- Kei nga waewae kaikapua, kei nga waewae kaipakiaka rarau mai ki Te Hui. Ko Mihingarangi tenei e mihi atu nei ki a koutou katoa. Welcome to The Hui ` Maori current affairs for all New Zealanders. E taro ake nei ` Whakahoki a te reo ki te mata o te whenua. Debbie Ngarewa-Packer discusses the call to restore the original place names of Aotearoa. - The reality is, whether they like it or not, change is happening. - Tough times in Tamaki Makaurau. We check out how Maori businesses are faring during lockdown. - I'm stressed. I'm... anxious. - When you've got 120-plus staff, there's a lot of responsibility that you take on. Sometimes I ponder about, like, being in business for such a long time, you know. Is it time to give up? - And Te Nutube dad Chey Milne launches his own mixtape for mahuru Maori. - These are just combinations of some new and some old stuff. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2021 - Tahuti mai ra. The extended lockdown in Tamaki Makaurau has seen some Maori kai businesses taken to brink. Despite the resilience they've shown during the 2020 lockdowns, the Delta variant has delivered a cruel blow and created a new set of challenges. They're asking greater targeted support to ensure they can open up shop again. I korero a Ruwani Perera ki etahi o ratou. - When you drive past your stores and you see them shut up like that for so long, how do you feel when you see that? - Well, apart from seeing the amount of dollars that I'm not making, you just wonder, you know, how long could it possibly be? - The Toby's seafood chain of fish and chip stores are a whanau favourite around Tamaki Makaurau. But they've been off the menu since the Level 4 lockdown almost five weeks ago. - You know, as much as it disheartens me, you know, you gotta think quite positive because if you let it get down, you know, it can be` take a, you know, quite a toll on yourself. - The halt in trade gives owner Patrick Tobin time to reflect on the only livelihood he's ever known. - Sometimes I ponder about` I've been in business for such a long time, you know. Is it time to give up? When you've got 120-plus staff, it's a lot of responsibility that you take on. - Like Patrick Renee Coulter's restaurant, Coco's Cantina, weathered last year's lockdown, but this time around is a lot harder. - I'm stressed. I'm... anxious, but I'm also feeling optimistic. You know. That makes sense? Can you be all of those things? You have to be everything at the moment. (CHUCKLES) - Both food outlets have taken the wage subsidies and resurgence support payments. - The resurgence ` you have to have it. It just pays the basics. Wage subsidy, again, that just pays the basics, but we're all topping up wage subsidy. - Renee says it's time to tailor the subsidy to a business's particular needs. - I would like to see wage subsidy become a flexible tool based on your comparative turnover and how your business is actually faring and what industry you are and how many restrictions are on you, rather than it just be a one level, two level, three kind of thing. - Two weeks ago, Toby's started doing online orders of fresh Kaimoana, but it's only operating at 20% of normal trade. - We offered an online non-contact, same-day delivery service. I'll tell you what ` you know, that's the best thing we ever done. So we're able to service our people of South Auckland and give them the opportunity to get a product delivered to the door. And if that was one person less that has to stand in the queue at a supermarket, that made us feel good. If the question is are we making any money? No. All we're doing is offering the service. - But it's important for you to be in your community right now? - Yeah, definitely because, you know, what goes around comes around, so id we can offer a service today while we're at Level 4, it's reciprocal, you know, for our clients when we open in Level 3. - Cheers, man. - Thank you, bro. - Thanks, boss. Have a good one. - You too. - In 2020, Coco's Cantina reopened for takeaway meals at Level 3, but this time with the Delta variant, they're playing it safe and won't be cashing in when the looser restrictions come in. You're taking those sort of extra precautions and financially as well. Can you tell me about that belt tightening that you've been doing? - Before lockdown, we were a seven-day operation. We only did nights, but we were seven days, and then after the last lockdowns, we came back at four. And then as we saw that things were pretty good, we went to five, but we never stretched right back to seven. So that meant that we could kind of keep our team a bit leaner. It meant that we didn't have as big a monthlies and weeklies supplier invoices because we just were that little bit tighter. We changed our menu and tightened things up. We didn't make it quite as broad. And so we've been walking that line, trying to work out ` how can we get the balance right? - Have you also found that whanau, this time around, a lot more price conscious as well? - Definitely. You know, with a lot of people, there isn't a lot of surplus income to splurge out on, and that's on good thing I like about whole fish and shellfish, you know. It's a product that you can get that can feed a family. And so you get a whole kahawai or a whole mullet. Not only are you eating the fillets. You can eat the heads and frames too, you know. So you get a good return out of a small outlay. So being price effective is important for us. - As businesses and employers have had to be adaptable, They're asking the government to be more flexible to meet their changing needs. So something that's more specifically targeted to Tamaki Makaurau would be more helpful for you? - I think so. Tamaki does need extra wraparound support. - Do you think that Tamaki businesses should be given extra targeted funding because of the lengthier lockdown? - Oh, look, you know, we've got the highest Pasifika and Maori population. We're the biggest city in Aotearoa. We're the start of where everything begins. Targeted funding definitely needs to come to Tamaki. - Na Ruwani Perera tera purongo. Is it time to restore our Maori place names? I speak Pati Maori co-leader Deb Ngarewa-Packer next. E taro ake nei ` Ko te reo te mauri o te mana Maori. Te Pati Maori has launched a petition to make the name Aotearoa official and reinstate the Maori names of all towns, cities, and places by 2026. I korero ahau ki te kaiarahi takirua o rua o te pati, ki a Deb Ngarewa-Packer. Well, let's talk about the policy the Maori Party released last week. 2026 ` What might that look like if we were to return our place names to the original names? - Well, I think... The first thing is is that it would look like a nation that's moving more towards living Te Tiriti and being a Te Tiriti-centric, united country. A lot of our kaimahi around us are under 30, and, look, a lot of the korero and the wananga that we have is driven often by our rangatahi, who are confronting some of the biggest challenges that we've ever known ` climate change, social justice, housing issues and pandemics. And so what 2026 will look like is that we have had huge discussions about what this place name is, what it was about, what the ahua and wairua connected to this place was. That then becomes our nation's narrative, our curriculum that then becomes less debated because people are shocked that there was a culture here before Abel Tasman or James` whatever his name ` Cook. You know, so those` for my mind, this is actually the party pushing forward, taking on the responsibilities that we saw in 1972 with Nga Tamatoa, 1986 with Kaiwhakapumau I te reo, and making sure we don't rest on our laurels ` that we continuously push towards that balance. - Yeah. What kind of support have you had on the political spectrum, and what do you think the challenges will be? - The biggest politics of this as the calling of the ground, the people power. The politics behind the scenes ` if we were to silence the extremes, that, you know, they've gotta play to who they serve, I was really heartened to hear the prime minister say, 'Hey, look, we need to acknowledge this.' I also note, though, this is the government that said, 'We're not going to have Matariki.' We have Matariki. 'We're not going to have Maori-specific targeted housing.' - Well, we actually have a Maori-targeted housing. 'We're not going to have a Maori health authority.' Well, actually, we have. And there's been lots of debate around He Puapua and other korero. So I think, you know, everyone's got to play to their audience, but the reality is, whether they like it or not, change is happening. Whether they like it or not, change is happening. And for Maori, we have` 70% of our population are under 40. 20% to under 20 years old. It's going to happen. What's been really surprising is that we've had huge support from our own, but there's been huge international interest in the discussion as well, which is really surprising. - Are there a couple of names that you will be looking forward to restoring to the original names? - Yeah, that's a really good korero. I mean, I think most of our name's here that we have that, you know, like we've got Stratford, we would go back to Whakahurangi. We've got Inglewood, which was Kohanga Moa. We've got New Plymouth which is Ngamotu. And even inside of ourselves there's also other subsets of the korero, which are dependent on which tupuna. But definitely, you know, these names here ` we've got a tower in the middle of Taranaki that has Shakespeare coming out of it, and he's never been to Aotearoa. Well, not that I know of. So it would be` and this is an area where our tino kuia, Ruaputahanga, healed. She went to a wananga; she had a broken heart; she cried wai there that heals. She was a matakite. And so this is about restoring our wellbeing. - I ran a very unscientific Twitter poll where I reached over a few thousand, and it was basically 76% yes to changing the name to Aotearoa, something like 25% both names, and a very small, less than 10% no. So that's Twitter. What do you need for the big one to, you know, to acknowledge that Aotearoa is also the name of our nation? You know how much` how many names do you need, and then what do you need to change the law? - Yeah, I think` so yeah, to be really honest, when we went out and did this, we thought, 'OK, well, we knew in 1972 there was 30,000 'that got about the change. Can you imagine how they did that? Because I don't even know 'if they had a fax machines then.' So from our mind, we thought, 'Let's go really high. 'And we know in 1972 it was 30,000,' and, you know, to be honest, when we got 30,000 within, I think, 24 hours, we were like, 'What the heck?' So I think we're just not gonna put a lid on it. We're actually going to continue to get the support that we can, and then what we want to do is, again, deliver it through the steps of parliament, use all the mechanisms we have to as MPs. But also, I think, more importantly, is when something's wanted from the ground up, the movement of activism has always been really pivotal in the preserving of our reo and the extending of our reo. - E wha tekau ma ono nga tau inianei e whakanui tatou I te wiki o te reo Maori. Ki a koe, he aha ko wai titi he o nga tino whetu? - Mm. Mm. Kia ora. Tuatahi, nga mihi kei a koe e te tuahine mo to pauritanga. Ka nui nga whetu I te reo Maori, engari ko toku tino whetu kei Taranaki ` Ruakere. Ruakere Hond shines a light for us. And he's one of the poor guys that's have me in my early stages of learning and toku hoa rangatira. He has this amazing patience and humility, and I think... anyone that can have that level of matauranga and be so focussed on te reo o Taranaki and stay really humble and considerate in his manaaki, as he teaches, you know, ones like me, are the... the stars. He warms... our hearts, and he keeps the glow of te reo o Taranaki alive. - Taua taua, e hoa. Koe titi he oku whetu hoki. Hoi no e mihi atu ki a koe e Ruakere. Lorde released a pretty special album this week, and it produced a lot of debate. And what we started to hear about was reo trauma. I guess... He whakaaro au mo tera? Is that something you're familiar with? - I have been watching the debate with interest, and I totally get that there is a responsibility with the reo, just as there's a responsibility to be ahika. So I am of the view that, you know, we should celebrate and manaaki those who are learning, just as the responsibility on those who are te o matatau o te reo need to maintain humility and tautoko those who are learning because I think whakama can really get in the way of our understanding and our ability to korero i wa katoa, so... - Well, kia kaha te reo Maori. E mihi ana ki a koe. Tenei po, e te tuakana Debbie Ngarewa-Packer from Te Pati Maori. Kia mau tonu mai ra te titiro e hoa ma. Ka hui tatou ana akuanei. E taro ake nei ` With so many beautiful waiata being released to celebrate Maori Language Week, lovers of reo Maori music have been spoilt for choice. And one artist is carving out a niche of his own. Te Nutube Dad and Arataua Director Chey Milne has added reo Maori rapper to his impressive CV. His debut mixtape, Whai Korero, was released earlier this month ` utilising his oratory skills to create a unique take on Aotearoa Hip Hop. Kei a D'Angelo Martin tenei purongo. - SPEAKS TE REO MAORI: (HIP-HOP MUSIC) RAPS: # E, tuku ana oku whakaaro ki te ao, yo! # Kei noho au ka mataku, I have to say no. # RAPS: # Ko te tangi tenei a tamale. # Kawa ra e tuku nga kia kurangi a koe e te iwi... # (VOCALISES) # Me pehea ra # e nganga ke kaua te au pouri o kuhu mai ki taku koa? # Pehea ra... # - Define your style of rap, because, listening to some of the waiata or looking to that mixtape, there's a specific style. - I just do what I think is cool. And so... I'm my own biggest fan. (LAUGHS) And that sounds quite whakahihi, but you know, I listen to it, and I think, 'Oh, yeah, that sounds cool,' and then whakatakatoria. And the more we can do that and the more that we can whakaputa, waiata, raps, pao, whatever it may be. With that in mind, the better it is, I reckon. One of the reasons why, you know, I needed to get it out quickly is because all of these kura kaupapa kids that are coming out with, like, the meanest reo. They're gonna bring out their waiata, and then old Matua Chey's gonna be kicked to the backbenches, cuz. So I needed to bring it up before they did. (LAUGHS) (RAPS IN TE REO MAORI) - And how long did that take ` the whole process to compile these waiata and put it into a mixtape? - In terms of the whole recording process, nah, it wasn't that hard, to be fair. I recorded it all in our spare room. And... I don't know, however long lockdown was for outside of Auckland, so two weeks, two and a half weeks from go to wo. (RAPS IN TE REO MAORI) But in terms of the length, like I said, I've been listening, writing kupu for ages. So you know, these are just combinations of some new and some old stuff, and sometimes ka rongo ahau I te rangi. I'll hear a beat or whatever I'll be like, 'Yo, this is the jam here. I'm gonna talk about this.' And sometimes, you know... So I'll be trying to find rangi that fit to that wairua. To be fair, I was actually quite surprised at how easy it was. We've release waiata with Te Nutube and stuff like that, and we had to go through a big process. I just wanted to see what it was like just by someone by themselves, and to see how you could do it. And, you know, I would recommend more and more of our rangatahi, more and more of our whanau. It's pretty easy. # Ma wai e taurima? (LAUGHS) Kua hikina te hui, e hoa ma. No reira hei whakamanawa Mahuru Maori anei te waiata Rangatira na Ria Hall. Noho ora mai ra. (RIA HALL'S 'RANGATIRA') - (VOCALISES) # Kei whakawa... (VOCALISES) (VOCALISES) Captions by Jessie Puru. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2021 - ALL: He mea tautoko na Te Mangai Paho. - The Hui is made with support from New Zealand On Air.