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Māori Affairs Minister, Hon Dr Pita Sharples, says he is pleased that the Māori Language Bill passed its first reading this afternoon with the support of the majority of the House.

Dr Sharples said “As kaitiaki of te reo Māori, iwi should have more say and leadership over the Crown’s te reo strategy. This Bill, and the establishment of Te Mātāwai, will enable that to happen.”

  • Pita Sharples
  • Māori Affairs

Māori Affairs Minister Hon Dr Pita Sharples today welcomed the start of Māori Language Week, and is encouraging all New Zealanders to get behind our native language.

“Te reo Māori is an official language of New Zealand. We should be proud of our heritage and ensure that our language endures in Aotearoa, the nation to which it is a home language,” said Dr Sharples.

  • Pita Sharples
  • Māori Affairs

Minister of Māori Affairs, Hon Dr Pita Sharples, has today released the governments new Māori language strategy, which includes an updated model for Te Mātāwai, a Māori governance entity which will be charged with leading and guiding the Crown’s strategy for te reo Māori.

  • Pita Sharples
  • Māori Affairs

The Government today appointed Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith to the Māori Economic Development Advisory Board. 

The Advisory Board, established in May 2013, monitors and evaluates the implementation of He kai kei aku ringa, the Crown-Māori Economic Growth Partnership.

“He kai kei aku ringa has six goals and education is a central part of three of these goals.  The Government believes an additional member with experience in this field is important to advise on the implementation of He kai kei aku ringa,” Mr Joyce says.

  • Pita Sharples
  • Steven Joyce
  • Māori Affairs
  • Economic Development

Associate Minister of Education, Dr Pita Sharples has today launched a new education initiative to support and strengthen the teaching of Māori history in Years 1-13 in schools and kura.

Dr Sharples says “Māori history is New Zealand history. These resources enable teachers and schools to place our stories, our heroes, Māori identity, language and culture at the centre of learning.”

  • Pita Sharples
  • Education

Iwi radio will receive an extra $12 million over the next four years to support the operational costs of the 21 stations currently funded by Te Mangai Pāho and to assess the feasibility of expanding the iwi radio network, Māori Affairs Minister Dr Pita Sharples says.

“Since its inception in the mid-1980s, iwi radio has played a critical role in making our reo available to whanau in their homes, in their cars, and in a range of settings,” Dr Sharples says.

  • Pita Sharples
  • Māori Affairs
  • Budget 2014

Budget 2014 supports three major initiatives as a result of the Māori Economic Development Strategy and Action Plan He Kai Kei Aku Ringa, Māori Affairs Minister Dr Pita Sharples says.

They are:

  • Pita Sharples
  • Māori Affairs
  • Budget 2014

A Māori Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) will be funded as part of the Government’s increased investment in research excellence, Māori Affairs Minister Dr Pita Sharples and Associate Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Tariana Turia say.

Vote Tertiary Education provides about $5 million a year to establish a Māori-focused CoRE. This will start on 1 January 2016, when the current contract expires for Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, a CoRE hosted by the University of Auckland.  

  • Tariana Turia
  • Pita Sharples
  • Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment
  • Māori Affairs
  • Budget 2014

More communities will benefit from an acclaimed school literacy programme, Education Minister Hekia Parata and Associate Education Minister Dr Pita Sharples say.  

An extra $2.4 million of operating funding over the next four years will go to the Reading Together Programme so it can expand to include more than 140 decile 4 and 5 schools.

Reading Together is a research-based programme that helps parents to support their children's reading at home.

  • Pita Sharples
  • Hekia Parata
  • Education
  • Budget 2014

Up to $5 million over two years will be invested in developing the science and innovation potential of Māori people, resources, and knowledge, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce and Māori Affairs Minister Dr Pita Sharples announced today.

The 2014 Te Pūnaha Hihiko - Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund investment round aims to develop people and organisations undertaking research in areas that support the four themes of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Vision Mātauranga policy:

  • Pita Sharples
  • Steven Joyce
  • Science and Innovation
  • Māori Affairs

Education Minister Hekia Parata and Māori Affairs Minister Dr Pita Sharples have acknowledged the leadership of King Tuheitia and welcomed this weekend’s hui to discuss governance of the Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust.

  • Hekia Parata
  • Pita Sharples
  • Education
  • Māori Affairs

Education Ministers Hekia Parata and Dr Pita Sharples have referred matters relating to Te Pataka Ohanga, a private company owned by the Te Kohanga Reo National Trust Board, to the Serious Fraud Office.

Ms Parata and Dr Sharples commissioned Ernst and Young to review the public funding provided to the Trust and establish that there were proper financial controls around the funding for 460 kōhanga centres and the 9,000 children enrolled in them.

  • Pita Sharples
  • Hekia Parata
  • Education

Education Minister Hekia Parata and Associate Minister of Education, Dr Pita Sharples have released the independent review of Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust, which shows the Trust’s financial controls are effective.

“The Trust receives around $92 million per annum in public funding. It was important, given allegations about inappropriate credit card use at the Trust’s private company Te Pataka Ohanga, to establish that there were proper financial controls around the public funding provided for kōhanga reo,” Ms Parata says. 

  • Hekia Parata
  • Pita Sharples
  • Education

Associate Education Minister Hon Dr Pita Sharples today announced the establishment of a new Year 1-13 designated character school for Christchurch. The school, to be known as Te Pā o Rākaihautū, will have a designated character that offers a place-based curriculum for the 21st century founded on tikanga and Te Reo Māori, Te Ao Māori values, culture and history.

  • Pita Sharples
  • Education

All Ngāpuhi members will be entitled to vote in elections for representatives to the independent mandated authority that will negotiate the iwi’s historical Treaty settlement with the Crown, Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson and Minister of Māori Affairs Dr Pita Sharples announced today.

  • Pita Sharples
  • Christopher Finlayson
  • Māori Affairs
  • Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations

Consultation hui on the proposed new Māori Language Strategy will take place between 10 – 21 February 2014, announced Māori Affairs Minister, Dr. Pita Sharples.

Dr. Sharples said “Te Reo Māori is unique to us in Aotearoa. It’s the indigenous language of this place, and in the lead up to Waitangi Day it’s important to remember our collective responsibility to protect our unique language, culture and identity.”

  • Pita Sharples
  • Māori Affairs

Strengthening the focus on whānau, hapū and iwi, and consolidating Māori leadership, are the key principles underpinning the proposed new Māori Language Strategy which the Minister of Māori Affairs, Hon Dr Pita Sharples, has released today for consultation with Māori language stakeholders.

“Te reo Māori is the cornerstone of our Māori culture and identity. We must look to new approaches to continue our journey of language revitalisation in order for it to survive,” said Dr Sharples.

  • Pita Sharples
  • Māori Affairs

The Minister of Maori Affairs today pays tribute to the descendants of Te Whakatōhea rangatira, Mokomoko, and welcomes the passing of the 3rd reading of  the Mokomoko (Restoration of Character, Mana, and Reputation) Bill.

“The passing of this Bill marks the end of a long journey for Te whānau a Mokomoko, who have fought to restore the character, mana, and reputation of their tipuna Mokomoko, who was tried, convicted and executed for his alleged role in the murder of Rev Carl Sylvius Volkner,” said Dr. Sharples.

  • Pita Sharples
  • Māori Affairs

The Government has received the Constitutional Advisory Panel’s final report which recommends that the conversation about New Zealand’s constitutional arrangements should continue, Deputy Prime Minister Bill English and Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples say.

The 12-member independent panel spent more than six months having a conversation with New Zealanders about  our constitutional arrangements. These included the role of the Treaty of Waitangi, Maori representation in Parliament and local government, the Bill of Rights Act and other matters.

  • Pita Sharples
  • Bill English
  • Māori Affairs
  • Deputy Prime Minister

Te Puni Kōkiri will have an enhanced strategic and leadership role across government, as part of changes announced by the Minister of Māori Affairs, Dr. Pita Sharples today.

“There will be changes to refocus Te Puni Kōkiri’s core functions, which will position them better to lead the Crown-Māori relationship into the future, and to help the Crown deliver greater results for Māori,” said Dr. Pita Sharples.

“The changes reflect the fact that Te Puni Kōkiri’s work has become too thinly spread.”

  • Pita Sharples
  • Māori Affairs

Education Minister Hekia Parata and Associate Education Minister Hon Dr Pita Sharples confirmed today that the Independent Review of Public Funding to Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust Board is underway.

“A lot of work has been completed to establish this independent review, with Ernst & Young commissioned to carry it out. I am pleased that this has moved forward with urgency,” says Ms Parata.

  • Pita Sharples
  • Hekia Parata
  • Education

Education Minister Hekia Parata and Associate Minister Dr Hon Pita Sharples have met with representatives of the Kōhanga Reo National Trust Board tonight to discuss the allegations made against them.

“While we were encouraged by the actions that the Trust has taken so far, which they have advised us of tonight, we have informed the Trust that the Ministry of Education will be commissioning an independent, specialist audit firm to review the controls the Trust has in place to assure itself that public funding is being used appropriately.

  • Pita Sharples
  • Hekia Parata
  • Education

The Ngārimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund Board has announced two new education initiatives as part of this year’s 70th anniversary celebrations of one of New Zealand’s greatest war heroes.

In recognition of the awarding of the Victoria Cross to Second Lieutenant Te Moana Nui a Kiwa Ngārimu, the Board will invest $250,000 into resourcing histories of each of the Māori Battalion's four rifle companies and related initiatives.

  • Pita Sharples
  • Hekia Parata
  • Māori Affairs
  • Education

Māori Affairs Minister, Hon. Dr. Pita Sharples is reassuring people that there is no agenda to get rid of the New Zealand Maori Council, and is urging Māori to have their say on the Māori Community Development Act 1962 which is currently out for public consultation.

The Act established three mechanisms to support Māori community development; the New Zealand Māori Council supported by three levels of Māori Committees, Māori Wardens and Community Officers.

  • Pita Sharples
  • Māori Affairs