Welcome to The Hui, Maori current affairs for all New Zealanders. E taro ake nei. We look at the fight to save Weraiti, a sacred maunga in South Waikato. So, whanau, this is Weraiti, these are the quarry works, and this is why we're saying no ` we don't want any more destruction of our maunga or our water any more. A burial ground, a cultural icon and an environmental landmark under threat. This is part of our natural heritage, and once it's quarried that's the end of it. Now the iwi is taking on big business to protect their maunga. It makes me want to go and stand on that maunga and say no. And we meet a young wahine born Deaf who's making noise for her community. www.able.co.nz Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. For 70 years a tapu maunga in the Waikato has been quarried, dug up for metal and turned into roads. The mountain Weraiti in the Kaimai Ranges is sacred to Ngati Hinerangi. But the company that quarries it, J Swap of Matamata, wants the right to continue quarrying for another 35 years. Whether it will be granted that right will be decided by the Waikato Regional Council. The company also wants to extend the quarry into areas of native bush that are under protection, and that's to be the subject of a hearing in the High Court. But some of the iwi most affected by the quarrying, those at Tangata Marae, directly below the mountain, want it to stop. They're fighting to put an end to what they say is the desecration of their maunga and the pollution of its waters. Anei te purongo a Raiha Paki. (SINISTER MUSIC) The fight to save a maunga tapu in South Waikato. We're saying no ` we don't want any more destruction of our maunga or our water any more. A spiritual and an environmental landmark. This is part of our natural heritage, and once its quarried, that's the end of it. And mana whenua want the quarrying stopped. It makes me want to go and stand on that maunga and say no. (ETHEREAL MUSIC) Weraiti is a prominent maunga in the Kaimai Ranges. It's an ancient burial site, the waters are a source of life force... and a symbol of identity and spirituality to Ngati Hinerangi. Ko te nui o tenei awa... This is kaumatua Casey Douglas of Tangata Marae, which is at the foot of Weraiti. He says this place is special to Ngati Hinerangi. Gives us mana whenua having our koiwi up there. It's very significant. Their ancestors' remains, or koiwi, are buried in caves at the top of the maunga. Ngati Hinerangi consider the mountain their tipuna. It's a special tohu, our maunga. And to see the damage that's been done to it is really hurtful. It's damaging to our hapu, to our iwi to see our tupuna like that. If you opened up his stomach, you'd see all his insides. And that's what our tupuna looks like. Te Weraiti holds koiwi, or bones of our ancestors. This video posted on social media shows how the damage could be about to spread if a quarry company is granted the right to expand. The quarry intend to blast and dig out the maunga from here all the way down,... wiping out all those trees there, quarrying the Mangapiko itself, which flows through those trees, all the way up until we get to the diversion here. For decades, Matamata company J Swap has quarried on the maunga, extracting metal for roading. The company owns the land. So, tell me about the nature of the relationship between J Swap and Tangata Marae over the years. Over the years, in the lifetime of our fathers, they had a good relationship with J Swaps. But now elders had passed away and left the mantle to us to take care of, and that relationship has broken down, and we've found quite hard to work with Swaps. In fact, the iwi is in direct conflict with the company, which wants to expand the quarry. It declined to be interviewed for this story. Matamata company J Swap has quarried here for 35 years. They've applied to quarry for another 35. But mana whenua say that, given the cultural and spiritual significance of Weraiti, they question whether their maunga should continue to be scarred. I feel real pukuriri. My stomach was churning, my heart was weeping and, yeah, my tears were running because of my relationship with the whenua and with our maunga, and knowing that... she was being destroyed. Access to Weraiti is restricted and largely controlled by the company. Rosemeri Douglas feels cut off from it. In 60 years, she's only stood on her maunga once. I only went up to Weraiti last year when we had Matariki up there. That was the first time I started to feel a part of her, a part of Weraiti. What was that like? It was amazing. It was really amazing. I felt that connection not only to my maunga but also to the whenua. Cos it goes deeper than the maunga; it goes right down to the actual whenua for me. And that connection brought a real awakening of my wairua. So that's what gets me ` we've got no control over how our maunga is being treated. It makes me feel angry, it makes me feel sad, and it makes me want to go and do something about it. Makes me want to go and stand on that maunga and say no. The whole range is part of our pepeha. Her son, Te Ao O Te Rangi, has taken up the fight to stop the quarrying and invited tangata whenua from three other marae in the area to join in. So, whanau, this is Weraiti, these are the quarry works, and this is why we're saying no ` we don't want any more destruction of our maunga or our water any more. The quarry intend to discharge storm water from the overburden site that's on the papa kainga straight into our awa that flows through that ancient path. So it'll diminish the mauri of the water; therefore diminish the mauri of the pa site itself. So these are just all culminating together as one big no. If we continue up, you can see Te Weraiti itself. Te Weraiti holds koiwi, or bones of our ancestors, inside some of the caves that are within Te Weraiti itself. Te Ao O Te Rangi filmed the video to start the campaign against quarry expansion. We'll be going to council to stop the quarrying of our scared maunga, Te Weraiti. It's not only mana whenua who oppose the expansion. So too does the conservation body the QEII National Trust. It's unfortunate that such an important piece of land is being utilised in that way, especially when there is such a great interest from other New Zealanders in the values of that land. J Swap has owned the land since 2009. The previous owner put the bush on either side of the quarry under covenant so it would be protected. J Swap is challenging that in court. They believe that the covenants allow for quarry expansion ` that is, the quarry can move into the covenant area ` and we don't agree with that. Even though it's on private land, it is still a valuable asset to the region. And the previous landowner protected that area because of those values. When the quarry gets bigger, they're going to go higher up to the top, to our urupa. And being in a high-risk erosion area, if they get too close and we do have another big rain, there's a chance that the whole rocky outcrop could slip and we will lose our cultural identity. Ngati Hinerangi say they lost control of the land more than 150 years ago, when it was confiscated by the Crown after the Waikato Land Wars. When our people returned back from that war from helping out in Waikato, our people got back and thought it was a punishment for fighting against the Crown. And ever since then, it has just been handed on and on and on. And since the early '50s, we have not been consulted in any way, shape or form in regards to giving consent to allow them to continue to quarry our maunga for profit. Coming up next ` the impact of quarrying on water. We have terrible days here where it's full of silt. Kia mau tonu mai ra te titiro, ka hoki mai matou akuanei. Whether quarrying will be allowed to continue on Weraiti is to be the subject of a hearing by the Waikato Regional Council. The quarry company, J Swap, not only wants to continue digging up the mountain, it wants to expand the quarry into areas that are under protection. Whether that is going to be allowed will be the subject of a separate High Court battle between J Swap and the QEII National Trust. Meanwhile, iwi are concerned that the stream on the mountain, the Mangapiko, is to be diverted. They question why and are concerned about the impact of the quarrying on the health of their awa. Anei ano a Raiha Paki. (EMOTIVE MUSIC) Weraiti in the Kaimai Ranges, the scared maunga at the centre of a fight over its future. Also at the centre of the battle, the Mangapiko Stream. It's being diverted by the company that quarries on the mountain. The stream's a source of water and spiritual well-being to Tangata Marae, but it was not even told about the diversion. Consultation hasn't happened at a level that needs to happen for us as tangata whenua. The quarry company J Swap told the Waikato Regional Council it has no choice but to divert the Mangapiko after heavy rainfall early last year caused a slip. That slip resulted in some sediment that was going to potentially get down through the stream, potentially affecting one of the marae downstream of the site. A letter supporting the diversion was written by one iwi group. The regional council believed that was enough. We did accept in good faith that the right people has been spoken to. But that group ` the Ngati Hinerangi Trust ` did not have the right to speak on environmental issues. Tangata Marae does. Did the council then consult Tangata Marae? Um, no, you're right. That process happened a year ago. And it was only May of this year that we were informed that Ngati Hinerangi Trust didn't have that mandate. So the majority of the iwi weren't told of the diversion. Neither was the QEII National Trust, which shares guardianship of land surrounding the quarry. We're disappointed because our opinion hasn't been valued, the work we do on the property hasn't been recognised. It's very hard for us to work with landowners who have set aside their land for the benefit of future generations to promise them that we're going to look after it. And for other agencies to not have that same belief in what we do, it's very hard for us to carry out our role. I've not heard the concerns raised by the QEII Trust. I'm not sure what their concerns are about the diversion of the stream. J Swaps intends to divert the Mangapiko headwater. Te Ao O Te Rangi doubts whether the stream is being diverted for purely environmental reasons. ...so that they can now quarry the waterway of the Mangapiko. Some people believe that the Mangapiko was diverted to expand the quarry. I've heard that concern just recently. I think they're two separate matters. It's not only the diversion of the Mangapiko that's at issue. It's also the health of the waterway. Te Ao O Te Rangi says the stream is so degraded he no longer fishes it. The tuna that we are having for our hakari today, that comes from the Waihou. We do have the Mangapiko, that's about 20m from our marae, but there's no tuna to feed our manuhiri from our awa. So have to travel downstream to main artery, or the main river, which is the Waihou River. The Mangapiko is very important to us. It's where we used to get watercress and tuna and koura. And over the years we have seen the degradation, and we no longer can feed ourselves from our awa. The quarry sits beside our awa. The continued increase in sediment and storm water discharge goes directly into the Mangapiko. There are also chemicals that are used to separate the metal and the sediment. Those chemicals are Crystal Floc, which is a liquid type of plastic, and the second chemical is soluble aluminium, and that has been used in the quarry for many years now. The Waikato Regional Council argues allowing the diversion will improve the water quality of the Mangapiko. There's a range of conditions on those consents that require there to be a fish passage, for example, which isn't there right now; that there's riparian planting along that new diversion. The consents as granted have quite a lot of protection to ensure that the future environment is better than what it is currently. (PEOPLE CHATTER) Today is a good day. Our water is quite clean. But we have terrible days here where it's full of silt. And when we have a tangi, we have to run our back tub for about 20 minutes, half an hour. It's embarrassing and it takahias the mana of our marae. And to serve people who came to our marae paru water really saddens me. The Regional Council says after recent complaints from the marae, it investigated water quality. The initial feedback I've got from staff is that the company is complying with its obligations. But we are absolutely still keen to hear if there are people with concerns about water quality to share that with us as soon as they can, because that gives the opportunity to look into things to see what might be going on. (RAIN PATTERS) (EMOTIVE STRING MUSIC) It's nearly 150 years since Ngati Hinerangi had its land confiscated and lost its connection with Weraiti. Ever since then we've lived in the shadow of seeing our maunga be desecrated. We still feel the pain that our grandparents felt. We still feel the pain that their parents felt. And then their parents as well ` from the loss and the hopelessness for being able to act and to stand up and to protect. We feel that that has been severed from us. Just like the top of Weraiti has been severed, so has our ability to be kaitiaki of our urupa and of our awa, because it's not our land. We're just from it. The future of the maunga is in the balance. J Swap is going to court to argue for the right to expand the quarry into areas that are protected under QEII National Trust covenants. If we lose, if the applicant succeeds, then the covenant areas will not be protected in the way that we intended. Because this is part of our natural heritage and, you know, once it's quarried, that's the end of it. The council will also hold a hearing on whether the quarry should be expanded. What would you like to see happen? The mining stopped. The desecration of our whenua and the pollution of our awa. All we're after is aroha. That's all we're asking for. We're not asking for much ` just aroha to support the tangata whenua when we go into a court hearing. And hopefully that'll sway the council's decision whether this corporation can continue to diminish our sacred places and our water. Or they might decide to actually grant it to J Swaps, which will be terrible. It'll be terrible not just for us but for everybody. Na Raiha Paki tera purongo, and it was produced by Richard Langston. We asked J Swap to be interviewed, but they declined. Three iwi groups are making submissions on J Swap's application to have the quarrying extended for another 35 years, and they are Tangata Marae, the Raukawa Charitable Trust, and Ngati Haha. All parties will be at a pre-hearing meeting at the Waikato Regional Council later this month. Ka hoki mai Te Hui akuanei. Auraki mai ano. What would life be like if you could be in complete silence at the flick of a switch? That's the reality for young scholarship winner Madison Davy. The Taranaki teenager was born completely Deaf, but that hasn't stopped her from making a noise in the Deaf community. Imagine a life without sound. Surrounded by deafening silence. She was quite a frustrated, angry child. She would also put a bucket on her head and run around the house screaming with a bucket on her head. Taranaki teen Madison Davy was born completely Deaf. When we looked back after she was diagnosed, we thought, 'Oh, that makes sense,' because she was stimulating sound with a bucket on her head so she could hear herself. 18-year-old Madison is one of around 18 New Zealanders born profoundly Deaf each year. How far did you get on with that exercise there? It means when her cochlear implant is turned off, her world is completely silent. Maddy received her implant when she was 2, undergoing hours of therapy to learn to speak. Bye-bye, witch. (VOCALISES) Bye-bye, witch. Costing $50,000 apiece, at that time the government only funded one implant per child. But now a change of policy means children newly assessed up to the age of 19 will receive two. Are you eligible? Would you like to have another? Two cochlear implants would mean Maddy would have much better hearing, like siblings Sadie and Benji. Their mum, Nicky, says initially they too only received one implant each. We had all these children with hearing impairments. Deaf children only hearing on one side with one cochlear implant. Nicky wanted her tamariki to have two implants, but was only able to raise $40,000 ` enough money to cover Benji's. So that was one child taken care of, I guess. And then the government had a change of policy, so Sadie fell under that category. So it meant that her second implant was government-funded also. Along with the additional implants, children are now being tested earlier. And early intervention has made all the difference for these kids. Their spoken language is very good. And it's down to that early implantation. They had that first implant when they were babies, so 8, 9 months old. And that's key, you know? Maddy hopes Benji and Sadie won't have to experience the same sense of isolation she did. As a kid she struggled to communicate with her classmates. Could people` were they cruel to you? Like most teenagers, Maddy was desperate to fit in. Her former teacher Anne Howison says she was driven to overcome her challenges. Very bubbly, very friendly and very determined to speak clearly and to communicate. And it's those communications skills that has seen Maddy become an outspoken advocate for the hearing impaired community, starting support groups for Deaf teenagers and their whanau and being appointed to the National Board for the Deaf. She was doing so much for the Deaf youth community and so much at school, and just was overcoming those difficulties in a really gracious way that made her quite forward-thinking and helpful to other people rather than be, you know, self-centred. Her efforts were recognised when Howison nominated her for the Attitude Awards for people living with disabilities. Now she's realised another dream ` becoming the first woman to win the Southern Hearing Charitable Trust scholarship, which she plans to use for her tertiary education studying digital media. We see Maddy as ` that's Maddy and that's who she is. That's her personality and her nature. But when it is brought to our attention that she is doing great things and good things for the community and for others, we get a little bit, 'Whoo!' You know? Reality check here. Your girl is being recognised. But for us as parents, that's what our daughter does. So we sort of know no different. (CHUCKLES) And while Maddy would love to get a second implant one day, she says being able to switch off the world does have its benefits. Wetiweti ana, Madison. Na Billie Jo Ropiha tera purongo. A nga wiki e heke mai nei he kaupapa whenua Maori. A whanau in a fight for their whenua. We just want our land returned back to us that was taken wrongfully. Going head to head with an influential farming family to keep what's left of their land. We know that the Kidd family own 150 hectares. We only own 3� acres. Why would you wanna take our 3� acres from us? But time is running out for Philip Te Whata. His whenua could be lost forever. The next meeting will be the deadline. And it's either we're gonna retain the land or we're gonna lose it. Well, make sure you join us for our next episode. Four amazing wahine Maori will be here to discuss tikanga in Te Ao Hurihuri. No reira, kua hikina Te Hui mo tenei ra. Newshub Nation is next. Pai marire ki a tatou katoa. Captions by Tracey Dawson. www.able.co.nz Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2018 ALL: He mea tautoko na Te Mangai Paho.