Māori and Parliament: Diverse Strategies and Compromises

Edited by Dr Maria Bargh (Release July 2010)

New Zealand is at a watershed in its constitutional and political arrangements. There are three events looming in the short term which suggest that the status of Māori in Parliament is in for significant challenge. 

The first is the impending review of constitutional issues and the Māori seats as part of the National Party-Māori Party ‘Relationship and Confidence and Supply Agreement'.

Secondly, the proposed referendum on the future of the mixed member proportional system (MMP) could also have significant implications for Māori.

Finally, the longer term question of whether New Zealand should become a republic continues to haunt New Zealand's political imagination, and would also necessitate lengthy debates about the place of New Zealand's constitutional arrangements in relation to Māori rights and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Māori and Parliament provides a comprehensive and enlightening context for understanding both the historical and contemporary relationship between Māori and Parliament and highlights many of the issues which would arise in any discussion of New Zealand constitutional reform.
Māori and Parliament is a collection of nineteen presentations and papers from twenty-one academics, political commentators and current and former parliamentarians and is the result of the Māori and Parliament conference held at Parliament in May 2009.

Contributors include Georgina Beyer, Hon. Simon Bridges, Damian Edwards, Te Ururoa Flavell, Dr Janine Hayward, Colin James, Shane Jones, Basil Keane, Hon. Sir Douglas Kidd, Professor Steven Levine, Sir Ngatata Love, Hon. Nanaia Mahuta, Sir Tipene O'Regan, Professor Nigel Roberts, Prof. Ann Sullivan, Metiria Turei, Hon. Tariana Turia, Dr Charlotte Williams, Dr John Wilson, Prof. Whatarangi Winiata and Dr Maria Bargh.

The editor is Dr Maria Bargh (Te Arawa and Ngati Awa) and she has a PhD in Political Science and International Relations and is a lecturer in Māori Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. Her previous publications include Resistance: An Indigenous Response to Neoliberalism.

Qunine

by Kelly Ana-Morey (Release September 2010)

Vienna, 1903: Thirty-three-year-old Marta Mueller, natural historian and talented artist, meets Bernard Schmidt, a copra planter from German East Neuguinea (now Papua New Guinea) who is looking for a wife. For Marta, who longs to travel the world, Bernard is a window of opportunity and a chance to start anew.

A few months later Marta is married and sailing for the Pacific. Her new husband's friends are a strange group: Australians, Sāmoans, Europeans and natives mix uneasily and unconventionally in the hot, humid, and unstable environment of German-ruled Neuguinea. Marta must find her feet, and herself, far away from her family during her marriage and, later, the British-Australian conquest and formation of Papua New Guinea.

Eventually, Marta finds a real, if unconventional love, and achieves greater success in her artistic and scientific work than she might ever have dreamed.

Cooking with Charles Royal

Charles Royal with Jenny Kaka (Release October 2010)

In this book, chef Charles Royal uses indigenous New Zealand ingredients, such as kawakawa, pikopiko, wild bush mushrooms and ferns to give classic dishes a contemporary twist. Covering recipes from starters through vegetables and mains to sweet treats, Charles shows how to prepare stunning dishes with minimum effort that have a uniquely New Zealand look and taste.

The book details how to locate, harvest and prepare the indigenous ingredients used and gives photographs of them up close and in the natural environment. Photographs of the completed dishes accompany each recipe, and these are complemented by scenic photographs of Charles gathering ingredients from the bush and cooking in beautiful outdoors locations.

Victoria Cross at Takrouna: The Haane Manahi Story

Paul Moon (Release October 2010)

This is the story of Haane Manahi and his exceptional bravery in Tunisia during the Second World War. At the Battle of Takrouna, Tunisia, Sergeant Haane Manahi of Te Arawa led a small group of Māori soldiers who captured a fortress on a 200-metre pinnacle that was being held by at least 200 enemy soldiers. While Haane Manahi was recommended for a Victoria Cross by seven officers, including Generals Freyberg and Montgomery, the award was mysteriously downgraded to a Distinguished Conduct Medal. Until now, little has been known about who made this decision or for what reasons.

In this biography, acclaimed author Paul Moon uncovers the man, his life, his courageous feats during the war, and the events surrounding the downgrading of the award for his extraordinary act of bravery.