Unuhia te rito o te harakeke kei whea te kōmako e kō?
Whakatairangitia – rere ki uta, rere ki tai;
Ui mai koe ki ahau he aha te mea nui o te ao,
Māku e kī atu he tangata, he tangata, he tangata!

Remove the heart of the flax bush and where will the kōmako sing?
Proclaim it to the land, proclaim it to the sea;
Ask me, “What is the greatest thing in the world?”
I will reply, “It is people, people, people!”

He komako tenei, he komako kawe karere, he komako kawe matauranga ki te iwi. Anei 'Te Komako motuhake'. Ka rere tenei manu ki tai, ka rere tenei manu ki uta, kia hora nga whakaaro tuturu o te tangata. Ko Indymedia he huinga motuhake o etahi ohu papaho me nga kairipoata tini ka whakapahotia nga pitopito korero o te wa, ki tua te ringa kaha o nga kaporeihana. No reira ka mihi whanui ki nga waka maha, ki nga whanau, ki nga hapu, ki nga iwi, ki nga hapori whanui i roto i nga ahuatanga katoa o te wa.

We have changed the CMS of the Aotearoa Indymedia website. Have a look around, set up an account - and publish your news! If things aren't working, please email the tech collective (imc-aotearoa-tech@lists.indymedia.org). Get in touch with a local group (Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch or Dunedin) or start your own. Help out with the editorial collective (email imc-aotearoa-ed@lists.indymedia.org) or get involved with radio and film projects.

[image:112]

Five Tongan People's Representatives, charged with sedition in relation to the Nuku'alofa riots, have asked not to be tried by a jury, but by judge alone. The accused, 'Akilisi Pohiva, 'Isileli Pulu, William Clive Edwards;/a>, Lepolo Taunisila and 'Uliti Uata will be submitted in six weeks time to the Supreme Court for a trial date to be set. The alleged incident took place in the Cabinet Room at the Prime Minister's Office on the afternoon of November 16 last year.

A second sedition charge jointly for Pohiva, Edwards and Uata, relates to speeches they made at Pangai Si'i on November 14. There is also a joint charge of unlawful assembly for all five accused, which will be submitted also to the Supreme Court because it is under their jurisdiction. The preliminary inquiry hearing into the sedition charges ran from May 14-30.

Tonga's Prime Minister, Fred Sevele, says his government is still committed to political reform, but change will not come as fast as some might prefer - a promise heard many times by the pro-democracy movement in the past 30 years. [ More ]

'Akilisi Pohiva will speak at a seminar on Thursday, 14 June, 10am - 3pm, Fale Pasifika, University of Auckland, 20-26 Wynyard St. Other speakers are Lopeti Senituli, Political Advisor to the Prime Minister; Dr Malakai Koloamatangi, Canterbury University and Sitiveni Halapua, Acting Chairman of the Tonga National Committee for Political Reform.

Links: matangitonga | UNITYblog AIMC Reports Nov 2006: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

[image:47 align=left hspace=10 node=46]At the Asia Pacfic Festival in Wellington, Australian composer Martin Wesley-Smith's piece Papua Merdeka was dropped from the program after pressure from the Indonesian Embassy. Instead Martin's composition Weapons of Mass Distortion was played.

"The Asia Pacific Festival is supposedly devoted to the study of the music of Asia Pacific cultures - yet it kowtows to a situation where an Asia Pacific culture is being destroyed. What's more, apparently an official in a foreign embassy can dictate what New Zealanders are allowed to look at and listen to. To an outsider, it seems that New Zealand democracy ain't worth very much… " says Martin.

West Papua has been occupied by the Indonesian Military since 1962. Since 1962 human rights groups estimate that the Indonesian Military has killed 100,000 West Papuans. Papuans enjoy few civil rights. Currently there are two men in prison for 15 and 10 years for simply flying the West Papuan flag at a peaceful protest. Villages have been bombed and napalmed by the Indonesian military, and West Papua’s vast natural resources, such as copper, gold and natural gas, have been sold off to multinational corporations from the US, Britain and Australia, which have raped Papua’s environment and destroyed its communities.

Links: Martin Wesley-Smith | Massive Indonesian Military build up in Punjak Jaya, West Papua, fear for civilians | Peace Movement Aotearoa | Indonesia Human Rights Committee | Background: The West Papuan Tragedy |