Telling Taiwan from New Zealand: Anatomy of a thoughtless tweet

This is a cautionary tale based on the biggest ever blunder I’ve made in cyberspace.

My mistake happened yesterday because of the photo shown above. The photo is from a landslide which fell on a Taiwanese motorway in 2010. Unbeknown to me until yesterday, a 6.5 magnitude earthquake in the ocean north of the Philippines struck the port city of Keelung in north-east Taiwan on 26 April 2010. My ignorance of this event and photograph of the motorway landslide there would get me in trouble.

Yesterday morning, I was taking a break at work and looking for online images of the deadly Christchurch earthquake which struck a day earlier. I was feeling relieved at the time as a mate of mine from Christchurch had just gotten online to say he and his family were safe. I was now searching the #eqnz hashtag on Twitter for interesting Twitpics of the earthquake. I found some amazing images but one really stood out. It was the picture of the Taiwanese landslide above, but purporting to be from New Zealand.

I found it from a tweet by Frangii, one David Frangiosa from Brisbane which was then retweeted by Shotz Digital Prints also of Brisbane.
It read “Tragey in #EQNZ but this looks like it could be an add for a 4WD http://twitpic.com/42qv28” You can't find that twitpic now, it no longer exists. Te spelling alone should have alerted me to a problem. The bit about “an add” also suggested it might have been photoshopped. Yet I was simply gobsmacked by what I saw. The scale of the landslide was massive and it was all too easy to imagine there might be dead people buried under the immense pile of rubble. For reasons I can barely fathom, I simply wanted this to be true.

I didn’t take a screen grab at the time so I can’t remember what the exact text of the caption was in the twitpic. I do remember it had #eqnz tagged against it but that was too small a token of authenticity and no excuse for what I did next. Without further research and still mesmerised by the photo, I went to twitter and forwarded the twitpic on with this tweet: “this #eqnz motorway damage photo is almost surreal http://twitpic.com/42qv28”.

I then went back to my work and thought nothing more about Twitter for another hour or so, though I couldn’t get the image out of my head. While I was gone, I was unaware many others would see my tweet. I had committed two classic mistakes. Firstly I hadn’t taken the time to authenticate the photo and secondly I did take the time to remove the attribution.

The photo was more surreal than I gave it credit for. It took off and would be retweeted a further 90 times with the vast majority quoting me as the source. I would be later notified in a tweet from Trends NZ that my twitter handle was trending in New Zealand. By then I knew I was in trouble.

A quick look at the retweets showed me what had happened. Initially I was followed by six retweets with no comments. Then people started adding “holy hell”, “oh hell”, “WOW" and “Theres a mountain in my hwy”. In turn these people’s tweets were retweeted by their followers. A classic network pattern was emerging where I was the hub of the information. My "almost surreal" tweet was attracting a lot more attention than Frangii's original "add for a 4WD".

Finally some of the re-tweeters started to question its veracity. 18 tweets after mine, came the first question from @CNell_NZ in Wellington saying “You are kidding me”. One tweet later @flukazoid added “o hai photoshop”. But the next 16 settled back into admiration until @jesidres put the record straight with this tweet: “http://twitpic.com/42qv28 - It's not actually from #EQNZ- the image is at least 6 months old.”

@Jesidres didn’t mention my name but the next seven did, all retweeting my comments or the additions to them without question. @lukechristensen also knew it was fake and admonished @nzben for retweeting it but not me. @BabetteNOS took the conversation into Dutch while still saying these were images of New Zealand: “Heftige beelden uit NZ http://twitpic.com/42qv28, Correspondent @RobertPortier is onderweg, maar twittert even niet omdat hij rijdt. #EQNZ."
There were three more “wow” retweets of my mine when I got the first direct response saying there was a problem. @LMRIQ wrote “This is actually a really old photo pre-2011 RT @derekbarry: this #eqnz motorway damage photo is almost surreal http://twitpic.com/42qv28”.

Still the reinforcing retweets came with another seven variants on the “Wow” theme.
Finally Elpie put Frangii straight about where the photo came from. “@Frangii http://twitpic.com/42qv28 - This image has nothing to do with the #Christchurch #eqnz. Its Taiwan, April 2010: http://bit.ly/gSnaRb”. Elpie didn't send it to me so I remained in the dark about its provenance. All I kept getting were nine more retweets which maintained the “holy hell” line. A questioning few were changing in tone. @carorolyn asked “only almost?”. A full 28 more tweets maintained the wow factor before @merrolee begged to differ. “I don't think so - this is not Chch..The ChristChurch earthquake buried this highway. Amazing image - http://alic.am/dKKoR3 #eqnz”. Yet right to the end, people swallowed the NZ line until Franjii deleted the photo.

The level of scepticism was higher among those who responded to me without retweeting the photo. This from @blisterguy: “@vavroom @derekbarry @cjlambert that's not actually anywhere near Christchurch, or New Zealand, for that matter #eqnz”
This from @simongrigor - “@derekbarry is that photo even NZ? Doesn't look familiar??”
And @Nathanealb - “@Sephyre @derekbarry @DDsD That photo is not #eqnz ...”
And @vebbed - “@ViewNewZealand @vavroom @derekbarry @cjlambert that aint NZ”
And @surgeInwelly “@sarahlalor @phoeberuby @derekbarry where is it exactly?... are you sure it's genuine?”
lmsmith - “@derekbarry @cadetdory STOP RTing that, it's not in CHch.”
altwohill - “@derekbarry except it's not exactly #nz, is it?
@mellopuffy - “@derekbarry @nzben that looks like a fake pls check before retweeting #eqnz”
And on it went. Some pointed out the cars were going the wrong way, Others that Canterbury was flat and had few six-lane highways. It was possibly Europe said one, possibly America said another until someone finally gave me the Taiwan link.

Some were angry I had posted it with a #eqnz tag conferring legitimacy (as the vast majority of the retweets seemed to swallow). “Don't know who started it, but it was fear mongering and stupid. Makes me sad,” said one.
I knew then it was time for a retraction. I went back online to post this: “apologies all about the motorway pic. Its a fake. A nano-second of research before sending it would have helped.”

The retraction was wrong too; it wasn't a fake. The photo was real but wasn’t New Zealand. I was right about the research though. Particularly as a journalist I should have known better. Too often I’ve laughed at the Richard Wilkins and Kochies of this world whose tweets get them into trouble and now here I was making an ass of myself the same way.

I showed naivety, lack of thoroughness and no care or attention to the consequences of my actions. In one sense it was a minor error, but it may also have helped to spread misinformation about a major tragedy. The death toll is approaching 100 and likely to far exceed that. I apologise to anyone I might have offended with my tweet. The power of Twitter deserves much better.

Fiji turns the screws on the media

Opponents of Fiji’s media censorship want to set up a pirate radio station in international waters to broadcast news and music currently banned by the Frank Bainimarama dictatorship. Usaia Waqatairewa, the Sydney-based president of the Fiji Democracy and Freedom Movement, told the ABC today they wanted to put an antenna on an American or Australian registered ship located outside Fiji's legal jurisdiction. Waqatairewa says Internet access was rare in Fiji and people needed another means of getting news the Bainimarama government isn't letting them hear. “What we're planning to do is to if we could in some way set up a freedom radio that does not have the control of the regime in Fiji and be able to broadcast out the real news, instead of their propaganda and what they have censored themselves,” he said. (photo by Jachin Sheehy)

The announcement comes just days after the Fijian dictator, who has ruled since 2006, claimed the country would probably not be “ready” for elections in 2014. It also comes less than a month after strict new laws further inhibited Fiji’s media from honestly reporting on what is happening there. On 29 June the military backed regime introduced its new "Media Industry Development Decree 2010" which brought in a new set of strict rules governing Fiji’s media. The laws strengthen already tough laws governing the media, military intimidation of reporters, censors in newsrooms and the deportation of foreign-born newspaper executives.

One of those executives was Russell Hunter who was the former managing-director of the Fiji Sun before he was deported in 2007. Hunter called the laws draconian and an erosion of freedom and basic human rights. The laws give the media authority the right to demand the name of confidential sources if the story relates to government corruption. Journalists could be fined $50,000 and jailed for two years for work deemed against the “public interest or order”. The most well-known provision is the 10 percent limit on foreign ownership as it directly affects the News Ltd owned Fiji Times, which is the country’s oldest and largest newspaper.

The Fijian Government has now given News Ltd three months to sell the paper or be forcibly shut down. It also casts huge doubts over the viability of foreign investment in the country at the very time it is most needed. News Limited boss John Hartigan said the laws eroded the "basic tenets of democracy" in Fiji. "This illegal government has retrospectively withdrawn permission for foreign media investment in Fiji, which is not only grossly unfair but will inevitably be enormously damaging to Fiji's reputation as an attractive investment opportunity," he said.

In response, the Fijian media regulator said the country’s media needs to be a part of the regime not an opponent. Former Canberra-based academic Satendra Nandan, chair of the Media Industry Development Authority, said action needed to be taken against newspapers such as The Fiji Times, which had acted against the Bainimarama government. Nandan told The Australian the Times’ coverage of the scrapping of the judiciary and constitution last year was “abusive and scurrilous”. "The Fiji Times took a strong stand against the current government and the abrogation of the constitution and they didn't consider the national interest,” Nandan said.

The New Zealand Herald says the media laws are part of an ongoing removal of Fijians' rights including quashing the constitution, removing dissent and empty promises on a new election. With 60 percent of Fiji’s tourist income coming from New Zealand and Australia, the Herald rightly suggest the time is now right to reconsider holiday plans in Fiji. “Tourists might like to say that Fijian businesses and jobs should not be penalised for the sins of the regime,” the paper said. “But they are undermining their own country's diplomatic efforts."

New Zealand passes ETS legislation

Not for the first time, New Zealand has beaten Australia to the punch for a great democratic innovation. Today on 1 July, 2010 it became the first country in the Asia Pacific region to implement an Emissions Trading Scheme. The passing of the legislation will look even more remarkable to Australian eyes given that it was a conservative administration that has enacted it.

The legislation was the brainchild of the old Helen Clark Labour administration but when the Nationals won the election in 2008, the new John Key Government amended it with input from the Maori Party and United Future. These are two of the minor parties Key needed the support of to form a stable majority Government and their horsetrading insisted an ETS be part of the deal. Key himself committed to 50 percent reductions of 1990 levels by 2050. And so while the Nationals have watered down some provisions, it represents a real start for emissions trading in the region that Australians will need to study closely.

A new trading concept, the New Zealand Unit, is now in existence with one one NZU being the right to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide, or the equivalent amount of certain other greenhouse gases. Under the plan householders won’t have to take any direct action though they will notice slightly larger energy bills. Businesses who engage in certain mandated activities however, will now be obliged to surrender NZUs to the Government to account for the greenhouse gas emissions they incur during their business.

With few of New Zealand’s major trading partners yet signed up for an ETS, Kiwi companies may be slightly disadvantaged in trading due to the additional taxation burden imposed on them. However these same companies will be ahead of the game when other countries bow to the inevitable and impose similar schemes of their own. Don’t expect Australia to quickly learn the lesson. As well as the intractable political problems caused by Key’s contemporaries in the Liberal Party, the country is also is too trapped in the short-term focus of the media cycle to ever raise its head above the parapet long enough to judge an ETS on its own merits.

Even the supposedly neutral ABC’s report on the ETS today was framed in terms of cost rather than impact. This may be acceptable journalism for New Zealand media whose customers will be directly affected. But the ABC has no constituency in New Zealand and therefore should not have fallen into the trap of reporting it in terms of people “bracing for higher electricity prices” rather than looking at the longer term impact. There is little discussion in any media today what an ETS might do in terms of improving the way Kiwis see themselves, setting an example to others, being a good world citizen. not to mention whether it will actually reduce emissions.

The New Zealand ETS probably won’t initially reduce emissions. But like a ship with a wide turning circle, it forces a radical change of direction that is not immediately apparent. It will at the very least make people think about emissions in their business decision making. Given that it will also increase the price of petrol and electricity it may even impact on consumer behaviour and make them more frugal with energy, surely a desirable consequential impact.

There are justifiable criticisms of the plan but there is nothing that cannot be tweaked. The agriculture sector is omitted until 2015 despite being the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand with almost half the total emissions. But although they may bitch and moan, they will come under the scheme in four years. The cap and trade ETS is not without its problems (not least that it was designed for pollution in a small American market). The EU version founded in 2005 is flawed by the free permits given to heavy industry. The New Zealand version is also generous to polluters but is the first true all-sectors all-gases scheme in the world. It is a brave first step by a small and independent country. New Zealand has set a good standard for Australia and the rest of the world to follow.

Romero Centre refugee week film festival at Yungaba

Life throws up a few unexpected pleasures from time to time. If I hadn't checked Facebook this morning, I wouldn't have known Andrew Bartlett was broadcasting live on 4ZZZ Brisbane community radio at the time. if I hadn't listened in, I wouldn't have heard the interview he did about refugees with Kathi McCulloch, the coordinator of the Romero Centre. If I hadn't heard the interview I wouldn't have known that there was a Refugee Week film festival tonight at the wonderful Kangaroo Point building known as Yungaba. So on the spur of the moment, I went along and was treated to an evening of three films, discussion, food and drink, and good company.

The Romero Centre is a faith-based ecumenical social justice organisation. The centre is named for El Salvadorian Catholic Archbishop Oscar Romero who was assassinated by his own government in 1980 for fighting human abuses. As part of the spiteful regime of the former Howard Government, the Romero Centre was ineligible for funding from the Department of Immigration because of its work with Temporary Protection Visa (TPV) holders. Now that is beginning to change and new funding possibilities are opening up along with the great ideas they can purchase.

The film festival about refugees is one such great idea and Yungaba is a perfect venue to host it. The heritage listed building was built as an immigration depot for Brisbane in 1885. For over a hundred years it became a local version of Ellis Island and was listed recently as a Queensland icon. But the building has now been sold to private developers who will probably turn it in to boutique apartments for the wealthy. In the meantime it was an honour to be among a hundred people at one of the final public gatherings in what McCulloch called this “joyous space”.

There were three films shown in the festival, all of which touched on the refugee experience. The first, and shortest, was “See Through Me” a collection of tough street experiences of ten young Somali-Australian immigrants made by the Refugee Health Research Centre of La Trobe University in Melbourne. The “fight or flight” mentality became easier to see from their perspective. As one Somali boy said when taunted by a gang, “I was outnumbered, I had to ignore them or I would have copped the damage”.

The second film was Freedom or Death. “Freedom or Death” was the slogan of the refugees held in Nauru detention centre for several shameful years during the height of John Howard’s notorious Pacific Solution. The mendicant state of Nauru was bought off by the Australian Government to house boatpeople in an environment that was excised from Australian law. The refugees became sick of living with no hope of release in an environment where phosphate got into the food and into the feet. They fought back with the only weapons they had: their bodies. Howard branded the Nauru 2003 hunger strike as “blackmail” and refused to negotiate with them. But as lawyer Julian Burnside said “they were playing the only card they had”.

Out of their midst emerged a born leader. Chaman Shah Nasiri (pictured seated next to Kathi McCulloch) was a young man whose dignity could not be repressed and it was he who got his fellow inmates to end the hunger strike before anyone died. Chaman, like most of the rest of them, is a Hazara, a Shia community which were heavily discriminated against in Sunni Taliban Afghanistan. He described the terror of trying to get to Australia in leaky, dangerous boats and pay $16,000 for the privilege. He was a natural spokesman for the group and he was in the delegation that spoke to the then-Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone’s office in 2003. Chaman is now happy to be settled in Australia where “he can breathe the air of freedom” and reminded the audience that Australia is a signatory of the UNHCR convention/protocol on refugees.

The final film was called “Pacific Solution: from Afghanistan to Aotearoa”. It tells the story of those rescued from the MV Tampa in 2001 who were taken in by New Zealand. While Australia and New Zealand share a common colonial heritage, they treated refugees radically differently in the early 2000s. While Howard banged on stridently about “us” deciding who could stay in Australia and under what conditions, the Helen Clark government took a more compassionate approach (often against the anger of many New Zealanders worried about immigration). New Zealand immediately accepted 131 of the 438 Tampa asylum seekers (including about 40 unaccompanied boys). The film took in the touching story of how the rest of the family joined one of these boys in Auckland, and the culture and language difficulties they found on arrival. This family was also Hazara and had to leave Afghanistan. As Julian Burnside said “when your own country wants to kill you…what choice do you have?”

While TPVs and Nauru are gone, the problem has not fully gone away. There is compassion fatigue within the industry. The media is always ready to play up fears about “border protection”, despite the reality that Australia is no danger of being “swamped” by refugees. The current Australian Government is worried about being wedged on the issue – they remember only too well that Howard had a 90 percent approval rating over Tampa. Yet they could also do well from learning how the Kiwis quietly and effectively dealt with the problem. Refugees need help and by international law and the covenants that Australia has signed, we must help them. Nights like tonight at Yungaba are a useful reminder of how that help can be sustained at an individual level.

The metamorphosis of Anzac Day

Watching today's Anzac Day marches on television, I was struck with how familiar it looked to twenty years ago when I first arrived in Australia. In 1989 I saw the last few First World War diggers lead the parade. They were dying out then and now they are all gone. Today it is the turn of fading World War II vets to see comrades dying in numbers similar to when they first met.

Anzac Day is about ritual which is one of the reasons the media love covering it. The day is a stable source of controllable news and a rare chance to get away with clichés about pride, mateship and honour. One of those rituals is the day off work and it was skewed today falling on a Saturday. Numbers were down on last year as people didn’t feel giving the same time sacrifice on the weekend, and most states did not give a holiday on Monday.

The other key traditions of the dawn service, the parade and the two-up, were still well in evidence. A newer tradition is the battleground service in which Australians and Kiwis combine overseas holiday with a pilgrimage. Numbers were down at Gallipoli this year. According to the ABC it was the fault of the recession but today's event at Lone Pine still attracted 7500 people. Another 3000 packed out the French 1918 battle site at Villiers-Bretonneux which rose to prominence on its 90th anniversary last year.

Though overseas Anzac Day celebration dates back to 1916, it was possibly one of the few things the well-drilled founders of the tradition probably hadn’t anticipated. On 25 April 1916, Australian and New Zealand troops celebrated in England, Egypt and the Middle East and in France (where they had just arrived). Back home the excitement generated by what had occurred a year earlier ensured it would not be forgotten.

Much of the credit for the way it captured public imagination belongs to the war reporting of Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett and Charles Bean. Throughout 1915 their lively accounts ignited a fire which the religious institutions were quick to pick up on. By June the bodies were starting to come back from Turkey in significant numbers and they continued to arrive until the operation was called off in December. Over 8000 Australians died in the campaign and a national day of mourning was needed to deal with the massive collective grief.

Yet Anzac Day did not ignite spontaneously. The first Anzac Day Commemoration Committee was set up in January 1916. It was Brisbane auctioneer Thomas Augustine Ryan who decided 25 April was a good day to have the commemoration. He was a member of the local recruiting committee and the father of a soldier who survived the campaign. Ryan suggested the idea to TJ Ryan (no relation, as far as I’m aware) the then-Labor Premier of Queensland. Premier Ryan convened a meeting of local luminaries on 10 January 1916 and they appointed Anglican priest Canon Garland to draw up an agenda.

David John Garland was a remarkable political operator. He was a true missionary and an organiser with a fearsome reputation for getting things done. He was perfect for the Anzac job. Born in Dublin, he emigrated to Queensland in 1886 aged 18 to follow a law career. He fell under the influence of a Toowoomba Anglo-Catholic rector who employed him while he prepared for ordination. Garland was a chaplain in the army prior to the Boer War and spent ten years in Western Australia where he successfully got the rules changed to allow religious education in state schools. He came back to Queensland where he did the same and also won a referendum to allow bibles in state schools.

It was no surprise co-ordination should start in Brisbane. The first troops ashore at Anzac were the Queensland 9th Battalion of the 3rd Australian Infantry Brigade. The Ninth were also the first to return home in coffins in large numbers. As 1915 progressed a culture of commemoration grew in the city. Brisbane was quick to get other Australian and New Zealand cities involved. Garland also astutely arranged for marchers to get free public transport from Queensland Rail.

Although the 10 January meeting was initially organised by the Queensland Recruiting Committee to raise more troops, it didn’t take long for Garland to get his memorial on to the agenda. He got a motion passed to “make arrangements for, and carry out the celebrations of Anzac Day". The Brisbane Courier reported Garland said the war was teaching people “their duty to God in a degree would compensate for their neglect of God in the past”. Defeat at Anzac should not be considered a disgrace, Garland said.

Garland made sure the ADCC council was ecumenical and used his Irishness to woo the suspicious Catholic hierarchy. Garland included a two minute's silence which allowed everyone to quietly pray to their own God. There would also be time for speeches, hymns, the Last Post and God Save the Queen. It would be followed by a march of returned service men. Once Anzac became a commemoration that did not compromise sectarianism, all religions wanted a part of it. Together they would ensure Anzac Day had a religious as well as secular meaning. The ADCC wanted the day to have a similar feel of solemnity to Good Friday (which it was very close to on the calendar – in fact in 1916, it was just four days before Anzac Day). No cinemas, racecourse, hotels or sporting venues were allowed to open.

Royal support proved crucial. King George V attended the 1916 Anzac Day two minute's silence at Westminster Abbey. He issued a rare message direct to Australians: “Today I am joining them in their solemn tribute to the memory of their heroes who died in Gallipoli. They gave their lives for a supreme cause in gallant comradeship”.

Even with royal imprimatur, it would take 14 years for the idea to be institutionalised across Australia. Garland worked tirelessly and in 1921, he lobbied the Prime Minister to declare a uniform celebration across the Commonwealth. New Zealand declared it a day of solemn remembrance in 1920, Queensland followed a year later and WA in 1923. Businesses and hotels were required to close until 12.30pm to allow for services and the march. Seven years later Garland got Queensland to shut everything down for the day. Sensing an election tactic, the federal government took over ownership of Anzac Day from him and laid the Inauguration Stone at the National War Memorial in 1929.

The tactic failed for Prime Minister Stanley Bruce who was to lose the election and his seat a few months later. At the June 1929 Premier’s Conference, he invited all church denominations to hold memorial services the following year and asked the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia (RSSILA) to arrange meetings of remembrance. There wasn’t total agreement. The RSSILA could not decide if it wanted the tone of the meetings to be solemn or jubilant. It decided on both: solemnity in the morning and carnivals in the afternoon allowing the opening of sporting venues and bars.

Most states went with the RSSILA (now RSL) model. Queensland went it alone with the “sacred day” approach closing bars all day until the 1964 Anzac Day act was modified to allow the opening of hotels, racecourses and other places of amusement. Australia finally had a nationally sanctified and consistent Anzac Day that appealed to both the spiritual and the worldly side of the nation’s psyche.

Brave Niue World: Pacific Islands Forum opens

The Honourable Toke Tufukia Talagi MP, Prime Minister of Niue, formally opened the 39th Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders on Tuesday. Talagi takes on the chair of the forum for the next four years taking over from Tongan Prime Minister Feleti Sevele. The Niuean PM named climate change as the most pressing concern for the forum. “The challenges for the region is no longer a matter for research or scientific theory and modelling,” he said. “The evidence is quite clear that climate change is already wreaking havoc here.”

Talagi was referring to 2004’s Cyclone Heta which devastated the capital Alofi. Although one person died, he said if that cyclone had struck one of the lower-lying islands in the Pacific, “a human disaster might surely have eventuated”. Talagi said the PIF shouldn't wait until a worse human catastrophe occurs before acting. He said the current international attention on climate change presents an opportunity for the region “to negotiate and secure tangible assistance for people already affected by climate change."

15 of the PIFs heads of government attended the summit. Fijian dictator Frank Bainimarama was the odd man out. He announced two days ago he was boycotting the forum to concentrate on “political issues at home”. The PIF expressed concern at Fiji’s absence and condemned Bainimarama’s recent statement delaying free elections beyond 2010. Australian PM and regional Big Brother Kevin Rudd believes Bainimarama has made a “grave error” by not attending. “If there is a mood across this Pacific Island Forum,” he said, “it's that Bainimarama has gone not just one step too far but many steps to far.

The forum is a rare moment in the spotlight for the small coral island 2,400 km north-east of New Zealand and 350km west of Tonga. Niue (pronounced “neeooway,” with a strong accent on the “way.”) means “behold the coconut”. It has a population of just over 1,000 which has been in decline for over 40 years. Polynesians lived on the island for many centuries before Captain Cook sailed by in 1774 denoting it “Savage Island” for its unfriendly welcome. British missionaries first arrived in the 1830s and in 1887 King Fata-a-iki bowed to the inevitable and ceded control of the island to London.

New Zealand then gained the island as a reward for its contribution to the Boer War. Since 1974 Niue has been independent "in free association" with Wellington. This means it has its own government but New Zealand is responsible for its foreign affairs. All Niuean are entitled to NZ citizenship and the “country” is reliant on NZ aid to survive. The PIF was a first hand opportunity for NZ prime minister Helen Clark to see how Niue is using a $20 million aid package to help the island recover from the 2004 cyclone.

Such oversight is necessary as Niue has a shady reputation for finance appropriation. In 2000 the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) named the island as one of 35 tax havens three days after the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) placed Niue on a money laundering blacklist. In 2002, FATF took Niue off the blacklist after the administration made “significant progress made by the jurisdiction in improving its anti-money laundering systems”.

But the continued financial due diligence may be beyond the diminished resources of this tiny island. The island's isolation and lack of industry makes it heavily dependent on New Zealand aid. The official population of 1,400 may go down further if the island holds firm on its promise to become the world’s first smoke-free jurisdiction. The island’s 250 smokers are likely to join the 20,000 Niueans already in New Zealand. With so little human capital left, Niue relies on the generosity of Wellington to survive.

Hope for future success depends on the new economy and Niue’s top level domain name “.nu”. Just as Tuvalu cashed in on its media friendly “.tv” name, Niue is relying on the fact that “nu” means “now” in Dutch and the Scandinavian languages. The island receives just 25 percent of the profits from its domain registry. But even there, Niue claims it has been cheated out of the .nu revenues by an American carpetbagger with whom they shared the rights. Talagi’s predecessor as Premier, Young Vivian, complained bitterly about the deal. "The key issue is that reasonable benefits should come to Niue," he says. "That is the goal of any leader."

Maori march against police terror arrests

Over a thousand people marched today in New Zealand’s north island in protest at Monday’s anti-terror raids when 17 Maori and environmental activists were arrested. Protesters gathered outside Whakatane police station where speakers accused police of using heavy-handed tactics in the raids in a remote mountainous region. Marchers angry about reports that police stormed a school bus, carried placards reading: "We are not terrorists, we've been terrorised" and "Don't point a gun at me, I'm under five".

The protests occurred as a result of Monday’s action when 300 police, including heavily armed special tactical response officers, in balaclavas and full riot gear, locked down the Bay of Plenty settlements of Ruatoki and Taneatua. According to NZ police the action was aimed at shutting down weapons training camps in the North Island. Police commissioner Howard Broad said participants were training for "military-style activity." Police say they seized napalm bombs, Molotov cocktails and assault rifles in the raids. Several of the group are former Vietnam War veterans.

Joint leader of the Maori Party Pita Sharples said the police action was a sad throwback to the darkest days in the country when colonial troopers stormed into Maori villages. Speaking at a conference in Queensland on Wednesday, he condemned the raids saying they set back race relations between Maori and Pakeha (White New Zealanders) by 100 years. "I can hardly believe that negative history is repeating itself,” he said. “This action has violated the trust that has been developing between Maori and Pakeha.”

According to the New Zealand Herald newspaper, the area was host to a 4,000 strong Maori-run paramilitary group called the Freedom Fighters which recruited for the camps. They interviewed a member named "Dave" who said the group ran monthly fitness camps, not guerrilla-style weapons training. "We are a very well-organised and well-disciplined organisation with up to 4000 foot soldiers,” he said. “We are focusing on racism, mental health and corruption in our Government."

Among those arrested was 55 year old Maori activist Tame Iti. Iti is a prominent Maori nationalist who was acquitted earlier this year on appeal of firing a gun at the New Zealand flag during national day celebrations in 2005. In the 1970s, he was a member of the NZ Communist Party and spent time with the Black Panthers in the US. Iti was remanded in custody in Rotorua on Wednesday and now charged with 11 firearms offences. His son Toi defended Iti’s actions. "My father is not a terrorist and the majority of the New Zealand public believe that,” he said.

The raids were the first to be carried out in five years since New Zealand passed its 2002 Terrorism Suppression Act. Despite the controversy, NZ lawmakers are pressing ahead with modifications to make the law even stronger. Opponents are worried by the changes include a new offence of committing a terrorist act which carries a term of life imprisonment.

Officially, the bill seeks to correct inconsistencies of the original act with New Zealand's UN obligations and the UN Security Council resolutions on terrorism. However the Maori Party's Pita Sharples is not convinced. Maori make up 15 percent of New Zealand's 4 million people but account for almost half of the nation's prison population. The Maori unemployment rate is also more than double the national average. "When it suits this country, it invokes the rulings of the United Nations,” said Sharples. “But when it comes to supporting the rights of indigenous people as passed by the UN, then it turns its butt."

Maori Queen dies

The Maori Queen is dead. Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu died on Tuesday at the age of 75, after a reign of more than 40 years. She will be buried according to strict protocol on the sacred mountain of Taupiri. Dame Te Ata was the longest serving head of the Kingitanga movement - the royal line, which started almost 150 years ago in an effort to stem the loss of native lands to the flood of white settlers arriving in New Zealand.

She died in her ancestral home in the North Island Waikato town of Ngaruawahia and many mourners have congregated in the area to pay their respects. A family spokeswoman said she was "tireless in terms of ensuring there were good relationships throughout all peoples of New Zealand” while Prime Minister Helen Clark said: "A mighty kauri (tree) has fallen."

Dame Te Ata gained the largely ceremonial title of queen the day her father was buried in 1966. She was recognised as a cultural ambassador for the Maori people who make up approximately 15% of New Zealand’s 4.1 million population. Her successor is expected to be named during the week of mourning. Although the throne is not hereditary, one of her seven children will inherit the post if tradition is followed. She gave a rare interview in 2003 and hinted that one of her sons would succeed her. "My feeling at the moment is that the people are ready for a male heir to take over," she said.
Dame Te Ata was the only natural child of Koroki Mahuta and Te Atairangikaahu but had many adopted siblings.

The office of Māori Queen holds no constitutional function, but Te Atairangikaahu was an avid supporter of cultural and sporting events and commonly appeared in a figurehead role at locally held, international political events involving indigenous issues. The Kingitanga, or Maori King Movement, is seen as an important expression of Maori unity and today holds an established place in New Zealand society. This has not always been the case, however. In the early 1850s, a movement was formed to establish a King in order to unify the Maoris and avoid the ‘divide and rule’ policies so successfully used by the British in other countries. In the Waikato War of the 1860s, the government attempted to destroy the movement, which it considered a threat to the authority of the British Crown.

The Treaty of Waitangi had been signed in 1840 but contained major issues of translation from English into Maori. The Maori had no word for sovereignty in their language. Ambiguity over the meaning of the word plagued the treaty for many years and remains the object of much controversy and political debate. The Treaty itself is short, consisting of only three articles. The first article of the English version grants the British monarch sovereignty over New Zealand. The second article guarantees to the chiefs, their continued chieftainship, and ownership of their lands and treasures (taonga). It also specifies that Māori will sell land only to the Crown. The third article guarantees to all Māori the same rights as all other British subjects. The treaty was never ratified by Britain and carried no legal force in New Zealand until receiving limited recognition in 1975. Many settlers did not appreciate that Māori owned land communally and that permission to settle on land did not always imply sale of that land. Under pressure from settlers the Colonial Government gradually ignored the provisions of the Treaty of Waitangi and permitted settlers to settle in areas that had uncertain ownership. Māori began resisting the alienation of their homelands to the British settlers and eventually led to war.

Potatau Te Wherowhero was formally selected as first Maori King by a meeting of chiefs of the tribes held at Pukawa, Lake Taupo in April 1857. He was crowned King Potatau during elaborate ceremonies held at his marae in Ngaruwahia in 1858. Potatau achieved good rapport with early NZ governors but never ceded sovereignty to the Crown. He died before the Waikato War started in earnest in 1863. The government wanted to obtain the fertile Waikato lands for European settlement, but the King movement, which was centred there, resisted the loss of land and control. This proved to be a great calamity for the Maori people and resulted in the confiscation of millions of acres of tribal territory. A compensation claim was not settled until 1995. Along with her brother, Sir Robert Mahuta, the Queen, Te Āta, brought to conclusion the Waikato raupatu (confiscation) claim. This settlement delivered compensation for the confiscation of lands and an official apology from the Crown. The claim settlement was a particularly significant event for Waikato people, as they secured a range of resources and economic assets. Older structures of the King movement remain in place, supplemented by initiatives such as Tainui Endowed College, a university graduate facility, and Raukura Hauora o Tainui, a major provider of health services.