Hei Whakakoakoa

Tu Tangata, Issue 8, 1 October 1982, Page 35

Hei Whakakoakoa

Got a bill from Bellamys for the last Maori Affairs Department conference at Parliament addressed to Mr Hui Whakatauira. Now will the real Maori member for Parliament step forward please! Then there was the letter to the editor addressed to Mr Te Kaea, obviously about a leading article.

Also spotted this month was the following review in the Pacific Islands Monthly. No, its not that the editor of Tu Tangata is getting too big-headed, it could be put down to a typographical error. However the editor did think the review was worthy of a reply which follows the article.

“Maoridom has a new voice

Whaanga Published by the New Zealand Department of Maori Affairs. Private Bag, Wellington. Subscription SNZS for six issues a year, available from the department. Overseas subscribers, $7.50. The New Zealand Department of Maori Affairs has taken a praiseworthy

initiative in publishing Tu Tangata, a magazine featuring news and views on Maoridom. The editor, Philip Whaanga, says that the magazine will carry ‘regular features on politics, community happenings, health, people and arts', and that ‘Tu Tangata wants to promote discussion especially on contentious issues, but it should be noted that opinions expressed are those of individual contributors and not the Department of Maori Affairs’.

The magazine is produced to the highest professional standards and is printed by the New Zealand Government Printer. The range of articles included in the issue I received would be of interest to a wide range of readers, both Maori and non-Maori. The editor appears to have been allowed to operate even-handedly, as equal coverage has been given to the views of the main Maori political groupings and their attitudes towards Maori political representation. However, I have an uneasy feeling that perhaps the magazine is adopting a rather ethnocentric attitude. I hope that it will not establish a narrow approach: New Zealand is home to the world's largest Polynesian population. New Zealand Maoris, Cook Islanders, Samoans, Niueans, Tokelauans, and others. But the only reference in the issue I read to the existence in New Zealand of the island Polyesians was that Dorice Read, a Rarotongan, is a National Party candidate for the Auckland Central Parlia-

mentary seat. Interestingly enough, Mrs Read is listed together with National Party Maori candidates. Tu Tangata needs to be nurtured and given the chance to establish its credentials as a respected vehicle for the expression of opinions generated from Maoridom. It is to be hoped that it will continue to reflect all shades of the political spectrum and that it will reveal the strengths of Maoridom to all sections of the New Zealand populance. W.G. Coppell. " Tu Tangata magazine does adopt an ethnocentric attitude in its news coverage and makes no apologies. This is a pro-Polynesian magazine that takes its stand to fill the vacuum in this eurocentric country. The wealth of news amongst the Polynesian people that is ignored by tne main media channels in New Zealand is the mainstay of Tu Tangata. It’s likely to remain this way until the media reflect the multi-racial mix in New Zealand society. ED.