AOTEAROA Global Project

Sea Shepherd Launches Operation Migaloo to
Defend Whales in Antarctic Whale Sanctuary

Kiaora koutou,
This travesty annoys and upsets me, ggrrrrrrrrr *%##*$ $$$$$, so i'll quietly post this and keep you posted as to the events that unfold.....God speed Sea Shepherd.....



This December, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society will embark on its fourth expedition to the remote southern waters off the coast of Antarctica, with the launch of its latest Antarctic whale defense campaign: Operation Migaloo. Sea Shepherd has drawn a line in the sand when it comes to the humpback whale featured on its logo and will not stand by while the Japanese whalers target nearly 1000 whales for certain death, including 50 endangered humpback whales and 10 endangered fin whales in the Southern Oceans.

The campaign is named in honor of Migaloo, an endangered albino humpback who has become a national icon in Australia. This year, the sights of the ruthless Japanese harpooners are set square on the endangered humpbacks, meaning that Migaloo and all of his family are under imminent threat of death at the hands of Japanese pirate whalers.

Founder and President of Sea Shepherd, Captain Paul Watson, will soon embark with an international crew on the ship, the Robert Hunter, to enforce international conservation law and prevent the illegal slaughter of endangered species by an outlaw whaling fleet. As the relentless Japanese whalers seek to hunt down and kill Migaloo and his family, Sea Shepherd will be hunting the whalers with the firm objective of intervention against their illegal activities.

"I did not establish the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as a protest organization," said Captain Watson. "I have not gone to sea over all these years to simply bear witness to the atrocities that whalers continue to inflict upon the most gentle and intelligent beings in the seas. We are sea cops-operating legally under the guidelines of the United Nation's World Charter for Nature, which allow for the enforcement of international conservation law by non-governmental organizations in international jurisdictions."

For more than three decades, Sea Shepherd has been at the forefront of the whale wars, defending the gentle giants wherever and whenever they can. Sea Shepherd has tackled overwhelming odds with insufficient resources, won many victories, and saved the lives of thousands of whales. In 2005-2006, Sea Shepherd harried the Japanese fleet enough to ensure they went home 83 whales short of their self-appointed quota. In 2006-2007, the Japanese whalers fell over 500 whales short of their illegal quota. Sea Shepherd will return this year with a ship to match the speed of the Japanese fleet, new equipment for intervention, and an international crew of dedicated volunteers willing to spend their holidays at the bottom of the earth on a historic voyage to save whales.

Sea Shepherd is on a quest to protect the greatest treasure of the seas-the great whales. "We are obsessed with stopping the Cetacean Death Star, that viciously cruel killing machine otherwise known as the Nisshin Maru, and her ruthless fleet of hunter/killer boats armed with their explosive deadly blunt harpoons," said Captain Watson. "Because if we kill the whales, the sharks, the seals, and the sea turtles, we will destroy the very foundation of life in the oceans-and in so doing, we will destroy humankind."

Prime Minister Helen Clark says Japan's whaling fleet is heading for the Southern Ocean under the "deception" of a scientific expedition.

The fleet left on Sunday, led by the 8000-tonne Nisshin Maru, and conservation activists say it will for the first time target humpback whales.

Japan abandoned commercial whaling in accordance with an international moratorium in 1986, but the next year began hunting again for what it says is scientific research.

Whale meat ends up in Japanese supermarkets and restaurants, and this season the fleet intends catching about 850 minke whales and 50 fin whales.

Miss Clark said today she hoped there would not be a repeat of the "very unfortunate incidents" which occurred last season when protesters clashed with the fleet.

She also referred to the fire that crippled the Nisshin Maru and killed a crew member.

"Last year there was loss of life down there, it is very difficult for us, as the nearest country with any sort of search and rescue capacity, to offer any help," she said on TV One's Breakfast programme.

"It would just be better if the Japanese stayed home and did not come down under the guise, the deception, the claim that it is scientific whaling when they want to take a thousand whales."

Noho ora mai.
Take care..

...Kiaora tatou.. Hi folks, I hope this post finds you all in the very best of health.
This is a hot topic here in Aotearoa at the moment, so I thought I would share it with you.
With all respect to our Australian members, I will never forget how I witnessed first hand, the deplorable manner in which the Aboriginal people were treated, ALL THE TIME !
Thanks for stopping by to visit and if you wish to get in touch with me please send messages to dubmasterphd@operamail.com or leave an inbox message at AOTEAROA. or DUBMASTER PhD. I'm sorry for the hassle, there seems to be a glitch with the group inbox. And apologies if iI have missed any ones messages...Thankyou...
Also if any members wish to help find members or recommend Aotearoa Global Project to others, please do so.. That would be great.
All the best, take care....Henry..OvO


Maori Party MP Hone Harawira says he will not apologise to Australian Prime Minister John Howard for calling him a “racist bastard”.

Harawira was reminded by his party today that getting personal is not how they do things.

However, the Maori Party then embraced and backed Harawira, despite his inflammatory remarks.


Dr Pita Sharples
The Maori Party today has reiterated its concern about the Government’s response to the report of the Northern Territory Board of Inquiry into the protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse.

The Maori Party Caucus today called a special caucus meeting to consider the Australian Government’s response to the report, describing it as a sledge-hammer approach - a widespread and ill-thought through attack on Aboriginal communities in Northern Territory - rather than focusing on the extremely significant situation of child sexual abuse.

“The report takes as its basis “that Aboriginal child sexual abuse in the Northern Territory be designated as an issue of urgent national significance” and as such, the call to work together for the sake of all children is a very important call” said Dr Sharples, Co-leader Maori Party.

“The report describes the precious value accorded to old people and children in traditional Aboriginal society – “the old people for what they learned through their life and the children because they would carry on the law, the religion, the beliefs and the culture” “ said Dr Sharples.

“These are values which are closely aligned to our own philosophies as tangata whenua; and as such the statements that “the Inquiry accepts that sexual abuse of Aboriginal children is common, widespread and grossly under-reported” must be heeded” said Dr Sharples.

“It is not generally our approach to comment on the way other nations manage their business” said Dr Sharples.

“However, as would be expected, we are a political party who stands in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples throughout the world. While it could be said that Aboriginal communities raised genuine concerns in the consultation process which led to the ‘Little Children are Sacred’ report, we have to ask if they were aware of the way in which these concerns may be used to fulfil other political agendas”.

“No one could fail to appreciate the enormous anger that the Australian Government’s response has elicited” said Dr Sharples.

“We must and will continue to ask – how will this protect Aboriginal children?”

“There are two key issues for us: the decades of deprivation caused by the failure of successive governments to address the inter-generational trauma suffered by the Stolen Generation" said Dr Sharples.

"And the second major issue is the association between land acquisition, permits and sexual abuse".

“We have seen reports describing the Government’s response as ‘paternalistic and a form of apartheid’; as “heavily interventionist”; suggesting the policy “smacks of political expediency dressed up as moral indignation” said Dr Sharples.

"Aboriginal peoples have asked whether this is the continuing impacts of suffering an assimilationist policy, for "Stolen Generations" of Aborigines who as children were forcibly removed from their homes".

"The question has been raised - is this another approach to 'de-Aboriginalise' the indigenous peoples of Australia - a question given all the more weight by the abolition of ATSIC, the national indigenous representative organisation, and compounded by Census data revealing that measurements of improvements are health, housing, education and employment indicators of indigenous status are declining" said Dr Sharples.

Australian politicians have also expressed their concern says Dr Sharples.

“Greens leader Bob Brown has described “years of inaction” as leading into “dangerous racial discrimination territory” while Federal Labour Member for Lingiari, Warren Snowden has concluded that in proposing to remove permits and take townships away from Aboriginal people, the policy is “undermining some of the central elements of the Land Rights Act” said Dr Sharples.

“The political criticism of Democrats Senator, Andrew Bartlett was particularly salient” said Dr Sharples. “He called the policy “an outrageous authoritarian crackdown” and criticized the lack of consultation with the Northern Territory’s indigenous communities, “if they aren’t developing the solutions, then the solutions aren’t going to work”.

“Our overwhelming interest has been in hearing the voices of Aboriginal peoples about the Howard response” said Dr Sharples.

“We have not heard any Aboriginal leaders supporting the decision to deploy police officers and military logistics officers as a way of reducing sexual abuse within communities”.

“Not one of the 97 imminently sensible recommendations from the ‘Little Children are Sacred’ report identifies that military force is a way of progressing Aboriginal wellbeing”.

“We have not heard any Aboriginal leaders believing that scrapping the permit system on Aboriginal lands or usurping property rights in taking control of townships through five year leases will protect Aboriginal children from sexual abuse”.

“Indeed it seems no explanation has been given of the link between removing the permit system and addressing the sexual abuse of women and children”.

“What we have heard is the views of a group of ninety indigenous and welfare groups suggesting the move to take control over Aboriginal communities is a “Trojan horse to take over Aboriginal lands”.

"We have also heard that the seizure of Aboriginal Affairs in the Northern Territory will "demoralise" communities "who no longer understand pride and dignity because it was taken from them a long time ago".

“There have also been reports that the Government’s response follows applications from mining companies for more exploration permits in the Northern Territory” said Dr Sharples. “Even more worrying are the reports suggesting that the Aboriginal lands of the Northern Territory are being considered for the dumping of nuclear waste”.

“Indeed, the more one looks into this situation, the less it seems to be about community development and wellbeing, and the more it seems to be about extremely worrying political agendas” stated Dr Sharples.

“We are not afraid of controversy – we have spoken up before in our belief that “little children are sacred” – and the stand we made then was not universally popular either” said Dr Sharples.

“Our emphasis must always remain on the special need for the protection of children, alongside our belief that locally based action, local resourcing, local control, by the people for the people, is the most effective way of achieving long term change”.

“We also believe that the Aboriginal people of Australia, the ‘Stolen Generations’, are entitled to an apology for the decades of oppression, something the Howard Government steadfastly refuses to do, despite widespread support for such an apology throughout Australia” ended Dr Sharples.

Kiaora folks and friends..
Matariki...yaaaaaay a most cleansing rejuvinating time,I take great pleasure
in briefing you on 'MATARIKI' The Maori New Year proper.....enjoy.. To have knowledge of this is to know the true heart, soul and spirit of life in Aotearoa....

A Teapot in Paradise Maori Star and Constellation Names.





MATARIKI EVENTS CALENDAR







Maori Words & Phrases Glossary

Kia ora — Hello
Kia ora tatou — Hello everyone
Tena koe — Greetings to you (said to one person)
Tena koutou — Greeting to you all
Haere mai — Welcome
Kei te pai — Good
Tino pai — Really good
Haere ra — Farewell
Ka kite ano — Until I see you again (Bye)
Hei konei ra — See you later

Aotearoa - New Zealand
ariki - paramount chief
aroha - regard, love, compassion
atua - god or spirit

haka - war dance
hangi - earth oven, food cooked within
hapu - sub-tribe
hui - gathering

inanga - whitebait
iwi - tribe

kai - food
kai moana - seafood
kainga - home town
karakia - prayer
kaumatua - elder, family head
kaupapa - topics of discussion
kauri - forest tree
kawa - marae etiquette
kiekie - climbing plant
koru - fern frond
kotahitanga - unity
kumara - sweet potato

makutu - sorcery
mana - spiritual power, authority, prestige
manaia - bone carving
marae - Maori meeting grounds
moa - large flightless bird, now extinct
moko - tattoo

oriori - lullaby

pa - fort
pakeha - person of non-Maori descent (European)
poi - dance with poi (light balls on strings)

rangatira - chief
runanga - political grouping

tangi - funeral, cry of lament
taniwha - water-dwelling spirit or monster
taonga - treasure
tapu - sacred
tiki - stylized human image made from wood or stone
toetoe - various species of long grass with tall, feathery flowerheads
tohunga - expert, often in religious matters
tuahu - shrine, sacred place
tupuna (tipuna) - ancestors

urupa - burial ground

waiata - song
waka - boat, canoe, group of tribes descended from occupants of a migratory canoe
whakapapa - genealogy
whanau - extended family
whare - house
wharekai - kitchen
wharenui (wharepuni) - meeting house

IWI MAPS

See forum in an hr or so and i'll have some content..to start some info//discussion.. do join me,
All the best folks...
'Our Hearts in Aotearoa are with the Muliaga whanau'.....see News Topic re: Mercury Debacle...