Action Alert Demo Called By Traditional Owners Victoria

THE GREATEST ATTACK ON TRADITIONAL OWNERS RIGHTS WILL BE DONE BY THE 

VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT ON MONDAY 9.00AM 21 MARCH 2011 THE FEDERAL COURT

DIRECTIONS HEARING FOR ALL NATIVE TITLE CLAIMS HEARING WILLIAM/LATROBE 

STREET CBD MELBOURNE. BLACK PEOPLE GETTING SCREWD AGAIN.

..SPREAD THE WORD, DEMO OUT THE FRONT...8.30AM

Vanuatu: Chiefs call on Forum leaders to protect custom land

Vanuatu's Malvatumauri (National Council of Chiefs) has called on Pacific leaders to protect custom land, endorsing a regional declaration on indigenous land tenure in Melanesia.

Vanuatu’s Malvatumauri (National Council of Chiefs) has called on Pacific leaders to protect custom land, endorsing a regional declaration on indigenous land tenure in Melanesia.

Chief Selwyn Garu, Secretary General of the Malvatumauri announced that the council of chiefs had unanimously endorsed the Mele Declaration on Land in Melanesia.

The declaration, prepared at a regional meeting last June, states: “We are opposed to any form of alienation of land from customary landowners, whether by outright sale or through leases which remove landowners’ capacity to effectively control, access and use their land.”

The declaration also calls for the overhaul of land administration in Melanesia and rejects “all policies which require that customary land be registered as a precondition for business or development activities.”

The Malvatumauri, a national body which unites chiefs from 20 island councils and two urban councils, is meeting in Port Vila this week.

Chief Selwyn Garu said: “The declaration was presented before the Council of Chiefs this morning. The members of the Council of Chiefs talked about it and in the end of the discussion we unanimously endorsed it.”

The Mele Declaration was prepared by the Melanesian Indigenous Land Defence Alliance (MILDA), a network of landowner, cultural and community groups concerned with land tenure and development across the Melanesian region.

MILDA was founded at a meeting in Madang, Papua New Guinea in 2009. Their second meeting at Mele village in Vanuatu last June brought together a range of organisations “to strategise a regional response to the persistent pressure for registration and leasing of customary land.”

The Mele Declaration was prepared at the June meeting, which brought together chiefs, church leaders, members of women’s and youth groups and other participants from Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Bougainville, Solomon Islands, Fiji and Australia.

Changing land use for tourism

In Melanesian nations like Vanuatu, Fiji and Papua New Guinea, over 90 per cent of land is held by customary land and resource owners.

For Selwyn Garu: “When we talk about land in Melanesia, you can’t separate land from custom. If you lose land, you lose custom. If you lose custom, you lose land.

“Custom defines the use of land, but custom cannot be practiced on alienated land – it can only be practiced on custom land,” he stated. “Land continues to be the main source of employment for the people in the villages. With land, we have all that we need.”

Vanuatu’s Constitution states that “All land in the republic of Vanuatu belongs to the indigenous custom owners and their descendants.” It also states that “only indigenous citizens of the republic of Vanuatu who have acquired their land in accordance with a recognised system of land tenure shall have perpetual ownership of their land.”

In spite of this, many land owners on Vanuatu’s main island of Efate have granted long-term leases to overseas investors for tourist projects and private strata title developments, which have effectively alienated much of the shoreline along the coast.

Landowners must compensate the leaseholder for improvements to the land if they wish to reclaim their land at the end of the lease. For this reason some villagers will find it difficult to reclaim leased land after decades of construction or improvement on land provided under long term leases.

Action by Forum leaders

The chiefs’ decision comes as government leaders from around the region have gathered in Vanuatu for the 41st Pacific Islands Forum.

After endorsement by the Malvatumauri on Wednesday morning, the declaration was launched at the Chiefs’ Nakamal in Port Vila by Chief Selwyn Garu, Joel Simo of MILDA and Ralph Regenvanu, the Member of Parliament for Port Vila.

Regenvanu, one of the co-founders of MILDA, called on Forum leaders to protect land rights as the basis of the Melanesian economy: “We would like this Declaration to inform what the Forum is doing and the decisions that they’ll take in the next few days. We are urging our leaders of government, we are urging international financial institutions (including donor countries) but especially our own leaders to move away from policies that talk about land registration as a prerequisite for gaining credit.”

Regenvanu added: “Over the last couple of years, we’ve managed to get the concept of the ‘traditional economy’ on to the agenda in Vanuatu, in the Melanesian Spearhead Group and in the Forum. But we need to have our leaders seriously taking this concept, this reality on board - the traditional economy continues to be the main source of sustenance for people in much of Melanesia.”

For Chief Selwyn Garu: “I’d like to say that land is a living thing. It gives life. It empowers life and you can’t reduce the value of land the way it is being done nowadays in many parts of Melanesia.”

Defending Melanesian Land

Host:	AID/WATCH
Network:	Global

Date:	Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Time:	6:30pm - 8:00pm
Location:	Amnesty International Action Centre, 79 Myrtle St, Chippendale

An evening of film, photos and discussions about the importance of customary land in Melanesia. 'Defending Melanesian Land' is a short
video in which Melanesian activists explain why indigenous land is important to people in the Pacific, and why they have formed a regional alliance (the Melanesian Indigenous Land Defence
Alliance - MILDA) to defend indigenous Melanesian land.


The film was produced by Tim Anderson for Aid/Watch and MILDA,
with support from The Christensen Fund

1982 Brisbane Stolenwealth Games

thanks to goori2

Maori tribe in autonomy talks with NZ government

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A rebellious New Zealand Maori tribe entered into negotiations with the government Thursday in a bid to gain autonomy over its land.

Ngai Tuhoe is the only Maori tribe that refused to sign the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, which established peaceful relations between New Zealand's indigenous groups and white settlers.

Tuhoe still insists it retains sovereign control over its culture and its lands in central North Island, which it claims were confiscated illegally by settlers in the 1800s.

continues here

Video Here: http://www.3news.co.nz//tabid/808/Default.aspx

Related News

• Tuhoe and Crown enter Treaty negotiations
  New Zealand Herald - 2 hours ago
• Historic moves towards Tuhoe reconciliation
  Stuff.co.nz - 3 hours ago
• Tuhoe gather for Treaty talks launch
  TVNZ - 5 hours ago

Full coverage »

U.S federal courts could destroy Samoan Culture

"To this day, our native land tenure system remains at the very core of our existence: our culture, our heritage and our way of life. Without our native land tenure system, our matai or chieftain system will fade over time-along with our language, our customs and our culture.we, as a people, have an overriding desire to keep the fabric of our society (i.e., our Samoan culture) intact. No other U.S. state or territory enjoys the total and complete preservation of its people's culture as American Samoa. I fear that the imposition of a federal court system in American Samoa may have a destructive impact on our culture."

REPORT NOTES CONCERN OVER AMERICAN SAMOA CULTURE
U.S. federal courts could jeopardize Matai system of justice

By Fili Sagapolutele

PAGO PAGO, American Samoa (Samoa News, July 2, 2008) - The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in its report released Friday that one key reason offered against changing the current judicial system in American Samoa is the concern that a federal court would impinge upon Samoan culture and traditions.

"The most frequent concerns raised were related issues- that the system of matai chiefs and the land tenure system could be jeopardized," according to the GAO report on the study of the local judicial system. "In raising these issues, some cited the deeds of cession which specify that the United States would preserve the rights and property of the Samoan people."

[PIR editor’s note: American Samoa is the only populated U.S. insular area that does not have a federal court. Congress has granted the local High Court federal jurisdiction for certain federal matters, such as specific areas of maritime law. GAO was asked to conduct a study of American Samoa’s system for addressing matters of federal law.]

The GAO summarized in the report comments received from the community via interviews with local officials and leaders, e-mails, and comments from a Fono hearing held two years ago on a federal measure seeking to establish a federal court in the territory.Pursuant to the federalist structure of the U.S. judiciary, GAO says if a federal court were established in American Samoa most cases arising under local law, such as matai and land disputes, would likely continue to be heard by the local court.

"However, some American Samoa officials stated that they are concerned that if a federal court were established in American Samoa, federal judges, without the requisite knowledge of Samoan culture and tradition, would hear land and title cases," the report states.

Another concern raised by government officials and local residents is that the presence of a federal court may generate constitutional challenges to the matai and land tenure system.

Though such challenges may be brought in existing venues, some voiced concerns that a federal court here may make such challenges less costly and perhaps more likely.

In general, many residents said they value their culture and traditions and think that the matai and land tenure systems in American Samoa are critical components of the fa'a Samoa.

GAO summarized in the report a quote from Secretary of Samoan Affairs Mauga T. Asuega, which is the position GAO has heard from many local residents:

"To this day, our native land tenure system remains at the very core of our existence: our culture, our heritage and our way of life. Without our native land tenure system, our matai or chieftain system will fade over time-along with our language, our customs and our culture.we, as a people, have an overriding desire to keep the fabric of our society (i.e., our Samoan culture) intact. No other U.S. state or territory enjoys the total and complete preservation of its people's culture as American Samoa. I fear that the imposition of a federal court system in American Samoa may have a destructive impact on our culture."

The governor's assistant legal counsel M. Talaimalo Uiagalelei informed GAO that results of the report "reflect a relatively fair depiction of the general feeling and attitude towards this issue."

"It is only our intention that we impress upon you again our position that the Samoan land tenure and matai systems are very much vital to the Samoan way of life, and so we must make sure that in your efforts to provide federal justice we do not place it in danger," he wrote in a June 12, 2007
letter to GAO.

(Both federal and local agencies that have interest with the study were sent
draft copies of the GAO report before it was finalized.)GAO received a variety of views from the public regarding the establishmentof a federal court here.

Some local residents cite concerns about costs that defendants' families must bear in traveling great distances to provide support during trials. Some also say they have felt shame and embarrassment when defendants are taken to distant courts.

During GAO's group discussions held locally, some stated that American Samoa is perceived by others as "unable to render justice to its own residents".

According to the GAO, some people they met have stated that the current system of holding federal criminal trials outside of American Samoa subjects defendants to possible prejudices by jurors in other locations.

They cited the relative unfamiliarity of the judges and jurors in Washington, D.C. or Honolulu regarding American Samoa cultural and political issues and suggested that American Samoans would receive a fairer trial in American Samoa than in these locations.

However, several local law enforcement officials do not want federal cases handled here and raised concerns that given the close familial ties in American Samoa, it would be difficult to obtain convictions from local jurors.

Other residents, however, believe that having a federal court in American Samoa may act as a deterrent for the abuse of federal funds and public corruption.

The report quotes a legal expert saying that a federal court in Pago Pago would provide the community with an opportunity to see first hand how parties can come together to resolve their differences with regard to federal matters.

For example, some have asserted that if public corruption trials were held in American Samoa, they would act as a deterrent to others contemplating fraudulent behavior; increase accountability with regard to government spending; and provide satisfaction in witnessing wrong doers being brought to justice, the report says.

Members of the local bar association say that having a federal court here could be beneficial for economic development, by attracting qualified attorneys and court staff to American Samoa.

The Samoa News: http://www.samoanews.com/

NOT ONE ACRE MORE

Last Updated: Monday, June 25, 2007 | 12:18 PM ET
Travellers in the Montreal-Toronto-Ottawa corridor may have to adjust
their Canada Day weekend plans after a native group said it will go
ahead with a road or rail barricade on Friday, likely between
Belleville and Kingston.

Spokesman Shawn Brant confirmed Monday that protesters from the
Tyendinaga Mohawk reserve near Deseronto, Ont., plan to set up a
blockade of either Highway 401 or the national rail line, close to the
town on Lake Ontario's Bay of Quinte, or will block access to
Deseronto itself.

The move will be part of the Assembly of First Nations' National Day
of Action on June 29 to draw attention to aboriginal poverty and
unresolved land claims, Brant said.

He added that the day is important for indigenous people.

"We're gonna be able to say to the government, 'This is the power that
we have,' " said Brant, whose group has occupied a quarry near
Deseronto since March to protest an unresolved land claim.
Brant is also among those named in a lawsuit launched by Canadian
National Railway over a blockade held in April over the same issue.

The Tyendinaga Mohawk band council is negotiating with the federal
government over about 400 hectares of privately held land that Mohawks
say they never surrendered. Brant's group says the talks are moving
too slowly.

Phil Fontaine, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations,
has said the National Day of Action is meant to reach out to
Canadians, not to cause major disruptions.

In May, Chief Terrance Nelson of Manitoba's Roseau River First Nation
threatened to block a CN line running through his community on the
June day of action.

He called off the protest last Tuesday after Indian Affairs
Minister Jim Prentice decided to add 30 hectares of new land to the
Roseau River band's territory.

Brant called the government's move at Roseau River a last-minute ploy
and said he thinks it was done to "destabilize June 29 as a day of
action."

He was also critical of Nelson's decision to call off his blockade.
"To say that 70 acres was enough to sell out the day and sell out the
people is an indignity to everyone who's been standing in these
positions from the beginning," he said

Gubbament accused of trying to take back land

A former senior indigenous bureaucrat has accused the federal
government of using child sex abuse as a smokescreen to resume control
of Aboriginal lands in the Northern Territory.

More than 90 individuals, indigenous groups and community
organisations have put their name to a letter delivered on Tuesday to
Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough, warning him that the
government's plan to tackle child sex abuse will not work.

Prime Minister John Howard last week announced plans to seize control
of more than 60 NT Aboriginal communities, banning alcohol and
hardcore pornography and putting in place conditions on welfare
payments and compulsory health checks for children.

Pat Turner, a former head of the now defunct Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Commission and a former senior bureaucrat in the
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, warned that Mr Brough was
drawing too heavily on his military background to implement the
government's plan.

"What the prime minister and his minister Mal Brough are proposing is,
in the view of the combined Aboriginal organisations in Alice Springs,
totally unworkable," she told reporters.

"Mal Brough is drawing too heavily on his military background to swoop
into our communities and do a quick fix."

A key issue for Aboriginal leaders is the plan to scrap the permit
system, which restricts non-Aboriginal access to indigenous land.

"We are totally against tying serious social need to our hard-fought
land ownership and land tenure," Ms Turner said.

"We believe that this government is using child sexual abuse as the
Trojan horse to resume total control of our land.

"No compensation will ever, ever replace our land ownership rights."

The letter says while the commitment to tackle abuse in indigenous
communities is welcome, solutions must be developed with the
communities, not prescribed from Canberra.

It also warns the measures could weaken families and disempower
Aboriginal people.

"The proposals go well beyond an emergency response and will have a
profound effect on people's incomes, land ownership and their ability
to decide the kind of medical treatment they receive," the letter says.

"Some of the measures will weaken communities and families by taking
from them the ability to make basic decisions about their lives, thus
removing responsibility instead of empowering them.

"In their present form the proposals miss the mark and are unlikely to
be effective."

Greg Phillips, a population health expert at Melbourne University,
warned that victims of abuse could face additional trauma if they were
forcibly examined as part of compulsory health checks.

"If children and adults ... have been abused and are forced to take
medical examinations then significant psychiatric literature and
practice shows that victims are likely to be retraumatised," he said.

"This is of paramount concern to those of us in the public health field."

Mr Phillips said there was evidence to show that Aboriginal ownership
of their lands helped promote good health.

"Land is essential to Aboriginal cultural identity, sense of
spirituality and is therefore protective of good health," he said.

"There is no need to tie sexual abuse interventions with land tenure,
it's too much of a stretch for this nation to take and the government
is lying through its teeth to do so.

"You do not have to take children away and you do not have to take
communal rights to land away to deal effectively with sexual abuse and
violence."

Meanwhile, Tasmania has agreed to send police to help enforce the
federal government's indigenous child abuse plan, but will provide
only two instead of the 10 requested.

Labor Premier Paul Lennon told state parliament that Tasmania had
rejected Mr Brough's request for 10 officers, but would provide two
instead.

"The Tasmanian government will be responding positively to the federal
government's request on a pro-rata basis and our Police Minister David
Llewellyn will be speaking with Minister Brough today to further the
necessary arrangements," Mr Lennon told parliament.

"We have got a problem here that needs to be addressed where children
are at risk and governments have a responsibility to act."

But Mr Lennon said it was unreasonable for the federal government to
expect Tasmania to make the same commitment as NSW and Victoria.

"New South Wales has a police service of over 15,000 in strength
compared to Tasmania's police service strength of 1,200," he said.

"I think it unreasonable, therefore, to expect us to be in a position
to maintain policing responsibilities in Tasmania and to make the same
strength commitment to the Northern Territory as the state of New
South Wales which has a police service of 15,000, compared to our 1,200.

"Or, indeed, to the state of Victoria where the police strength is
about 10,800.

Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre legal director Michael Mansell said the
state government was putting politics before people.

"Sending two or 200 police officers is neither here nor there," Mr
Mansell said.

"This is open approval by Paul Lennon of John Howard's over-the-top
invasion of Aboriginal communities.

"The premier's move puts politics before people because he is trying
to cover the back of his mate Kevin Rudd, who has also endorsed this
ridiculous plan."

New Plymouth Pigs Burn Maori Woman off Property

A WOMAN at the centre of a land dispute at Urenui was devastated to discover all her belongings have perished in a suspicious blaze.

what is passed off as police in New Zealand never ceases to turn my guts, unless it's what's passed off as a judge ofcourse. Late on Sunday afternoon a series of suspicious fires destroyed all of Margaret Eriwata's possessions, including a make-shift house, two caravans and two campervans, leaving her with nothing more than the clothes on her back.

Ms Eriwata (53) has been fighting for almost four years for the right to live on her share of 20ha of farmland on Mataro Rd, Urenui, which was left to her in her grandfather's 1922 will. Police are not investigating the fires. Ms Eriwata says she is devastated by what has happened.Last year Ms Eriwata was evicted from the land after Justice Wild in the New Plymouth High Court said he was satisfied she was in contempt of court orders prohibiting her from staying on the land.

Ten cars were removed from the land and lined up along the road side but were later moved back on to the land. Ms Eriwata had not seen the damage for herself, she spent Sunday night in police custody after being arrested for breaching her totally unreasonable bail conditions by returning to her property only hours before the fires were lit. (by the police) Ms Eriwata, who is vowing to continue her fight to live onher land, says she was tipped off about the fires and tried to stop the police.

She says police did nothing and have not investigated death threats she has received. Waitara police Senior Sergeant Matt Prendergast says police treat all complaints they receive seriously while grinning ear to ear. The fires were being treated as suspicious, he said, with a chuckle.

http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/72891/index.php

Related

• http://www.stuff.co.nz/dailynews/4028484a6554.html

This work is in the public domain.

WHAKAKORO Occupation Alert

Freash from the kumara vine Ngati Haua ki Whangape are re-occupying and reclaiming their ansestral land. Go hard! Ka mau te wehi. Updates as soon as we get them.

mihi atu ki a koe no te Hapu o Ngati Haua ki Whangape

Could you please send through to you networks.

Ka whawhai tonu matou ake, ake, ake, tonu atu

Tena Koutou Katoa nga Whanau o Ngati Haua.
Check out the video news segment regarding our ancestral Maunga Whakakoro in the News section of the Whangape site www.whangape.co.nz/main.htm

OUR BIRTHRIGHT
We are occupying our ancestral Maunga Whakakoro to stop it from being alienated from the Hapu forever.

WHAKAKORO It is the sacred Maunga of our ancestors Ueoneone and Reitu. All Ngapuhi whakapapa back to these Tupuna. It is the Maunga from which Ueoneone summoned his mystical Manu ( Bird ) to travel to Tainui to return with Reipai and Reitu.
From this event it connects Ngapuhi with Tainui. It is the Mountain that has watched over our Hapu as we have practiced our traditions and customs with the most important being too gather Kai Moana (seafood).
It is referred to during mihi and identified as our Maunga Moana with Rangiputa being our Maunga Whenua.

What are the issues ?

In 1992 we occupied Whakakoro under the leadership of Matua Glass Murray in protest over Whakakoro being sold by 3rd generation farmer Frank Geddes to 4 million dollar lotto winner Robert Buchanan for $700 000.00. Buchananan was responsible for;

Trying to block access to the coast
Bulldozing roads over Urupa and Waahi Tapu
Issuing trespass orders against whanau
Opposing whanau development in the environment court
Collecting and trying to trade Maori Taonga
Establishing rights on Whakakoro for Meridian Energy, QE 11, DOC, and other environment groups.
Building on land that we are trying to have returned as a reserve without permission
Permitting archaeologists onto Whakakoro to undertake studies
Operating a tourist venture that allowed tourist to go into Pa sites, and Waahi Tapu
All these things without once consulting with the Tangata Whenua Ngati Haua have had a claim (wai 696) lodged with the Waitangi Tribunal since 1997 to have all ancestral lands returned.

In 2005 He sold it for $4.5 million to high profile property developer Kim Spencer who had intensions of

subdividing Whakakoro into 33 blocks
selling those blocks off for approx 1 million dollars each
Putting a $5 million dollar road network through the land including phone and power infrastructure

All these things without once consulting with the Tangata Whenua. Only when his attempts to develop the land were opposed by Ngati Haua and it was evident that he would not be able to develop the land did he try to talk to us with the hope that we were going to buy it back from him for $10 million.

So over a 12 yr period fueled by greed the inflated value for the land had increased by 1000% A delegation from Ngati Haua informed Kim Spencer about all the issues surrounding Whakakoro And made it clear that he was obligated to disclose this information to any future buyer.

SURPRISE, SURPRISE, he sold it to Philip Parker without even hinting that there were any issues in Whangape along with providing false incentives that there was a substantial profit for the buyer through subdivision development of the property.

Philip Parker was invited to Whangape Marae to introduce himself and to inform us that he was not given any information about Ngati Haua and their claim to Whakakoro.
He is currently taking legal proceedings against Kim Spencer and others that lured him into this dispute. He supports our claim to have the land returned and has cancelled the sale as a result. The financiers, bankers, Property developers are all trying to get themselves out of the financial mess they are in.


So what are they attempting to do?

Sell it to the next person based on deception that there are no issues to be addressed in Whangape and that the next buyer will be living in Harmony with the Tangata Whenua or, perpetuate the myth that it is a sub dividers dream with lots of sellable land that will lead to huge profits. All of a sudden there have been Millionaires, Politicians, and foreign investors all who have some financial interests at stake contacting us seeking to get themselves out of the poo they have created.

They do not want us to be successful in our claim because it would be financial suicide for them.

As a result we are now determined to ensure the land is returned into the ownership of Ngati Haua.
We need to highlight our claim to ensure our voice is heard and to ensure these issues are addressed. This is an issue for all New Zealanders to support because this land is one of the last coastal propertyýs untouched by the govt, foreign investors, housing development, corporate companies, or exclusive individual owners.
We want to protect our rights and those of future generations forever.

Our Tupuna owned in lived on the land which was for all the Hapu, than the crown legislated creating the means to individualise title, alienating the land from the Hapu, then Kauri Logging industry stripped the land bare of millions of tonnes of Kauri making huge profits for themselves, than 3 generations of the Geddes Family farmed the land for their own personal gain, than they sold it to a Lotto winner for $700000.00, who sold it for $4.5million to someone who wanted to cut it up with the intent to make $33 million.
He sold the land to someone else for $10 million and during all of this we have waited, watching our sacred Maunga being used as a commodity and a few have stood against this with the dream that Whakakoro can be protected forever by Ngati Haua.


WHAT ARE WE TRYING TO DO ?

We need to stop the mortgagee tender by first mortgagers Property Funding Ltd and brokered by Barfoot and Thompson which closes at the end of the month.

We need to stop any Property developers purchasing this property and putting our way of life at risk.

We need to discourage buyers from this area and tell them the truth that this land belongs to Ngati Haua.

THIS LAND IS YOUR BIRTHRIGHT HANDED DOWN BY OUR TUPUNA WE WILL DO WHAT EVER IT TAKES TO HAVE IT RETURNED HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Come and join the occupation and make your stand and share in the knowledge (remember to koha to the kaupapa)
Contact Paul Humphries 021 873 934 or Philip Davis 021 588 843 of Barfoot and Thompson to oppose the tender and that you support the return of Whakakoro.
Talk to your whanau and friends to tell them the real story
Ring us to show your support (09) 4093508
Richard Raroa Murray Marae Delegate to Te Runanga o Te Rarawa Whakakoro Action Committee Secretary Spokesperson!

http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/72895/index.php