Protesters near the East Cape have been told not to get too close to oil survey ships, while Maori Party MP Te Ururoa Flavell has compared the deployment of navy personnel to the Libyan situation.

Prime Minister John Key said at his post cabinet press conference today that the Government was still committed to closing the wage gap with Australia.

The Government is calling for calm after Greenpeace protesters today disrupted a Brazilian oil giant from investigating deep sea oil drilling off the East Cape.

The Government says Petrobras is following DOC guidelines to minimise the disturbance to marine mammals while it looks for oil off the East Cape.

Tropical Cyclone Bune is making its way down to New Zealand and is expected to pass to the east of the country from Wednesday.

Tropical cyclone Bune, which is heading for Raoul Island, about 1100km northeast of New Zealand, weakened slightly this afternoon to a strong category 2. It may cause dangerous rips and surf along the east coast next week.

A tropical cyclone formed near Fiji today is on track to bring strong winds and heavy rain to New Zealand next week, forecasters predict.

Two earthquakes have rocked the East Coast area this afternoon but there have been no reports of damage.

Herald Maori affairs reporter Yvonne Tahana on the at times frustrating job of covering national kapa haka festival Te Matatini o te Ra.

Greedy "sharks" are already circling Te Runanga o Ngati Porou as it gears up to grow its $110m treaty settlement. The tribe's chairman has already received letters from outsiders promising all sorts of riches for the iwi if it would let

Two big iwi leaders met with Prime Minister John Key to discuss state assets sales today at the national Te Matatini kapa haka competition.