Coming up on Te Karere 500 objects from the NZ wars are on display at Te Papa museum. Descendants whose taonga belonged to their ancestors get a glimpse for the first time. Ngāti Ruanui iwi takes a stand as Environmental Protection Agency hearings kick off to reconsider an application from offshore companies to dig up the seabed in South Taranaki. More on the news today as Te Pāti Māori MP Takuta Ferris joins the show. 13 March 2024 Tēnā koutou katoa, and welcome to Te Karere. "We will never back down on seabed mining." A strong statement made by Ngāti Ruanui iwi as Environmental Protection Agency hearings kick off to reconsider an application from offshore companies to dig up the seabed in South Taranaki. This comes as the coalition government pushed through its fast-tracking legislation under urgency. For more let's cross live to our political reporter standing by live in Hawera, Te Okiwa Mclean. Te Okiwa you were with Ngāti Ruanui today, what they did tell you about their fight? Steph, thy are quite furious, you could say that they are extremely angry because they’ve been dragged before yet another legal body to oppose the drilling and mining of their seabed here in southern Taranaki. Today, lawyers for Trans Tasman Resources submitted their research before the legal body thanks to the brand new controversial legislation from the coalition government that passed last week. It’s an issue that Ruanui have been opposing vehemently for a long time, against government officials, ministries and in the high courts and the Supreme Court. They’ve been successful in each and every one of those cases. So even til today, while it’s just yet another fight, Ngāti Ruanui maintain they are determined to fight this tooth and nail moving forward. This is Taranaki's south coast. An area of interest to offshore mining companies who wish to advance with seabed mining to extract oil. It's not just a place. It's a living being. A proposal to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed that has left Ngāti Ruanui iwi up in arms... ...as they have been combatting this issue and won a number of legal court cases and hearings. It's about proitecting the environment and people. No matter what they decide, they're going to have a big fight on their hands. In 2016 Trans-Tasman Resources applied to extract and process iron sand which the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) granted. It's been in the courts since then. The decision was overturned and the application was sent back to the EPA. Today the application is being reconsidered through public hearings. Evidence and submissions will be heard in three stages over the next three months. Kaitiakitanga -this place is ours. The beach is ours, the ocean is ours to protect like our old people. In a statement Trans-Tasman Resources chairperson Alan Eggers says they've prepared well, with a good legal team, and they're pleased to be getting on with the hearing. Ministers Chris Bishop and Shane Jones both said they won't be commenting on the matter while the hearing is underway. What more is there to say to Chris Bishop? He needs to come here into our district. Where do you live? It isn't here! The start of long process ahead that determines the future of these waters. In the last half hour I received an update message that Shane Jones has left and has divorced himself of any connection with this issue, with this review because of a conflict of interest between the portfolios he holds as Fisheries Minister and Resources Minister. So, the Minister needs no encouragement to keep abreast of the conflict of interest between those two portfolios. Tomorrow the iwi will be making submissions concerning their thoughts and grievances before the authority and the legal courts. They say that tikanga will provide defence against Pākehā law. Awesome, Te Okiwa Mclean all the way from Hawera. Thank you for the update. For more on this we'll cross now to Te Pāti Māori MP Takuta Ferris. We're unable to provide subtitles. After the break, Netball New Zealand are sizing up a bid to host the 2031 world cup. Netball New Zealand are sizing up a bid to host the 2031 world cup. Te Papa has released a new book capturing the rich stories of more than 500 taonga within its collection from the NZ Wars. Today descendants from more than 140 iwi came together, some reuniting with the taonga for the very first time. Moana Makapelu Lee with this story. Ancient treasures from a bloody period in NZ's history. For generations, these treasures have been carefully stowed away in Te Papa's collection. But today, Te Papa brought the taonga back to life, in this new book, Te Ata a Tu written by four of its curators. The 480 page book captures the stories of more than 500 artefacts from the NZ wars. Matiu says it was a large research undertaking. Today whānau and descendants from more than 140 people came together in Wellington. For some of them it's the first time setting eyes on these taonga related to them. For some seeing them brought back memories. For Ngāpuhi elder Witi Ashby, its history runs deep in his whakapapa. This is what our kuia had to say, Hema Koi. When was she young this flag was draped on her mother's coffin. Now Te Papa proud to make these ancient treasures accessible to everyone. For these families their ancient treasures seeing the light of day once again. Moana Makapelu Lee, Te Karere. Netball New Zealand are sizing up a bid to host the 20-31 world cup. New Zealand missed out on hosting last year's tournament with World Netball picking South Africa over Aotearoa's bid. The last time Aotearoa hosted the event was in auckland in 2007. Expressions of interest for the 2031 world cup have yet to be called for. It's been a long time. There have been about two large tournaments hosted in Australia. So it's a good idea to have it held here. Not just for the diehard fans but do it for the NZ economy. If successful, this will be the fourth time New Zealand will host the prestigious event. And the New Zealand Olympic Committee is welcoming news the 2026 Commonwealth Games could yet be salvaged. Malaysian officials confirming they're interested in hosting the event for the second time. Kuala Lumpur staged them in 1998 and that 200 million dollars had been offered by the Commonweath Games Federation to meet costs. The future of the games has been uncertain since original 2026 hosts Victoria pulled out over financial concerns leading many to question its place in global sport. Despite that the NZ Olympic Committee last year expressed an "early interest" in hosting in 2034. After the break we have the weather. To the weather now with a song by Jackson Owens Purotu. For weather, see tvnz.co.nz. That's all we have for today. Turou Hawaiki. Captions were made possible with funding from Te Māngai Pāho. Copyright TVNZ 2024.