Graham Cameron

Contributing writer

Graham Bidois Cameron (Ngāti Ranginui) is a doctoral student in the Department of Theology and Religion at Otago University but is based in Tauranga Moana. He is a commentator on social and political issues concerning tangata whenua.

National Party deputy leader Paula Bennett and Labour Party MP Willie Jackson.

The cruelty behind Willie Jackson’s attack on Paula Bennett’s Māori identity

Willie Jackson's comment last week that Paula Bennett wasn't Māori enough risks hurting a vulnerable group of Māori struggling with their identity, writes Graham Cameron.

By Graham Cameron | 6th May, 2019

Contributing writer

Image: Getty

Unfortunately, Fraser High School’s principal is right in many ways

The consequences of truancy for Māori students are as shocking that speech, writes Graham Cameron.

By Graham Cameron | 22nd September, 2018

Contributing writer

Ports of Tauranga

The Port of Tauranga has become a megachurch: too big to touch

Pipi beds die and algae blooms, but iwi are repeatedly told 'there's nothing to see here', writes Graham Cameron.

By Graham Cameron | 9th September, 2018

Contributing writer

Lauren Southern wore the “It’s okay to be white” T-shirt in Brisbane.
Image: Josh Edelson/Getty

Whakawhanaungatanga, not censorship: A Māori perspective on ‘free speech’

What Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern actually say and do is more important than an ideological argument about freedom of expression, argues Graham Cameron.

By Graham Cameron | 24th July, 2018

Contributing writer

Graffiti artist Mr G painting over his mural of Tauranga Moana leader Awanui Black. Image: Mr G Hoete Art

‘I believe Ani Black’: Sexual abuse and the silence that poisons communities

On Saturday the widow of Awanui Black publicly accused him of child sexual abuse. Graham Cameron says her brave stand is a chance to break the cycle of silence and shame.

By Graham Cameron | 9th July, 2018

Contributing writer

A Tauranga Moana kaumatua challenges Andrew Little at Parliament, Tuesday 15 May. Image: RNZ

Our message to Andrew Little: stop before you breach the Treaty of Waitangi

Competing North Island iwi groups Tauranga Moana and Pare Hauraki were on track to negotiate a tikanga process for Treaty settlement talks – face to face, on the marae, no lawyers. Then the government changed hands and tikanga went out the window.

By Graham Cameron | 16th May, 2018

Contributing writer

The empty chamber of the General Assembly at the United Nations (Image: Phil Roeder)

Are indigenous people united under the United Nations?

Geopolitical commentator Graham Cameron looks at the lessons learned at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues over the past two weeks.

By Graham Cameron | 29th April, 2018

Contributing writer

Labour’s Willie Jackson and Nanaia Mahuta. Image: RNZ & Getty

Labour to Iwi Chairs Forum: ‘Iwi leaders need to catch up with the new world’

After a fraught election, Labour's Māori caucus is going head to head with the Iwi Chairs Forum.

By Graham Cameron | 17th March, 2018

Contributing writer

homeless boy holding a cardboard house, dirty hand

What it’s like to be a solo mum searching for a rental

Rent Week 2018: Two tales from Tauranga, which now outranks Auckland as New Zealand's least affordable housing, illustrates the challenges solo mums face in the renting market.

By Graham Cameron | 26th February, 2018

Contributing writer

Members of a Fijian culture group perform during the opening session of the COP23 United Nations Climate Change Conference on November 6, 2017 in Bonn, Germany.
Image: PATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images

Māori need to do more for our Pacific cousins

In the past three years the Pacific Island nations have experienced the three most intense tropical cyclones on record. It’s our duty as tangata whenua and whanaunga to take a stand on climate change, for their sake, argues Graham Cameron.

By Graham Cameron | 26th February, 2018

Contributing writer