Kotahi te kohao o te ngira. E kuhu nga ai te miro ma, te miro whero, me te miro pango. A muri i a au kia mau ki te ture, ki te whakapono, ki te aroha. Hei aha te aha, hei aha te aha. Ko Mihingarangi tenei, E mihi atu nei, nau mai, tahuti mai ra. Welcome to The Hui, Maori current affairs for all New Zealanders. Coming up this morning ` She's the girl from small town Ruatoki, who is dominating on the Rugby World Cup stage. Stacey Waaka gets her second international try! It's a huge event. It's a World Cup. It's amazing. But Stacey Waaka's story of success could've almost been one of tragedy. I thought all my dreams had been crushed cos, you know, I thought I can't play sport any more. And we catch up with the Maori party to talk water, boot camps and their fight to stay in Parliament. I know our people lean left, and they'd love to see us in a coalition arrangement with Jacinda, somebody from the Greens. We could change the world, I think that would be amazing. Karahuihui mai. The Maori Party began life with a hikoi and a roar as thousands of Maori descended on Parliament to oppose Labour's divisive foreshore and seabed legislation. But 13 years on, has the party run out of puff? In 2008, the Maori Party traded their marching boots for a place at the National party's table, and critics say with Maori the sickest, poorest and most imprisoned, they've only got crumbs to show for it. But the co-leader of the Maori Party, Marama Fox, argues they're the only Maori MPs who've made any difference in the last nine years, and without them, would be worse off. The party is currently sitting around 2% in the polls and will need to retain Waiariki to get back into Parliament. So, how will former marchers turned MPs win the hearts and minds of Maori voters? E korero au ki a Marama Fox. Well, nine years. Do you think Maori are better off with you at the table? I think that Maori are better off with us at the table than without us at the table. I think we've been able to stop some things, influence some things and take the battle head-on to the government. I don't think that we've been able to win everything we want, absolutely. But all we do is fight every day and claw back what has been decimated in the past. I don't think it's great at all, but I think it would be much worse had we not been there and sat in opposition and just thrown stones. What do you think are your greatest achievements in the past nine years? Whanau Ora, absolutely. Whanau Ora is a wedge in the system of government that nobody thought this tory government would give Maori money, say, 'Put it out there in the community, 'and commission the responses to help your whanau.' How's that ministerial committee on poverty going? We've been able to get a few things, but really, if we're honest, we've tinkered around the edge of alleviating hardship, not eliminating poverty. And I've asked them straight up. We need to do two things ` Put money in the hands on people, raise the minimum wage to a living wage, and then index it to the median wage forever. So are you saying that poverty has got better? No, I'm saying the things we've done have alleviated the hardship of poverty. So, free under-13 doctors visits, that came out of the ministerial committee on poverty. The rheumatic fever screening came out of the ministerial committee on poverty. The issues that we've brought to them, they have addressed. The fact that they've raised the benefit rates for the first time in 40 years, that came out of the ministerial committee on poverty. Those things have been plasters to alleviate hardship, but that in and of itself doesn't eliminate poverty. That just helps lessen the burden. Yet last year the United Nations issued a report where it said they had major concerns about poverty in this country. Absolutely. And the disparity between Pakeha and Maori was of extra concern for them. How effective is this ministerial committee on poverty, when we're getting results like that from the world? I absolutely agree with you, but poverty's nothing new for Maori in this country. To think that this has happened in the last nine years is fooling yourself. All the people who think we used to live in an egalitarian society, I'm not sure who they were looking at, but poverty has been crafted through social engineering since colonisation. It's not poverty of the hand that cripples us, it's poverty of the mind. If we believe that this is all we deserve, then we stay there. We need to 'emancipate yourselves from mental slavery', can I just pinch those lyrics? And really understand that we can do it, but to do it, what does that mean for us? We need to take control back into our hands. Now, we sit at the table, but I can't tell them what to do. I can` So, I guess, what is the point of being at the table? I mean, they're all great words and great lines and things like that, but when you've got a report last year that says we are not doing OK, and it is our tamariki Maori that are actually faring the worst, what is the point of having a ministerial committee? Well, let me put it to you this way ` What is the point of a red and blue government full stop? Neither one of them have nothing to alleviate poverty for 150 years. And welfare system? That hasn't helped us. That hasn't alleviated poverty. That's kept us impoverished and told us, 'Oh, put your hand out, Maori ma, because this is what you deserve; 'to stay in a state home that will never be yours; to live off a benefit that will keep you 'under the bread line for ever.' We don't want that. We want people to aspire to live the lives that they dream of, and that's what Whanau Ora is. If we could control government, things would change. Absolutely. So actually, I do think it's worth being at the table, and so do our whanau. They're the ones who asked us to got there. I wanna talk water, because Labour came out and said, 'Everyone owns the water,' and you guys called the policy arrogant. Everyone owns the water is what they said about everyone owns the foreshore and seabed. It's exactly the same argument. So what are they gonna do? Because that was the biggest land confiscation of all time. Maori own the water. Maori have always owned the water. When Maori Council's chairperson Sir Eddie Durie comes out and says, 'Like the idea,' when people like Taipari Munro, who's stood there for the last nine years and watched people suck water out of his puna up there, he likes the idea. We have a policy that says literally the same thing, but not that everyone owns the water; that we have to acknowledge Maori ownership in water rights. The Waitangi Tribunal says that Maori have rights in water akin to ownership ` the nice way of saying, 'Actually, Maori own the water.' And the National government hasn't... The recommendations` And neither has the Labour. But what they're saying is that they're promising if they get into government that everyone owns the water and the water claims will be sorted. And to take it away from Maori again. And to take it away from Maori again, just like the foreshore and seabed. I'm just saying be careful, because we don't completely disagree with them around royalties for water, not at all. We absolutely believe that people should be paying for water. Now that Labour has Kelvin Davis at number two, tell Maori voters why they still need the Maori Party. Because it's easy. You might have two new drivers on that bus, but that's the same bus. And we're really happy that Kelvin is sitting shotgun on that bus, because he may need to use that to keep them honest, because if it comes down to a choice between what's right for Maori and popular to keep the vote, Maori will be thrown under that bus every time. Would you hitch your trailer to that bus though? We would work with anybody, Mihi. We've said it over and over again. If we're honest, if it came down to it, our people choose. We go back to our membership, and we say, 'All right, here we are. What do we do? 'Do we go back to the table with the blues? If we had an option to go either way, 'would it be this one or this one?' Tari always said go with the party that supports your policies. I know our people lean left, and they'd love to see us in a coalition arrangement with Jacinda, Metiria, not any more, but somebody from the Greens, and Marama Fox, Te Ururoa Flavell, we could change the world, I think that would be amazing, but I would be very careful about what's going on there. Very careful indeed. So, just for clarification, you would work with Labour? I'd work with both, and Winnie, by the way. IN light of the call for an investigation, an inquiry into state abuse, the government has come up with an idea that it would set up boot camps at Waiouru. Your thoughts on that? I don't think boot camps work. You look at the history of boot camps in this country, they have been pathways to abuse. And now these are the 150 most hardened young people in this country, you turn them into fit hardened young people, unless you deal with the underlying causes of why they're there in the first place. It they have been abused, have PTSD, and suffer from all of those mental health issues that led them on this pathway in the first place, then you are not dealing with the issue at all. You're just simply making fitter hardened criminals. Well, ka nui te mihi ki a koe. Thank you for making the time to speak with us. Kia mau tonu mai ra te titiro. Later in the show we meet a rising star in the Rugby World Cup, but first, our panel talks politics. That's next. Ka te matakitaki koutou i a Te Hui. With more polls than a fire station, this election has become a blazing inferno of discarded billboards, fizzer policies and charred remains of political aspirations. This week has seen the Greens fall to within the sub-5% danger zone, National on the slide, Winston in the hot seat, and the Jacinda effect proving effective. So, with just 36 days to go, who better to help us see through the smoke than indigenous rights advocate Dayle Takitimu and political operative Shane Te Pou. Tena korua. Kia ora. Kia ora. Kia ora, kia ora. So we saw Marama Fox there. Whanau Ora, she says, is their best achievement. Do you agree? Yes. Yes. It may be their best achievement, but I don't think it's necessarily a crowning glory in its own right. I think Whanau Ora's getting back on track now from it's original aspiration. It has a massive hiccup when it first launched, but now that the likes of Te Pou Matakana and Te Ika and co have taken over, I think we've got a little bit more promise there. The question always remains about how we can aspire for Whanau Ora, or Oranga, without rangitiratanga. And that's a massive political question. She says emancipate yourself from mental slavery and quotes Bob Marley. Do you think that's a good response to being pressed on what is the poverty commission doing? Under the tory masters, there has been no emancipation, there has been real poverty, housing is in a crisis. When you've got ministers that say, 'There is no crisis!' I think the yardage that the Maori Party has got, I think we do need to recognise the good things ` I'm a fan of charter schools ` but it's been outdone by the real poverty that our people, particular Maori and working people, are feeling, so I think that they're in the negatives. I guess that's where Marama, on one hand, she says this what we're getting, the only MPs in the last nine years that have got anything, and then on the other hand, when it gets too difficult, she kind of puts it to the side and says, 'We're not really with them, and we're angry with them too.' I think that's realistic, though. And I think what's being going on for quite a long time is that there's been this idea that Maori should lump their loyalty in one space. She's signalling, and I think quite rightly, that there's a certain amount of mileage and influence you can have at the table right next to whoever the drivers of her proverbial bus are. But also, you sort of need a ragtag bunch down the back of bus that trying to influence and trying to disrupt and trying to agitate the journey and those sorts of things. I think we kind of need a little bit of both those flavours, rather than just saying you're either with the blues or you're with the reds. We kind of need, across that spectrum, some agitation. I think the emancipate yourself from mental slavery thing, you know, people sort of think, 'Oh, flippant,' you know, and my gut reaction is that's probably going to resonate a bit with Ikaroa Rawhiti and they're big love of Bob Marley, and effectively that's looking to challenge some of the colonial constructs about who's in charge in here of our development and our momentum forward as Maoridom. Let's have a look at the polls in the last couple of weeks. The Greens have slumped right down, sub-5. Is this dangerous for them, or do you think they're going to bounce back? I think they might get over 5, but they're in real trouble. I don't think they can get much more than 6 or 7. Problem for Labour? Yeah, problem in terms of a coalition, but look, let's not celebrate too much about Labour. This is where they should be at. This is the end of the third term of a bad government. Labour should be where it's at today. Unfortunately, they've made some terribly bad decisions in the past. I just hope it's not too late, and I hope that they can get the ground, and I'm picking, Mihingarangi, I'm picking New Zealand First-Labour government. I definitely think the slump from the Greens is slightly predictable. There's a massive challenge ahead of them now to work out what they're brand means separate from Metiria. Do you think it was singularly her issue why they've slumped down there? Would you put it all on that issue? I think part of the slump, cos originally there was a bounce, right? After Metiria came out and some tried to focus on the policy shift that the Greens were signalling they would champion. I think the issue is that there became a Metiria-isation of that and became about Brand Metiria instead of Greens, and now that she's left, the challenge for the Greens is to resurrect their brand and own it in a way the New Zealanders, Maori, whoever, know what they stand for without Metiria at the helm. I think it's been telling about how much she's been integral to the Green brand within the community. Shane, I'm interested to know your thoughts on this, because last week with had a panel with Leonie Pihama, who had said that she believed that they way Metiria was treated was based on views that were based on race and gender and things like that. Did you think that too? I think so, but I think that they way the Greens managed the whole thing wasn't good. And now look at where they've got. They've got bland, boring leader that doesn't have the gravitas. I think the Greens' biggest problem is they're no longer a Greens Party. They're like an old Alliance Party. Do they need to fit somebody like Metiria, who's a welfare champion, back in? Oh, definitely. They need that social justice face. I think it's more concerning that there would be this cry about the media for what was a completely predictable approach to that issue. If the Greens' strategists are saying that came as a surprise to them, that's alarming to me. How unprepared were you for the fact that that went down a completely predictable route? We knew she was Maori. We knew she was a solo mum at that time. We knew she is a woman. We know that these are angles that the media are not particularly favourable to. Are you saying the strategists may not have understood those elements? Either they were naive about them, and there could be a criticism about that, but my concern is what is the depth of your strategy if that took you by surprise? Are you really selling that to us? I wanna change tact really quickly and go to the States, because they've got some racial tensions going on at the moment, monuments going all over the place. There has been a call, and I know it's not from a big group of people, to address monuments and plaques in this country about our past. What's your thoughts on that? First of all, I was in Charlottesville this year. Really good people out there, and I feel for them. There are some shocking monuments. It's about the way in which we view our history, and I think some of them do need to come down. So if you're a liberal Pakeha and you're upset about what happened in Charlottesville, get out to the Nixon memorial in Otahuhu. He was a murderous thug. He needs to come down. And I think the Labour local board should bring that monument down, and they should bring it down quickly. There's no place for him in New Zealand history. What do you think, should we for get out`? I think definitely. I mean, the championing of Cook, which is projected to happen in 2019 over in Gisborne, primarily, has been met with quite some resistance. It goes back to what Marama was saying about the emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, These are all monuments that celebrate a very flawed doctrine of discovery, on which the colonisation of this country is based on. It's internationally been criticised, but everywhere you go in this country, there's monuments and street signs to Prendergast and Cook, to all of these old murderers` Massey. colonisers` Von Tempsky. Yeah, and let's call that into question. I think that does need to be questioned. So would you be supportive of this commemoration of Cook in 2019 if the story was as it was? It needs to be honest. I think there's an opportunity with it. There's an opportunity to start talking about what we as a country honestly address some of that history, and if we're going to have, ever, a real, honest constitutional discussion, then maybe that's where those things come in. Before I leave, water. Labour's policy on water. What do you think? I think it's the opening of a discussion. I think that a royalty rather than taxes is a smart way to do it. I see the Maori Council is behind it. I think it's just an opening for discussion, and people ought to pay for a scarce resource, which is water. Tena korua. Kua pau te wa ki a tatou. Hau mai, tena korua. Kei tua o nga whakatairanga, a story of near tragedy to triumph. We meet New Zealand Rugby World Cup star Stacey Waaka. Tahuti mai ano. The Black Ferns say they'll need plenty of resolve as well as skill if they're to win a fifth Rugby World Cup title in Ireland. They're through to the semi-finals and will face the USA on Wednesday morning, but if they're looking for inspiration, Tuhoe midfielder Stacey Waaka and her recovery from near tragedy to pursue her rugby dream should provide it. Anei te purongo a Ruwani Perera. Her speed up the rugby ranks is only rivalled by her pace and power on the playing field. I definitely think I'm driven. Rugby star Stacey Waaka's style has been likened to that of All Black Christian Cullen. COMMENTATOR: Look at this. It's Waaka, her sixth try of the season. The feeling of playing sport and competing at that high is so cool. Earning the title Maori Sports Woman Of The Year. I can't wait for what the future brings for me. Ara timatatanga! The 21-year-old puts her rapid rise down to hard work and having the support of her tight-knit whanau. I like the feeling representing my family. They've given me so much, so it kinda helps motivate me to try and achieve all the things I do. Her latest achievement, fulfilling her dream of playing in her very first Rugby World Cup tournament in Ireland. COMMENTATOR: Stacey Waaka gets her second international try. It's the highest achievement you can get in rugby. Being real young too, achieving this is quite special. Yeah, it's a huge event. It's a World Cup. It's amazing. Stacey Waaka is one of the youngest players in the Black Ferns' squad. She grew up with her sister and two brothers in the tiny Bay of Plenty settlement of Ruatoki. It's helped me understand that sometimes you don't have everything, but it's how you make the most of what you get that makes you the person you are. Growing up, we didn't have much. Use to have hand-me-down clothes or... It's things like that I could reflect on now cos we get it for free. I'm real grateful. But her story could've have turned out so differently. NEWSREADER: Waaka was the first off the bus and dialled triple-1 as she pulled others to safety. In 2011, Stacey narrowly escaped serious injury when a logging truck smashed at high speed into the back of the school bus she was riding in. I was feeling dizzy and shaky. I looked for my nephew and niece. They were my biggest worry, so I grabbed them. I remember waking up on top of a pile of children, actually, so I had been flung from the front of the bus to the back, and, you know, first thing that came to mind was 'the bus is going to blow up,' you know, in movies you come to these car crashes? 'Man, I got to get out of here.' Stacey was 15 years old at the time, but showed her metal, playing a key role in getting help for the other kids on board. Was it scary? It was. It was real scary. I was the oldest on the bus, and I was only, what, 15? So I knew I had to try and be strong for the other young kids who had been injured and were crying so much. Suffering from two gashes to her legs, Stacey's sporting future had almost ended before it begun. They were just deep cuts, and you could see right into my bone. And I took one look and didn't look again. I was too frightened. I think that was my first year playing rugby. I had played a whole season, and I was loving it so much and then the accident happened. I thought all my dreams had been crushed cos, you know, I thought I can't play sport anymore. She made a full recovery and went on to play a variety of sports. Surprisingly though, rugby didn't come till much later. Stacey actually baffled me because she was a very awesome netballer. That was my dream for her. And then out of the blue comes this rugby! And then when we actually went to watch her at Whakatane High School while she was attending there, and we thought, 'Oh my God, she's awesome!' But living in remote Ruatoki and playing sport added extra challenges for Stacey's parents. Especially Bay of Plenty, we have to travel around ` Rotorua, Tauranga ` to get to their trainings. It was a sacrifice. It was a sacrifice, but I suppose it paid off in the end. It must have been hard in Ruatoki to keep that up for the kids? It was really hard, you know. Travel, trying to find money for petrol to get to where they... Trying to get the best boots they needed. You just learn to do it, and if you want your kids to succeed, no matter what path in life they take, you'll do whatever it takes. This is a family who know all about sacrifice for their kids. Stacey even convinced her parents to leave Ruatoki, to join her in the big smoke. A phone call back to Mum, pleading, 'Can we please move up to Hamilton?' So we just did it. And she's made it worth their while. Stacey proving just as impressive in the classroom as she is on the field. Now in her final year of a bachelor of sport and leisure studies, after winning both the prestigious Prime Minister's and Sir Edmund Hillary scholarships. It covers my full tuition fees for all the years that I'm studying here, as long as I maintain a B-grade average. A full-time contract with the Black Ferns and keeping up with her studies leaves little time for a normal student life. How do you juggle uni with your World Cup commitments? Yeah, it is quite hard. I've got to obviously do lots more work late at night or early in the morning, but having good lecturers ` they give me extensions on assignments and they're just understanding of my life and what I choose to do, so it's quite cool having them. Add a demanding training schedule, and you'll understand why the gym is Stacey's second home. Fitness is a big thing. Obviously, if you can't last the game then you're an easy target on the field. (LAUGHS) I like squats, actually. Older brother Bronson is helping her out, rebuilding her strength after a dislocated shoulder saw her side-lined from rugby for most of last year. Being nine months out of the game, it's real tough. It's mentally challenging, and then trying to get back into the swing of things, it's also physically challenging, because your body can't keep up with what it's used to, so the first five months were pretty hard, but I'm back now. It's real exciting. Making a comeback and securing her spot in the Black Ferns, and ready to help her team clinch their fifth World Cup title. Stacey Waaka, the country kid from Ruatoki all grown up and taking on the world. My main goal in life is to inspire, whether that is going back home and teaching all the younger ones the things that I've learnt, even them watching me on TV and thinking, 'Oh she comes from a small town. I can do what she does,' that's what I wish to achieve. Kei runga noa atu koe Stacey! Na Ruwani Perera tera purongo. Hei tera wiki i runga i a Te Hui ` MMA. It's brutal. It's violent. It's the modern day blood sport. As soon as you jump in the ring, everything changes. Kickboxing, wrestling, ju-jitsu, everything's allowed in the cage, and Renata Poa loves it. We're dancing in the cage, that's what I like to call it. The attitude behind it in MMA is so much more disciplined, and you have so much more respect for the opponent after the fight. With only two MMA fights under her belt, Renata is now preparing for her first pro fight in Poland, with the help of Steve Oliver. I've done a lot of work with Mark Hunt over the years, and she's got a similar game plane to Mark. Just get busy with the hands, and don't get put down. In a game of who dares, wins, Renata is all in. (CROWD CHEERS) There's always going to be someone better out there than you, and I acknowledge that, and I know that, and I'm prepared for it, and it's that slight fear that makes me wanna keep doing it. Thanks for joining us today, Hui Hoppers. We'll post links to the show on our Facebook page and on twitter @THEHUINZ, and you'll find all our stories on the Newshub website. Kua hikina te hui mo tenei ra. The Nation's next. Pai marire ki a tatou katoa. Captions by Tom Pedlar. www.able.co.nz Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2017