When TRM’s website blog asked why the Waitangi Tribunal major review has been delayed for over a year, and posted the Government’s response explaining their reasons, it attracted widespread abuse. We still wonder why local Māori are so nervous about the review findings?
One desperate respondent investigated TRM reports and advised they were really composed as part of a cunning racist propaganda plot to undermine Māori? He is correct, of course. TRM has regularly posted devious website reports now for over 20 years – that is over 5,000 blogs – and finally he and his brilliant followers have recognised they are part of a gigantic evil, traitorous Pakeha strategy.
Keep it to yourself, but just so you know; after spoiling Aotearoian Māori by making them NZ’ers, TRM are planning to replace the Council and the Government as well to form a republic. Really! (Oops, sorry. According to the latest critics, TRM’s blogs do not have their approval to make any comments that could be interpreted as political.)
Sadly, they show complete ignorance of what these blogs are about. Advertising. A small, family-operated motel can never afford the big bucks for a flashy, professional, corporate-style promotional campaign. Instead, we started in 2004 with short, amateurish trout-fishing reports. When Facebook arrived, we switched over to let readers review TRM’s posts, so we could gauge the response. As other tackle shops also started providing web-based fishing reports, TRM’s brief expanded to other tourism news or anything interesting in Turangi. i.e. TRM’s latest have been weekly updates on the new swingbridge over the Tongariro River, or other interesting pics as viewed below.
This confusion all started when TRM added a 14-year-old photo of a meeting house to add some local colour to a report. The other photos above and below, taken on the same day, are some of my favourites. Viewers love the photos of locals watching the footy from the Turangi version of a corporate box, also taken on the same afternoon – 12 May 2012. I had better apologise in anticipation, as I don’t remember their names either, but I had their approval.
However, last month a local Māori Trust Board officially responded, demanding that we reveal who gave TRM permission to show a local meeting house. That photo, and many others with similar Māori-inspired backgrounds, have been used to add colour to TRM posts for over 20 years, without ever raising any concerns. So we were surprised at the reactions in 2026, which drove the sharp rise in Fb views.
To pick one blog as an example, we selected yesterday’s last post. The photo above showed the two boys fishing off the SH1 bridge over the Tongariro River. Big deal? It was posted on TRM website late afternoon on Thursday. By Friday 9 am it had scored:
Views 208,484
Viewers 106,451
Engagement 29,844
Total views (July 31 – August 27) 527,722
Please don’t ask me to explain what engagement is, but regardless, that is an extraordinary response to a little family-operated motel website blog in Turangi. That is what drives us, not the whimpering drivel from the few who revelled in the complaint from their Maori Trust Board after the photo of their meeting house was posted. In the big picture, they do not matter. Despite their illusion of power, they are not important.
For TRM, any effect of these posts can only be judged by the response. So we’ll share a little commercial secret. For TRM, the results have been quite outstanding. In 2026, a usual month would attract 3-400,000 views. They have provided wonderful, effective free advertising for TRM, improving occupancy ratings. That may be how TRM has survived commercially for the last 20 years. Before that, TRM’s secret to commercial success was enjoying a monopoly, as there was no other competition in Turangi. The nearest competing motel was in Tokaanu. The photo below shows the original motel built on Taupahi Road, before SH1 was formed, over 65 years ago (when I regularly stayed in the third caravan on the left).
Occasionally, though, TRM blogs hit the jackpot, with responses increasing by over 50% to over 600,000 views. Why? I think you can guess. What a coincidence. The crude accusations to the photo of the meeting house made terrific, addictive reading and drove so many responses. Unfortunately, TRM’s usual viewers, a mixture of anglers and tourists, never read some of the best comments as, in the interests of common decency, they were deleted. But we understand our viewers are humans who thrive on controversy. The objection to the meeting house photo and other contentious issues drive the ratings, so business is fine, thank you for asking. TRM blogs provide more interesting reading than just another dead trout report.
So back to the main topic: TRM was particularly motivated because removing the Waitangi Tribunal was an important part of the devious plot in the motel’s book, TONGARIRO Skulduggery, published over five years ago in 2020. It was number 13 of twenty other proposals in the “Turangi Treaty” negotiated with the Government, as part of a fictitious plot for Māori to pay $zillions as compensation to the last surviving moa-hunter, namely me.
We tried to disguise it by promoting the book as a “mockumentary”. Despite huge unexpected sales that required several reprints, these respondents largely ignored it until the Waitangi Tribunal review was delayed. So, it appears they imagine that TRM has become more of a danger to Māori interests, and hopefully will now be blamed for calling the Tribunal review as well. I had better warn the printers now…
Since viewers will now claim responsibility for the 50% improvement in our popularity ratings, TRM owes them this explanation of how successful it has been. Hence, this blog should provide some background on how the rest of the world operates in this age of cybercrime and computer hacking, allegedly using suspicious fishy propaganda sneaking through on Facebook blogs. But as the unauthorised access to TRM’s computer system is now subject to a police complaint, we cannot comment any further.
Sadly, the mere mention of the delay in a review of the Waitangi Tribunal in TRM’s blog generated a stream of abuse at TRM, instead of answering why the review might have been delayed. The vast majority of our viewers confirm the questions were justified when the Audit Department reported that, as of 2026, the New Zealand Government has paid approximately $2.76 billion in financial and commercial redress through historical Treaty of Waitangi settlements. That item alone is sufficient reason for a complete review. The more responsible explanations for the delay include:
First, no TRM opinion is complete without including AI-generated analysis. The unbiased (?) AI-analysed answer:
The Waitangi Tribunal review is delayed because Cabinet ministers are still having behind-the-scenes disagreements over the scope of the reforms, particularly whether to strip the tribunal of its power to launch thematic “kaupapa” inquiries.
Key Reasons for the Delay
Coalition Friction: While Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka supports keeping current kaupapa inquiries, New Zealand First deputy leader Shane Jones has publicly pushed to curtail the tribunal’s ability to run topic-based or thematic inquiries, slowing consensus.
Pace of Coalition: Jones acknowledged that New Zealand First is working at the cautious pace their National coalition partners are comfortable with regarding this sensitive Te Tiriti policy area.
Withheld Decisions: Although the independent review group completed its work and reported back, the unreleased findings remain under active consideration by ministers before any public release or legislative proposal is finalised.
x Audit Office: As of 2026, the New Zealand Government has paid approximately $2.76 billion in financial and commercial redress through historical Treaty of Waitangi settlements. According to reports from The Office For Crown Settlements and Takutai Moana and the Office of the Controller and Auditor-General, this pool of funding spans over 100 final or progressing deeds of settlement.
x Maori News:
Unreleased review of Waitangi Tribunal sitting with ministers
Caption: More than a year after a major review of the functions of the Waitangi Tribunal was announced, the completed review has yet to be released publicly, with government Ministers still considering how to respond.
More than a year after a major review of the functions of the Waitangi Tribunal was announced, the completed review has yet to be released publicly, with government Ministers still considering how to respond.
Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka said the review’s findings and recommendations were before Ministers and being actively considered.
“This is significant work and we are focused on getting the government’s response right. Decisions on the release of the Independent Technical Advisory Group’s report will be announced once that consideration is complete.”
Lecturer for Māori Laws and Philosophy at Te Wānanga o Raukawa Carwyn Jones (Ngāti Kahungunu ki te Wairoa), has worked at both the Waitangi Tribunal and the Māori Land Court, he told RNZ it was a bit unclear exactly what “original intent” meant, because by examining contemporary issues the Tribunal was focused on what the original legislation intended.
“When the Tribunal was first set up in 1975, it didn’t have any historical jurisdiction. It couldn’t look at historical claims. It could only look at contemporary policy issues or those matters from 1975 onwards. So it was kind of difficult to understand what was being sought there.”
