Displaying 1 - 24 of 241 results.

Visitors and the public are invited tomorrow (Saturday 27 September) to walk through the newly constructed Arras Tunnel at the site of Pukeahu National War Memorial Park at Buckle Street in Wellington, Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Christopher Finlayson said today.

Mr Finlayson will officially open the Arras Tunnel at 10.50am tomorrow and immediately following that the public will be able to walk through the tunnel until 2.00pm.

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Arts, Culture and Heritage

The Crown, Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust (PNBST) and Wellington City Council today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) intended to ensure the heritage of the historically important Watts Peninsula, or Te Motu Kairangi, is protected, preserved and developed with sensitivity, Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Christopher Finlayson announced today.

Watts Peninsula is the prominent northern end of Miramar Peninsula.

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Arts, Culture and Heritage

Prime Minister John Key, Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee and Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Christopher Finlayson today laid the last of 273 symbolic decorative poppies on the wall of the newly named Arras Tunnel, which runs underneath the National War Memorial Park site.

The poppy tiles symbolise the 2721 New Zealand fatalities in the Anzac campaign.

Mr Finlayson announced the tunnel will be named Arras Tunnel after the French town where the New Zealand Tunnelling Company dug huge networks of underground tunnels during the First World War.

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Arts, Culture and Heritage

Tūhoe hosted the Crown at a ‘Settlement Day’ ceremony in Taneatua to celebrate the recent passage of Tūhoe Treaty settlement legislation today, with several thousand iwi members joining Crown representatives for the celebration. 

At the ceremony Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Christopher Finlayson delivered the Crown’s formal apology to Tūhoe for breaches of the Crown’s obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi. 

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations

The Crown has signed a deed of settlement for the historical Treaty claims of Te Atiawa at Rangiātea Complex in New Plymouth, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Christopher Finlayson announced today.

The Crown was represented by Mr Finlayson and the deed signing was witnessed by New Plymouth Member of Parliament Jonathan Young.

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations

The Crown has made an all-of-government submission to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council partially opposing the application to leave the Rena wreck where it is on the Astrolabe (Ōtāiti) Reef, Attorney-General Christopher Finlayson announced today.

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Attorney-General

The Crown and Whanganui Iwi have signed a deed of settlement of the historical Treaty of Waitangi claims of the iwi in relation to the Whanganui River, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Christopher Finlayson announced today.

The signing took place at Ranana Marae. The Crown was represented by Mr Finlayson, Minister for Whanau Ora and Member of Parliament for Te Tai Hauāuru Tariana Turia, and Minister for Courts and Member of Parliament for Whanganui Chester Borrows.

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations

Crown officials and iwi representatives will report on progress in the legislative reform of Māori land governance and seek feedback from landowners in a series of 19 hui nationwide this month. 

Crown and Māori technical experts are currently developing a bill to reform Te Ture Whenua Māori Act. They will present on how this legislation will give effect to the principles for governing Māori land law outlined in the report of an expert panel released in April.

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Māori Affairs

The Crown has signed a deed of settlement with Ngaruahine settling the iwi’s historical Treaty claims, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Christopher Finlayson announced today.

The signing ceremony took place at Te Ngutu o Te Manu in Taranaki. The Crown was represented by Mr Finlayson, Minister for Whanau Ora and Member of Parliament for Te Tai Hauāuru Tariana Turia, and Minister for Courts and Member of Parliament for Whanganui Chester Borrows. The signing was witnessed by Member of Parliament for New Plymouth Jonathan Young, and Claudette Hauiti MP.

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations

Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson has welcomed the announcement today of the 22 trustees of the Tūhoronuku Independent Mandated Authority (TIMA), which will negotiate the settlement of Ngapuhi’s historical Treaty claims with the Crown.

“I would like to welcome the new faces who have joined TIMA as a result of the election and wish them well with the challenges ahead,“ Mr Finlayson said.

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations

New Zealand’s programme for commemorations for the 2014-2019 centenary of the First World War, WW100, has been launched today by Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Christopher Finlayson.

The WW100 programme is reflective of New Zealand’s experience of the First World War on the battlefields of Turkey, Europe and Middle East, and on the home front.

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Arts, Culture and Heritage

Applications for the 2015 Commemorating Waitangi Day Fund are now open, Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Christopher Finlayson announced today.

“The 6th of February next year marks the 175th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty at the Waitangi grounds,” Mr Finlayson “and this Fund will again allow the opportunity to commemorate the occasion in a variety of ways.”

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Arts, Culture and Heritage

The House sat under extended hours today for the third and final reading of the Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Bill, which recognises the historical claims of 13 iwi and hapū over their shared interests in the Auckland area, including 14 of the region’s maunga (volcanic cones), and motu (islands).

The third reading was attended by iwi leaders, Auckland Mayor Len Brown, and representatives from Auckland Council.

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations

The Crown and Ngāi Tuhoe have announced the appointment of the inaugural members of Te Urewera Board, which will be the primary decision maker for Te Urewera under legislation passed in the House today.

Te Urewera Bill provides for Te Urewera to be established as a legal identity, with its own intrinsic values, and vests the current National Park land in that identity.

  • Nick Smith
  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations
  • Conservation

The House sat under extended hours this morning to pass the third readings of the Tūhoe Claims Settlement Bill and the Te Urewera Bill, which together settle the historical grievances of Ngāi Tūhoe and establish legal identity and new governance arrangements for Te Urewera.

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations

Former High Court Judge the Honourable John Priestley CNZM QC has been appointed as a revision bill certifier for the first three yearly statute revision programme under the Legislation Act 2012, Attorney-General Christopher Finlayson announced today. 

The government is also seeking submissions on the proposed programme for revision which will be undertaken during the next Parliamentary term.

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Attorney-General

Attorney-General Christopher Finlayson is attending the sixth annual Quintet meeting of Attorneys-General, being held in London this week.

The Quintet is an annual meeting of the Attorneys-General of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States and England and Wales, to share ideas and experiences, in particular on complex and cross-border legal issues.

It is taking place between the 9th and the 11th of July.

The annual meeting is also being attended by:

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Attorney-General

The famed Motunui Panels - five late 18th century carved pataka panels which comprise a masterpiece of Maori art - have returned to New Zealand after more than 40 years, Treaty for Waitangi Negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson announced today.

“The Motunui Panels are objects of huge cultural and historical significance as well as being extraordinary works of art,” Mr Finlayson said. “Their voyage back to Aotearoa is a historic occasion for Te Atiawa, the iwi of the Taranaki, and New Zealand.”

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations

Peter Biggs and Bronwen Holdsworth have been appointed to the board of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and members Donald Best, Lisa Bates and Roger Taylor have been reappointed, Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Christopher Finlayson announced today.

“I am pleased that Peter Biggs and Bronwen Holdsworth are joining the NZSO board, and that the three members will continue their stewardship,” Mr Finlayson said. “Their contribution at board level will ensure that our world class national orchestra remains in very good hands.”

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Arts, Culture and Heritage

Professor Sir Peter Gluckman has been appointed to the board of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Christopher Finlayson announced today.

“I am very pleased that Sir Peter will contribute his experience and international standing to Te Papa,” Mr Finlayson said. “This will continue to ensure that the board retains a diverse range of skills and expertise.”

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Arts, Culture and Heritage

Eight members have been appointed to the Māori Heritage Council, Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Christopher Finlayson announced today.

The Council assists Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga in developing and reflecting a bicultural view in the exercise of its powers and functions. It also advocates for the interests of Pouhere Taonga and Council relating to Māori heritage at any public or Māori forum.

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Arts, Culture and Heritage

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Christopher Finlayson today announced the formation of the Screen Advisory Board.

The Screen Advisory Board, announced by the Government in December 2013, will help the New Zealand screen sector create the skills and connections to be able to generate their own intellectual property, compete internationally and attract overseas finance.

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Steven Joyce
  • Economic Development
  • Arts, Culture and Heritage

Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Christopher Finlayson announced today grants of $4.1 million to three museum projects around New Zealand in Akaroa, the Chatham Islands and Waitangi.

Christchurch City Council will receive a grant of $500,000 towards the earthquake recovery and rejuvenation project at Akaroa Museum. This project is on the Council’s list of its Top 30 projects requiring earthquake repair and strengthening.

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Arts, Culture and Heritage

The Honourable Sir Mark O’Regan has been appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court and the Honourable Justice Ellen France will replace him as President of the Court of Appeal, Attorney-General Christopher Finlayson announced today.

The Honourable Justice Mark Cooper has been appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal to fill the vacancy created in that court.

The appointments will take effect on 1 September 2014.

  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Attorney-General