Waatea News: Māori Radio Station

More than ten kaupapa Māori and kura Māori from across Tāmaki Makaurau have come together for a unique event designed to inspire the next generation of sports broadcasters while celebrating the power of Te Reo Māori in the world of media.

The initiative gives tamariki the opportunity to experience sports broadcasting firsthand, demonstrating that fluency in Te Reo Māori can open doors to careers in journalism, commentary, media production and storytelling.

Hosted as part of an interactive programme, students are stepping behind the microphone to learn the skills of live sports broadcasting, interviewing and presenting, while exploring how Māori language and culture are becoming increasingly visible across New Zealand’s sporting landscape.

Radio Waatea broadcaster Dale Husband spent time speaking with the young participants, hearing their aspirations, enthusiasm and growing confidence as they discovered what it takes to bring sport to life through Te Reo Māori.

The event highlights the increasing demand for bilingual broadcasters who can connect with audiences in both Te Reo Māori and English, particularly as more sporting organisations embrace Māori language commentary and culturally authentic coverage.

Organisers say exposing rangatahi to careers in broadcasting is about much more than developing technical skills. It is also about strengthening identity, building confidence in Te Reo Māori, and showing young people that their language belongs in every arena—including the commentary box.

For many of the students attending, the experience provided their first opportunity to see broadcasting as a realistic career pathway, while reinforcing the value of speaking and celebrating Te Reo Māori every day.

The programme also reflects the growing momentum behind Māori-led media initiatives that continue to create opportunities for rangatahi to tell stories from their own perspective and ensure Māori voices remain visible across New Zealand’s media landscape.

As the day unfolded, the excitement and confidence shown by the tamariki offered a glimpse of the next generation of broadcasters, commentators and journalists who may one day lead sports coverage in Aotearoa through the lens of Te Ao Māori.

#TeReoMāori #KaupapaMāori #KuraKaupapa #SportsBroadcasting #Rangatahi #Tamariki #TāmakiMakaurau #MāoriMedia #Hākinakina #RadioWaatea #WaateaNews #TeAoMāori

The post #hakinakina: Tamariki Take Centre Stage as Te Reo Māori Broadcasting Inspires Future Sports Commentators appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa is calling for continued protections over mussel harvesting in Ōhiwa Harbour as one of Aotearoa’s most successful marine restoration projects enters its next phase.

The harbour, traditionally known as Te Kete o Tairongo, has long been recognised as an important food basket for local iwi and coastal communities. After years of decline in mussel populations, a sustained restoration effort has seen shellfish numbers recover dramatically, offering renewed hope for the harbour’s ecological and cultural future.

Customary Fisheries Officer Charles Bluett says maintaining the current harvesting restrictions is critical to ensuring the recovering mussel beds continue to strengthen before any consideration is given to reopening customary or recreational harvesting.

The recovery has been driven by years of collaborative work involving Ngāti Awa, scientists, government agencies and local communities. Restoration efforts have focused on rebuilding mussel populations while protecting the wider harbour ecosystem that supports a diverse range of marine life.

Central to the project has been the application of kaitiakitanga, with Māori environmental knowledge guiding long-term decisions about how the harbour should be managed and restored. The approach has balanced mātauranga Māori alongside scientific monitoring to measure ecological recovery and adapt management practices over time.

The project is increasingly being recognised as an example of how Indigenous knowledge and Western science can work together to restore degraded ecosystems. The lessons learned in Ōhiwa Harbour are expected to inform similar restoration initiatives elsewhere in Aotearoa, particularly in areas where shellfish populations have suffered significant declines.

For Ngāti Awa, the restoration extends well beyond rebuilding mussel beds. The harbour represents an enduring source of kai, identity, whakapapa and cultural connection, with healthy marine ecosystems viewed as essential to sustaining future generations.

The iwi says protecting the gains already achieved will require patience and continued stewardship, ensuring the harbour remains resilient in the face of environmental pressures including climate change, sedimentation and increasing human activity.

As discussions continue around extending the existing protections, Ngāti Awa hopes Ōhiwa Harbour will stand as a lasting example of what can be achieved when communities, iwi and scientists work together to restore taonga species and protect the health of the moana.

#NgātiAwa #ŌhiwaHarbour #Kaitiakitanga #MātaurangaMāori #CustomaryFisheries #Moana #Taonga #MarineConservation #Shellfish #Environment #TeAoMāori #RadioWaatea #WaateaNews

The post #regional: Ōhiwa Harbour Mussel Revival Signals Hope as Ngāti Awa Seeks Ongoing Protection appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

It was a memorable weekend for New Zealand sport, with sporting commentator Ken Laban describing it as one of the strongest collective performances by Kiwi athletes this year after major victories in golf, rugby league and rugby union.

Leading the headlines was Ryan Fox’s historic triumph at The Open Championship, where the New Zealand golfer captured his first major title with a dramatic birdie on the final hole to lift the Claret Jug. The victory places Fox alongside New Zealand golfing greats and represents one of the country’s most significant achievements on the international sporting stage.

Laban says Fox’s success reflects years of persistence and development, with the golfer now firmly established among the world’s elite after consistently competing at the highest level on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. Beyond the individual achievement, the victory provides inspiration for aspiring Kiwi golfers and reinforces New Zealand’s ability to produce world-class talent across a range of sports.

Closer to home, the One New Zealand Warriors continued their push towards the NRL finals with a gritty win over the St George Illawarra Dragons. While not always producing their most fluent football, the Warriors again demonstrated resilience, defensive discipline and the ability to grind out victories when matches become physical and closely contested.

Laban says premiership contenders are often defined by their ability to win even when they are below their best, and the Warriors are increasingly showing the maturity required to compete deep into the finals series. Their defensive effort and composure under pressure continue to be hallmarks of a side growing in confidence.

The All Blacks also produced an emphatic performance against Ireland at Eden Park, extending one of international rugby’s most remarkable records by maintaining their unbeaten run at the famous Auckland venue.

Laban says the performance highlighted the team’s growing cohesion, with improvements evident across the park in both attack and defence. The result also demonstrated the depth available to the All Blacks as preparations continue for the Rugby Championship and future international campaigns.

The discussion also turned to the growing impact of injuries across elite sport. With increasingly demanding playing schedules, travel commitments and year-round competitions, athlete welfare remains an ongoing concern for coaches, administrators and medical professionals.

Laban says managing player workloads and ensuring athletes are given adequate recovery time is becoming just as important as tactical preparation, particularly in collision sports such as rugby and rugby league where the physical demands continue to increase.

Despite those challenges, the weekend provided plenty for New Zealand sports fans to celebrate, with victories across multiple codes showcasing the country’s enduring strength on the international stage.

From Ryan Fox’s major championship triumph to the Warriors’ continued finals charge and another commanding All Blacks display, it was a weekend that highlighted the depth of New Zealand sporting talent and offered plenty of optimism for the months ahead.

#KenLaban #RyanFox #TheOpen #Warriors #NRL #AllBlacks #Ireland #Golf #Rugby #RugbyLeague #KiwiSport #Hākinakina #RadioWaatea #WaateaNews

The post #hakinakina: Ken Laban: Golden Weekend for Kiwi Sport as Fox, Warriors and All Blacks Deliver appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

There was a moment during Paul Henry’s interview on the weekend when I found myself wondering whether I’d accidentally tuned into a history documentary written through rose-tinted glasses.

The conversation drifted into the familiar refrain that New Zealand should somehow return to the 1960s – an era portrayed as simpler, stronger and somehow better than the country we live in today.

It makes for good nostalgia.

It doesn’t make for good policy.

Yes, there were positives.

University education was more accessible. Many people enjoyed stable employment, home ownership was within reach for more families and there was a sense of optimism that came with post-war prosperity.

But let’s not confuse prosperity for some with prosperity for everyone.

For Māori, the 1960s were hardly a golden age. The recognition of Indigenous rights that many now take for granted simply did not exist. Te Reo Māori was actively discouraged in schools, the Treaty of Waitangi was largely ignored by successive governments, and Māori communities continued to face systemic inequities that would take decades to even begin addressing.

If we’re going to romanticise history, then let’s tell all of it.

The 1960s were also an era of exceptionally high taxation, with top tax rates exceeding 50 percent. Around the world, apartheid remained entrenched in South Africa. The Cuban Missile Crisis brought humanity to the brink of nuclear war. The Vietnam War escalated, claiming countless lives and dividing nations. The social upheaval that followed would shape an entire generation.

That wasn’t utopia.

It was history.

And history is rarely as neat as nostalgia would have us believe.

What struck me most about the interview wasn’t simply the yearning for the past. It was how disconnected that yearning felt from the reality many New Zealanders are living today.

For families choosing between groceries and power bills, debating whether the country was better sixty years ago isn’t particularly helpful.

For young people wondering whether they’ll ever own a home, nostalgia doesn’t reduce a mortgage.

For parents struggling with childcare costs or kaumātua deciding whether they can afford another trip to the supermarket, looking backwards isn’t a solution.

We need ideas that address today’s challenges, not yesterday’s memories.

There is also something deeply ironic about some of those championing a return to “the good old days”. It is easier to reminisce about simpler times when you’re financially secure, insulated from rising costs and far removed from the day-to-day pressures facing ordinary New Zealanders.

Perspective matters.

So does experience.

The danger in nostalgia is that it asks us to remember a country that existed for some while ignoring the country experienced by many others.

That’s not an honest conversation.

New Zealand deserves better than sentimental storytelling dressed up as public policy.

We should absolutely learn from our past. There are values worth preserving—community, opportunity, aspiration and investing in future generations.

But we shouldn’t confuse learning from history with trying to recreate it.

The future will not be built by pretending the past was perfect.

It will be built by honestly acknowledging where we’ve come from, recognising who was left behind, and making sure the next generation inherits something better than memories.

Because the golden weather wasn’t golden for everyone.

And nostalgia, no matter how eloquently delivered, is no substitute for leadership.

#Opinion #Politics #Election2026 #NewZealand #Māori #History #CostOfLiving #Leadership #WaateaNews #Aotearoa

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Tokomaha ngā tumuaki me ngā kaiako e whakahē ana i te marautanga hou a te Kāwanatanga.

E kī ana rātou kāore anō kia rite te marautanga, i tere rawa te kōkiri, ā, e whakaiti hoki ana i ngā here ki Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

E hiahia ana rātou kia whakatārewatia ngā panonitanga.

E whai ake nei ko ngā whakaaro o te Tumu o Te Riu Roa, o Ripeka Lessels, e pā ana ki te pānga o ēnei kōkirihanga ki ngā whakahaere whānui o te taiao kura.

The post Ripeka Lessels | Me Whai Wāhi Ngā Kaiako ki te Poari Whakatau i Ngā Paearu Whakaako appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

I whakatauhia e te Kāwanatanga te marama o Ākuhata hei rā aukati i ngā tāpaetanga ka tae atu i ngā kaunihera, ki te whakatau i te āhua o ā rātou whakahaere i ngā take kāwanatanga ā-rohe, mēnā rānei ka mahi tahi, ka ū rānei ki ngā whakahaerenga o te wā.

Hei tā te Manukura o Te Hiku o te Ika, hei tā Moko Tepania, e tūwhera ana ia ki te whakarerekē i ngā whakahaerenga. Heoi anō, e māwhitiwhiti kōrero tonu ana ngā kaunihera o Te Tai Tokerau nā te nui o ngā aheinga e wātea ana. E whai ake nei ko ētahi o ngā tūtohu e wānangahia ana.

The post Moko Tepania | Kei te Wānangahia Tonutia te Anamata o Ngā Kaunihera o Te Tai Tokerau. appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

I whakaputaina e Āti Awa Toa Hauora te rīpoata o Whānau Voice, he rīpoata e whakamiramira ana i ngā wheako a te Māori, rātou mā e rongo nei i te ngau o ngā mate ikura roro, arā, te stroke, me te mate porohau, mate kaiponapona rānei (arthritis / te gout).

E ai ki te Heamana Tuarua i te Poari Mana Whakahaere i Āti Awa Toa Hauora, e ai ki a Tio Taiaki, nā te kōrero tahi ki ngā whānau i mōhio ai te pūnaha hauora ki ngā āputa hei whakakī.

The post Tio Taiaki | Ngā Pānga o te Mate Ikura Roro me te Mate Porohau ki ngā Whānau Māori. appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

I tae atu ngā kaitono Māori mō te rohe pōti o Ikaroa-Rāwhiti ki tētahi kaupapa whakakao pūtea i Puhekou Marae, Ngāti Kahungunu, i reira i whai wā rātou ki te tūtaki i te hapori.

I whai wā hoki te Tia o te Kāporeihana ā-Iwi, a Bayden Barber, ki te ui atu ki ngā kaitono, kia rongo ai ia i ngā mahere me te āhua o tā rātou tautoko i te rohe mēnā ka pōtitia rātou.

E whai ake nei ko te whānuitanga o āna kōrero.

The post Bayden Barber | Ngā Kaitono o Ikaroa-Rāwhiti: He Aha Ā Rātou Mahere mō Ngāti Kahungunu? appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

Latest Kōreo from the rohe and motu. Ngā kaupapa nui, ngā reo o te hapori. Listen Live or Online on Waatea Digital

The post 17 o Hurae 2026 Ngā Kawepūrongo a Waatea | 12pm appeared first on Waatea News: Māori Radio Station.

Latest Kōreo from the rohe and motu. Ngā kaupapa nui, ngā reo o te hapori. Listen Live or Online on Waatea Digital

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