WARD KAMO, NGATI MUTUNGA IS AN ENTREPRENEURS DREAM TRIBE OF THE FUTURE & JOHN KEY VISITS THE CHATHAM ISLANDS 2012 – 1st VISIT

TV3 Reports:“Leaders in the Chatham Islands say young people are  leaving to find jobs and it’s ripping the heart out of the community.

Ward Kamo, who heads the local iwi trust, used John  Key’s official welcome to launch a passionate campaign for building industry on Chatham.

“We’ve had 30 of their young people, with their  families, leave the islands in the past six months,” he says.

“In an island of 500, that’s dramatic. It’s ripping  out the productive core of our population.”

Prime Minister John Key says he wasn’t taken aback by the islanders’ direct approach.

“People are passionate about this part of New  Zealand,” says Mr Key.

“I’m the Prime Minister of this part of New Zealand,  like I am the rest of New Zealand, and why wouldn’t they take the opportunity to  tell me, ‘Hey, these are the issues we are facing, these are the challenges and we need your help.’”

Mr Key says all the issues are resolvable.

Today he’s expected to tour the islands’ crumbling  ports and proposed power generation sites, and locals will continue to hammer home their message about what help is required.

Photo – Ward Kamo

Later today Mr Key is expected to announce a $400,000  grant for new social housing, but the islands also need new wharves, a  re-surfaced runway and cheaper power prices.

While in the Chathams, Mr Key posed for the cameras holding  a crayfish, even going so far as to kiss it.”

3 News / RadioLIVE.

TVNZ’s coverage with Michael Parkin was excellent on the story. No clip online though?!

What’s at stake in the Chathams? Well if you look at China’s news, Islands are rich source of fish, oil and gas.

Leon Panetta is also visiting NZ from the USA at this time. In the most boring news tone ever, the USA has positioned that the USA has snubbed NZ’s navy for being in US waters, implying NZ would be lucky? to be back in US waters? This is the tone of NZ media today.

Panetta’s visit signals a renewing of military relationship. I don’t like the tone, as the USA is very lucky to have any Kiwis near the US in my opinion.

In fact, the USA desperately needs NZ’s future resources to even turn on an air conditioner or a heater in winter or eat quality food in the future, otherwise China will be doing that with NZ’s resources instead. So can we have more of a realistic news tone from the US, or Panetta or whoever, in such stories.

The USA wants to send navy boats into New Zealand’s EEZ territories is more the point as who will fetch the resource back to the US’s people? Resources that Ngati Mutunga have richly for example, that the USA (or China) could utilize need to be transported how?

The concerns listed for renewed US-NZ military ties are given as “the threat of China.” Well, China is no threat to the US if you look at USA’s trade deals record. China has bought $1 trillion of USA’s $12 trillion foreign debt, so China is very much an ally of the USA in an economic way.

How can the Chathams be seen more in light of a lucrative community needing investment in light of such political happenings and talks on the wider radar? It has the potential to supply product to China and the USA if it so chose in the future.

So the Chathams could do fish, oil, gas, rare earth minerals – if it wanted to. It’s nice that the PM has committed $400k of NZ’s funds to improve the housing situation of The Chathams at this time. It’s rare you see NZ’s PM looking so happy, a real testament to the Chatham’s lifestyle and people. A cool story. Nice to see Ngati Mutunga rocking and smiling! :)

Perhaps a mix of Chinese investment (for fisheries) as well as Iwi investment in the future could help Ngati Mutunga too get ahead with entrepreneurial endeavor more, on top of what the government is so generously doing as well. A liked this story.

Ngati Mutunga is a historic tribe of New Zealand being the rohe of Te Rangihiroa, a great icon of NZ as a model citizen with Maori-USA realtions and ties going back many years.

~Posted by Horiwoodblog, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 21.9.12~