- Tihei mauri ora ki te taiao. Tihei mauri ora ki te whaiao. Tihei mauri ora ki te ao marama. He toi rangi. He toi matua. He toi tangata. Ki aue! Tihei-wa mauri ora. Ko Te Hui tenei. E mihi atu nei. This week on The Hui ` What a year we've had. In our final episode of 2023, The Hui looks back on our most powerful stories through the eyes of our reporting team. And they're young, inspiring, and motivated. We're joined by the next generation of Maori MPs ` Hauraki-Waikato MP Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, Te Ikaroa-Rawhiti MP Cushla Tangaere, and Wellington Central MP Tamatha Paul. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023 Nga mate pu rara i te motu whanui, haere mai, haere. Tatou kei te hahatanga o te whenua. Tihei-wa mauri ora. And welcome back to The Hui. This is our last show for 2023. And what a year it has been indeed. So much to discuss and look back on. And who better to do that with than our tremendous, talented team of television journalists? Love the alliteration. Joining me now are our reporters Ruwani Perera, John Boynton, D'Angelo Martin and Meriana Johnsen. Tena koutou katoa. Welcome to the studio. Thanks for being here. It's so great to have you all here with me, and you get to see how it's done. Ruwani Perera, it's been a big year. A huge year! - Absolutely. I mean, gosh ` cyclones, wars, elections ` let's not forget that one. Yeah. Huge. And I guess I've been on the show, this is my eighth year now. I've been on the show since its inception. And I guess that just shows that it's kind of one of the best jobs, as a journalist, on telly. And one of the most important things, I think, being on a show for that long, is the connections you make to the whanau that we meet. We don't just drop in and out of their lives. We're there, we're in their homes, they're sharing the most, you know, deepest, tragic things. And, you know, Kane Te Tai, met him last year, did the interview with his mother, Ngaire, which was beautiful, after he was killed in Ukraine earlier this year. Kura Wijnschenk ` you know, like, travesty of justice that happened to her and affected her so much. But we've been following that story since 2018, got some kind of way of resolution for her. And, yeah, just a really, really big, sad story was the elite axeman Jason Wynyard. - Of our greatest, possibly actually our greatest Maori athlete, in Jason Wynyard. That was such a sad story and got a lot of attention as a result of what he had to go through in the later part of his life. - Yeah. So, we met him last year as he was making a comeback after stem-cell surgery, and he basically couldn't walk. And so we were looking at him trying to get his 10th world title. And then, you know, got a text message from him ` 'Ru, can you give me a call? I've got something to discuss.' And he wanted to share his story of misdiagnosis, what it's like in the health system for Maori. And he had something to say and shared it with us. - Na reira e te iwi, kia tirohia ake tatou ko nga hua i puta i nga mahi a Ru i tenei tau. (STIRRING MUSIC) - He showed everyone how good he is by winning Timber Sports nine times, you know? - His whole life flashed before me. - He was wrong, from the start. - We weren't allowed to bury there. That was only for the Pakeha. - I hope that our future is more inclusive. - This is our town hall. This is our library. This is everything. This is our hospital. This is all of that. - (LAUGHS) Oh my God! - I'm Ange. - Nice to meet you. - Oh, you too. You too. I love you! (GASPS) - who can forget Auntie with the warriors? They were awesome. Almost did it too, this year. John Boynton, we started this year, actually, our first guest was Rereata Makiha, and we started talking about the cyclones. And you spent a lot of time in Te Tairawhiti this year with our whanau who did it really tough as a result of the cyclone. - Yeah, they did. It's been a big year, and a tough year for a lot of whanau around the motu. Our first episode was down in Te Matau-a-Maui following the devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle, and those rural Maori isolated communities that really felt the impact of that. And then we moved northwards to Te Karaka, in Te Tairawhiti, and we were able to focus a bit on the mahi of Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki and Robyn Rauna and the work that the iwi is doing to try and support their whanau to rebuild in their community. They brought cabins to house them temporarily, and, you know, they're supporting whanau, whether they're insured or not insured. You know, the results of that hard work came through just before the election. They were allocated $15 million of funding by the previous Labour Government, you know, to try and rebuild safely and to see what that recovery looks like in Te Karaka. So it's gonna be interesting to see how this new coalition government weighs up the recovery effort. - Both you and Ru have mentioned whanau, and whanau connection. And a story that you both worked on extensively was Migoto. Man, what a korero. - Pretty powerful. It's a story that actually came from our time down in Te Matau-a-Maui, and we met the wonderful wahine Migoto Eria, and she was just so open with sharing her story with us over the past year. Any question, any piece of information, she was so open. And, you know, it's a journey that took us from Tutira, in the Hawke's Bay, all the way to Japan. We went with our cameraman, Ru and I, and Migoto. Just a shout-out to Mark, for his beautiful mahi over there. - Ka pai! - And we came home and our wonderful editor Deb Matthews and our story producer Joe Mitchell were able to help bring it to life as well. Ru might have a few more words on that. - I just think, you know, we've had pay-outs, we've had apologies, we've had government law changes, but finding someone's father is kind of up there. - Tena koe. Tena korua. E ki ana te korero, te kotahi a Tuhoe ka kata te po, te kotahi a Tuhoe ki Te Hui, ka ora te kaupapa. - It's about history. It's about memory. All gone. - Our whole whanau's lives have just been washed away. - Throughout my early 20s, I struggled with bulimia a lot. - You just drive around here ` these people have been through hard times. - At the moment, Te Karaka feels like a ghost town, because so many whanau are unable to live here. - I'm glad to know that you are alive. The grief that that tamaiti has held on for so long is coming out. - Ah. E tangi ana te ngakau heoi ano, tangi ana he wa ano, ka taki te tangata i te harikoa o te ngakau. - D'Angelo, tena koe o mahi i tenei tau. - Kia ora. - Ara noa atu nga kaupapa ko oti a koe ki te kainga. - Ae, e tika ra. Ko tetahi o nga tino whanga moku ake mo tenei tau, kia hoki atu ki te kainga ` ki te kite i nga wheinga o te wa kainga, ki te noho, ki te whakarongo, ki te kite i nga purongo. Ehara i te mea ka whakahirahira ko enei o nga puhoro ki te tumata whanui engari ki au nei. Ka titia ki te ngakau na reira. Mo tenei o nga ahuatanga te hoki ki te kainga, te kite i taku whanau e mahi ana i wa ratou mahi na runga i te upoko pakaru, ko enei taku noku te whiwhi, noku te waimarie, te noho ki wenei o nga mahi kairipoata nei, te hoki atu ki taku whanau me te whakarongo atu ki etahi o nga take kare ano nei ki a whakapahotia ki te motu whanui. Na reira, ae, ko taku i tenei wa, te whakarongo tonu ki a ratou nawe, ki wa ratou nei take, me haea te tau e tu mai nei, ka hoki atu e. - Tera hoki tetahi purongo i puta whanui, ne? I a te kitea. Ara ko te purongo e pa ana ki te Grace Foundation. Tera purongo nui i mahia e koe. Me te mihi i te pai i te whakatutukitanga ra i te kaupapa. - Ka huria ki te reo tahae whenua. Yeah, it was a great opportunity for me to be able to sit amongst the Grace Foundation and just to receive the exclusiveness and the exclusive coverage that we got, to do that story. Being only 24 and only five years into my reporting career, for me to be able to craft a story that was able to fulfil a whole show of Te Hui, I think, is a feat. But I can't just sit here and say that I've done it all by myself. I had the likes and the awhi of my fellow reporter mates, and Jo Mitchell obviously has had a big part of that. But yeah, I was able to kind of get an insight into some of the mahi that they're doing and to help whanau, so yeah, I was blessed for that. - Ka pai. Ehara i te mea ko nga kaupapa i te kainga ana he tane i whaia. Kia matiro ake ra tatou ki nga hua o nga mahi purongo i a D. - Technique beats everything. Technique will make you a champion. - And how confident are you? - I'm the 1% of the 1%, brother. - I will never look at somebody walking with a mattress down the road or sitting outside a shop and go... (WINCES) ever. I'll go, 'Got you. I know.' - It's a lifeline for our communities. It's a lifeline for our district. - We don't know where to go from here. No one really comes this way. It's like a dead town. - The work that we do here takes on all aspects of one that's broken. And it's just bringing those pieces back together. But we can make it, if we put in the effort. - Yeah, to use an old whakatauki, 'Mean, Maori, mean.' Hey, Meriana Johnson, you and I are the newbies on the show. - We're the fresh blood. - Yeah, we're the fresh blood on the show this year. You obviously contributed more than I did. But one story, the first story that you actually did was the Landlocked story. - I was insistent on doing that one. - Why? - Well, I... What struck me so much about that story, a lot of whanau have whenua blocks that are inaccessible. But the scale of it ` you know, 17,000ha. Wow! And people talk a lot about, when it comes to whenua Maori, you know, not being able to make money from it, or it's not profitable, but actually not even being able to set foot on your own land, have that connection, you know, it's just such a pouri story. But, yeah, I mean, there was fantastic talent. There's fantastic people in Mokai Patea who are tirelessly driving so that the mokos can have that access to their whenua. And they were a real inspiration. And, yeah, I guess it's up to this next government, because that's all in the Treaty settlement process at the moment. So we'll see if their whanaunga there in Parliament might be able to get a settlement over the line, and hopefully that includes them having access to their whenua Maori. - That wasn't the only story Meriana Johnsen did for The Hui this year. So many other stories unleashed to the world. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) - It was the most sacred and beautiful process. - He's inspired all of us on our own reo journey and our own journeys in te ao Maori. - There's more girl skateboarders in the skate parks here than there is boys these days. - My dad died with a needle hanging out of his arm. And I was going down that road. The last bit of the puzzle was for me to die with a needle hanging out of my arm. - Would you not fight so that your next generation can finally get to their land? Would you not fight for that? - Can't help but get a little emotional, eh, when you think about it? It's been a big year and lots of mahi. No reira e te whanau, tena koutou i a koutou mahi. Ehara i te mea mo koutou ake, engari mo te iwi whanui tonu mo Aotearoa. So thank you all very much for the mahi this year. Nga mihi nui ki a koutou katoa. Those were our reporters for The Hui today. Taro kau iho ana e te iwi, he korero torangapu te haere ake nei. Our new Maori MPs, Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, Cushla Tangaere and Tamatha Paul, are on The Hui after this. - Hoki mai ano ra e nga iwi. Ko Te Hui tenei. Ka mutu ko te torangapu te iho o Te Hui inaianei. It's been a massive political year, obviously with an election. And our next guests have had a massive year as well. It's brought them new jobs as MPs in Parliament. So joining us now are Hauraki-Waikato MP Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, Ikaroa-Rawhiti MP Cushla Tangaere and Wellington Central MP Tamatha Paul. E nga mareikura, tena koutou katoa. Nau mai. Thank you very much for joining us in studio here today. Does election night feel a long way away now, after the development of the new coalition government? - Now it does. Looking at the scale of what we have got coming at us for the next three years. I think on the night, I was definitely so grateful to Poneke for believing in me and electing me. But then when I looked at the overall result for the rest of the country, I thought, man, we've really got our work cut out for us. So it feels like that was years ago. And now we just are ready to go. - Cushla, the same way? Don't forget that you were up against a seasoned politician ` who, yes, had left the Labour Party and gone to the Maori Party ` but you were up against someone pretty formidable. So does it feel for you like it's a long way gone now? - Yeah, no, there was such momentum, and it was just all go, go, go, such a short... And then even after election night, there was no time to exhale. It was still momentum kept going to sort out parties, etc. Then it felt like the brakes were slammed on. And so now it's time to get back into first gear and gear up again and sort ourselves out. - Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, you and I have already talked a little bit about this, but Parliament must feel like a different place without` it'll feel like a different place without Nanaia Mahuta in it. Do you still think about that and reflect on what happened on that election night? - Definitely. I think, for me, election night was overwhelming, overstimulating. Very grateful, like these mareikura say, to our electorate. However, for me ` I've kept bloody saying this so many times ` it wasn't about the seat, it was about the table. So there was mamae in that too. - OK, so what does the table look like for all of you now, now that Christopher Luxon has made a big deal about basing service delivery ` reinforced it and reemphasised it this morning, actually, on the breakfast shows ` service delivery based on need rather than race? This is what we've heard in 2005 under Don Brash. This is what actually underpins the coalition agreement. So when you all hear that, what do you think? - I think this is the most racist government that we've seen in decades, in a very, very long time. And if we look at the table, this is the table that I think need to... where we need to whakakotahi a tatou, hei pupuru i te mana motuhake, and the work that we need to do in and outside of Parliament. - Is this the most racist government we have seen in decades, Tamatha? - Well, I mean, I haven't seen many governments, because I'm a rangatahi that's doing this job now. I grew up in the John Key era, and that was tough. That meant that, you know, my whanau would be working every single day, every opportunity that they could, and we still didn't have enough money to put food on the table, pay the bills. And it's going to be worse, because you don't just have National and their obsession with putting profits before people. You have got ACT, who are dog-whistling that race-versus-need thing. It's just a racist dog whistle. And then you've got Winston Peters, who has got views that belong back in the '70s. So this is the most racist and harmful government that we've ever seen. But you also... you know, to say to the people, you have also elected some of the biggest fighters, who are going to go into that House every single day and scrap for our rights and to stop them from rolling back all of the things that our people have fought for for the last few decades. - What stuns me is that after an election where people highlighted the fact that the cost of living was the priority, and National campaigned on the economy, they're choosing to focus on, you know, basically launch an attack on Maoritanga. And it sounds simplistic ` like, just the language, changing names, etc, but then where will it end? And so, you know, during the campaign, I said to people, naturally I would rather have been there to build on all the things that have just been acknowledged, but unfortunately, we're gonna have to be in there to scrap to maintain them. Tuku Morgan summed it up perfectly when he said, do not underestimate Maori, you know, and the sophistication of Maori today. - How do you think that will be made manifest, then, when he says those words? - Well, you know, people have talked about civil unrest, but what he was talking about was the sophistication of Maori, the organisation that we have, as iwi, individually, and as a whole, as a people. And, you know, they talked about the economy; Maori are worth $70 billion to our economy, so we are a strong force. It's not just merely gonna be protests, it's gonna be court action if need be. - How do we do that with all of you? I mean, everyone will say you're in opposition, so your ability to be able to affect things will be very limited. So how do we do that, then ` the thing that Cushla is just talking about now? How do we come together with all you three, to be able to do that together as an iwi? - The most important thing for me and for the Greens for the next three years is, first of all, this is gonna be a one-term government that we have got right now. Enjoy it and do what you can, because it will be your last, is my message to the Government. Secondly, I think that we've got an opportunity here to really lay some groundwork, some important foundations to make way for policies that we want to see after this three years. So a wealth tax, a capital gains tax, looking at our tax system, looking at Te Tiriti, how we can better implement that, and also all of the other things that we campaigned on and have in common. We have a lot in common, because we put whanau, people and the environment first. And so I think the next three years we can be really radical with the ideas that we're socialising. - Hana Rawhiti, there's some big issues, right? So, for example, in 2006 almost 40% of wahine Maori smoked. Now the latest count, I think, is at 18%. Given the coalition agreement, that could be susceptible. The new Government is planning on relaxing the rules around oil exploration, in practical terms. These are big issues. How will you look to work with others to be able to give voice to these issues on behalf of te iwi Maori? - I think for me, when it's taken a long time ` not a long time, but I guess it's so... it's a lot to take in and it's a lot to digest, how much they're attacking. They're attacking our kura, our tamariki, they're attacking our taiao, they're attacking our fisheries, they're attacking our health, they're attacking our reo. There's nothing that they're not attacking. So we need to hold that front line very, very strong, not just in Parliament, but when we're looking at something as simple as Rawiri not wearing a tie. Now you've got everyone not wearing a tie. Policy is not just changed on paper, but also the mahi you do outside. And I think that's the kind of inspiration and the kind of lead that you'll see from us three sitting right here. - And how do you think you'll be able to do that individually over the next three years as the MP for Hauraki-Waikato? - Individually, like I said on our other panels, we've already gone around to tuku mihi tua, we've already gone face-to-face straight after, and those are the deals, and those are the messaging that our whanau are telling us to do. So when we look at our poukai, when we look at our Kingitanga mahi, they're ready set to go with us. - Cushla, again Te Tairawhiti has been hit by weather events, and slash build-up has occurred recently ` again ` as well. This is big mahi for you as the MP for Ikaroa-Rawhiti. I mean, how can you try, from an individual perspective, but also working with others, try and give some effective change to be able to build the resilience of our communities at home, at the papakainga? - Exactly. And a big part of that is relationships, eh, Julian? Relationships with the industries that are involved, relationships with other MPs, including opposition ` you know, who are bound to serve our Ikaroa-Rawhiti communities as well. It's also about visibility in the House. People have elected me as the Maori voice for Labour, so making sure I have that visibility and the opportunity to influence in the House and throughout not only Ikaroa-Rawhiti but, as we discussed, Aotearoa whanui. - Tamatha, you've come from this, obviously, from a local body perspective, from Wellington Council. And the way in which you were able to transition that but not only not only that, also transfer the support base, to be able to become the MP for Wellington. What else do you think you can bring with those transferable skills, from a local body perspective, as an MP for Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington Central? - I think the one big thing that I'm really missing about council is that we had the opportunity to do real stuff and to deliver, whether that's, you know, decarbonising our transport system, getting the buses going, building housing, making sure it can be built across the city. It is very delivery focused. And now going into this role as being a Member of Parliament, I've got a different set of tools available to me. So I'm looking towards systemic change. Because we can't keep skirting around the edges, especially when it comes to climate change. When we look at how unequal Aotearoa is, it's time to actually get that systemic change. So a big focus for me is gonna be, like I said before, laying that groundwork. I want to be talking about, what is the use of prisons in our society? How deeply unfair is our tax system? How can we make sure that we are transitioning to a greener future where people don't have to rely on polluting industries like farming and forestry? So I'm thinking about that systemic change and really, you know, having this platform to be able to speak to the aspirations that I want and that the Greens want, and that, in fact, probably our whole generation are looking toward. - Yeah, it feels like that you three can work together quite easily and collaborate easily to be able to work on lots of issues. Can the three parties work together to become the next coalition government, when they stood in the last election, and there hasn't been a change in any of the leadership structures of the three parties? Can that happen, effectively? - I think our commitment is definitely to work together. You know, we were talking about, we actually envisaged when we were campaigning that this would be our coalition. And I think all parties went in with that intention. And like Tamatha has acknowledged, we are the parties that put people first. And we will. We will. And I like that Tamatha raised aspirations, because even though we're sitting here talking about the fact we're gonna have to scrap to maintain ` which we will ` we are an aspirational people. And we want to keep that in mind, not just stay stagnant. Let's believe that we can grow from this, and we will. - Yeah, I think part of the plan from us getting you three together was to try and focus on those aspiration things, despite the threats that people talk about ` and this has got a lot of commentary at the moment, ricocheting throughout te iwi Maori. So thank you for being those advocates for the aspiration for us. I wish you all really well over the next three years. Kia kaha i roto i a koutou mahi. Tena koutou katoa. Nga mihi nui ki a koutou katoa. - ALL: Kia ora. That was, of course, our new MPs in Parliament after the last election ` Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, Tamatha Paul and Cushla Tangaere. After this we take a further look back at 2023, as we close our Hui for the year. Kia ita tonu mai ra. - Kia ora mai ano. You can hear our political representatives are still here, trying to walk out the door and talking to each other. The time is almost nigh. We are about to end The Hui for 2023. Before we do, Let's take a little trip down memory lane. From The Hui in 2023, kia matakitaki ake ra tatou. (STIRRING MUSIC) - We believe that we have found your papa, Osamu Nakamoto. - Imagine still holding on to thousands of hectares of your whenua Maori, but you can't get there. - So, did you lose everything? - Yeah. I lost everything. - To them it's a game. To us, it's our lives. - This is about us living the life our ancestors wanted us to live. (STIRRING MUSIC BUILDS) - It was, like, the worst day of our lives. - If I had my time over again, I would have stayed at home. - The man who caused the crash can never be charged. - That's right. - Is that justice? - I don't think we're ever gonna get justice for this, eh? (STIRRING MUSIC CONTINUES) - It's an emotional time for us, but we've gotta get on with it. We've just gotta lift our chin up and move forward. - Everything that has hurt me, I brought that to the table and just released it. - I'm cut off from my family because of the floods. You know, I can't get through to them. - You get broken down, you have to build yourself back up. Finding your mana and holding on to it. (STIRRING MUSIC SWELLS) - Choice, eh? E te iwi, that is us. Our thanks to our team ` our producers, Rewa and Mel; our production manager, Jodhi, who is awesome; our post-production team led by Debbie; Mark, our camera person; and Phil and all the whanau at GSTV; and Kirsty as well, who thinks I'm awesome but she's never actually said that to me ` but, you know, it's a vibe I get; the crew here at TV Three who look after us every week, tena koutou katoa. But finally, and most importantly, a big thank you to you, our loyal audience. We really appreciate your support and continued engagement with the programme. And we can announce that we will be back in 2024. Unfortunately, it may mean that you have the same host. So to all the haters, you're welcome. So, until March the 4th 2024, e nga iwi, kia mau ki te turanga o Taputapuatea. Haumi e, hui e, taiki e. Captions by James Brown. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023 - Ko te reo te take.