Radio NZ pulls the plug on Waatea but we can tune in elsewhere for our special view of the world

Alf will miss the Waatea News bulletins from Radio New Zealand.

They are being scrapped – along with a couple of grand pianos – as part of the state broadcaster’s desperate efforts to operate within its budget.

But Waatea News is not being shut down and silenced as a consequence of this move.

Those of us whose ethnocentricity compels us to distinguish Maori science from science, Maori sport from sport, and Maori news from news can plug into Maori radio stations for our news fix.

Wow – Jami-Lee’s Ngati Porou links call for a fresh academic study into the implications for capitalism

If you go back far enough, you can find your passport into the Maori All Blacks.

If you’ve got a drop of Maori blood somewhere in your veins, you can count on someone in the Maori media finding out about it and tracking down its source.

The consequence in the case of Jami-Lee Ross is a Waatea News report that that yes, he has a Maori side.

This is not obvious from his name, it might be observed, but nor is it obvious in the case of blokes with names like Shane Jones.

Unlike Jones, Botany’s new National Party MP says he doesn’t know his Maori side, Waatea News reports.

But it seems he is keen to find out.

It was an exemplary performance, captain – but now you’ve got to walk the plank

Radio NZ has picked up the curious story of the departing chief executive of the Maori Language Commission but doesn’t take it much further than the Dominion-Post.

It reports her as saying says she’s proud of what she achieved in her three years in the job.

The item was produced by the Waatea News staff, and – alas – they don’t seem to have been much inclined to dig too deeply to find out what’s been going on.

We are told –

Huhana Rokx resigned from Te Taura Whiri following an investigation and mediation process sparked by a letter from staff complaining about her management style.

Mrs Rokx told Waatea News she’s leaving her successor with a strategy mapped out to meet the board’s objectives.

But Alf wanted to hear from the boss’s boss on his role in these goings-on and how much support Ms Rokx was given by her board when the shit hit the fan.

The big question: how come it’s the captain who must walk the plank when the crew become mutinous?

Waatea News tells us only that –

Maori Language Commissioner Erima Henare says Huhana Rokx’s performance was exemplary and her resignation was an honourable response to difficult circumstances faced by the chief executive, the staff and the board.

It’s not much, but it tells us something fascinating.

The captain’s performance was exemplary.

We can only conclude she has gone because her crew’s performance has been more than exemplary.

Don’t be rushed, now, Hone

Alf was delighted by a Waatea News report on the shindig in the Far North where the Maori Party tackled the stroppy Hone Harawira about his political future.

According to Waatea News, Hone was given “just two weeks” to consider the proposal that he leave the party and become an independent MP.

What are they trying to tell us? That a bloke like Hone is a bit slow in the thinking department and needs more than two weeks to decide? Wonder how long it took him to decide to bugger off to Paris with Hilda, or to hit the send button and despatch the vituperative e-mail that has landed him in trouble.

Pita goes down in rugby maul

(as dictated to Mrs Grumble)
Pita Sharples is a bloke with an aptitude for falling into a political mire by talking before thinking. Remember the bullshit about giving Maori kids an easy ride into our universities?

Sharples is in danger of sinking deep into more shit on the idea of Maori Television Service coverage of the Rugby World Cup, as a statement he issued today virtually concedes.

“It’s a pity the bid has attracted controversy, but I am well prepared to discuss the merits of the case with the Prime Minister and other stakeholders…”

But he’s a stubborn bastard, and he’s sticking to his support for the MTS bid for Rugby World Cup broadcast rights. He reckons it’s “a golden opportunity for Maori and the nation, which MTS and Te Puni Kokiri are right to seize…”

Drooling for a DNA sample

Alf is chuffed – he’s sure he has the answer to an objection raised against extending the DNA sampling regime.

The solution is salival.

The objection was raised on Waatea News today by Maori lawyer Moana Jackson in response to the introduction of the Criminal Investigations (Bodily Samples) Amendment Bill.