- The Māori Battalion Association has announced they will dissolve the Association and will hold their final hui (a remembrance service) in Wellington on 1 December 2012.
- Rob Hutchinson has been appointed Chief Executive of Ngāti Whatua O Orakei Corporate.
- Parekawhia Mclean has resigned from the Mighty River Power Board.
- Mana Party leader, Hone Harawira, was arrested last Thursday during a protest against the removal of State houses in East Auckland. He has been charged with failing to comply with a police direction.
- On Wednesday the Supreme Court dismissed the legal challenge from Ngāti Rereahu and Tūwharetoa interests seeking to prevent the sale of the sixteen former Crafar dairy farms to Shanghai Pengxin.
- On Tuesday the Waitangi National Trust launched the Waitangi Charitable Foundation at Government House in Wellington. The Foundation seeks to raise financial support to fund a $10 million re-development of the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.
- This week the Treaty Tribes Coalition and the Māori Fisheries Trust held the seventh National Māori Fisheries Conference in Auckland. The conference focussed on fisheries trading in the present economic climate, and on sector regulatory changes. (Notable regulatory changes include the pending prohibition on the use of foreign-chartered vessels; refer to pānui E17/2012 for details.)
- On Wednesday the Court of Appeal dismissed the legal challenge from the ‘Independent Purchaser Group’ (a consortium led by Sir Michael Fay), to prevent the sale of the sixteen former Crafar dairy farms to Shanghai Pengxin. Māori interests (from Ngāti Rereahu and Tūwharetoa) involved in the challenge have ruled out any further legal action.
- Last Wednesday Te Uri o Hau and the Northland Regional Council signed a memorandum of understanding. The memorandum confirms a role for Te Uri o Hau in environmental, economic and social matters within the purview of the Council.
- Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga have commissioned researchers from the University of Canterbury to study and identify the qualities which make high achieving Te Arawa students successful learners. The study, Ka Awatea, will be completed in 2014.
- The Human Rights Commission is consulting on the meaning of ‘rangatiratanga’, in the context of modern Aotearoa / New Zealand. Further information is available on their website.
- On Wednesday a financial recovery plan was announced for Rata Te Āwhina Trust. The Trust is a Whānau Ora provider, which was placed under the control of a change manager in July, after an independent report identified issues of mismanagement.
