Health director-general Dr Ashley Bloomfield says the government has been very clear since the announcement of the vaccination programme last year that vaccination status for children will not restrict access to either education or other opportunities.

In an interview this morning with Te Ao Tapatahi's Neil Waka, he said it was "very important that we don’t restrict access for children based on their vaccination status - there’s no restriction on them accessing the things they need to grow and develop,” he said.

Five hundred children and their whānau flowed through the gates of Rainbow's End last night as part of the Uenuku Festival – a three-event fun-filled vaccination programme aimed at South Auckland children before they return to school at the end of this month.

“This is a celebration of our tamariki, and we really want to create a strong movement within our whānau and iwi to get their children vaccinated and protected,” festival lead and Mahi Pai director Lisa Minhinnick (Patuharakeke) says.

Sir Wayne 'Buck' Shelford is one of the most successful All Blacks captains but what cemented him as one of the greats was how he transformed the haka Ka Mate.

When Shelford became captain in 1987, the All Blacks had been performing the haka but in a way that showed little understanding or training.

“Either we all do it and do it well or we don’t do it at all. That’s how it sat with me,” Shelford says.

With the support of fellow player Hika Reid, Shelford taught the importance of correctly learning the tikanga, words and actions.

Photo Credit: NZ Defence Force

The first P-3K Orion aircraft flew out of Whenuapai in Auckland early this morning for Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai to help make an initial impact assessment of the area surrounding Tonga and low-lying islands, according to the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF).

Defence Minister Peeni Henare also wrote on his Facebook page that a P-3K Orion surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft had departed for Tonga.

“Preparation for more support by way of the Navy is still underway,” he says.