E tangihia tonuhia ana ngā mate o te wā. E te Kahurangi, e Te Pā Whakawairua o Ngāti Waewae, e Ben, kia au tō moe. Nāhau te ara whakarauora reo Māori ki Te Tai Poutini i ara ake kia eke tō rahi ki te keokeonga o Tuhua. Otira koutou ngā mate huhua, hanatu rā ki te kāinga wairua i te rangi. Waiho atu te tewe muri hei hopo, hei mōteatea mō koutou. Rātou ki a rātou. Tātou te hunga ora ki a tātou. Mauri ora ki tātou katoa.

E rere ana te whakamiha ki a koutou i runga i ngā tini āhuatanga o te wā. Tēnā rā tātou katoa. I’m sure you will all join me in welcoming the warmer weather of Spring. With this year’s winter behind us, I look forward to seeing what the rest of the year will bring.

In mid-August we started the Ngāi Tahu Road Shows, holding the first hui in Hamilton. It was great to see a good turnout of whānau and it was a pleasure to meet new whānau members attending their first Ngāi Tahu hui.

While we were in Hamilton for the Road Show we also had the opportunity to meet and engage with Tainui Group Holdings and the Waikato Raupatu River Trust. We spent the day networking, sharing information and learning more about the direction Waikato-Tainui is taking. It was a very informative hui and I appreciate the openness and manaakitanga that is extended to us every time we visit.

On 26-27 September we will be taking the Road Shows to Sydney and Brisbane. I am looking forward to meeting our whānau living in Australia and sharing with them our annual results and plans for the future.

I’m enjoying watching our Māori Trade Training programme, He Toki ki te Rika grow and flourish. We recently held the second Scholarship Evening for 2015 at Te Puna Wānaka for 40 young Māori and Pasifika students. The on-going challenge I put out to these students is to work hard, show commitment, strive for leadership excellence and to aspire to be the manager and project leader.

He Toki ki te Mahi is a new initiative that supports our He Toki ki te Rika students in obtaining work after their apprenticeship. We recently engaged with Corbell Construction at an Industry breakfast held at Rāpaki Marae. This was a great opportunity to network and develop an on-going relationship and I appreciate the commitment of Corbell Construction to this kaupapa.

In this edition you will find an overview of the annual report. Please take some time to read it. We are encouraging feedback on the report at Hui-ā-Iwi, and if you do have pātai, please email them through to [email protected] We will collect these questions and answer them at our report back session at the hui.