Latest news with #Whakatāne
RNZ News
5 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Teen changing gear for 894km bike ride promoting Māori wards
Jack Karetai-Barrett walked almost all the way from Whakatāne to Mount Maunganui campaigning in favour of Māori wards. Photo: Troy Baker Jack Karetai-Barrett is about to embark on a Whakatāne to Wellington trail ride to raise awareness to promote Māori wards. And he wants his "vote yes" message to be loud and clear. "Keep Māori wards. It's such a normal thing that should just be part of our lives, but for some reason [some people] don't want it to be." The 15-year-old is departing on 28 June, riding his Focus Atlas 6.7 gravel bike for 11 days. He will travel through 12 small towns to collect letters from those in favour of Māori wards aiming to hand them to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. The Local Government (Māori Wards) Amendment Bill passed its third reading in July last year , which meant 42 Councils who had established a Māori ward without polling residents had to hold one or scrap them. Those councils will hold a binding poll alongside this year's local body elections. Jack Karetai-Barrett has been biking for five years now. Photo: Supplied / Jack Karetai-Barrett Karetai-Barrett (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha, Rapuwai) said having Māori in "decision-making" spaces was deeply important to him. "We need representation, especially from Māori people in the community, because we have really good values and you just don't really get that unless you have someone who's Māori and that's where Māori wards matter to me, mostly. "I'm sure [people in rural areas] want to be able to have stuff like this happen, but a lot of them can't. They just needed a bit more representation." Earlier this year, the Whakatāne High School student walked almost 80 kilometres from Whakatāne to Mauao (Mt Maunganui) to encourage voters to tick yes for Māori wards, but he suffered severe blistering on his feet leaving him unable to finish the final 10km. He then pedalled the route using it as a "practice run" for his next challenge. "It's 'vote yes' to Māori wards. Keep Māori wards. It's such a normal thing that should just be part of our lives, but for some reason they don't want it to be. "And then I started planning for this. I didn't even tell Mum until I already had my plan set up." He said he wasn't nervous about the nearly 900km mission, but rearing to hit the road. "I'm very, very excited to do it. I may not be excited to go through Ohakune and be probably snowed on, but I think it will be well worth my time anyway. "So many people have said to me, 'Why don't you just put it off until the summer time?'. "And I know something, when I want to do something like this for this level, I can't put it off. It just has to happen then and there. " Although his mum, Mawera Karetai, was a bit "terrified" about the ride, she was "trusting in the kindness of others". "We've put it out to the rest of the country, asking people to host him at various stops, and prior, [and they] have offered to open their homes to him," she said. "We live in an incredible place, here in Aotearoa, where we still want to care for each other. Long may manaakitanga be in the hearts of all of us." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
6 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
Respected Kiwi writer Maurice Gee has died, aged 93
NZ author Maurice Gee. Photo: Supplied/Nelson City Council Respected Kiwi writer Maurice Gee - author of 'Plumb' and 'Under the Mountain' - has died, aged 93. Considered one of New Zealand's greatest novelists, his work extended over 50 years. He wrote about ordinary people and ordinary lives, often with the narrator looking back at events that caused damage and unhappiness. "I don't deliberately set out to do this, but the stories turn in that direction following their own logic," he said. "All I can do about it is make the narrative as interesting as I can and give those people lively minds." Maurice Gee was born in Whakatāne in 1931 and educated at Auckland's Avondale College in Auckland and at Auckland University where he took a Masters degree in English. He worked as a teacher and librarian, before becoming a full-time writer in 1975. He passed much of his childhood in what was then the country town of Henderson. The town, disguised as Loomis, and its creek are featured in many of his books. "I grew up alongside that creek in Henderson, and it seemed all sorts of exciting and dangerous things happened down there," he said. "You know, that creek I could plot its whole length pool by pool for a couple of miles even today." His reputation took an enormous leap in 1978 with the publication of 'Plumb', the first of a trilogy about three generations of a family. The novel won the British James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction in 1979. The character of Plumb was based on maternal grandfather Jim Chapple - a Presbyterian minister, who was ejected from the church, because of his rationalist beliefs and jailed for preaching pacifism during World War I. Gee inherited strong left-wing views from that side of his family and a burden of sexual puritanism, which he said caused him a tortured adolescence, although he denied claims of a strong authorial voice in his work. "I can't look at my books the way I read other books," he said. "I look at them quite differently. "I'm intimately connected with them and probably wouldn't be able to indentify my voice in them, if someone asked me to." He said his novel 'Crime Story' stemmed from his anger over the changes made in New Zealand by the Lange Labour Government in the 1980s, and politicians and businessmen are seldom portrayed favourably in his books. Gee's output included short stories and television scripts, and his children's fiction was highly regarded, although it was not his preferred genre. "Children's writing seems to be easier than adult writing, because it's coming off a different level," he said. "There's still some pleasure to be got from both and I try to do each as professionally as I possibly can, but the thing that really engages me fully is adult fiction." Written in 1979, 'Under the Mountain' was probably his best-known children's work, and was later converted into a film and TV series. He received many awards for his work, including the Burns and Katherine Mansfield Fellowships, honorary degrees from Victoria and Auckland universities, and the Prime Minister's Award for literary merit. He won the the Deutz Medal for fiction in 1998 for his novel 'Live Bodies' and the 2006 Montana New Zealand Book Award for 'Blindsight'. "Sad to hear of Maurice Gee's passing," Arts, Culture & Heritage Minister Paul Goldsmith said. "Our thoughts are with his family. "He was a prolific and graceful author. 'Plumb' is my favorite, although thousands of Kiwis will have their own." Gee is survived by wife Margareta, their two daughters, and a son from an early relationship. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
12-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Whakatāne operators at war with council over tourism funding cuts
Eastern Bay tourism operators were able to attend the Trenz25 tourism expo held in Rotorua in May through Whakatāne District Council's links with Tourism Bay of Plenty. Photo: LDR / supplied Tourism operators across the district are boycotting Whakatāne District Council for cutting funding to Tourism Bay of Plenty. The Whakatāne council has previously contributed $85,000 annually to the council controlled organisation of Tauranga City and Western Bay District councils. In response, a group of tourism operators across the district are boycotting all council-led tourism activity. This includes directing that all of their businesses be removed from council websites, that brochures and experiences be removed from the Whakatane i-Site, refusing to participate in promotional campaigns, event partnerships, and famils (familiarisation trips for agents) and calling for a full independent audit of the Whakatāne i-site and council tourism department. Among the tourism operators supporting the boycott are Tio Ohiwa Harbour Cruises and Oyster Experience owner Wini Geddes, Kohutapu Lodge and Whirinaki Footsteps Nadine Toe Toe, Larni Hepi from Whaitaki, KG Kayaks' Kenny McCracken, Beachpoint Apartments' Alison Stern, One 88 On Commerce's Malcolm Glen, Awakeri Rail Adventures Paul Francis and Takutai Adventure Company's Ollie Dobbin. Geddes said that more than 44 tourism operators and accommodation providers from around the Eastern Bay of Plenty would be hurt by Whakatāne council withdrawing this funding. The contribution linked them to domestic and international tourism promotion through Tourism New Zealand and New Zealand Māori Tourism. The boycotters said the $85,000 amounted to 2.8 percent of the council's annual $3 million tourism budget and a mere 0.14 percent of its $59 million total annual operating budget. Quoting Stats NZ, they said the region received $166 million in visitor spend annually, with approximately $20 million of that from international visitors. More than 10 percent of the workforce in Eastern Bay was through tourism. Geddes said the decision had been made in public-excluded meetings with no consultation or communication with local tourist operators. "We've only known about it for a month and the decision was made before Christmas with no consultation with the tourist operators at all." She said all of Tio Ohiwa's business came through either Tourism Bay of Plenty or support from other Regional Tourism Operators around the country, in particular RotoruaNZ, a CCO of Rotorua Lakes District Council, which Whakatāne council did not pay into. "In two weeks' time our connection to Tourism New Zealand will be cancelled and [the council] are trying to take it over by themselves." A response from council chief executive Steven Perdia to a Local Goverment Official Information and Meetings Act request sent by two of the operators, Toe Toe and Hepi, said Whakatāne council had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and funding agreement with Tourism Bay of Plenty in 2014, but since this had expired in 2019 no further MOU had been developed. The organisations had operated under a Letter of Intent to develop a revised MOU but "since the Whakaari eruption and Covid 19 and the catastrophic effects on the community and visitor economy with several business closures, both organisations have continued to work together in good faith". He said the council had a strong desire to reduce rates' increases and during last year's long-term plan budget funding was stopped to both economic development agency Toi EDA and Tourism Bay of Plenty. In a public-excluded section of its living together committee on 6 March this year, the council discussed reviewing the MOU with Tourism Bay of Plenty but to make cost savings decided to bring all tourism-related support in-house. Perdia told Local Democracy Reporting the matters were discussed in a public-excluded forum because the debate involved commercially sensitive matters, including contracts and funding agreements with third parties. "Council is trying to make itself a regional transport operator," Geddes said. "It has got no strategic plan, nothing, and they're expecting us to teach them how to get into the industry." Among the benefits of being part of Tourism Bay of Plenty was being included in the Bay of Plenty section of the Trenz Expo, New Zealand's biggest tourism trade show. "We are now taking bookings from China, India and the rest of Asia, Europe and the United States from those expos. Even our accomodation providers. We fill our hotels with tourists coming in. "[Whakatāne council] can't even get tickets to it." The council did not respond to questions from the Beacon around how it intended to promote the district to international tourists. Geddes said some tourism operators had already removed their brochures from the i-site. Toe Toe said the council shouldn't be making critical decisions in a field they didn't understand. "Tourism operators were completely left out in the cold around a decision that directly affects our businesses and survival." Stern, from Beachpoint Apartments, said she felt the decision was very shortsighted and would end up costing the council more in the long run. "If they don't want to focus on international tourism, then why are they planning to do exactly that - just without the professionals?" she said. "And how do they think they'll do it better for less than $85,000? This is going to end up costing the ratepayers more, not less." LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
RNZ News
08-06-2025
- Automotive
- RNZ News
Rescue helicopters activated after single-vehicle crash
An aircraft tracking website showed flights heading to the White Pine Bush area between 11pm and midnight. Photo: RNZ / Patrice Allen Three rescue helicopters were deployed south of Whakatāne in Bay of Plenty late on Sunday night in response to a single-vehicle crash. An aircraft tracking website showed flights heading to the White Pine Bush area between 11pm and midnight. No further details are available at this stage. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
06-06-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Much loved swimming spot dumped on again
A two-door coupe style vehicle was found in the Tauranga River at Wardlaw Glade. Photo: LDR / supplied A rusting car body found in the Tauranga River at Waimana's Wardlaw Glade, about 20km south of Whakatāne, is just one of many the Bay of Plenty Regional Council is likely to have to pull out of rivers this year. Regional council compliance team leader Trudy Richards said last year, the council received 28 reports through its Pollution Hotline regarding vehicles abandoned in waterways across the region, from Katikati to Waioeka and surrounding areas. The two-door coupe-style car was reported to the hotline on Tuesday afternoon along with an assortment of whiteware and other rubbish dumped in the carpark beside the popular swimming spot. Richards said the council would arrange for a contractor to remove the car body from the river once weather conditions were suitable. "If feasible, we will also retrieve the whiteware." Pollution outside of the river bed typically falls under the responsibility of the territorial authority, which in this case is Whakatāne District Council. However, as Wardlaw Glade is alongside State Highway 2, this is unclear. A variety of whiteware has also been dumped at the Wardlaw Glade carpark. Photo: LDR / supplied The New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi is responsible for rubbish collection on and alongside state highways. "However, where possible, we collaborate with local councils and Waka Kotahi to minimise costs." The cost of removal for the car varies depending on site accessibility, the need for traffic management, and potential fuel or oil discharge but, on average, each removal costs ratepayers about $2000. Richards said the regional council had not been able to assess the environmental impact of the car body on the river because of a lack of information on how long the vehicle has been in the waterway and whether it was fully intact or contained fuel or other fluids when it entered the water. "It is always disheartening to witness such disregard for our environment through the careless dumping of waste," she said. Transport agency system manager Andy Oakley said maintenance contractors were dealing with an "increasingly awful job", cleaning up after illegal rubbish dumping at rest areas along SH2. "It's been a growing problem over the last couple of years at this rest stop and others, and can vary from domestic household rubbish, to large household items, such as beds, chairs, headboards and washing machines, to broken toys and push chairs." "Stopping at rest areas to pick up litter was costly in terms of both money and, more importantly, time, when they could be prioritising other work that is vital to motorists such as fixing potholes. "Littering in public places is illegal. We would love the support of the community to please report any sightings of fly tipping to NZ Police or call NZTA on 0800 4 HIGHWAYS (0800 44 44 49). LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
