Tamariki need extra care to find their way

I am sure there will have been times when people have gone to various places with our children and grandchildren. For some of us, we will have followed what we did as children whether that was watching rugby games, some sort of entertainment, camping with whanau, fishing and generally mucking around and looking for things to keep ourselves entertained. For many of our children and grandchildren, however, they have a whole new world to look at, to experience, to see things they may not have seen or do things they have not done. The great thing about going out together is doing things as whanau, looking after one another or perhaps allaying fears our children may have.

I think back to my time when I went to a family farm at Torere; riding horses, chasing cows and swimming in the creek were the best things to do. They were great times.

So where is all of this heading? I thought it would be good to put a word a caution out for us all to look after our tamariki - we must learn from the mistakes of the past and take extra care of them. I have read of several incidents lately where parents have been really lax in looking after their children - a baby in Porirua was found left in a car at Pak'n'Save with a phone number to call if the child was distressed. At the Aquatic Centre, children are left unsupervised and, more recently, a child almost drowned as the parents prepared their BBQ. We must support each other with reminders to really care for our children.

The Maori language thrives in Te Arawa

At times, it feels like the Maori language is not getting the support it so rightly deserves. So I was really pleased with the attendance of 60 students of Te Pua Wananga o Te Arawa, at the regular language wananga (learning sessions). There are three, two-day live-in wananga concentrating on the language and another three whose focus is on elements of Maori culture and the language. I am hopeful these will make a valuable contribution to Te Arawa over time. The pleasantly surprising thing is the number of people who return home from Auckland, Wellington and Hauraki. That is so awesome.

Waka ama a success for families

Finally, I must pay tribute to the organising committee from Te Arawa who hosted the amazing 2013 ActivePost National Secondary School Waka Ama Championships this month at Tikitapu (Blue Lake). Once again, our city was swarming with families from all over New Zealand and we did Rotorua proud in presenting ourselves as a destination worthy of all visitors. Thanks to the organisers. Great job.

I welcome your feedback, email: mpwaiariki@parliament.govt.nz ph: 07 3503261