- E kore au e mate. E kore au e mate. Ka mate ko te mate. Ka ora taku toa i te whatukura o toku waka Maori e. Haumi e, hui e, taiki e! This week on The Hui ` from fatal dog attacks... - I just think about how scared he would have been. - ...to animal rescues at breaking point in Northland. - We do need help. We're all just gonna keep drowning. - Are the authorities doing enough? - Shut up and listen to our people, what they're saying. - Plus ` how a fascination with the ancient art of knife-making went from an obsession to his new occupation. - That first couple of blows of hitting hot steel with a hammer on an anvil ` yep, this is for me. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2024 - Nga mate purara i te motu whanui, hara mai, haere. Tatou e ahiki ana i nga moemoea o ratou ma ki te hinengaro tangata. Tihewa Mauriora! And welcome back to The Hui. Within the last two years, fatal dog attacks have devastated whanau in the Far North, but are lessons being taken from these tragedies? And does the community feel heard? Mea nei te purongo a John Boynton. - Come on, we're gonna go for a walk. You wanna go for a walk? OK. Well, we gotta be careful on this stuff. - They're man's best friend. - 'Our whole life, that's how we learned to be.' Good boy. 'Loving dogs. They were just a part of the whanau.' Yes, he's a big boy. You are. - But when bad owners raise bad dogs... - You hear all these dog attacks. Does anything be done about it? No. - It could be your child getting buried because you chose not to be a better owner of your animals. - We're in crisis, and it's only getting worse day by day. - That crisis is animal numbers, which are out of control. - There was a time where I could get three or four phone calls a day with puppies needing help, and you'd take them, and we'd juggle them. But now we're having to say no, and it's heartbreaking. (SOMBRE MUSIC) Kia ora. At about quarter to 7, we got up and started our day. - You can always trust Summer Johnson to have a van full of kuri. - So, this is Honour. And then we've got Wookie and Wero and Champy and Stardust in the back there. - She runs a volunteer animal rescue. - We need mandatory desexing, and we need the government and the councils and the SPCA, the ones with power, to recognise that we are in crisis. - In the Far North in particular, the dog crisis has taken a tragic turn. 18 months ago, Neville Thompson was mauled to death by a pack of dogs at his Panguru property. - ARCHIVE: He lived up the hill on Puketawa Rd for 35 years, a cornerstone of the community. - But his paradise became the site of the horrific event. A friend who was temporarily staying with Neville had more than 20 dogs with him. It's alleged Neville went outside to see the dogs when they attacked and killed him. - They were big dogs, and he was a small man. He had no chance. The police couldn't even verbalise what he looked like. It has affected my entire family. And I couldn't go to sleep. I couldn't close my eyes without visualising something. - Every time I see it on the news or something, it's definitely a... like, a heart wrenching thing. It's not easy. - Neville's son Tama now lives in the house where his dad was killed. - That's the last thing I ever expected my dad to have happen to him. He loved dogs like his own children. He nurtured dogs. He looked after them. - If we have good dog owners, this shouldn't happen. It's as simple as that. - But just a year later, there was another unrelated dog attack in Northland. - ARCHIVE: Police told Newshub the dog belonged to the owners of the property. By the time they arrived, the victim was dead. - The victim was 78-year-old Moerewa resident Elizabeth Whittaker. How difficult was it to hear another person had been killed in a dog attack? - (SIGHS) Anger. Just angry. Deep sadness for the family that had to go through that. And that poor, poor kuia having to go through such a traumatic situation. - It's woken up our community in a way that it has never been woken up before. - Local board member Roddy Pihema understands the devastating impacts of dog attacks. Elizabeth Whittaker was his aunty. - The one thing we're missing in Moerewa is proper, I suppose, education into responsible dog ownership. - Tama believes other northlanders need to clean up their act. - It's like, 'Oh shit, those dogs did that. 'My dogs aren't very good either. 'Maybe I need to do something about them or start training them better, 'cos that could be me.' - How are we stopping it? What are we doing? What are the councils doing? What are the police doing? - Pihema says there's a dog in almost every home in Moerewa, but only a handful are registered. - You can't push council to do their job if you're not doing your job yourself. Come on. Come here. - Two years ago, Awanui local Chris Radich was attacked while walking his dog. - I still get nightmares. If I wasn't strong enough to hold that dog off me, it would have ripped my throat. I don't see our kids running down the road now. Don't see them on bikes, cos the parents are frightened. - He started a petition calling on the Far North District Council to increase law enforcement. - Dog attacks, roaming dogs ` something had to be done. I'd like to see the dog rangers have more authority. They should be on the streets picking up the dogs. - I think council is doing as much as council can do at the moment. They don't have the numbers when it comes to, uh, animal control workers. - But Chris Radich says this shouldn't let council off the hook. They can still do more to restrict dog ownership. - One or two dogs... each, you know? Not this five or six dogs tied up on the lawn. Some of these fullas got dogs, I think they think they're statues. You know what I mean? You gotta feed a dog, you know? You look after a dog, a dog's faithful to you. - I always hear about 'fur babies'. Well, if it's your fur baby didn't why aren't you doing what's right for your fur baby? - People are abandoning dogs because they can't afford to keep them. With the rising costs of living, pet food, registration, vet bills and medication, it can amount to thousands each year. - 'I understand hardship, I really, truly do.' Good boy, little man. And I'm always there to help, but not to be relied upon. - Summer Johnson says volunteer rescues are facing their own hardships. We do need help. We're all just gonna keep drowning. And it's` And it's not fair. It's not fair on the animals. - And her job is becoming even harder. Last year, Summer was charged with theft after refusing to give back a dog she believed was in danger. - And I may look hard, but I was scared. Seven years jail is quite` quite intimidating. - The dog, named Sheba, had been found injured on the side of the road. - She'd been hit by a truck a year and a half prior, and the leg amputation cost was gonna be about $3000, and the family couldn't afford it. So they took her home and chained her up. And a kiss? - Summer refused to give the dog back. - If it was me or Sheba, I was the one going to jail. She didn't deserve to go back to a life of hell on the end of a chain. - In December, police charged this man, Abel Wira, for owning the dogs responsible in the fatal attack on Neville Thompson. When he turned up at the Kaitaia District Court, he came with a truck full of dogs. At his latest appearance in March, his charged was upgraded to manslaughter. - Believe me when I say this ` this is not a dog problem. It's a owner problem. It's a community problem. It's a government problem. - It's not fair on the people that's lives have been taken. It's a tragedy, and it's just not taken seriously enough. Good morning! - Police eventually withdrew the charge against Summer. - A message to those with the power is to listen to us independent rescues, treat us as equals. We all want the same thing ` better animal welfare. Hello! Oh, you smell luscious! - Get it... go! - It's almost two years since Neville died. - I find it hard to think about him. He's such a big void that's missing from our lives. Wanna go for walks? Wanna go for walks? - Fergus, the dog she walks every day and loves, is her dad's, taken in when he died. - We actually affectionately call Fergus our fur brother. (SIGHS) Over time, though, Fergus became... kind of like my therapy dog. We healed each other on this journey. - Now, the SPCA's Northern manager, Margaret Rawiri, says it cares for sick, injured and vulnerable dogs. Ms Rawiri says the SPCA takes owner-surrendered dogs when it has room. Kia u e te iwi. Kia u mai. After the break, Winston Peters and that state of the nation address comparing co-governance 'race-based theory' to that seen in Nazi Germany. Our political commentators, Lara Greaves and Shane Te Pou on the latest in politics here at The Hui. - Hoki mai ano e tamara ma ki ta tatou hui. In a fiery state of the nation speech yesterday, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters called out the 'racist co-governance agenda' of the previous Labour government, comparing it with that sort of philosophy seen in places like Nazi Germany. So, joining us now is Associate Professor Lara Greaves from Victoria University and political commentator Shane Te Pou. Tena korua. - Kia ora. - Kia ora. - Nau mai. Always good to have you both here. Lara, is this pretty much what we expect from Winston Peters? - Yeah, it is. It's pretty classic. I mean, this is what he's been like all along. It really is. I mean, he still can do the quips. He can do the one-liners. That funny joke today about Hipkins getting drunk on the wine biscuit. Like, that's funny. That's classic him. But I think when you actually sit down and say, like, watch his speeches now, he kind of doesn't have as much of, maybe, an overall organising narrative than he used to, and he kind of loses his charm a bit in those longer forms. And so he's definitely changed over the years. But one thing is the same ` is that he's always good at getting the media's attention. - And Shane, what do you make of it? I mean, he's the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. So is it concerning that we have someone in those positions who's willing to equate race-based policy, race relations, with Nazi Germany, and pretty unapologetic about it? - Very unapologetic about it. 6.5 million Jewish people died during the Second World War as a result of neo-Nazism, which is sort of ironic because at the moment we're facing a genocide in Palestine and he sort of hasn't spoken out` spoken out against that to the degree he should. But no, I think it's actually attention-seeking. And I think he misses the spotlight. Look, I'd like to quote` I come from old-school Tuhoe politics called Machiavellianism. And I think that he's going to have some real trouble, uh, marrying up his economic fundamental base and where ACT is at. You know, very soon, ACT is about to pass a cabinet paper that will allow for greater levels of foreign interest buying into New Zealand, Aotearoa. And that` You know, Winston Peters has spent 20 years up and down small-town Aotearoa rallying against that, and I actually think that this is a massive challenge to the coalition government as it is to Labour, the Greens, etc. - So, does this appeal to that same kind of base, i.e. having a quip, having a go at race-based policy, at co-governance, at the Maori Party, and really by extension any Maori kind of policy? - Well, but some of my colleagues` my colleagues at Victoria, Luke Oldfield and Josh Van Veen, wrote a chapter on sort of Winston Peters and populism over the years recently. And they looked at his voter base, and in those big sort of election study-type studies, he's got about 2%, a solid 2% New Zealand First. Now we know you've gotta get a seat or get to 5%, so he's gotta rark them up somewhere. And, like, 2017 to 2020, that term was not long ago, right? And he got voted out, fundamentally. So he has to try to find those votes from somewhere for the next election and into the future. I mean, I don't know what his endgame necessarily is ` to stay forever, maybe? Like, I'm not quite sure there, but he has to kind of rark up more than just that 2%. And this is one way to do it. - So are we gonna just see more of this over the next three years? - I'm not sure whether it's gonna go the distance. I think that he picked the first half of being the deputy prime minister purposefully. You know, there's a $15 billion hole where they've given tax breaks to landlords like myself. I'm gonna get more money than they're` probably then the camera operator if they do introduce the tax cuts in July, and the only way they will do that is by having an austerity-based economy. And Winston Peters knows that it's old folks that suffer as a result of austerity, and he won't put up with that. - Well, the general public` I mean, what do you make of the response of the Prime Minister here when he says that, 'Well, you know, it's the kind of language he would use,' and says that he's gonna have a chat to him about that. Does the Prime Minister need to come out and be a much more stronger` robust in his response to this kind of` - I thought that was stronger than what I kind of expected, cos I heard Nicola Willis this morning kind of dodge it and just be like, 'Oh yeah, people say things,' but this is a little bit more direct. I was quite surprised. But I mean, when you sit down and you logically` you sit and you play out all the possible scenarios for this term. So say the government does fall apart or something happens, or say even looking forward to the next election, what happens to National, Most of those things are actually positive for National. You can't necessarily see Labour being in a state right now that it's sitting there as a government and waiting, that it comes and swoops something from National. So ultimately, I think the government falling apart ` although I guess everyone would kind of hope that wouldn't happen because the democracy and the election just been and all that ` I can't` In most scenarios, it plays well for National. - Yeah, I would have thought the impact of a coalition government falling apart within three years wouldn't play well with minor parties who are a part of that wider coalition government. Or maybe not. - No, it wouldn't, but what cost to New Zealand First and to Winston if they do have austerity-based politics, you know. - Weighing up. - And here's the simple reality ` I got a tax cut last week, but they can't pay for police. They can't pay for doctors, they can't pay for nurses, and those are the real issues. Will the Prime Minister do anything? No, I don't think he's got the gumption to have Winston on. - OK. The other announcement we heard today about the Kainga Ora scrapping the Sustaining Tenancies framework and essentially a crackdown on antisocial tenants and unpaid rents. What do we think the impact of that is going to be, particularly when we think about Maori in housing? - Yeah, well, one of the lines that I've noticed across different interviews is that, 'Oh well, whanau, friends, will put them up.' But that's just not the reality of these people. Like, a lot of the time, people have tried living with whanau, have tried living with friends, and that's not a safe situation for anyone involved. So there's a reason that people are in that housing normally, and that's not really reflecting the reality of a lot of people's stories. - And again, this appeals to a base. I mean, the ACT Party has come out congratulating itself, being part of a government that said it was gonna try and do something about Kainga Ora. - That does appeal to a base, but here is the reality, sadly ` those whanau members do need a house. They do need somewhere to live, and simply ostracising them even more in terms of where society is at will not help them at all. - And it doesn't really deal with the social determinants which lead people into social housing in the first place. - Yeah, I mean, it speaks to the broader issue that I think, like, that I can see with this government at this point, is that there's not a clear articulation of what the alternative for things are. So you cut something ` what's the alternative? Is it social investment? What is social investment at this point? Like, what is their overall ideology? What's their vision for, like, the future? What is it? Cos that's the thing that I'm struggling with a bit. It's like, OK, cut this, say this thing about Nazi Germany, and it's that meme ` the question mark, question mark, question mark equals... New Zealand better. Like, I don't get that at the moment. I'm not getting that. - And if the model isn't working, hand it over to hapu and iwi and give us a go, because simply, if the models not working, let's try an alternative. Tena korua, e oku rangatira. - Kia ora. - Tena korua. Thank you so much for joining us. Really appreciate your time. Lara Greaves and Shane Te Pou with us on our political panel. Stay with us. Taro kau iho ana i ta tatou hui. At the cutting edge ` from a personal pastime to a professional passion, AJ Prime's knife-making metier is next. - Huia, huia, tuituia e te iwi rarau mai ano. It's something many contemplate, but few actually act on ` chucking in a good job to pursue a passion. It's what AJ Prime did when his fascination with the ancient art of knife-making went from an obsession to his new occupation. Ruwani Perera reports. (EPIC MUSIC) - It's primal. It's just quite satisfying to bash a hot piece of steel with a hammer. (LAUGHS) - He's fired up a passion and forging a new career. - I would never have thought I'd be doing this. - Is this a midlife crisis? - It's not a crisis. It's just` I've found where I'm going, and I'm enjoying it, yeah. - In a short time, Aaron 'AJ' Prime has reinvented himself as an artisan craftsman, hand making exquisite knives and blades from his garage shed. - He has a real eye for detail. The work that he does is exceptional. - It's real cool to sort of sit back and think, 'Yeah, I made that.' - AJ got into the ancient craft of bladesmithing after watching YouTube clips eight years ago. - The video comes through where a man does it with really basic equipment. I thought, 'Oh cool. I can definitely do that, then.' And so I sold two guitars and an Xbox and bought a vice, some hand files and a little bit of MDF to make a filing jig and made my first knife. - AJ has come a long way since those early days, handcrafting a range of kitchen knives and small patiti, or axes. - What I make are nice-to-have items. In saying that, it's... 100% functional. I also don't make high volume, you know. I make them one at a time. (FLAME WHOOSHES) - Each knife takes about three days to make and starts with firing up the forge to over 1000 degrees Celsius. - What we're actually doing is just heating up iron to its plastic state, which is just getting it hot enough to actually start to form it. (CURIOUS MUSIC) And that's what we call forging. You're smashing it into shape. And then from there, it's a lot of grinding, which is where you refine the shape and then create the bevels on a knife. It's definitely a lot of just eyeballing and a bit of intuition. - AJ is sharply focused on perfecting the art form that's thousands of years old and performed in cultures around the world. - My first attempt at a knife was, yeah, pretty mediocre. - Did it put you off? - Oh no, no, no, no, quite the opposite. It was like that first couple of blows of hitting hot steel with a hammer on an anvil ` it was like, yep, this is for me. - This level of craftsmanship doesn't come cheap. Each of his pieces start at around $1000 and are made from recycled materials. - Taking old stuff with history, with a story of its own and giving it a new lease on life. Turning it into something else that can be used for another generation or two, you know? I think it's a real cool way of keeping something alive. - Attention is paid to every detail. His knives are adorned with intricate carvings, and he's also learned leather work, hand-stitching the protective cover or sheath for his blades. - It blows me away. He absolutely blows me away. He talks it down all the time, but... he can just do anything. OK there, Zig? Thank you. - OK. - Wife Emily is supportive of AJ's handiwork, encouraging him to quit his job as a building construction estimator to make knives for a living. - You know, this opportunity to completely change the way we live our life doesn't come up all the time. And do we want to look back at this time of our life and go, 'Oh man, I wish we had done it'? So we thought, let's just do it. And I said to AJ, 'We'll be OK.' You know, we just have to take that leap, and... we will be OK. Come on, put it in here. - Emily runs a social media business. The couple and their two boys sold their house in Hamilton four years ago to live in Cable Bay in the Far North. (GENTLE MUSIC) - I think moving home just really changed the way he looked at the possibilities of his art, and the opportunities that come from that have been incredible. - Like the chance to learn toi whakairo from master carver Bernard Makoare from Toi Ngapuhi, who tautoko and help develop local artistic talent. - When you live in a remote place with limited resources, it forces you to be resourceful, and it forces you to adapt. And it's a natural progression for a true creative, I think. You know, to say, 'Oh, give this a go,' and then you begin to think, 'Oh yeah, this is pretty cool.' And I think that's definitely the case for AJ. - AJ collaborated with Bernard to design some modern practical carving tools. - We looked at the traditional adzes with a steel blade with a lashing, and AJ said, 'Well, why don't we just make it more simple 'and use bolts 'on to a simple handle?' So this is his innovation. Works great. And that's what tino rangatiratanga is about. It's about us defining who we are now, utilising all of the experiences, resources and technologies that we've got to our hands. - It's really helped me... find my way home. Really helpful for my own journey to... decolonise, reconnect with, um, Te Ao Maori in my own way. - Their new lifestyle means sons 8-year-old Ziggy and Jagger, 6, spend more time than most kids with their working dad. - They're interested in making things. They're both into carving. I 100% will nurture that. We want the kids to know that there are multiple paths to life, and not to just... get an education, go and get a job. I also want them to see that Dad's an artist and... trying to make a living. (CHUCKLES) - Are you making a living now? - That's the plan. (LAUGHS) Working on that bit. (CHUCKLES) - A life-changing career move that's paying off in other ways for AJ and his whanau. - I suppose I've never really been one for trying to imagine what it might be like anywhere else. All I do is think about where we've come from and think how different it is now. It definitely feels like a privilege to be able to live the life we live. And yeah, I get to make cool stuff. It's good. It's good here. - Haramai, AJ. Hei te wiki e tu mai nei, e te iwi ` The price of freedom carries a high cost. It's the silent sentence. - I had nothing to come out to. - Upon their release, former prisoners receive a one-off $350 grant. - How can you have freedom with $350 on release? - It was easy for me to get locked up. It was harder for me to stay out. - The cost of freedom for some comes at too high a price. - We need to look at transition, rather than the doors close behind you, and it's up to you. - No reira, e nga iwi. Kia mau ki te turanga o Taputapuatea. Haumi e, hui e, taiki e. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2024 - Ko te reo, te take. - Na Te Puna Whakatongarewa Te Hui i tautoko.