Kaikinikini nei te manawa i te rerenga atu a ngā rau kawakawa o te motu. Kua wehe atu rā ki te kāinga, ki ō tātou tīpuna. E Pōua Monty, e te manukura, e iri tonu ana te kawakawa i te pare o tō whare o Makō. Kua tahuri kē atu ki te whare o Pōhutukawa, ki tua o tatau kahurangi. Ko koe tērā, Te Ika-a-Whiro, te Kārara o Tūwhakarau i ngā pakanga a te iwi, i whawhai kaha nei kia whai hua tō tātou kerēme. Nāhau te ara whakamua i tārai kia ora ai tō iwi. Tuakoka katoa ana mātou i tō ngaronga atu.

Otirā koutou ngā tini aituā kua karangahia e te hākui o te pō. Haere atu rā koutou ki te kāinga āhuru i te rangi, ki ngā mātua tīpuna, moe mai rā, moe mai rā, okioki mai rā. Kāti ake rā, waiho rātou te hunga wairua ki a rātou. Hoki mai tātou ki a tātou te hunga ora. Kua puta tātou i ngā matimati o Hine Takurua, ko ngā huka ka rewa, ko ngā hau kino o te wā, ka māmā, ka mahana. Ko te inaka kua rere, taihoa ka pihi mai ko ngā tipu hōu. Nāia te miha, te owha atu ki a koutou i runga i ngā tini ahuatanga o te wā. Tēnā rā tātou katoa.

I am sure you will join me in welcoming the warmer weather that Spring is providing us. Spring, coming so soon after matariki is a time of renewal and for seeing things through fresh eyes. In the last month the Ngāi Tahu road shows have continued with sessions in Perth, Rotorua and Ōtautahi. Although I was unable to attend them all, the feedback we get from whānau is always both welcome and inspiring.

Over the past month I have been working on some kaupapa that is very important to me personally as well as for Ngāi Tahu. This has seen me travelling across the country from the Iwi Chairs Forum in Hopuhopu, near Ngaruawahia to the He Toki alumni dinner in Ōtautahi.

The first Iwi Chairs Forum in 2005 was convened at Takahanga Marae in Kaikōura and since then the forum has been meeting regularly to discuss and enable Māori cultural, social, economic, environmental and political development aspirations.

The recent forum was hosted by Waikato Tainui, who introduced a new format that saw iwi chairs working in specialist workstreams. I have heard nothing but praise for this new format, as it allowed for more in depth discussion and better outcomes. At the forum I chaired the Pou Taiao workstreams. Our discussion focused on freshwater and the Resource Management Act.

The forum took time to vote on the signing the Children’s Covenant, a document that creates a commitment by iwi to protect and treasure our tamariki. This is something I am passionate about because we need to work hard to support measures that protect our whānau. When I was approached by Judge Carolyn Henwood to support this kaupapa and to take it to the Iwi Chairs Forum I had no hesitation. In New Zealand we have a huge issue with family violence in our communities, in 2015 police attended around 105,000 domestic violence incidences and children were present at about 80 per cent of all violence incidents in the home. These statistics are unacceptable so I encourage everyone to sign and abide by this Covenant so that our tamariki can grow up safe from violence.

My work on the environment did not stop at the Iwi Chairs Forum. This month I attended a governance meeting with Environment Canterbury, where we discussed iwi rights and responsibilities on freshwater, resource management and the future funding of Whakaora Te Waihora (a partnership programme aimed at restoring Te Waihora) and Whakaraupō – the Lyttelton Harbour plan. I also attended the Te Waihora Co-governors hui.

This was Dame Margaret Bazley’s last meeting, as she has retired from Environment Canterbury. I would like to applaud all the work she has undertaken with Ngāi Tahu in her role and I know in projects like Whakaora Te Waihora we would not be in the position we are today without her support.

In August, I was also fortunate enough to met with He Toki students and apprentices at the He Toki alumni dinner. The dinner was an awesome opportunity for me to engage with the students and hear their stories. I always find it inspiring to hear about the hard work these students are putting in to become trades leaders of the future.

Over the last couple of years Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu has worked with local councils and the community to create the Resilience Greater Christchurch Plan, which was released this month. This plan works to create greater resilience for our Canterbury whānau and it was great to see our cultural values and principles reflected throughout the document.

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-Tau, 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.

To finish, I would like to acknowledge the passing of Montero (Monty) Daniels. Monty served on the Ngāi Tahu Māori Trust Board and played a role in the development of our iwi vision in a post settlement environment. Monty is from the generation of Ngāi Tahu that set the platform for where we are today. I attended his service at Pakira Marae and my aroha is with all the Daniels whānau.

Mark.