Kororia ki a ihoa o nga mano te matua, te tama, te wairua tapu me nga anahera pono. Te Mangai tautoko mai aianei ake ne ai.

Nga mihi whanau and thank you for bearing with us regarding the Waihaua election and the technical difficulties experienced over the last month before the AGM. It has been a two-year journey for me, and I know it will be another few years before we can truly reap the benefits of our planning and actions from today for tomorrow.

 

Where have we come from? I became a TUOH trustee representing Waiahau marae in Sep 2017, it was a roll I succeeded from dad when he passed away. From that time to now the settlement trust has been through a transformative change and I hope whanau have seen or been part of this momentum. Change for me began when Russell passed away last January, he was a great loss to the organisation and to the people. To the credit of the trustees we carried on implementing key policy and cultural changes, with the addition of Jonathan Rishworth into the operations and a focus on stability, maintenance, growth and cashflow – Te Uri o Hau Settlement Trust has set a benchmark standard.

 

Where are we now? There is still much to be accomplished for the settlement trust, but we have entered a new realm with forestry, honey, land development and new business opportunities. Tangata services have increased its staffing and expanding into more areas of service delivery. Environs has rebuilt and reinvented itself with new staffing and processes. Support for the Taumata remains paramount and backing from the settlement trust for kaumatua takes precedence.

 

Where do we want to be? Ultimately cashflow for the settlement trust is the priority for me, in order to function well we need to have the ability to grow. Growing takes vision, leadership and funding. I know it will also take time, effort and perseverance but I believe the settlement trust has the infrastructure and resourcing required to take this step forward.

 

Our Marae In 2020 if I am successful in retaining the Waihaua position I intend to build on what we have. This includes not only Waihaua marae but all marae in our cluster including; Rawhitiroa, Waiohou, Waiaotea, Ngataiwhakarongorua, Te Kowhai, Parirau and Naumai. My hope is to group Marae into 3 areas (Arapaoa, Tinopai and Ruawai), each Marae having input to each area and each area having a TUOH trustee allocated to it. This may create some contention in the hapu but it’s the bigger picture not just for Waihaua, not just for each area but for the hapu as a whole

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Kia tau te rangimarie - Antony

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