Maori Voters Sent Tuhono Information Panui

More than 360,000 voters of Maori descent will receive an information panui in the post this week about a new service that will connect them to their iwi.

The Chief Registrar of Electors, Murray Wicks, says a nationwide campaign is being held from April to June to implement a central iwi affiliation service called Tuhono. Mr Wicks says a second mailout to Maori voters in early May will include the Tuhono affiliation and consent form.

"The Chief Registrar of Electors will be seeking the consent of Maori voters to provide specified electoral enrolment details to their iwi organisations, through Tuhono. This will enable participating Maori to be included on their iwi register and each iwi to establish and maintain reliable and up-to-date registers of their members."

Tuhono has been established by the Tautoko Maori Trust whose members include Sir Paul Reeves, Koro Wetere, Druis Barrett, Wharehuia Milroy and Terry Ryan. The trust believes this initiative is one of the most significant for Maori in recent times with the potential to deliver real benefits to iwi and Maori organisations in the areas of accountability and ongoing democratic processes.

A multi-media campaign for Tuhono includes television commercials - starring Temepara Clark, Stacey Daniels and Scotty Morrison - now screening on the Maori and mainstream television channels as well as radio advertisements on the iwi radio network. Two new Maori radio programmes for the iwi network have also been launched in support of Tuhono - 'Iwi Hook Up', a week-night youth music show from 9pm to 9.30pm; and Tuhono, a weekly bilingual iwi special between 10am and 11am every Friday.

Mr Wicks encouraged people to read the Tuhono information panui and discuss it with members of their whanau before completing and returning the consent and affiliation form that will be sent out in early May. More information about Tuhono is available at http://www.maori.org.

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