by permit blunder

New Zealand

Maoris hunt endangered birds

As thousands of dollars are spent in New Zealand trying to save threatened bird species, some of the country’s native Maori people argue they have the right to hunt and eat the

endangered birds.

In parts of New Zealand the native wood pigeon, or kereru , is rapidly disappearing as Maori armed with rifles engage in what is being called “cultural harvest.” Also on their menu are godwits, royal albatross and sooty shearwaters, known here as “mutton birds.” Conservationists and the Department of Conservation (DOC), say pigeon eating should stop.

Historian Michael King, writing in the latest issue of Mana, a monthly news magazine for Maori, said cultural harvesting involved “spiritual nourishment” rather than just bodily nourishment. It is used by Maori to assert their identity, and to link modern Maori with their ancestors.

Even traditional control, defining which tribe can hunt where and when, has broken down and DOC has found a number of different tribes were hunting the same small population of birds. Although it is an offence to hunt the birds, King said few judges convict people because Maori claim that under the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, in which British sovereignty was extended over New Zealand, the Maori were guaranteed the right of chiefly rule. This has been interpreted as a guarantee of their right to harvest species of cultural

significance.

Fisheries officials em harassed

by permit blunder

A claim by a fishing group that Samoans were given a traditional Maori right to gather seafood has embarassed fisheries officials. The error by a Wellington fisheries officer in giving a permit to Samoans has upset the minister of fisheries Mr Kidd.

The Recreational Fishing Council released a copy of a permit found on the roadside. It allowed the Tawa Samoan Assembly of God to take two bags of paua and 10 bags of kina from Pukerua Bay, near Wellington, at the end of last November.

The council’s secretary, Max Hetherington, has written to Kidd questioning Maori rights being given to the Samoan

community.

A statement from the minister bluntly referred to the issues of the permit as a “cock-up”.

Alliance welcomes

Bougainville visit suggestion

New Zealand’s Alliance of smaller parties has welcomed Prime Minister Jim Bolger’s suggestions that a New Zealand parliamentary delegation may visit the war-torn island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea. Alliance associate defence spokesperson Keith Locke said a serious war is raging on an island not far from New Zealand’s shores. A parliamentary visit would help bring home this fact.

Locke said hopefully the visit will motivate New Zealand MPs and the government to do more to promote peace talks on Bougainville. He said New Zealand may be able to do this in coordination with the Australian parliament, which recently decided to send its own fact-finding team to Bougainville.