- Tuia ki runga. Tuia ki raro. Ka rongo te po. Ka rongo te ao. I te korero i te wananga. Haumi e, hui e, taiki e. This week on The Hui ` the brutal death of 1-year-old Atreyu. - There's someone out there that knows something. - 10 years on, the Matene whanau are desperate to see justice for their baby boy. - Just come forward. Break the silence. - Plus, we sit down with the artists who have come together for the Rangiaowhia project, a kaupapa that's turning their Land Wars history and mamae into an album. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023 - Nga mate purara i te motu whanui. Haere mai, haere. Tatou nga mahuetanga iho, tihewa mauriora, and welcome back to The Hui. The recent brutal death of Baby Ru in Lower Hutt has brought an outpouring of grief, and along with it, anger and frustration that no one has swiftly been held accountable. He seems to be another name in the shameful roll-call of children killed in Aotearoa. Atreyu Taylor-Matene died from head injuries just days after his first birthday in July 2013. He was in the care of his teenage mother and her new boyfriend. 10 years on, no one has been charged over his death, despite what police describe as an 'active' investigation. The Matene family wants answers, and they shared their story with our reporter, Ruwani Perera. - Your memory is my keepsake with which I will never part. God has you in his keeping. I have you in my heart. (SNIFFLES) - For more than a decade, Atreyu Taylor-Matene's father, Joshua, and his grandparents have been living in limbo. - We're still mamae, we're still hurting. - It's like leaving us in a loop, like we're stuck, and I don't know if they don't care, we just` we want some closure. - This year he'll be 10. I would have loved to have seen how he grew up. - Atreyu died after traumatic head injuries while he was in the care of his mother and her new boyfriend, just four days after his first birthday. No charges for Atreyu's death have ever been laid. - Why did this have to happen, you know? All of these questions. - So many questions, anger... and despair. - It's frustrating that we're not getting answers from the police. (TENDER GUITAR MUSIC) - Atreyu's parents were married overlooking Tautoro urupa, where their 1-year-old son is now laid to rest. So you were asked to marry Josh and his partner... - Yeah. - ...who was pregnant with Atreyu at the time. - That's right, yes. That's where it all began in terms of my relationship with young Atreyu. - Pastor Mike Shaw says the toddler's young parents were forced to grow up fast. - They were teenagers and deeply in love and positive about their future and wanting to lay a foundation down together and build a family together. - But the realities of parenthood shattered those dreams, and Joshua Matene and Jessica Taylor's marriage would soon be put to the test. - That's when we looked after baby, just sort of be there for them as well, cos they were tired from working long hours, and they'd just get home and sleep. - It was clear to the couple that their son and his wife were in over their head. - I would come home from work and... baby hasn't been fed or not himself, and so I'd step in, feed him, give him a bath. - Financial pressures put a strain on the couple's relationship, and after she left Joshua, Atreyu's mother went to live with the Shaw family. - Child, Youth and Family or one of the social agencies contacted us and said, you know, 'Could we take her in as a boarder?' And we were happy to do that. - What kind of mum was she like? - She was a great mum, but we could also see that, yeah, she was very young, very, very immature, and needed that support. - That's when we went to go and see some lawyers and ask about shared custody. - Des and Sharon had their concerns for Atreyu and wanted him in their care. For such a young baby, the files and paperwork on Atreyu's wellbeing are vast. Assessment after assessment defining him as a vulnerable young child caught in the middle of his parents turbulent marriage. But Desmond and Sharon have never been given any reasons as to why their custody application was turned down. - If we had got custody, we wouldn't have shut the mum out. Atreyu would still be their baby. We wanted to protect him from anything. - Atreyu's mother was given full custody, and she moved with him to Whangarei to live with her new boyfriend, but the Matene whanau were able to visit him there. - Before the lawyers, I say, 'What about if I run away with Atreyu, take him away?' That's what I wanted to do, but I couldn't. Tried to do things the right way. (SNIFFLES) Um... (CLEARS THROAT) We went through with lawyers, and... it was too late. - The day he died, I rang the lawyers. I said, 'Oh no, we don't have to... 'We don't have to rush now. 'Baby's dead.' - Des and Sharon will never forget the last time they saw their first grandchild alive. - Put him in the baby seat... and he'd hug me and... just hold me. Wouldn't let me go. So I feel... I didn't protect him. I just blame myself. - Do you think of the grandparents had custody of their moko, Atreyu, would still be here? - Absolutely. There's no doubt in my mind that if he had been with them, he would have been safe and still alive today. - Atreyu was medevacked here to Auckland's Starship Children's Hospital. His whanau were still on their way, driving down from Kaikohe when they got the call that nothing more could be done for him, and that Atreyu's life support had been switched off. His father and grandparents unable to say their final goodbyes. - We asked if they could wait until we got there, but, no, they just... They just did it anyway, so we were just lost. Even now, it's still hard. - That's not what any father would want, you know. It's devastating. (PLAYS GENTLE MELODY) He liked the music as well, the guitar. He would, like, nod his head when I played the guitar. - Joshua is now 30 and has spent the past four years in Australia. He's come back home and living with his parents in Kaikohe. - The mistakes that I've made in my marriage I have reflected on and seen what I could have improved on and things like that. - He's just got a job, ready to rebuild his life and reconnect to the two daughters he's had since his son's death. - Coming back home and being with the family again, it's been really, really, really, really important. - BOTH: # Teach me all that I must do... # - But it's hard for Dez and Sharon to think of the future while Atreyu's death remains unsolved. - NEWSCASTER: Police say they now have strong clues as to how Atreyu died. - At one stage, 25 officers were working on the investigation, but it's been several years since the Matene whanau have heard from police. - We used to ring them all the time and ask them to ring us, but then that all stopped. I think it's been about two years now, two or three years. But the last call we got, they said, 'Oh, it's going to go to the Crown.' So we thought, 'Oh good, coming to some closure with it.' So we waited, and now it's been 10 years and... we still haven't heard anything back from the police. - As devoted grandparents, the couple play an active role in the lives of their nine moko. - You can hold this rail too. To this one, yeah. - But time isn't on their side. They both live with serious health issues, and Sharon has been recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer. But they say they won't rest until justice is served for Atreyu. - Somebody knows something. One of those two or their friends or their family or something. - What's happened? Are there any new leads? We'd like answers. There's someone out there that knows something. Just come forward. Break the silence. Papai te aroha, ne? Atreyu's mother, Jessica Taylor, has in the past publicly denied being responsible for her son's death. Police declined to be interviewed for the story, citing an 'active' investigation. After being contacted by The Hui, a police officer did phone the Matene family, promising to call them back the following week. They failed to do so. Taro kau iho ane i ta tatou hui i te iwi. As the coalition negotiations continue, we look at the hiccups and the hold-ups with our political panel, Professor Ella Henry and Shane Te Pou, on the Hui up next. - Kia ora mai ano. Hoki mai ki ta tatou hui. Within the past hour, finally, there's apparently been a breakthrough in the coalition negotiations that have dragged on for the past 35 days. National leader Christopher Luxon's has just announced he's achieved the significant milestone of reaching an agreement on policy differences with the ACT Party and New Zealand First, but they've yet to work out ministerial positions. So joining us now, pretty dynamic stuff, is our esteemed political panel. She is the professor of international business strategy and entrepreneurship at the Auckland University of Technology ` AUT. Ahorangi Ella Henry is here now. Ahorangi, tena koe. - Kia ora. - And also joining us, he's got all the good oil, so can't wait to hear what he says and tells us what the heck is going on at the moment in all the places where no one wanted to front up before, they're all coming out of the woodwork. Political commentator and professional raconteur Shane Te Pou is back again with us again. E hoa, tena koe. Welcome back. - Kia ora. - OK, let's` Who knows? (LAUGHS) Because I see Winston, he's just said after Luxon said that we have a deal, Winston said, 'It's an assumption to say a deal has been struck,' so who knows where we're at? But Ahorangi, this has been tedious at times, hasn't it? - Oh no, this is great entertainment. - (LAUGHS) - I'm so enjoying watching three alpha males in the lion's den, trying desperately hard not to tear each other's faces off whilst purporting to be working on some kind of co-governance arrangement. - LAUGHS: Trying co-governance... The irony is rich! (LAUGHS) - Bitter irony. - Shane Te Pou, you've had some good oil over the last couple of weeks. I've enjoyed and actually been informed by what you've said. I mean, where's your thinking been at as this has gone on? Is it the fact that Winston, even though he's the smallest part of the arrangement, seems to have the most power? - Oh no, he does. He absolutely does, because you've gotta get over the 50% mark, and he does` He has more options than ACT does. I think the fundamental problem has been this. You've got probably the oddest economic mix in terms of pure... economic ideology. You've got an economic nationalist, which` Winston Peters believes in a robust public system, who has said before that we've allowed that neoliberal agenda to get away on us. And then you've got a pure ideologist on the other end of the political spectrum, and that's David Seymour, that will want to sell assets, that will want to, as I say, asset strip and provide taxes probably to the bigger end of town rather than middle New Zealand. And that's where Winston will aim at. So those are the dynamics that have taken place. And all the meanwhile, led by someone who hasn't got a lot of experience and doesn't have the political connections and whakapapa of Ardern or Bolger or Clark that seemed to manage their processes better. - You know, Chris Luxon came out, Ahorangi, and said that he didn't like the way these deals have been done in the past, that they took too long. He seemed to imply that he didn't really trust or make much, actually, of the political leadership of the Bolgers, of the Clarks, of the Keys, even` Hello, he was his mentor` of the Keys and others, and yet here we are. He's struggled through this, hasn't he? - I mean, I have to say, this reinforces Shane's perspective that his political naivete has made him say things like that without before having actually gone into it. You know, corporate negotiations are fundamentally different. - Yes. - Politics is all about relationships; corporate negotiations are all about power. And people assume politics is about power, but it's not. It's about how you wield the relationships to exercise power. It's a different set of skills, and I think he's found that where he lacks all that bluster and bravado before the election is actually not serving him well now. - And the problem that he has is that he set the timeframe, and Winston gave the kickback and said, 'No, no. 'We're not gonna start negotiating until ` or even start the process ` until the special results were in,' because those special results` sorry, the specials, that gave Winston even more power and probably means one or two more people at the cabinet table. And, you know, if the half the rumours are correct that a lowball offer that insulted Winston was rejected, I think it cost them, you know. It's cost Luxon time and some real credibility. I think he can regather, regroup, if they have got a common agenda and they can get a mini budget in before December. But what this set of negotiations tells me is that when the rough times come, when the economic crunch and the hard economic decisions are going to have to be made, that Luxon will have trouble reaching common ground with both Luxon and Peters. - Christopher Luxon has said they've each had to think about giving up certain things. Ahorangi, do you think this treaty referendum or treaty review or whatever the heck this is ` is this still gonna be on the table, do you think? - I find it hard to see how it possibly could, given that Luxon and the National Party are ambivalent about something like that. They've publicly said it's 'divisive', and we don't really know what Winston Peter's perspective is. But we do know Shane Jones is an intrinsic part of his whatever is formed, and Shane has had a very long, very extensive experience of being involved with treaty settlement. So I think that that one is going to be hugely divisive amongst the three of them finding common ground, but the others as well, you know, being able to sell property to foreign buyers, that's` They've unfortunately stuck their pou so firmly in the ground prior to having to make friends with each other that it's gonna be difficult. - Yeah. Shane Te Pou, give us the oil. Go on. I mean, someone's giving up something. - The oil ` I think the deal will be done. I think there will be more New Zealand First Members of Parliament at the cabinet table, and it will be the pick of the cabinet position that Winston wants. Rumour has it that he wants attorney general so he can exercise some discretion of the Serious Fraud Office on judicial appointments. Shane Jones will want energy so he can make the changes that they've talked about in terms of oil exploration and all. And I think at the same time, ACT will be given some` a lot of room in administerialship, on education and the privatisation of all of that. So, to a certain degree, everyone loses, but everyone wins. - Winston as attorney general. Ahorangi, that may have some treaty implications. - Well, he's a lawyer. - Yeah. - And it is really important that our attorneys general have a strong understanding of jurisprudence. He's been a lawyer for many years, so I don't see a problem with that. Having oversight over the Serious Fraud Office, which we know Winston harbours grudges. And if I were in the Serious Fraud Office, I would be somewhat concerned if he were the attorney general. - There are some government departments that are already concerned ` MFAT erasing te reo Maori. Official documents and templates have also erased te reo Maori in anticipation of a new government. Is this the fu` Is this what we're going to see? - I think that that leak was unfortunate, and it created such a furore that my view is that the incoming government is certainly not gonna get embroiled in whether or not there's a te reo name at the top of a briefing document. That is such small fry. But it is very embarrassing for the CEO of MFAT. - But I think it is indicative in terms of some of the clawbacks that this coalition government will want and the dismantling of a lot of that co-governance infrastructure that was already in place. And I reckon that's the deal that will be struck. They'll dismantle co-governance as a payback to ACT not to rip New Zealand Aotearoa in the middle and to have a formal referendum. - We'll all be holding onto our phones, seeing what's gonna happen later on today... (LAUGHS) and in the next coming days. Who knows? God, what about the Governor-General? Her Excellency is going to be sitting there going, 'When am I swearing in a government?' - 21 December. It's hers to play. - Last day of Parliament. - That's the final day. OK. Tena korua, e aku rangatira. Te Ahorangi, e hoa, tena koe. - Tena koe. Tena korua, i a korua korero. Thank you very much. After the break, we feature the Rangiaowhia project, a music kaupapa healing the past through waiata. - Hoki mai ano, e nga iwi, ki ta tatou hui. Rangiaowhia is a bloody stain in New Zealand's history. The invasion of the small Maori settlement near Te Awamutu in 1864 is not widely known, but the descendants continue to feel the mamae. Now the whanau of Rangiaowhia has another voice, thanks to a project by Oceans Before Me, a charitable trust creating music about traumatic events impacting indigenous people. Meriana Johnsen spoke to some of the artists involved, but first, we open with a bit of the history of Rangiaowhia, and just a warning ` graphic violence is depicted. - MERIANA JOHNSEN: While the New Zealand Land Wars were raging on in the Waikato region, Rangiaowhia was a safe place for women, children, and kaumatua. That was until the 21st of February 1864. Many were in church at the time. - The soldiers called out to people to come out. They didn't dare come out because they heard of other people coming out and being shot dead. (GUNSHOT) So the soldiers set fire to the church. - Over 100 at the pa were murdered, raped, or injured during the massacre. This traumatic event is a lasting hurt for the people of Ngati Apakura and Ngati Hinetu. (FINGERS CLICK) - # Hoki mai ki nga mahi tupuna. # - Yeah, awesome. - A new album is ensuring it will never be forgotten. Artists Mara TK, Ria Hall, Rakai Whauwhau, and Hawkins have come together for the Rangiaowhia project. I sat down with Mara and Rakai at Parachute Studios in Auckland. So how do you both whakapapa to Rangiaowhia? - Moku ake i tipu ake au ki roto o Waikato whanui, and we fall under the iwi of Ngati Apakura. - My connections are through Maniapoto, no Ngati Ruapuha. If they wanna rebrand me as Ngati Apakura, they're, you know, the nicest people on Earth. - So Rakai, you're from Apakura, then. So did you know a lot about what happened at Rangiaowhia? - Going back to high school, they were trying to fight for a bill to get a public holiday for our Land Wars day. I remember Rangiaowhia just being a part of our Riri whenua, our Land Wars, and then coming into our wananga was a whole different wairua, a different korero. - Our tupuna never surrendered their identity. - Rangatira such as iwi historian Tom Roa led the artists in wananga, - So meeting rangatira like Whaea Hazel, who is a direct descendant, it was actually really surreal for me to feel the wairua from a direct uri, because you could actually feel the mamae. - Mara, what did you know about the massacre before you joined this project? - Only what was kind of published and circulated from the Pakeha perspective, which is actually full of all kinds of errors, and they knew what they were doing as well. - It's real taumaha what happened there, eh? - For myself, I've been not so much struggling, but hitting a writer's block in terms of some of the kaupapa that we're writing about, because they are really deep and hohonu, and just writing a song out of nowhere sort of just doesn't really give much credit to the wairua and the kaupapa that we are writing about. - This is their first single, Apakura, an uplifting waiata calling for the iwi to stand tall and proud. - # Show the world your heart. - # Show the world your heart. - # Kia whitia e te ra. - # Kia whitia e te ra. - So how do you do it? Do you write the lyrics first, or do you start with a tune, a bit of a jam? How do you develop the songs? - Just the Maori flow of it was sort of what guided us. And for myself, I'm not really an instrument person. I'm more of a kaitito and a kaiwaiata no reira. I was really leaning on the bros in terms of chord progressions and tunes and melodies. - Their latest single, Rangiaowhia, is encouraging whanau to return back home. - Part of the challenge as a songwriter is sort of trying to find, like, a useful message. What's useful for the iwi from you? For example, Rangiaowhia is saying, yeah, 'Hoki mai nga uri 'maheu ahi teretere.' You know, come on back and get back into some of those practices that they were doing, like hauhake, you know, whakatipu kai and pou rakau. Some of them we want to look back and others we kind of wanna look forward. - So what are we recording today? Can you give us a little bit of a taster? A bit of a flavour? - I guess the main kaupapa around waiata today is broken promises around the idea where our tupuna were lead astray in terms of whakapono. So, yeah, looking forward to putting that in a waiata today. # He whenua ahuru. # He whenua hau matou. # He whenua pangai te tini # manaaki i te mano. # O atinga # kia noho tapu # nge nei whenua. # - The full Rangiaowhia album is set for release next February, in line with the 160th anniversary of the invasion. - E mihi ana ki te kaupapa me te waiata. Here's a look at a story we're excited to bring you on The Hui next week. - I've spent my whole life wondering where my papa is. - They're the letters holding the only clues to finding her father... - There's a father out there that has lost years on knowing who his daughter is. - ...who disappeared from her life 40 years ago. - I've spent my whole life being programmed to not raise my hopes. - In a special episode of The Hui, we travel to Japan with Ngati Kahungunu uri, Mikoto Irea, as she embarks on a journey to try and find her father. - I've never met anybody else... (CHUCKLES) half Japanese, half Maori before. It would be wonderful for my father to know he has a Maori mokopuna and to tell him that. I guess I hadn't realised how much just being here would impact me. - A search with no guarantee of a fairy tale ending. - There's just one question ` where are you, Nakamoto? I'm here. Are you here? (POIGNANT MUSIC) (SNIFFLES) - Ao te kaupapa hei tera wiki. Kua paenga nga korero a Te Hui ki konei aianei. You'll find links to our stories on our Facebook and YouTube accounts or at newshub.co.nz. Until next week, kia mai ki te turanga o Taputapuatea. Haumi e, hui e, taiki e. Captions by Kate Harris. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023 - Ko te reo te take. - Nga Te Puna Whakatongarewa Te Hui i tautoko.