The publishers of Te Karere o Poneke (Port Nicholson Messenger, 1857-1858) were McKenzie and Muir who, in 1845, set up the Wellington Independent (Scholefield, 1958: 28, 153). It is likely that this Te Karere is the successor to Ko Te Ao Marama, the Wellington Independent's earlier Maori-language newspaper, which appears to have ceased publication in 1849.

Te Karere o Poneke was produced by Walter Buller, at the time an interpreter in the Resident Magistrate’s Office in Wellington (Parkinson and Griffith, 2004: 752). This newspaper is similar in format and style to Te Manuhiri Tuarangi and Maori Intelligencer, which was also edited by Buller.

The last issue appears to have been published on 27 December, 1858.

For further information about the newspaper, see P Parkinson and P Griffith, Books in Maori (Auckland: Reed, 2004), S6, pp. 751–752. 

Scholefield, Guy H. Newspapers in New Zealand (Wellington: A H & A W Reed, 1958)

The National Library would like to thank Gail Dallimore for providing information used in essays about Maori newspapers.