintains its reforms are necessary to remove costly regulation, stimulate investment and get the economy growing.

The Greens argue economic development cannot be measured independently of social wellbeing, environmental health and Te Tiriti responsibilities.

For Māori voters, that contest is increasingly about more than any single policy.

It is about tamariki, whenua, wai and whether decisions made in Wellington strengthen or diminish the ability of Māori communities to determine the future they leave their mokopuna.

#HuhanaLyndon #GreenParty #Election2026 #ChildPoverty #TamarikiMaori #WaikatoRiver #WaipaRiver #WaikatoTainui #PlanChange1 #PC1 #TeTureWhaimana #TeAwaWaikato #Freshwater #WaterQuality #RMAReform #Environment #TeTaiao #Kaitiakitanga #Whenua #Wai #Whakapapa #TeTiriti #TeTiritiOWaitangi #ManaWhenua #Mokopuna #MaoriPolitics #NZPolitics #MaoriNews #Aotearoa #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea #WaateaDigital

The post #regional: Hūhana Lyndon: Child Poverty, Environmental Rollbacks and Waikato Awa Raise Bigger Questions for Māori appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi is pitching his party’s new Kiwi Tax Plan as a major redistribution of wealth that could put thousands of dollars a year back into the pockets of ordinary whānau, while shifting more of the tax burden onto the country’s wealthiest people, corporations and property transactions.

The policy is shaping up as one of Te Pāti Māori’s biggest economic offerings of the election campaign, with the party arguing the current tax system takes too much from wages while allowing accumulated wealth and capital to escape comparable taxation.

At the centre of the proposal is a tax-free threshold on the first $30,000 of income.

Te Pāti Māori says about 4.5 million people, or 97 percent of taxpayers, would pay less income tax, while around 4.2 million people would receive an average benefit of approximately $4,000 a year.

For Waititi, the political pitch is straightforward: put more pūtea into the pockets of workers and whānau who are struggling with food, housing, electricity and other household costs.

The policy would significantly restructure personal income tax, with the greatest emphasis on reducing the tax paid by people on low and middle incomes.

Te Pāti Māori has also proposed additional assistance with food costs for people earning $60,000 or less, through a tax credit the party says could be equivalent to as much as eight weeks of kai each year.

That gives the party a potentially powerful cost-of-living message heading towards November.

For Māori households, the proposal also needs to be considered against persistent income and wealth inequalities.

Māori remain disproportionately represented among lower-income households, meaning changes at the bottom and middle of the tax system could potentially have a significant impact on disposable whānau income.

The other side of the plan is where Te Pāti Māori intends to find additional revenue.

Its package proposes a targeted wealth tax affecting the wealthiest three percent, while 97 percent of people would pay no wealth tax.

The party also wants corporations and offshore profit transfers to contribute more and is targeting vacant property and land banking.

Another notable component is a proposed five percent stamp duty, adding property transactions to the party’s broader attempt to shift taxation away from wages and towards wealth and assets.

The policy puts Te Pāti Māori broadly into the same political territory as the Greens and trade unions, which have argued New Zealand relies too heavily on taxing income and consumption while comparatively little tax is collected from wealth.

But the scale of the proposed tax reductions means scrutiny will inevitably fall on the numbers.

If millions of taxpayers are collectively keeping billions of dollars more of their earnings, a future government would need to demonstrate that new revenue from wealth, companies, property and other measures would be sufficient to cover the reduction.

That matters because taxation does more than determine what arrives in a worker’s bank account.

It pays for healthcare, schools, housing programmes, welfare, infrastructure and other public services.

Te Pāti Māori will therefore face pressure during the campaign to provide detailed costings showing how much each new tax would raise, how behavioural changes have been accounted for and whether the package would leave the Crown with sufficient revenue.

Those details will be important if the party wants the policy treated as more than an election aspiration.

There is another obstacle beyond the economics: coalition arithmetic.

Even if Te Pāti Māori performs strongly in November, it is highly unlikely to govern alone.

That means implementing a major restructuring of the tax system would require support from potential governing partners.

Tax policy is traditionally one of the most difficult areas of coalition negotiation because changing rates or introducing new forms of taxation can become bottom-line issues for political parties.

A wealth tax, corporate tax increases and a five percent stamp duty could therefore become bargaining chips around a post-election negotiating table.

Waititi’s challenge is not simply convincing Māori voters that the policy would leave them better off.

He also needs to demonstrate that enough of it could survive the negotiations required to form a government.

What is increasingly clear is that tax is emerging as one of the defining arguments of Election 2026.

Te Pāti Māori is proposing substantial redistribution through a tax-free threshold and greater taxation of wealth.

The Greens have also advanced significant tax reform.

Labour is promising not to increase GST or fuel excise tax.

National will be defending its own approach to taxation, spending and economic growth.

That leaves voters with fundamentally different ideas about not only how much tax New Zealanders should pay, but who should pay it.

For Rawiri Waititi and Te Pāti Māori, the answer is increasingly explicit: take less from the wages of ordinary whānau and considerably more from accumulated wealth.

The next test is proving the numbers stack up — and convincing potential coalition partners to sign on.

#Election2026 #TePatiMaori #RawiriWaititi #KiwiTaxPlan #TaxPolicy #TaxFreeThreshold #WealthTax #StampDuty #CostOfLiving #Whanau #Putea #MaoriEconomy #MaoriPolitics #IncomeTax #TaxReform #WealthInequality #EconomicInequality #Coalition #NZPolitics #ElectionPolicy #Vote2026 #Aotearoa #MaoriNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea #WaateaDigital

The post #Election2026: Rawiri Waititi Sells Tax Plan as $4,000 Boost for Whānau — But Who Pays? appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

Northland nurse, researcher and educator Dr Pipi Barton has received the prestigious 2026 Te Akenehi Hei Memorial Award, recognising more than three decades dedicated to strengthening Māori nursing and creating pathways for the next generation of tapuhi Māori.

Dr Barton, of Ngāti Puhiawe, Ngāti Horotakere and Ngāti Hikairo ki Kāwhia, was presented with the taonga at the Indigenous Nurses Aotearoa Conference at Māhurehure Marae in Tāmaki Makaurau earlier this month.

Awarded only every two years, the Te Akenehi Hei Memorial Award is the highest honour presented by Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa, representing the Māori members of Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa New Zealand Nurses Organisation.

The award carries the name of pioneering Māori nurse and midwife Akenehi Hei, the first Māori nurse and midwife to register under her own name rather than Agnes, the name given to her by her Pākehā employers.

Since becoming a registered nurse in 1991, Dr Barton has made supporting Māori nurses and tauira a central focus of her career.

Her master’s and doctoral research has focused on Māori health and nursing, examining why Māori representation within the nursing workforce has remained stubbornly low despite the growing Māori population.

Her research found Māori nurses have accounted for around seven percent of the nursing workforce for approximately 40 years, despite Māori comprising about 17.5 percent of the population.

That disparity has major implications for a health system seeking to improve Māori outcomes, particularly in rural communities where workforce shortages and barriers to healthcare can be even more pronounced.

Dr Barton’s doctoral findings helped support the establishment of NorthTec’s Puawānanga Tapuhi Māori – Bachelor of Nursing Māori programme.

Based in the Māori community of Ngāwha near Kaikohe, it is one of only four Māori nursing programmes in Aotearoa and the only one based in a rural setting.

The programme officially launched last year and its first cohort is expected to graduate next year.

Its purpose goes directly to one of the central findings of Dr Barton’s research — that Māori tauira and nurses can struggle within mainstream Bachelor of Nursing programmes and that more Māori-specific nursing pathways are needed.

The Ngāwha programme is designed not only to increase the number of Māori entering nursing but to build the rural Māori nursing workforce, creating opportunities for people to train closer to their own whānau and communities.

Dr Barton is now extending that work through research examining whether Māori nursing programmes improve retention and completion rates for Māori Bachelor of Nursing students.

That could provide important evidence for the future development of Māori-led nursing education across Aotearoa.

Growing the number of tapuhi Māori is about more than workforce statistics.

Māori nurses bring lived experience, cultural knowledge and connections to whānau and communities that can strengthen culturally safe healthcare and help address persistent inequities experienced by Māori patients.

For Te Tai Tokerau and other rural regions, developing nurses who understand the communities they serve can also help build a more sustainable health workforce closer to home.

The 2026 Te Akenehi Hei Memorial Award therefore recognises both Dr Barton’s personal contribution and the generations of Māori nurses whose work has created pathways for those following behind them.

From advocating for Māori tauira to helping establish a Māori nursing degree in Ngāwha, her career has been focused on a simple but significant ambition — more Māori nurses, stronger Māori nursing leadership and a health system in which tapuhi Māori can succeed.

#PipiBarton #TeAkenehiHei #TapuhiMaori #MaoriNursing #MaoriNurses #HauoraMaori #MaoriHealth #HealthEquity #NorthTec #PuawanangaTapuhiMaori #Ngawha #Kaikohe #TeTaiTokerau #Northland #RuralHealth #NursingEducation #MaoriWorkforce #IndigenousNurses #NZNO #TeRunangaOAotearoa #MaoriLeadership #WhanauOra #HealthWorkforce #MaoriNews #Aotearoa #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea #WaateaDigital

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Thousands of people are expected to make their way to Tūrangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāhia next week as the annual Koroneihana brings together iwi, hapū, whānau and manuhiri to honour Te Arikinui Kuini Ngā wai hono i te pō and celebrate the enduring strength of the Kiingitanga.

The annual gathering remains one of the most significant events on the Māori calendar, providing an opportunity for people from across Aotearoa to come together beneath the kaupapa of kotahitanga, whakapapa and mana Māori motuhake.

At the centre of this year’s celebrations will be Te Arikinui Kuini Ngā wai hono i te pō, as the Kiingitanga continues under a new generation of leadership from its home at Tūrangawaewae.

Koroneihana has long drawn large crowds to Ngāruawāhia, bringing together kaumātua, rangatahi, iwi leaders, politicians, community representatives and whānau.

While deeply connected to Waikato-Tainui, the kaupapa extends across tribal boundaries and has historically provided an important place for Māori to gather, debate the issues of the day and reaffirm relationships between iwi.

It is also an opportunity to celebrate te reo Māori, tikanga, whakapapa, kapa haka, whanaungatanga and Māori leadership.

The gathering carries particular significance as Te Arikinui Kuini Ngā wai hono i te pō continues to build on the legacy and kaupapa of those who have carried the Kiingitanga before her.

The Kiingitanga was founded in the nineteenth century as a movement to unite Māori, protect whenua and strengthen Māori authority during a period of enormous political and social upheaval.

Those foundations continue to give Koroneihana significance well beyond ceremonial celebration.

The gathering provides a national platform for kōrero about the challenges and opportunities facing Māori, while reinforcing the relationships that connect whānau, hapū and iwi across the motu.

At a time when debates around Te Tiriti o Waitangi, whenua, wai, the environment, Māori representation, health, housing and economic development remain prominent, the kaupapa of kotahitanga is again likely to resonate strongly.

Koroneihana is also about generations.

Kaumātua carry the histories and mātauranga of those who came before, while tamariki and rangatahi experience a living expression of the Kiingitanga and the relationships connecting Māori communities across Aotearoa.

For many whānau returning to Ngāruawāhia, the gathering is as much about reconnecting with one another as it is about formal proceedings.

Next week’s celebrations will once again transform Tūrangawaewae into a meeting place for the motu — honouring the past while looking towards the future under Te Arikinui Kuini Ngā wai hono i te pō.

And at its heart remains a kaupapa that has sustained the Kiingitanga across generations: kotahi te kōhao o te ngira e kuhuna ai te miro mā, te miro pango, te miro whero — unity through the weaving together of the people.

#Koroneihana #Koroneihana2026 #Kiingitanga #KuiniNgawaiHonoITePo #TeArikinui #Turangawaewae #Ngaruawahia #WaikatoTainui #Waikato #Kotahitanga #ManaMaori #ManaMotuhake #Whakapapa #Whanaungatanga #TeAoMaori #TikangaMaori #TeReoMaori #Iwi #Hapu #Whanau #MaoriLeadership #MaoriNews #Aotearoa #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea #WaateaDigital

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Ka rerekē te āhua o tā te kaimahi whai i ngā utu hararei, i ngā utu māuiui nā te Ture hou o te Employment Leave act.

Ka tatau te nui o te utu hararei ka whakawhiwhia ki te kaimahi mā ngā haora, kaua mā ngā rā.

Mō ngā kaimahi harangotengote arā ngā kaimahi ‘Part-time’, ka kore rātou e ahei ki te whai i te utu waatea ā-tau arā te annual leave, heoi ka nui ake tō rātou utu mā te 12.5%, he utu hai whakakapi i te wāhi ki te annual leave.

Neke atu i te 200,000 ngā kaimahi ka pāngia e ēnei panonitanga.

Hei tā Teanau Tūiono, ki te tū te Rōpū Kākāriki hai kāwanatanga, ka whakakorehia e rātou tēnei Ture.

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I puta i te Rōpū Kākāriki tā rātou kaupapa here hou, kia whakahokia, kia whakawhānuitia, kia whakapūmau hoki i te pūtea mō te kaupapa tina i ngā kura, arā, ko Ka Ora, Ka Ako.

Ko tētahi o ngā wāhanga o te kaupapa here nei, ko te whakawhānui i te kaupapa ki ngā kura 400 atu anō, mā tērā e horapa ai te kai ki ngā tamariki 150 mano.

E ai ki te Kaiarataki Takirua o te Rōpū Kākāriki, e ai ki a Marama Davidson, ka tautoko hoki te kaupapa nei i ngā kaiwhakarato kai me ngā tūranga mahi ā-rohe.

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Waikato-Tainui environmental leader Tipa Mahuta is warning the Government’s decision to defer key freshwater protections until 2032 risks sacrificing years of work to restore the health and wellbeing of the Waikato and Waipā Rivers.

Mahuta, a respected planner and long-time advocate for the awa, has been highly critical of moves affecting Waikato Regional Plan Change 1, arguing the issue reaches far beyond planning rules and goes to the heart of the relationship between the Crown, Waikato-Tainui and the river itself.

Plan Change 1 was developed to reduce contaminants entering the Waikato and Waipā catchments and support the long-term restoration of waterways that have experienced decades of environmental pressure.

Its development has involved years of scientific analysis, consultation, negotiations and participation from iwi, councils, farmers, industry, environmental organisations and communities.

For Mahuta, pushing critical elements of that work out until 2032 risks losing momentum when the awa requires action now.

For Waikato-Tainui, the health of the river cannot be separated from the health of the people.

The Waikato River is an ancestor and taonga, while its restoration is embedded within the Crown’s settlement relationship with Waikato-Tainui and the overarching Te Ture Whaimana o Te Awa o Waikato — the Vision and Strategy for the Waikato River.

That framework places restoring and protecting the health and wellbeing of the river at the centre of decision-making.

The controversy therefore raises a fundamental question: can central government delay environmental measures developed through years of collaborative work without undermining the commitments that sit behind them?

Critics of the Government’s intervention have stressed that Plan Change 1 did not appear overnight.

Communities across the Waikato have spent more than a decade working through complex and often contentious questions around farming, land use, nutrient loss, freshwater quality and economic impacts.

The process has required compromises across sectors with very different interests.

Mahuta’s concern is that after years of building a framework designed specifically for the Waikato catchment, decisions from Wellington could effectively reset parts of that process.

That creates uncertainty not only for iwi and environmental advocates, but also for farmers and businesses that have spent years preparing for the eventual rules.

The environmental question is equally significant.

The Waikato and Waipā Rivers continue to face pressure from nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment and microbial contamination, with land use and intensification central to the debate over how quickly water quality can be restored.

A delay until 2032 represents another six years before key protections take effect.

For Mahuta and other opponents of the Government’s approach, the concern is that environmental degradation does not pause simply because regulation has.

Every additional year potentially affects wai quality, ecosystems, mahinga kai and the ability of future generations to safely use and enjoy the river.

The dispute is also becoming a wider test of how Treaty settlements and co-governance arrangements interact with national environmental reform.

Waikato-Tainui’s relationship with the awa is recognised through the Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Act 2010, establishing a framework intended to restore and protect the river for future generations.

That means decisions affecting the awa inevitably raise questions about mana whenua, rangatiratanga, Crown obligations and the durability of agreements reached through Treaty settlements.

The concern for Waikato-Tainui is not simply whether one set of environmental rules changes.

It is whether commitments painstakingly negotiated with the Crown remain meaningful when government priorities change.

The Government has framed its wider resource-management programme around enabling development, reducing regulatory barriers and creating greater certainty for landowners and businesses.

But the Waikato dispute exposes the difficult balance between those economic objectives and long-term environmental restoration.

Reducing unnecessary bureaucracy is one thing.

Weakening measures intended to restore one of Aotearoa’s most culturally and environmentally significant river systems is another.

The challenge for the Government will be demonstrating that its alternative approach can produce water-quality outcomes at least as strong as those the existing process was designed to achieve.

For Mahuta, the debate ultimately comes back to responsibility to future generations.

Governments change. Ministers change. Planning systems are rewritten.

The Waikato River remains.

After more than a decade of negotiations and millions of dollars invested in developing a pathway towards restoration, delaying significant protections until 2032 risks creating another generation of waiting.

For Waikato-Tainui, the measure of success will not be whether regulation becomes simpler or development approvals become faster.

It will be whether the Waikato and Waipā Rivers are healthier.

And that is the challenge now confronting the Government: if delaying Plan Change 1 does not accelerate the restoration of the awa, what exactly is gained by making the river wait another six years?

#TipaMahuta #WaikatoTainui #WaikatoRiver #WaipaRiver #PlanChange1 #PC1 #TeTureWhaimana #TeAwaWaikato #ManaWhenua #TinoRangatiratanga #TeTiritiOWaitangi #TreatySettlement #Freshwater #FreshwaterReform #WaterQuality #Wai #MahingaKai #TeTaiao #Kaitiakitanga #EnvironmentalProtection #RMAReform #ResourceManagement #CoGovernance #Iwi #Hapu #Waikato #Election2026 #NZPolitics #MaoriPolitics #Aotearoa #RegionalNews #MaoriNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea #WaateaDigital

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Nearly 170,000 children across Aotearoa are living without everyday essentials, prompting the Child Poverty Action Group to challenge political parties heading into Election 2026 to spell out how they will tackle poverty rather than allow another generation of tamariki to fall behind.

The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) is launching its Manifesto to Reduce Child Poverty, setting out a package of measures across income, housing, health, disability and education that it wants the next Government to prioritise.

The manifesto comes as around 169,300 children are estimated to be experiencing material hardship, meaning families are struggling to afford essentials that most New Zealanders would consider basic necessities.

For CPAG, the figures make child poverty an immediate political issue rather than something that can be pushed into another term of government.

At the centre of the manifesto are five interconnected areas that determine whether tamariki and their whānau have the foundations needed to thrive.

Income matters because families cannot consistently meet the costs of food, electricity, clothing, transport and other necessities when household income falls short.

Housing matters because cold, damp, overcrowded or insecure accommodation can affect children’s physical health, mental wellbeing and ability to learn.

Healthcare matters because poverty should not determine whether a child receives treatment when they need it.

Disability support matters because whānau raising disabled tamariki can face additional costs and barriers that deepen financial hardship.

And education matters because poverty experienced at home can follow children through the school gate, affecting attendance, participation and ultimately opportunity.

CPAG’s argument is that addressing only one part of that equation will not be enough.

The manifesto carries particular significance for Māori because persistent economic and social inequalities mean tamariki Māori remain disproportionately exposed to material hardship.

That turns child poverty into a wider issue of hauora, housing, educational opportunity and intergenerational wellbeing.

When whānau are forced to choose between kai, power, rent, transport and medical costs, the consequences can accumulate throughout childhood.

Those disadvantages can then follow tamariki into adulthood, affecting employment, income, housing and health and potentially creating another cycle of hardship for the next generation.

The timing of the manifesto places the issue directly into the election campaign.

CPAG wants political parties to move beyond acknowledging that child poverty is a problem and instead commit to policies capable of producing measurable reductions.

That means voters should expect parties to explain how their policies on benefits, wages, tax, housing, healthcare, disability support and education will affect children living in the country’s poorest households.

It also puts pressure on parties making significant spending or tax promises to demonstrate where reducing child poverty sits among their priorities.

New Zealand has already established statutory child-poverty reduction targets through the Child Poverty Reduction Act, making the issue one against which successive governments can be measured.

CPAG’s intervention effectively asks whether those commitments are being matched by policies capable of achieving them.

The organisation argues child poverty is not inevitable.

Government decisions determine benefit levels, tax credits, housing investment, healthcare access and education funding. Those decisions can either reduce the pressure on low-income households or increase it.

With almost 170,000 children experiencing material hardship, CPAG says the country cannot afford to treat those choices as abstract economic arguments.

They are decisions affecting whether tamariki have enough food, live in healthy homes, receive healthcare and participate fully in education.

The manifesto lands during an election campaign already dominated by debates over the cost of living, taxation, public spending, housing and the future of public services.

CPAG is now demanding that child poverty becomes part of that conversation.

For Māori, the challenge is particularly urgent because improving outcomes for tamariki Māori requires addressing the economic conditions experienced by the whānau surrounding them.

Ultimately, the manifesto presents voters and political parties with a straightforward test.

If nearly 170,000 children are going without the essentials in one of the world’s wealthier countries, what will the next Government actually do differently?

With Election 2026 approaching, CPAG wants every party seeking power to provide an answer — because for tamariki growing up in hardship today, another three years is a significant part of a childhood.

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With fewer than 100 days until the General Election, Māori political commentator Professor Ella Henry says the polls are opening up important questions about where Māori voters are heading, whether traditional party loyalties are shifting and just how influential the Māori vote could become on November 7.

Professor Ella Henry (Ngātikahu ki Whangaroa, Ngāti Kuri, Te Rārawa) is a Māori academic and commentator specialising in Māori politics, governance and representation. She joins Waatea as the latest polling points to an increasingly competitive election where neither of the two major parties appears to be dominating the political landscape.

The latest RNZ-Reid Research polling paints a complicated picture: declining approval for the leaders of both National and Labour, pressure on National that is not automatically translating into gains for Labour, and the possibility of smaller parties playing a decisive role in determining who forms the next government.

For Māori voters, that creates an election environment in which electorate contests, party votes and tactical decisions could all matter.

One of the most significant features of the polling is that dissatisfaction with the Government does not necessarily mean voters are moving directly towards Labour.

That matters because New Zealand’s MMP system creates considerably more possibilities than a straightforward National-versus-Labour contest.

If support fragments between parties, smaller political movements can acquire disproportionate influence over the final shape of Parliament.

For Māori voters, the choice is particularly complex.

Alongside National and Labour are Te Pāti Māori and the Greens, while Māori voters in the general electorates can also influence contests involving ACT, New Zealand First and other parties.

That means the Māori vote is not one single bloc — and understanding where it moves could become critical.

Much political attention traditionally focuses on the seven Māori electorates.

Those races remain enormously important, particularly following the political upheaval within Te Pāti Māori and the emergence of independent candidates.

But Māori electoral influence extends much further.

Large numbers of Māori remain enrolled on the general roll, meaning Māori voters could help decide marginal general electorates across the motu.

Then there is the party vote, which ultimately determines the proportional composition of Parliament.

That creates three different contests to watch: who wins the Māori electorates, how Māori voters influence general seats, and where the Māori party vote ultimately lands.

Election 2026 is also testing whether Māori voters are becoming increasingly willing to split their votes.

Te Pāti Māori has already generated debate around tactical voting, while Labour and the Greens continue to campaign for both electorate and party votes.

The question is whether voters see those instructions as compelling — or make their own calculations based on candidates, policies and which coalition they want governing after November 7.

For Professor Henry, the polling provides an opportunity to look beyond headline party percentages and consider the political behaviour underneath them.

Māori voters are not politically uniform.

Differences in age, income, geography, whakapapa connections and whether someone lives in urban or rural Aotearoa can all influence political priorities.

The election also presents Māori voters with competing priorities.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Waitangi Tribunal, Māori representation, co-governance, te reo Māori and tino rangatiratanga remain significant political issues.

But so too are the everyday pressures facing whānau.

Housing affordability, unemployment, wages, grocery prices, healthcare and education are increasingly prominent across the campaign.

The challenge for political parties will be demonstrating they understand that these issues are not necessarily separate.

For many Māori households, economic policy and Māori policy intersect through access to whenua, housing, employment, health, education and the ability to build intergenerational wealth.

The wider polling picture also raises the prospect that the next government could depend heavily on negotiations involving smaller parties.

That makes every percentage point increasingly important.

A relatively small movement in the Māori party vote could change the parliamentary arithmetic, particularly if the major blocs remain closely matched.

It also means the threshold, electorate victories and the performance of potential coalition partners will be watched almost as closely as National and Labour.

Polls remain snapshots rather than predictions.

Campaigns matter.

Candidate performances matter.

Debates matter.

And events between now and November 7 could dramatically reshape voter priorities.

But the current numbers suggest Election 2026 is far from settled.

For Professor Ella Henry, the bigger question is therefore not simply who Māori are voting for today.

It is what Māori voters are telling political parties about the issues that will determine their votes — and whether those parties are listening.

With fewer than 100 days remaining, Māori voters could become one of the decisive forces of Election 2026 — not only across the Māori electorates, but through party votes and marginal seats right across Aotearoa.

#EllaHenry #Election2026 #NZElection2026 #MaoriVote #MaoriVoters #MaoriElectorates #MaoriPolitics #TePatiMaori #Labour #National #GreenParty #NZFirst #ACTParty #Polling #PoliticalPolls #RNZReidResearch #PartyVote #MMP #TacticalVoting #TeTiritiOWaitangi #WaitangiTribunal #TinoRangatiratanga #ManaMotuhake #CostOfLiving #MaoriEconomy #Housing #Employment #Whanau #Rangatahi #NZPolitics #Aotearoa #MaoriNews #ElectionNews #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea #WaateaDigital

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