Te Manu Korihi News for 6 May 2013

Parliament's Speaker will this week formally declare the Ikaroa-Rawhiti seat vacant, following the death of its MP, Labour's Parekura Horomia; A by-election in the Ikaroa-Rawhiti electorate is expected to take place by the end of June, and the Labour and Maori parties are preparing to battle for the seat; The Government is setting aside a 12 million dollar infrastructure grant in its budget this month, to help Maori land trusts develop housing on ancestral land; The Department of Conservation says it has consulted extensively with iwi ahead of a 1080 drop on a mountain in the Coromandel; A past pupil of the Anglican Maori boarding school, St Stephen's, says reopening it could help to boost the educational performance of Maori boys.