Uncategorised – Ngāti Hikairo ki Kāwhia

Cancellation of the Ngati Hikairo Options Hui Planned for 9 December 2022 at the Kawhia Community Hall

Hiriwhi — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 01:25:08 +0000

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Te Runanganui o Ngati Hikairo are cancelling the hui on Friday 9 December 2022 to go through the options for negotiating our Treaty Claims. We will continue with the next hui in Kawhia on 2 January 2023 for those that will be in Kawhia during this time, and we intend to organise a further hui later in January 2023 for those whanau that are away on holiday in the early part of January. We apologise that this hui had to be cancelled but we look forward to progressing this discussion with our whanau either on 2 January 2023 or at the later rescheduled date.

Naku Noa

Susan Turner
Chair, Te Runanganui o Ngati Hikairo

Kua hinga he tootara teitei oo Ngaati Hikairo, Wahine tangi haehae, he ngaru moana, e kore e maataki.

Hiriwhi — Wed, 14 Sep 2022 01:38:51 +0000

He wahine toa, he wahine maaia, he wahine kaha i roto i toona aroha moo toona iwi. E, Vinnie, moe mai raa i raro i te korowai o ngoo tuupuna e tatari ana mou. Ma taatou te hunga ora hei taka i nga roimata, te hupe me te poouri hei whakamahu ana i te ngaakau.

It is with joy in her life and sadness in her absence that we hear of the passing of our huaanga Vinnie Pittar. Vinnie was a beautiful, strong and proud voice for our iwi – and a valued member of Te Ruunanganui o Ngaati Hikairo for a number of years. Her absence will be keenly felt by us all.

Vinnie will make her way home to Kaawhia to lie in state at Waipapa on 14 September 2022. Nau mai, e te iwi to remember, mourn and celebrate the life of a true rock of Ngaati Hikairo.

He tuku aroha tino nui ki toona whaanau whaanui e noho pani i teenei waa uaua.

Ka heke te roimata me te hupe, ka ea te mate

Te Runanganui o Ngati Hikairo

Meri Kirihimete

Hiriwhi — Thu, 23 Dec 2021 09:18:06 +0000

E mihi ake ana Te Rūnanga ki ō tātou whānau huri noa i te ao, nō reira kia kaha tātou kia māia tātou ā ngā wiki otirā ā te tau hou nei, kia harikoa.

Kia Ora Whānau

We are already nearing the end of 2021 and no doubt you will all be getting ready for the celebrations at Christmas and New Year. So, before we all head off, I wanted to wish you all a fabulous Christmas and joyful new year; and please keep safe during this holiday period.

This newsletter also provides an opportunity to update you all on Rūnanga activities for the last six months, since our Annual General Meeting. We have had an incredibly busy first six months with key focuses on:

Treaty Claims

The Takutai Moana application process is progressing well. A number of key new interviews have been transcribed, as well as historical interviews recorded for the Heritage Plan in 2010 and the NIWA Water report in 2012.
The historians have completed their first draft and a second draft will be with the claims manager shortly. It will be reviewed by key whanau members and feedback provided to the historians so that a final draft will be submitted to the Executive Committee in February. These products position us well for our court case in June 2022.
With regards to the Wai 30 and remaining claims, we have provided Waikato Tainui with our preferred Oati. This Oati focuses on preserving Ngāti Hikairo Rangatiratanga and Mana Motuhake. Despite our significant efforts we remain concerned with the limitations that are proposed by Waikato Tainui for Ngāti Hikairo. We are now working with Te Arawhiti to progress options for settling our claims and a further meeting has been planned for mid-January 2022. We are continuing to work toward presenting all of the treaty claims options to whānau at the next Annual General Meeting in June 2022.
The Executive have met and will continue to meet with the Trustees of Waipapa Marae regarding all of these claims and how they are progressing.
In addition, Lees Seymour, the Claims Manager has begun a series of Zoom Hui where he updates the whānau on the progress of claims. The dates will be Posted on the website, and I encourage members to attend if they are able.

Pūtake o te Riri and Waiari

A number of commemorations have been in the process or are in the process of being organised. Unfortunately, these commemorations have been affected by the outbreaks of COVID 19 and the delta variant. These commemorations have been delayed and we will be looking at new dates in the future.

Improving Decision Making and Governance

To help with our decision making and improve our governance, considerable effort has been put into establishing robust policies on privacy, behaviour, communications, and financial controls. As a result, we have established an Audit and Risk Sub Committee and a Communications Sub Committee.

Implementing these changes are imperative as we move from tier 4 charity to a tier 3 charity in the next financial year.

We will continue to improve our governance structures to prepare the Rūnanga as its activities increase over the next several years to improve transparency and capability.

Submission to the Pae Ora Legislation Select Committee

A submission was made to the select committee for the Pae Ora legislation on behalf of Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti Hikairo. This is an opportunity for Māori to seek a greater level of authority over the health services provided to Māori, and more say in what and where our health dollars are spent on. We have been invited to present in person in late January 2021 before the select committee and we will reinforce the key themes put forward in the Submission. If you are interested, the submission is on the Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti Hikairo website.

Resignations and New Members of the Executive Committee

Sadly, Tony Spelman and Amiria Ratu have both resigned for personal reasons as the Kaumatua and Rangatahi Representatives on the Executive Committee respectively. I would like to express my personal thanks for all the hard work and commitment both Tony and Amiria have made to support the work of Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti Hikairo. They will be missed. With Tony and Amaria’s resignations, Queenie Te Hae has agreed to be co-opted on to the Committee as the Kaumatua Representative, and Hamua Gilmore as the Rangatahi Representative. I would like to thank them for standing in so quickly and look forward to working with them over the next six months.

Activities in the Future

As noted, we will be receiving the historians report in February 2021, and Lees will be taking the opportunity to share the draft document with many of the iwi. I hope you will all take the opportunity to review the document and give Lees any feedback you think necessary. Lees will be continuing his Zoom Hui for updates about every six weeks, so have a listen and see how the work is progressing. At this stage we are looking at having a Special General Meeting and an Annual General Meeting on the same day (SGM in the morning and AGM in the afternoon) in early June 2022. We will of course be publicising the date and venue of the meetings in April of 2022.

COVID 19

Sadly, the Waitangi Tribunal has again found that the Government has been in breach of the treaty with the roll out of the vaccination programme and the implementation of the traffic light system. In our area Maori make up the largest percentage of unvaccinated people. As a result, we have the highest infection rate, the highest hospitalisation rate and most tragically the highest death rate. The failure of the system is apparent for our people, but so is the remedy. At this stage, vaccinations provide the only proven defence against COVID 19. I implore all our whanau who are eligible to get vaccinated. And as of the 15 January, take our tamariki over the age of 5 and get them vaccinated.

In closing I again wish all of you a merry Christmas and safe and happy new year. I look forward to seeing you all in 2022.

Naku Noa,

Susan Turner
Chair, Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti Hikairo,

Kia Hiwa Ra, Kia Hiwa Ra!

Hiriwhi — Mon, 20 Dec 2021 11:12:26 +0000

We are seeking the skills of a whānau member with financial qualifications to support Te Rūnanganui and its operations.

Over the last nine months we have been instituting a number of structural changes aimed at building the performance of Te Rūnanganui and improving its overall governance. Key to this has been to implement financial controls and reporting. With the establishment of an audit and risk committee, it is important to put in place a Treasurer with a financial background to manage our accounts and ensure funders are billed appropriately and service providers invoices are paid by due dates.

With the work currently contracted and planned with the territorial authorities, the work for the Marine and Coastal High Court Proceedings, the Wai 30 and Remaining Claims, it’s also likely that we will be moved from a Tier 4 charity to a Tier 3 Charity.

Whānau, we need the skills of one of our people who has a background in financial services. Qualifications in accountancy or audit would be fantastic. Bookkeeping and accounts management would be awesome.

The person who steps forward for this role will be able to be a part of our iwi’s exciting future and help put in place the kind of structures that will benefit our people for many years into the future.

As with all of the Executive Committee Roles, it is voluntary, but full of satisfaction from helping move our waka a little further forward.

If you are interested, please forward your CV to

Kurutia Seymour

Secretary, Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti Hikairo

Email: kuseymour1@xtra.co.nz

c/- 188 Grampian Street, Tokoroa 3420, New Zealand

Naku Noa,

Susan Turner

Chair, Te Rūnganganui o Ngāti Hikairo