Coming up on Te Karere Seven Māori ancestral remains have made their way back to their native land at Ōtamatea marae in the Kaipara region. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters gave his State of the Nation speech over the weekend, with a key-focus being on the previous government's policies. A group of Canada's top film makers have landed in Wellington for a special summit with New Zealand and Māori film makers. 18 March 2024 Tēnā koutou katoa, and welcome to Te Karere. Seven Māori ancestral remains that were brought back to Aotearoa from Austria in 2022 made their way back to their native land at Ōtamatea marae in the Kaipara. The local sub-tribe of Ngāti Whātua, Te Uri o Hau, were able to identify these ancestral remains as their own that were stolen from their ancient burial grounds in the 1800s. Mārena Mane has more. The people grieve with the return of their ancestral remains back home after being gone for over 150 years. The reason for the pōwhiri is to grieve for these ancestors who have been lost to us for a long time. We are bringing these ancestors home to their place of nativity, the perfect place for them to be put to rest in the ground. The ancestral remains were welcomed home during the night as this is the time where the spirits are awake. In my opinion yes this is a new practice because we didn't used to do this before. Known as a grave robber, Andreas Reisheck of Austria stole these ancestral remains from ancient caves in the Kaipara and took them to museums in Austria to be put on display. The story about that situation, a man came from Austria and stole them. That's history. Hita mentions that it has taken the people years to get to this point and hopes to help other iwi with their repatriations. These ancestral remains will be buried together at Ōtamatea Marae cemetery but that ceremony is privy only to the descendants of Te Uri o Hau, Ngāti Whātua. Marena Mane, Te Karere. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is set to host China's Foreign Affairs Minister this afternoon but their meeting has been overshadowed by his comments comparing Labour's government policies to Nazi Germany during his State of the Nation speech. For more let's cross to our political reporter Te Okiwa Mclean standing by now from parliament. In your opinion, why did Winston say that? What Winston said is no surprise, Scotty. He has expressed similar strong sentiments at the last election saying things like Māori are not indigenous. He was also heavily critical of the Labour Government on various policies such as co-governance, Three Waters, Te Aka Whai Ora etc etc. So, Scotty, what he shared in his State of the Nation speech aren't a surprise or a shock. He also touched on about what happened to him at Rātana and Waitangi Day such as when he was told to sit down on the paepae at Waitangi. So, what he's had to say isn't new and was very much directed at his supporter base. Meanwhile, his political ally Andy Foster came out to support him. He attached the media saying we need to be more robust at reviewing ourselves rather than embellishing stories on divisive prejudice. Here's what they both had to say. Peters says the previous Labour Government's policies were prejudiced, induced prejudice and caused a split in this land. He spoke about several issues,Okiwa, did Labour provide any response? You quoted co-governance, Three Waters and others. So, did Labour respond to Winston's attacks? Yes, Labour came out yesterday with opposition leader, Chris Hipkins' response being somewhat terse. He shared with the country that Winston was just like an unhinged, drunk uncle with all of these divisive opinions he was expressing. I reached out to the spokesperson for Labour's Māori caucus, Willie Jackson, and he wholeheartedly supports what Chris Hipkins had to say yesterday because there is a lot of honour in the amount of programmes that were supported by the previous Labour government that had an impact on us, Māori along with Māori programmes. Here's what Willie Jackson had to say. I support that statement, that Winston is just like a drunk uncle. We know what Winston's strategy is. He wants red necks to support him and it's disappointing to see that as his strategy. However, he's been doing that a long time, courting with red necks. We recognise there is a huge division currently. There is a lot of prejudiced derisive people out there. Who's to blame? The Government. And back to the day's main event. China's Foreign Minister was hosted today and that's where they are right now, Winston Peters, the incumbent Prime Minister Chris Luxon and also Trade Minister Todd McLay to deliberate and discuss the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership strategy. It's a strategy and plan that's been in action for 10 years. Furthermore since its inception to today it's continued to grow with trade and finance developing still between Aotearoa and China. So, no doubt there is a willingness there to grow and develop that strategy and plan even further furthermore. Also, there is still outrage, concern and worry from Chinese officials on Aotearoa's position in the AUKUS programme, a spy programme. Officials say, particularly China's Foreign Minister to us at TVNZ they are concerned because they believe that this is an arrangement that is divisive and makes China out to be the enemy, Scotty. Awesome, so awesome Te Okiwa. Thank you so much. Everything you've touched on has been made that much more clearer and that's thanks to your explanations. Thank you so much. Te Okiwa Mclean everyone outside of Parliament in Wellington. London police are being sued over failures relating to the death of New Zealand-born police officer Matt Ratana, killed in 2020. Matt Ratana was shot dead while working at a Croyden Custody Centre by a suspect who'd hidden a gun from arresting officers. His widow, Sue Busby, told British media she believes Ratana would still be alive if a proper search had been carried out. Metropolitan Police say they've received a civil claim. More than 100 Whānau Ora partners from across Te Ika-a-Māui are set to meet at Hoani Waititi marae, in West Auckland tomorrow. This is the 40th anniversary of the national hui Whakaoranga. Emeritus Sir Mason Durie returns for the first time since the inaugural hui in 1984. He says despite the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora now is the time to find a new direction to achieving Māori health. Whānau Ora Minister Tama Potaka says he won't be attending but he will provide a pre-recorded speech. The government is working on a replacement to the previous government's anti-smoking legislation. Health Minister Dr Shane Reti spoke to Q+A about the repeal. When asked about smoke-free legislation, Reti said that the number of lives it could have saved is as many as 8000 lives. The government's alternative smoking policy should be out in the coming months. After the break, Minister for Resources Shane Jones joins us live to give us the latest updates in Parliament. Joins us live to give us a political update, Resources Minister Shane Jones joins us live. Welcome back, thank you so much for being here. Kia ora, tēnā tātou katoa. First topic for us to discuss. Over the weekend Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters gave his State of the Nation speech comparing co-governance to Naziism, your thoughts? Do you agree? Do you support? My friend it was just a joking jab at the Labour Party, they gave birth to this initiative, co-governance. And he said that some whakapapa were more revered than others whether they be Ngāi Tahu, Tainui or Ngāpuhi than others among the general New Zealand public. No whakapapa to any iwi should be given more prestige with the majority of the public subjugated beneath. Those were his words. But you say it’s a joke, no doubt some were hurt like the descendants of those who were victims to German Naziism by what he said? What he said was that these things he had seen in other countries. They were a warning that we should never ever privilege by whakapapa any hapū or iwi. There shouldn’t be a foundation created to enable one’s whakapapa to be privileged with the majority of the country subjugated beneath them through the means of co-governance. And so, I know there are some who have been offended by what he had to say through his use of Naziism as a metaphor, but that problem espouses that the genealogy of Ngāi Tahu would be more important than that of other peoples’ resident in Te Waipounamu and we don’t accept that and wouldn’t allow co-governance to exist with that kind of ideology behind it. So, that’s that issue. Second issue now. There's a video of you circling around confirming that you would stand aside from fast-track decisions on seabed mining due to a conflict of interest with the fishing industry that opposes seabed mining, which falls under your fisheries portfolio. Your two portfolios (resources and fisheries) seem to be colliding. What will the process be for the Hawera Seabed Mining since you have stood aside? So, the company applying to receive a licence to drill the seabed, they need to follow the process which they’ve been able to carve out. But if it comes back to the government in the future and they’re looking for a licence, if I am the Resources Minister I will stand aside. And I am aware there are a lot of debates and discussion on going between them and fishing operators. I hold both hats. I don’t want them to be misinformed that I might be able to grant a licence should that company come in. I don’t know if that company would want to get on the horse called fast track consent. That’s one of the reasons why I recuse myself. That decision is good and wise eh, so you don’t get into trouble for conflict of interest from being a Minister for both ministries with both at logger heads with each other and causing you grief. So, big props to you for that great idea to recuse yourself. Ngāi Tahu says, Minister, Ngāi Tahu say in the fast track mining consent bill there is a section that protects treaty settlements and iwi who have settled, however, as far I am aware there is no mention made to the Treaty Principles in the bill. Will iwi who have already settled be troubled by this bill? No. One group of people who are set to really benefit through the fast-track bill, is Ngāi Tahu. They have advanced an idea for Rakiura where they can establish an aqua farm and then it was quashed. Through this new bill they will be able to revisit that. I’ll take a look at it. The Government really wants farms like that to be established. It’s an economic activity that will bring money in and will also bring in returns when those products are sold overseas. For those people who have had their grievances settled there is a provision there to ensure that the rights and customary practices and relationships established with their rūnanga and banks, for the settlement of land grievances aren’t negatively impacted. Those types of banks or rūnanga won’t be negatively impacted by this new law. A section has definitely been created when people who settle under this bill will need to carefully work with people like Ngāi Tahu. Good. No doubt iwi who already have treaty settlements are happy with what you’ve had to say Minister. I also appreciate you’ve made yourself available to share with us and the wider nation your response. Shane thank you so much. Until we meet again. NZ Māori Rugby Board has expressed its support for Māori players who express their identity and passion through rugby. That's according to its chair Dr Farah Palmer. She says they're committed to working in partnership with NZ Rugby to gain a mutual understanding and appreciation of how te Tiriti o Waitangi and Te Ao Māori have been. This is after the Hurricanes CEO Avan Lee saying earlier this month that management did not approve the words "kāwana kakī whero" in the political haka performed by its women's team Poua in the Aupiki Super Rugby. Crusaders horror start will test players, management and fans. The defending champs have fallen to second to last on the Super Rugby Pacific table with two competition points. That's following their 14-10 defeat to the Hurricanes in Christchurch. They are under-manned due to injuries and departures with this being their fourth consecutive loss of the season. Te Karere understand that coach Rob Penny will stay for two years before handing the reins to the highly acclaimed coaching assistant Tamati Ellison. After the break we have the weather. To the weather now. For weather, see tvnz.co.nz. That's all we have for today. Turou Hawaiki. Captions were made possible with funding from Te Māngai Pāho. Copyright TVNZ 2024.