Kei ngā mate huhua o te motu, nei rā ko te tangi mōteatea mō koutou. Hanatu rā ki te kāinga wairua i te rangi. Waiho mai ngā urupā kanohi hei hopo. Okioki mai rā koutou. Tātou ngā maramara o rātou, tēnā tātou katoa. Tēnā tātou i runga i ngā tini āhuatanga o te wā. Ko te tūmanako ia e ora ana koutou i tēnei wāhanga o te Kana. Mauri ora e te iwi.
The start of October saw the iwi celebrate another Settlement anniversary. To mark the occasion, office staff took the opportunity to learn more about the struggle and success of Te Kerēme. Throughout the week sessions were held with iwi members, governors, members from the Treaty negotiation team and rangatahi giving an insight, view and history of the claim. Staff and whānau felt privileged to hear from the different generations. Early in the week David Higgins presented on Matiaha Tiramorehu and we had three rangatahi presentations from Reriti Tau, Delane Luke and Talia Ellison. All three presented on where they predicted Ngāi Tahu might be in 2040. Attendees were very impressed with the presentations and their confidence in sharing their aspirations for the tribe. I am so proud of our rangatahi and their drive and passion for whānau, rūnanga and iwi success. Another highlight for attendees was spending time with Charlie Crofts, Uncle Trevor Howse, Edward Ellison, Aunty Jane Davis and Sid Ashton, who spoke about the time of negotiations. We all appreciate and value the hard work they all did in advancing the iwi. I thank all those who shared the history and aspirations of Te Kerēme with Te Rūnanga staff – e kore rawa te whakamiha e mahiti.
Lisa and I have enjoyed traveling the motu with the Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Road Shows. We are impressed and proud of the good turnout of whānau attending the various hui. It was a great opportunity to engage and be with whānau we haven’t seen for a long time and to meet other iwi members for the first time. We received some positive feedback on the direction of Te Rūnanga. We have found that whānau are very impressed with the work the office, Ngāi Tahu Holdings and the subsidiaries have been doing for the iwi. What was also encouraging, was that whānau are very impressed with new initiatives such as Whenua Kura, Manawa Nui and particularly the Pēpi Packs.
More recently a small contingent traveled to Sydney and Brisbane. As always it was awesome to catch up with whānau who have been living in Australia for a long time. We were humbled by their participation and interaction at the two hui. Also it was a good opportunity for whānau living in Australia to mix and mingle, meet relations they have never met before and for Sydney-based whānau to form a taurahere group. We received a few new whakapapa registrations too, especially for our tamariki and mokopuna.
While we were in both Sydney and Brisbane we took the opportunity to engage and network with mana whenua – the local Aboriginals, who welcomed us and opened both of our hui. We look forward to working with our Sydney and Brisbane taurahere groups and continuing our relationship with the Aboriginal people we met.
In other news, I’d encourage you to take a look at our Annual Report, which is on the Ngāi Tahu website. It’s pleasing to see that the long-term approach we have taken to investment continues to pay off for Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu. This year we posted a year-end net profit of $109.36m (post distribution activities) for the 2015 financial year.
Strong financial results like these provide the platform we need to create and deliver life enhancing initiatives that will enable our people to reach their full potential not only as individuals but also as whānau and communities.
Finally, I look forward to seeing everyone at the Hui-ā-Iwi in Ōtepoti. The programme is full of fun, whakawhanaungatanga and an opportunity for whānau to hang out and enjoy each other’s company.
Mark.