title: Ūropi Tauhokohoko Ka Taea: New Zealand-European Union Free Trade Agreement: An Independent Assessment of the Impacts for Mãori

authors: Mika, Jason

abstract: This report, entitled Ūropi tauhokohoko ka taea, which means ‘the enabling of trade with Europe,’ represents an independent assessment of the New Zealand-European Union free trade agreement (NZ-EU FTA) commissioned by Manatū Aorere—Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) as part of a National Interest Analysis (NIA). An NIA is an important way in which parliament can be assured that international treaties, like FTAs, that Aotearoa New Zealand intends to enter into are done so with confidence about their contents and how New Zealanders are affected. As the government’s lead agency on trade policy, Manatū Aorere prepares NIAs, but the Trade for All Advisory Board suggested the need for more independent analysis. This report was prepared by an independent advisor who is familiar with the issues, having previously conducted similar work. Concluded in June 2022, the NZ-EU FTA is expected to come into force in 2024. When this happens, 91% of tariffs are immediately eliminated, with eventual tariff savings of $100m per annum adding to the $17.5 billion in two-way trade.  The purpose of this report was to assess key outcomes of the NZ-EU FTA for Māori, with a focus on aspects of strong interest to Māori, including key sectors of the Māori economy, as well as particular interests in services and investment, geographical indications, digital trade, and the Māori trade chapter. In keeping with the independent nature of this assessment, a holistic kaupapa Māori framework was devised consisting of four dimensions—te ao Māori (Māori world view), te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi), te ōhanga (economy), and te taiao (environment)—on which to frame the assessment. The assessment involved a five-stage process of whanaungatanga (relationships), whai hua (document analysis), whai rawa (modelling), whai whakaaro (interviews), and whakamārama (discussion). The assessment relied on available documents, existing modelling, and official information.  In terms of whai hua (documents), the assessment found that benefits for Māori include tariff elimination on Māori goods, the treaty exception, a Māori trade chapter, references to mātauranga Māori, treaty partner engagement, and representation on groups formed under the NZ-EU FTA. Reviewed documents indicate, however, that reservations remain about protection of Māori treaty rights, the softening of benefits to Māori because of pre-existing vulnerabilities, and the size of Māori economic gains. Under whai rawa (economy), while the NZ-EU FTA is forecast to add $1.4 billion to Aotearoa New Zealand’s gross domestic product (GDP) annually, the Māori economy’s share of this gain is unknown. By emulating existing modelling, the economic impact for Māori is estimated to range from NZ$80 million (low) to NZ$150 million (high) in real GDP accruing to the Māori economy as a result of the NZ-EU FTA, with $110 million per annum the most likely scenario. This assumes an 8% growth rate in the Māori economy. Distributional effects were not assessed. Under whai whakaaro (interviews with 26 individuals), the assessment found that three of the four treaty partners (Federation of Māori Authorities, Te Taumata, Iwi Chairs Forum) were buoyant about the prospects for Māori trade with the European Union (EU). Ngā Toki Whakarururanga in their assessment identified limitations in the level of protection of Māori treaty rights and the efficacy of the treaty exception. They also desire tiriti-based negotiation. Officials provided candid reflections on the NZ-EU FTA outcomes for Māori, which are included here. Implementation success will depend on continued treaty partner engagement, adequate resourcing of the same, Māoricentred trade facilitation, and advancing domestic policy work to protect Māori treaty rights in the NZ-EU FTA.

text: Ūropi Tauhokohoko Ka Taea: New Zealand-European Union Free Trade Agreement: An Independent Assessment of the Impacts for Mãori This report, entitled Ūropi tauhokohoko ka taea, which means ‘the enabling of trade with Europe,’ represents an independent assessment of the New Zealand-European Union free trade agreement (NZ-EU FTA) commissioned by Manatū Aorere—Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) as part of a National Interest Analysis (NIA). An NIA is an important way in which parliament can be assured that international treaties, like FTAs, that Aotearoa New Zealand intends to enter into are done so with confidence about their contents and how New Zealanders are affected. As the government’s lead agency on trade policy, Manatū Aorere prepares NIAs, but the Trade for All Advisory Board suggested the need for more independent analysis. This report was prepared by an independent advisor who is familiar with the issues, having previously conducted similar work. Concluded in June 2022, the NZ-EU FTA is expected to come into force in 2024. When this happens, 91% of tariffs are immediately eliminated, with eventual tariff savings of $100m per annum adding to the $17.5 billion in two-way trade.  The purpose of this report was to assess key outcomes of the NZ-EU FTA for Māori, with a focus on aspects of strong interest to Māori, including key sectors of the Māori economy, as well as particular interests in services and investment, geographical indications, digital trade, and the Māori trade chapter. In keeping with the independent nature of this assessment, a holistic kaupapa Māori framework was devised consisting of four dimensions—te ao Māori (Māori world view), te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi), te ōhanga (economy), and te taiao (environment)—on which to frame the assessment. The assessment involved a five-stage process of whanaungatanga (relationships), whai hua (document analysis), whai rawa (modelling), whai whakaaro (interviews), and whakamārama (discussion). The assessment relied on available documents, existing modelling, and official information.  In terms of whai hua (documents), the assessment found that benefits for Māori include tariff elimination on Māori goods, the treaty exception, a Māori trade chapter, references to mātauranga Māori, treaty partner engagement, and representation on groups formed under the NZ-EU FTA. Reviewed documents indicate, however, that reservations remain about protection of Māori treaty rights, the softening of benefits to Māori because of pre-existing vulnerabilities, and the size of Māori economic gains. Under whai rawa (economy), while the NZ-EU FTA is forecast to add $1.4 billion to Aotearoa New Zealand’s gross domestic product (GDP) annually, the Māori economy’s share of this gain is unknown. By emulating existing modelling, the economic impact for Māori is estimated to range from NZ$80 million (low) to NZ$150 million (high) in real GDP accruing to the Māori economy as a result of the NZ-EU FTA, with $110 million per annum the most likely scenario. This assumes an 8% growth rate in the Māori economy. Distributional effects were not assessed. Under whai whakaaro (interviews with 26 individuals), the assessment found that three of the four treaty partners (Federation of Māori Authorities, Te Taumata, Iwi Chairs Forum) were buoyant about the prospects for Māori trade with the European Union (EU). Ngā Toki Whakarururanga in their assessment identified limitations in the level of protection of Māori treaty rights and the efficacy of the treaty exception. They also desire tiriti-based negotiation. Officials provided candid reflections on the NZ-EU FTA outcomes for Māori, which are included here. Implementation success will depend on continued treaty partner engagement, adequate resourcing of the same, Māoricentred trade facilitation, and advancing domestic policy work to protect Māori treaty rights in the NZ-EU FTA.

year: 2023-05-05

title: Is physical education relevant? Interpersonal skills, values and hybridity

authors: Fitzpatrick, Katie

subjects: health education

abstract: Discussion surrounding the relevance of the document Health and Physical Education in the New Zealand Curriculum has focused on a range of areas. While some writers claim it has the potential to be emancipatory and the inclusion of interpersonal skills and values is important and meaningful, others have levelled criticisms that the document is trying to do too much and has a middle class agenda. This article reports part of the findings of a small study which explored how some Maori and Pasifika students viewed their experiences of physical education in one major urban New Zealand high school. The experiences of these students are related to Besley's notion of hybridity. Her argument suggests that young people actively negotiate and make critical decisions about what they think is relevant to them. The students believed physical education has provided them with opportunities to develop and practice care for others and to learn and apply interpersonal skills as well as to gain confidence and apply their skills in situations outside the school setting. The study argues the need for curriculum to connect with the wider lives of students and any degree of connection can only occur if students are given a voice in the curriculum implementation process.

text: Is physical education relevant? Interpersonal skills, values and hybridity Discussion surrounding the relevance of the document Health and Physical Education in the New Zealand Curriculum has focused on a range of areas. While some writers claim it has the potential to be emancipatory and the inclusion of interpersonal skills and values is important and meaningful, others have levelled criticisms that the document is trying to do too much and has a middle class agenda. This article reports part of the findings of a small study which explored how some Maori and Pasifika students viewed their experiences of physical education in one major urban New Zealand high school. The experiences of these students are related to Besley's notion of hybridity. Her argument suggests that young people actively negotiate and make critical decisions about what they think is relevant to them. The students believed physical education has provided them with opportunities to develop and practice care for others and to learn and apply interpersonal skills as well as to gain confidence and apply their skills in situations outside the school setting. The study argues the need for curriculum to connect with the wider lives of students and any degree of connection can only occur if students are given a voice in the curriculum implementation process.

year: 2005

title: Constructing a focused taxonomy from a document collection

authors: Medelyan, Olena

subjects: computer science

abstract: We describe a new method for constructing custom taxonomies from document collections. It involves identifying relevant concepts and entities in text; linking them to knowledge sources like Wikipedia, DBpedia, Freebase, and any supplied taxonomies from related domains; disambiguating conflicting concept mappings; and selecting semantic relations that best group them hierarchically. An RDF model supports interoperability of these steps, and also provides a flexible way of including existing NLP tools and further knowledge sources. From 2000 news articles we construct a custom taxonomy with 10,000 concepts and 12,700 relations, similar in structure to manually created counterparts. Evaluation by 15 human judges shows the precision to be 89% and 90% for concepts and relations respectively; recall was 75% with respect to a manually generated taxonomy for the same domain.

text: Constructing a focused taxonomy from a document collection We describe a new method for constructing custom taxonomies from document collections. It involves identifying relevant concepts and entities in text; linking them to knowledge sources like Wikipedia, DBpedia, Freebase, and any supplied taxonomies from related domains; disambiguating conflicting concept mappings; and selecting semantic relations that best group them hierarchically. An RDF model supports interoperability of these steps, and also provides a flexible way of including existing NLP tools and further knowledge sources. From 2000 news articles we construct a custom taxonomy with 10,000 concepts and 12,700 relations, similar in structure to manually created counterparts. Evaluation by 15 human judges shows the precision to be 89% and 90% for concepts and relations respectively; recall was 75% with respect to a manually generated taxonomy for the same domain.

year: 2013