Te Awamutu News | August 17, 2023

Prepare for impact…

By Mary Anne Gill

A Waipā farming leader says the hit dairy farmers are taking because of a reduced milk payout will hurt communities like Te Awamutu and Cambridge hard.

Ōhaupō dairy farmer Andrew Reymer says incomes down on the farm will drop up to 20 per cent.

“Most farmers if they’re not redoing their mortgages, they will be redoing their budgets,” he said.

“Where this money is going to disappear from is the community. Where we were going to buy a new barn, put a bit of concrete here and there, all those things are out the window.

“All that stuff that were nice to haves are all gone.”

Reymer is Waikato Federated Farmers vice president and before that chaired the dairy committee.

Fonterra has cut its predicted farm milk gate price to between $6.25 and $7.75 per kilogram of milk solids with a $7 mid-point, down a dollar on earlier forecasts.

It and Synlait blamed a downturn in the Chinese whole milk powder market.

Other big players Tatua and Open Country had yet to announce their payouts when The News went to press.

Te Awamutu Business Chamber of Commerce chief executive Shane Walsh said while all appeared doom and gloom, the community had seen it all before.

“There’s not a lot (else) farmers can do.”

But it could also change and Te Awamutu was agile enough to respond.

“We’ll be working trying to support all local businesses.”

Reymer said farmers would hunker down, pay bills but there would be few extras.

“Interest rates are the big killer for us all. That’s all money going straight to the banks, not getting taxed or anything. The

government won’t be getting a lot of net profit out of us.”

While Cyclone Gabrielle and other storms had hit big chunks of the North Island, Waipā had been relatively lucky.

“We benefitted from their misery,” with good growing conditions in the summer and till the end of May.

Helping out

“But then it got too wet,” with all but a few cows dried off, he said.

Reymer carries 450 cows on the 155ha Ōhaupō farm that has been in his family for more than 40 years.

He averages 150,000 to 160,000 kgs/ milksolids annually relying on the lush green grass the peat soil produces supplementing

it with maize silage but little else.

“The only feed I buy in is calf food.”

Calving started earlier than expected.

“Calves were hitting the ground on 5 July and now we’re about three quarters of the way through.”

• See Country Life, pages 9-11

Caitlin, 9, and Sophie, 10, Germann of Ōhaupō help out their neighbours the Reymers by feeding the calves. In return the two girls get a calf which they spoil for Ōhaupō School’s annual calf day. Calves they showed at calf day in the past have gone on to excel in the milking stakes adding to the long-held theory “pampered calves produce lots of milk.” See CountryLife page 9

Photo: Mary Anne Gill.

KIRIKIRIROA ROPU TAUTOKO HAMILTON SUPPORT GROUP

ki te kore nga putake e mākukungia e kore te rakau e tupu

If the roots of the tree are not watered, the tree will not grow.

We invite all people living with a brain injury, their family/whanau and carers to join us. Support groups can provide a sense of belonging, make social connections, and share ideas, issues, and worries. It is a place to share, listen and support surrounded by people who understand or are walking a similar path.

Everybody welcome

When: Friday 31st August 2023

Where: 8 Keddell Street, Frankton – Access from Kent Street carpark

Time: 10.30am till 12

We look forward to seeing you for a hot drink and biscuit and a chat. A gold coin donation is appreciated.

Please RSVP

Phone: (07) 839 1191 Marion 022 128 4154 admin@braininjurywaikato.org.nz www.braininjurywaikato.org.nz

Apakura’s emotional launch

By Jeremy Smith

“Today, as we release the first waiata from the album, it represents the first fruits of the project. There’s a sound coming from our people, our iwi, and from our land.

“It is a flourishing sound that’s contagious, the sound of life and healing.”

With that poignant opening statement on Friday, emcee Jade Hohaia Te Uri Karakaa set the stage for what was a moving occasion.

The News was there as, at a private screening at Te Awamutu’s Regent Theatre ahead of its wider release, the first single and music video – titled Apakura - of a 10-track album being produced as a collaboration between Oceans Before Me Charitable Trust and rangatira, artists and school children was unveiled.

A packed house watched as the video for Apakura was played for the first time.

Founded by Daphiney Owen, stage name Vox Dawn, and her husband Oceans Before Me Charitable Trust tells indigenous stories through music.

“We don’t direct, we support,” she said. The trust’s second project – having already worked on an initiative to raise awareness of the 1970s dawn raids in Auckland – is titled the 1864 Rangiaowhia Massacre Project.

Every song on the album is about Rangiaowhia.

It features video from last month’s Mānawatia a Matariki celebrations in Kihikihi. Vocalist Ria Hall, Ngāti Apakura, is in the Apakura video, with six students from Te Awamutu wharekura Te Wharekura o Ngā Purapura o Te Aroha.

Three other artists, Mara TK, Hawkins and Rākai also sing on the track.

“It’s an honour to be able to create this space and present it to you,” Daphiney told Friday’s audience.

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Readers’

of the

“The hope at the end of the day is that you love it.”

Rākai, the only artist able to attend on Friday, said it was a privilege to be involved in the project.

“Choosing Apakura as the first single was very intentional,” Daphiney said.

“The nature of the korero, it’s very important. Some of the lyrics are ‘show the world your heart’ – in a way it’s an encouragement to celebrate a thriving people, and a karanga, or call, to come back.”

Ngāti Apakura Runanga Trust chair Bill Harris told the audience through tears after the screening, “I don’t think I can say too much, apart from thank you to absolutely everyone involved. I actually can’t say thank you enough.

“It’s been wonderful to work with Daphiney and Oceans Before Me to get something for us out there.”

He told The News music was an incredible

Angela Roberts

medium. There’s been so much sadness for us, but today I’d say it’s a different kind of tears, tears of aroha, love, – and you can feel that in Apakura.”

Artwork for the album cover is broken down into 10 separate panels.

The panels will be released in conjunction with each track, so the full cover won’t be public until the album’s release date.

Regan Balzer, of Ngāti Hinetu descent, is the artist behind the album cover.

Of the first panel released to accompany Apakura, she said, “…it represents a powerful statement that the energy has started, will ripple out and is bringing the descendants of Ngāti Apakura and Ngāti Hinetu back together - revitalising the stories and the energy of the land.”

The album’s second track will be released in October, with the full album out in February in conjunction with the 160th commemorations at Rangiaowhia.

Ruth sets a mountainous challenge

Te Awamutu resident Ruth Mylchreest is in training for a marathon set of climbs in November.

Mylchreest plans to climb Mt Kakepuku 10 times in 24 hours – a total distance of 75km – in the hope of raising $15,000 for Motor Neurone Disease New Zealand and Multiple Sclerosis Waikato.

The Neurology Clinical Nurse Specialist works at Waikato District Health Board providing care and support for people living with neurodegenerative diseases.

She has christened her event the Kakepuku 10 Challenge and has already started raising funds through a givealittle page.

“Because of the promotion of this challenge, I have been contacted by Waikato families, living with Huntington's Disease, who were not aware of the care and support they can receive through the Waikato Hospital Neurology service and wider community based services - so this event already feels very worthwhile,” she said.

King Country 06 756 5854 angela.robertsMP@parliament.govt.nz labour.org.nz/angelaroberts

/AngelaRobertsLabour

@AS_Roberts

/AngelaRobertsLabour

Taranaki

Authorised by Angela Roberts MP, Parliament Buildings, Wellington.

Artist Regan Balzer and Oceans Before Me Charitable Trust co-founder and executive managing director Daphiney Owen with the first panel of what will be the full album cover.

Stirling struck off

Takena Stirling has been struck off by the New Zealand Law Society. His admission of five charges of misconduct involving the misappropriation – an issue which prompted his resignation from the Waipā District Council earlier this year, resulting in a byelection in the new Māori ward.

Rain, rain go away

Waipā district has recorded 60 per cent more rainfall in the last year than the historical average. The increase has kept parks waterlogged and set sports fields up for a difficult winter playing season, council’s Service Delivery committee heard this week.

Potholes patched

Waipā council staff patch around 3000 potholes each year, Transportation manager Bryan Hudson told the Service Delivery committee this week. The very wet autumn and early winter have contributed to further pothole and pavement faults requiring further attention. Permanent repairs will start taking place in spring when it is dry and warm enough to apply seal coats.

Boy racers again

Boy racers have been blamed for damage to the turf at Bulmer’s Landing bordering the Waikato River near Arapuni. Security cameras have been installed to mitigate the problems.

Vintage car meet

Hundreds of old cars from around the region will be on view at Sunday’s Veteran and Vintage Car Club (Waikato) annual fundraiser for the Cancer Society. The event, which last year raised over $4000 for cancer, will be held at the Cambridge club’s McLean St premises from 11am. to 1pm.

Old garage – new centre?

By Jeremy Smith

Te Awamutu and Kihikihi Community Board

chair Ange Holt has taken the case for finding a ‘holme’ for a community space a step further.

On Tuesday, Waipā District Council’s Finance and Corporate committee considered a recommendation from the board about creating a community space in what was formerly Holmes Garage in Mahoe St.

The committee suggested Holt and Te Awamutu Business Chamber chief executive Shane Walsh look at the possibility of private funding for the project.

Chair Andrew Brown noted that the project was not in the Long Term Plan for council funding so was not worth looking at in the short term.

The Who Are We Te Awamutu survey identified a desire for more community spaces in town.

A proposal to consider the council-owned Mahoe St premises as a venue for indoor markets and covered community events was presented to the board at its May meeting.

“With a little bit of love, this building would make a wonderful indoor market and venue for all sorts of covered community events,” Holt said in her agenda item ahead of Tuesday’s committee

meeting.

“With easy access to Market St, and then out onto the park, there could be a paved area out the back with picnic tables that open out onto Selwyn Park.”

The building – also the former home of Stuart Law Motors - was bought by council as part of the original plan to develop the Te Ara Wai Museum space next to Te Awamutu Library.

Speaking to The News on Monday, Holt said with a new location having been found to house Te Ara Wai, board members were keen to get an “initial sense” of the sentiment towards making a

community space in Mahoe St a reality.

“From a board perspective, it’s something I know members are quite excited about in terms of the scope of what a community space like that could bring to town.”

Holt said there would be some costs involved, including some earthquake strengthening, façade modifications and the addition of some windows and doors, but costings would not be investigated “until we know there is support for the project”.

“As a venue though, it ties in well with that area of town being a community area, near the library and the events centre.”

Damn those golden clams

By Mary Anne Gill

Thousands of invasive gold clams were found on Lake Karāpiro’s foreshore during the annual lake lowering on Saturday, 24 hours after they were designated an “unwanted organism.”

And the find has confirmed Karāpiro Domain site manager Liz Stolwyk’s worst fears on the eve of a season when user levels at the lake are expected to bounce above pre-Covid levels.

Stolwyk was given permission by the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) to collect a sample of clams for education purposes. The Waipā deputy mayor bottled them and later showed The News, council colleagues and staff.

MPI declared on Friday the freshwater gold clams, first found at Bob’s Landing in May, are now covered by strict regulations under the Biosecurity Act. They revealed this in a freshwater gold clam newsletter sent out to subscribers.

Despite the enormity of the announcement, which threatens Waipā’s biggest visitor attraction, biosecurity minister Damien O’Connor did not issue a statement.

Stolwyk said she was disappointed at the lack of interest from national politicians suggesting it showed a lack of understanding at the implications of a gold clam spread.

She working closely with MPI and other local politicians from Waipā, Hamilton and neighbouring local authorities.

The unwanted species status does not prevent

people using the Waikato River for recreation. People must not knowingly move or spread the clams or water that may contain them.

Biosecurity New Zealand deputy directorgeneral Stuart Anderson said MPI did give Ngāti Korokī Kahukura permission to remove clams for disposal.

Lake users must comply with Check, Clean and Dry conditions before moving their equipment or craft.

An “unwanted organism” is one that can cause harm to natural or physical resources such as rivers and lakes or human health.

The clams, native to eastern Asia, can produce up to 400 offspring a day and are hermaphrodites, meaning each clam has male and female

reproductive organs and can self-fertilise.

While Anderson says the clams could have been around for more than two years, treasure hunters on hand for the annual lake draw down on Saturday, say they were not there the same day last year.

They come to the lake with their scavenging equipment every year to dig and search for whatever gems lay under the water – lost by rowers, canoeists, water skiers and the myriad other lake users.

“The clams are everywhere (now),” said Stolwyk who was at the boat ramp to monitor the annual clean-up of jetties, retaining walls and lakeside equipment.

Anderson said an MPI staff member was also at the lake to promote the Check, Clean, Dry requirements and saw scattered patches of freshwater gold clams on the lakebed.

“They were lying in sediment alongside kakaki – the native mussels,” he said.

“Our focus has been on surveillance to establish where clam populations are present. As there is a known population in Lake Karāpiro, we did not conduct surveillance there at the weekend.”

Vehicles, equipment, tools, gear or clothing used on the day were subject to the new conditions which now gives MPI the opportunity to organise their response in a disaster-like way.

A Technical Advisory Group comprising will continue to meet and build an understanding of the clam and potential options for controlling it.

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One and two dollar coins in the middle give a sense of the clam size. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.

An artist’s impression of what new space could look like.

The world around us

By Janine Krippner

Did you know that the rock that makes up the top of Mount Everest is limestone that formed below the ocean?

Enormous tectonic forces slowly pushed the rocks upwards to make a mountain range that includes the highest point on Earth above sea level. Studying Earth sciences brings a whole new level to road trips. Looking out car windows to see the road cuts, mountains, hills, ancient riverbeds… you get an image in your mind about the deep history of a place, long before humans walked our lands.

Studying to be a volcanologist I took a range of university courses including geology (how rocks become rocks and what happens to them through time), soil sciences, hydrology, broader environmental sciences, weather and climate sciences, hazards sciences, petrology (the minerals or crystals that make up rocks), and of course, volcanology. This involves learning about the New Zealand landscape, opening our eyes to the processes that continue to shape our home.

Driving through the Hinuera Valley towards Matamata are tall white rock faces that tell us about enormous eruptions long ago. These rocks, called ignimbrites, formed during three eruptions around one million years ago from the Mangakino caldera, located around 50 km south. The ash and pumice flowed across the landscape at high speeds and temperatures as pyroclastic flows, then settled to where we see them now. We also see them around the country as Hinuera Stone used in buildings and monuments.

Most of geology happens fast, until something like a large eruption, huge landslide, or earthquake alters the landscape

China – should we be worried?

By Peter Nicholl

with cascading impacts. We learn about how sediments (bits of rocks, creatures that will eventually be fossils, and anything else that settles through water or landscapes) become rocks through time, pressure, and in some cases, heat. These rocks are buried and hardened, then our complex situation at the boundary of the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates push them up again, before water and wind erodes them back down and moves small particles of the rock away to form new rocks over their next lifecycle.

Understanding the rocks, soils, and processes around us is critical. Throughout history people have built dams that have failed, built towns beneath rock faces that have collapsed, on top of soils prone to liquefaction, within areas prone to flooding and tsunamis, on top of faults that will one day move and cause homes to crumble, discard waste that gets into drinking water… we can cause great harm to ourselves if we don’t understand the materials and processes that surround us.

This translates to different countries, being in new locations and automatically having some understanding of the Earth around me. Especially if volcanoes were involved. This can sometimes bring great concern for the people living there, unaware of the dangers they live with. Then there is the awe and wonder of understanding the forces that give us our green rolling hills and flat plateaus, understanding processes much larger than us – and grasping that our largest mountains are made of materials that came from deep below the surface.

A warm blessing

The logs are crackling and splitting in the wood burner. The door is wide open to draft the flames.

My three dogs sleep contentedly while I tidy up the mayhem in the kitchen, caused the night before, by opening a single tin of soup.

The rich logs of the camphor tree grow deep red, warming us and providing hot water.

Tinker has asked me to let her loose in the paddock and on the mice.

I love my morning ritual of lighting the kindling and choosing the twigs. The little flames make such a fitting welcome for a chilly, Waikato dawn.

By Eric Auton

For 20 years or more, we have been impressed and surprised by the positive economic data that has been coming out of China. Growth has been between 7 and 10 per cent a year over most of that period.

China’s exports have been growing between 10 and 20 per cent a year over the same period and their imports also grew strongly which was good for exporting countries like New Zealand.

New Zealand’s exports to China grew from around $3 billion in 2008 to over $21 billion last year.

China is by far our largest export market taking a 29 per cent share last year. Our second biggest export market, Australia, had a share of 13 per cent, less than half that of China. Chinese tourists and students studying here are also important sources of foreign exchange.

Occasionally during this 20-year period there were headlines that said the Chinese economy was facing problems and slowing. But when you read the story, Chinese growth was usually being forecast to slow from 10 per cent a year to 5 or 6 per cent.

Growth of 5 to 6 per cent a year would be regarded as a boom in most Western countries.

But this time, the negative headlines about China are backed up by the data in the newsstories.

There are still lots of big numbers but most of them have turned negative. Chinese exports fell by 14.5 per cent and imports fell by 12.4 per cent in the year to July 2023.

Youth unemployment is over 20 per cent - and there will soon be over 11 million new university graduates coming into the Chinese job market.

They have had an enormous building

FAITH IN WAIPĀ

Such simple, domestic luxuries make me feel a pain for so many, who have had so little, for so long.

Another mug of tea. Another log.

Certain obediences - (stacking, splitting, storing, presenting firewood from respected and loved trees) result in a blessing I hope we share, or imagine: a warm kitchen.

In our relationship to Our Father, He blesses us so profoundly when we snuggle up to His loving warmth of His caring.

He encourages us to be obedient to His expectations: starting by our kindness to strangers. His Holy fire is not sent to blister and incinerate us for our bad choices and don’t I make ‘em!

His Holy fire purifies us so gently that we can begin to feel a cold heart warming and blackness turning to amber, red and then gold.

One of the joys of living on Te Kawa Road, is to watch our Earth tilt so that the sun seems to lift its flames behind the shelter belts. They catch fire. Careful, Eric! That is exactly what is happening in an unsheltered belt across parts of boiling Europe.

It is fascinating to think about how words may become so familiar to us that we begin to decode them as lies. For example: the sun has never risen. The sun has never gone behind the clouds and if the sun were to set at dusk, how could it be released to

boom, as many other countries have also had. But the Chinese boom seems to have been on a larger scale than anywhere else and there is a huge amount of empty or unfinished property in the country.

For example, the value of the country’s biggest property developer, Country Garden, has more than halved since the start of 2023. The economic slowdown has been so rapid and so deep that China is also starting to face the prospect of deflation – falling prices.

This is at the same time as most Western countries are still grappling with inflation rates that are well above their target ranges. If I saw this set of economic data for New Zealand or any other Western country, I would confidently say that country is heading for a major recession. But the Chinese economy doesn’t seem to work by the same rules, in part because its politics are so different.

I therefore hesitate to say the Chinese are heading for a major recession because they have surprised us so many times before. But they have never faced a set of economic pressures that are this large, this widespread and this bleak.

It could be too much for even the Chinese authorities to manage and offset.

China is such a major global economic force now that if their economy falters, we will all be hurt by it.

New Zealanders should be worried about the economic news coming out of China as they are, by a big margin, our major trading partner. If they falter, so will we.

rise reliably for the next Waikato dawn?

The Victorians were extremely adept at speaking and writing about Our Father in Heaven as being able to send us into the fiery furnace or being able to cast us down with thunderbolts. We were obviously clever at using fire and brimstone to maintain control, as St Catherine found out when she witnessed in the flesh the invention of the Catherine Wheel. Why would our Father be so capricious as to destroy His ultimate creation, when we can know He had a rescue plan for all of us sinners?

Fluoride call rejected

By Mary Anne Gill

Waipā council staff say they’ve been assured by health officials that fluoridation of council’s water supplies is safe.

There would therefore be no grounds to action two notices of motion from the Te Awamutu and Kihikihi Community Board, Water Services manager Martin Mould told the Service Delivery committee this week.

The committee unanimously agreed despite an impassioned plea from board deputy chair Kane Titchener.

The board passed a resolution at its June 28 meeting asking the council to investigate a United States National Toxicology Program fluoride report and hold public consultations about it.

It also asked the council to consider joining a legal review against the Director General of Health’s directive to add fluoride to 14 local council’s water supplies.

In his last week in office last year, Sir Ashley Bloomfield directed Waipā to fluoridate the Cambridge drinking water supply.

Adding it to the town’s two water plants would reach nearly 21,000 people

and justify the government’s capital spend of half a million dollars, Manatū Hauora Ministry of Health told the council.

“Staff consider it would not be appropriate for council to investigate the National Toxicology Program fluoride report or join any legal review … and do not support the Notice of Motion,” Mould said in his report.

Cambridge councillor Roger Gordon said irrespective of what decision the committee made, the legal review was going ahead whether or not the council supported it.

“I question whether our role is now to consider it,” said.

He and Te Awamutu councillor Andrew Brown moved and seconded the motion which passed unanimously despite one councillor, Mike Pettit of Cambridge, seeming to err towards supporting it.

Much of the impetus for the board’s action came from Titchener, a long-time fluoride free advocate who likened fluoride’s effects to those of lead in paint and petrol. But he told the committee the whole of the board was behind him.

The toxicology report was published in draft

form in the United States in September last year and part of it said fluoride had an adverse effect on developing brains.

But authors removed the hazard classification of fluoride from the report in March, strengthening the broad consensus that fluoride in toothpaste and water safely reduces dental cavities.

The Prime Minister’s chief science advisor Professor Dame Juliet Gerrard reviewed new evidence in 2021 and reaffirmed there was no significant health risks with levels of fluoride applied to New Zealand water supplies.

“Recent studies continue to show that at very high levels and with chronic exposure, fluoride could

Steamers in town

By Viv Posselt

Steampunkers and visitors enjoyed a day of dress-up, ‘mad hatter’ teas and Victorian-styled competitions at Sunday’s third Steampunk Community Fun Day at the Cambridge Town Hall.

The event, organised by the InterlockNZ Trust and Waipā steampunk group the Tree Town Steamers, attracted several hundred people.

Interlock was founded in 2020 as a Waipā-based charity aimed at providing life-changing programmes for people with disabilities. The concept, started by Cambridge resident Aaron Ure, is aimed at giving every individual the opportunity to lead a fulfilling life within their community, regardless of their challenges.

The community day was a major annual fundraiser for InterlockNZ. Last year’s event raised about $2400.

potentially have negative neurodevelopmental and cognitive impacts. However, this is not a concern at levels used in fluoridation of water supplies in Aotearoa New Zealand,” Gerrard said.

“Adding fluoride to water continues to have a positive impact by reducing the incidence of dental caries in Aotearoa New Zealand and is particularly important in reducing socioeconomic health inequities.”

Mould said the Manatū Hauora directive was legally binding on the council. The News understands the council has nine months from the date of signing an implementation agreement with Manatū Hauora, or face a fine of up to $200,000 and ongoing financial penalties of up to $10,000 a day.

Interlock members come from various centres, including Cambridge, Te Awamutu, Te Kowhai, Hamilton, Matamata, Morrinsville, Tirau and Ōtorohanga.

Visitors on Sunday came from even further afield, with some coming from Auckland, Waihi, Ōhope Beach and Tauranga.

Steampunk refers to a genre of fashion that borrows its style from the industrial and Victorian steam era of the 19th/ early 20th centuries, with distinctive clothing giving a nod to time travel and often incorporating top hats, chains, keys, clocks and watches.

Martin Mould

Kane Titchener

Pirongia’s Paula McWha with some of the youngsters who took part in her school holidays steampunk workshop. They are, from left, Pirongia’s Ruby Webb, Ōtorohanga trio Hannah Court, Chloe Dady and Sophie Dady, and Pirongia’s Amy Webb.

Hip hop, silver lining…

By Jeremy Smith

There’s a silver lining from Brylee Gibbes’ time at the 2023 World Hip Hop Dance Championships.

The 18-year-old Te Awamutu hip hop dancer – Waikato and Waipā’s sole representative at the event in Phoenix, Arizona – took a gap year after finishing school at Te Awamutu

College last year to pursue her dream to compete there.

Now, at the culmination of more than seven months’ work, she’ll return home having won a silver medal as part of dance crew Yung ID earlier this month.

One of two Aucklandbased Identity Dance Company crews Brylee danced with, Yung ID – a combined crew in the JV

MegaCrew division - was runner up behind Thailand’s Awesome Junior Megacrew.

In an overall field of more than 330 crews from 40 different countries, the other crew Brylee danced with, an all-girls group called Masque, placed sixth in the world.

Brylee turns 19 soon, and with both crews she danced with this year part of what’s known as the varsity category - open to dancers between 13 and 18 – it marks the last time she can dance competitively with those specific groups.

But, with Brylee still overseas until the end of August, mum Lanah Gibbes – a Te Awamutu Primary School teacher – told The News her daughter’s set to move up into adult division crews after an “absolute high point”.

“It’s just incredible. Watching the live stream was, at times, so nerve wracking. But she’s coming home with a medal,” Lanah smiled.

“I’d say it’s probably one of the most exciting moments of this dance journey so far - even for both crews to respectively make the top eight was just epic.”

That’s saying something

– Brylee’s been dancing for about 15 years – with Drury Lane, Te Awamutu School of Dance and Imperious Dance Company.

Other Kiwi success stories form the championships – after Identity had a total of six teams in the finals –included the boys’ varsity crew, The Swaggernauts, placing second behind Japanese crew Kana-Boon!

Another Kiwi crew, The Outkasts, were third.

“We’re all super proud of them too,” Lanah said.

“But the word proud is definitely becoming overused - I’ve used it so much recently it’s ridiculous.

“Ultimately though, I think what I’m most proud of is that Brylee set her goal and, knowing what she wanted to achieve, she took a gap year and went for it.

“I know I’m her mum – but Brylee’s a pretty awesome kid really, her work ethic is right up there. It always has been when it comes to dance because it’s her life-long dream.”

Meanwhile, Brylee’s already giving back to the next generation, Lanah said.

Her dance journey began at Puahue School, where she took up Jump Jam.

Then, in Year 8 at Te Awamutu Intermediate

A life derailed

By Meghan Hawkes

John Gough had been at work in the Poro-O-Tarao tunnel for about half an hour on a Saturday morning at the end of July in 1888 when one of the bricklayers asked him to make up some ‘compo’ - a mix of cement-lime-sand mortar. As he turned to get a trowel, the overhead timbers caved in, there was a heavy fall of earth and John was buried.

Ominously, John had written to relatives a week earlier saying while the men were at work in the tunnel, they saw what they thought were signs of the roof giving way and ran out, resuming work again shortly afterwards.

The Poro-O-Tarao tunnel was at the end of the main trunk railway line, being driven over 4000 feet through a hill. The work employed about 40 men. The first drive was almost through and timbered up. It was usual to remove the timber as the brickwork was built up, and timber was being taken down past the end of the brickwork when the accident occurred. Two men were injured, and Frank Smith, son of the brickwork contractor, was also buried by the fall of earth and roots, but managed to struggle out. His father took him to Waikato Hospital.

About 10am John was dug out but life was extinct. He was 52, married with several children, his wife and family residing in Sydney. He had come to New Zealand from Ireland when he was 20. He also spent some time in Australia before returning to New Zealand. Thirteen days previous to the accident John’s mother had died at

School, Brylee was part of a group which won the Jump Jam nationals.

For the last five years since Brylee moved on to Te Awamutu College, she’s continued teaching Jump Jam at the intermediate school, second-in charge under another teacher.

“She just gives back because she wants to, and that’s been amazing for her dad Chris and I to see as parents,” Lanah said.

“If her dance story encourages even just one other young person to believe their dreams can come true, it’s absolutely worth it.”

Auckland.

John was taken to Te Kuiti on a sledge drawn by two horses over a bad road of 30 miles. Three men accompanied it, one walking in front with a light. The party arrived at Te Kuiti on Tuesday morning. Mr Briton, works manager, furnished funds for the burial. Constable Berriman was praised for the pains he took in getting the inquest held.

There was unrest over John’s death – 30 men left the works and went to Auckland by train alleging that the timbering in the tunnel was defective and dangerous, and that it had shown signs of giving way for some time.

John, usually resident at Auckland, was buried at Rangiaowhia, about 4 km east of Te Awamutu.

The Poro-O-Tarao tunnel works were put through an area of 23 sacred Māori healing trees and other tapu sites.

Te Ihingārangi were promised the railway would go round the area and tapu poles were put in the railway’s path by tohunga but the grove was felled before the tapu could be removed. Construction of the tunnel was beset with difficulties including fire, earth collapses, serious injuries, death, strikes, and one contractor giving up in despair when problems proved too great to cope with.

Te Awamutu’s Brylee Gibbes with the silver medal she won at the 2023 World Hip Hop Dance Championships as part of Kiwi dance crew Yung ID.

Waste not, want not

By Mary Anne Gill

Thirteen organisations will share $52,030 from the Waipā Waste Minimisation Community fund for projects as diverse as embedding worm farms into berms to establishing a reusable party supplies hire kit.

Waste minimisation officer Sally Fraser told the Service Delivery committee this week the fund comes from the Ministry for the Environment waste levy to support projects which rethink, redesign and reduce waste in the district.

The fund was oversubscribed.

Fraser said the team engaged with the community twice as much in the financial year ended June 30 than the previous year.

New initiatives included the Slow Fashion Op Shop bus tours which took place again this year in partnership with Matamata-Piako District Council. A full 50-seater bus went to Morrinsville from Waipā and promoted sustainable shopping.

Another new initiative is Zero Waste Periods.

“The waste minimisation team is going to do a multi-year approach to increasing the use of zero waste period products in Waipā, using the waste minimisation funding to give products to women who are willing to try them, alongside education,” said Fraser.

The project started with a workshop in schools where students heard about the period products available and then offered a choice of a washable pad, period underwear or a cup. Zero waste products were left at schools and one deputy principal will keep some for students who are absent when they have their periods.

“(We) will develop a project working with community organisations which we are already connected with, and trusted by, younger women in our community, to provide them with zero waste period products to give to those women they are working with who are interested and keen to try,” said Fraser.

Waste fund applications granted:

• Berm Garden Project: embedding worm farms into new berm gardens on a high pedestrian traffic street and promoting community composting into the worm farms

• ConneXu: developing resources and education programme for people with disabilities to minimise household waste

• Para Kore: helping Kōhanga Reo to

transition to reusable nappies

• Paterangi School: upgraded compost bins and chipper for mulching green waste

• Pirongia Community Association: establishing a reusable party supplies hire kit.

• Pollin8: scoping project to develop technology to reduce contamination of household recycling bins

• Roto-o-Rangi School: developing their composting education

• Maungatautari Sanctuary Mountain: replacing tracking cards with trail cameras

• TechLeap: reusing surplus recycled smartphones within a purpose-designed high school technology curriculum

• The Recreators: workshops to divert construction and demolition waste and repurpose deconstructed wood into new products

• Emma’s Farm to Fork: low waste cooking demonstration and workshop

• Love Grow Eat: preserving workshops to minimise food waste

• Heart: a feasibility study for a commercial resource recovery centre.

• A further project of $14,000 was allocated from programme funding to Impact Hub Waikato to deliver wrap-around waste reduction support to two hospitality businesses in Cambridge.

Sorry, wrong number…

National is struggling to get positive engagement over its proposal to cut cell phone use in schools.

The opposition announced last week that cell phone use at school would be banned to “help lift achievement and support every child to make the most out of their education.”

The News sought the views of Waipā secondary school principals.

The ban plan is too simplistic, Cambridge High principal Greg Thornton believes.

Since the start of last year Cambridge High has stopped the use of cell phones during class and Thornton said the move had been a success.

The practical realities of modern society made a full ban less attractive than the school’s present policy.

“We sought feedback and were told parents and guardians needed access to students,” he said.

The issue went beyond cell phones.

“You have watches – what is a device? You have earbuds which are easy to hide.”

The News has also sought comments from Te Awamutu College and St Peters.

The plan has not been given a pass mark by Secondary Principals‘ Association president Vaughan Couillault.

He told AM radio “we don‘t necessarily need centralised control and governance over this because schools are already enacting their own policies…”

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said schools did not need “Christopher Luxon’s permission to ban mobile phones”.

National Party Leader Luxon said students needed to focus on their schoolwork during classroom time to turn around falling achievement levels.

“Many schools here and overseas have experienced positive outcomes, including improved achievement, after banning the use

Waste minimisation officer Sally Fraser at a recent presentation about food waste.

Photo: Mary Anne Gill.

Donating the donations box

By Jeremy Smith

Te Awamutu Riding for the Disabled (RDA) has a brand new, hand-crafted rimu donations box thanks to its very own “expert wood turner”.

Or so they now call him.

RDA head coach and manager Rosalie Rea and funding coordinator Aileen Davies were beaming as they visited the Te Awamutu Menzshed headquarters to be presented with the special gift made for them by member Terry White.

“We’ve previously been using an ice cream container as our donations box,” Rosalie said. “This is just amazing.”

Terry was happy too.

“This is exactly the kind of project I like completing,” he said.

“I love working with my hands with wood – and seeing the different colours come out as you finish something off and put the right oils on it.

“I’m a bit of a perfectionist, but I’m not an expert. It’s just a bit of fun,” he smiled.

Terry – who has been part of Te Awamutu

Menzshed for about a year – said shed members undertake a mix of commissioned, or paid, work and projects that are donated when they’re finished.

Additionally, shed members regularly undertake a vast number of repairs on a myriad items.

Terry said he was pleased to present the donations box to the RDA as a small token of appreciation for the work its volunteers do in the community.

He’s completed similar projects like handmade jewellery boxes before, and said he’s open to being approached via the shed to make more.

Rosalie and Aileen confirmed there were a number of contexts they can now use the donations box in.

The organisation’s annual open day held in July at Kihikihi Equestrian Park arena was the perfect example of where they would have used it, and can put it to use next year, Rosalie said.

Te Awamutu RDA holds riding sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays – and is fully booked, with a roster of 40 riders.

Working with Troy delivers results

By Jeremy Smith

Road trips are Troy Tucker’s happy place.

“He’ll drive anywhere, he’s just content in the passenger seat watching the world go by,” dad Gavin said.

Now, the Kihikihi father and son are tapping into that passion as Gavin looks to ways to help Troy gain skills and confidence to enter the workforce.

Their company, Parcel Run, has been on the road since December after Gavin, his wife Amanda, Troy, 22, and younger brother Jack, 18, moved up from the Kāpiti Coast in November.

As customers place online orders for deliveries between the wider Te Awamutu area and Hamilton, Gavin and Troy oblige.

Eight months on, they have delivered everything from flowers to furniture, tractor tyres to automotive parts, letters and even undertaken a bakery run.

When he was three, his parent’s received their son’s formal diagnosis of autism.

“We knew nothing about autism,” Gavin said.

“After the formal diagnosis, we

had to do our research and find out.

“Troy still has very sensitive hearing – he needs routine, some tasks that may not seem big to others are massive for him. Something little can end up being upsetting.

“You have to stick with repetition in order for Troy to form a habit.

“I think one key question you always have is what will Troy do once he leaves school and looks for

work?

“That’s actually why his love of driving makes Parcel Run perfect –he’s so used to travelling between Te Awamutu and Hamilton now.

“I think when people observe anything out of the perceived ‘norm’ different people receive things in different ways,” Gavin said of Troy’s journey.

“Maybe people who’ve just met Troy may not realise exactly what

he’s capable of – but as his parents who’ve walked with him, Amanda and I know the incredible gifts, talents and abilities he has.

“It’s astounding. We’re 100 percent committed to journeying with him for the long run as his confidence in those areas increases.”

Parcel Run is the latest expression of that commitment – and Gavin sees daily how much Troy is growing.

Particularly, he says, when it comes to Troy’s speech, and his confidence when talking to people.

“Even in the last six months, I’m so impressed with where he is now.

“We were out to dinner at a restaurant not too long ago and when the waiter came, Troy spoke directly to them to place his order.

“Usually, Amanda or I would relay what Troy wanted.

“That may seem like a small thing to others, but for us that’s massive.”

At Parcel Run, as Troy becomes accustomed to tasks Gavin’s already given him, small additional responsibilities will be asked of him when the timing is right.

Troy - who has his restricted driver’s licence – isn’t quite driving the Parcel Run van just yet, though that’s not far away, Gavin says.

Firstly, likely in between Te Awamutu and Hamilton, then eventually in the business of Hamilton too.

Establishing a routine early on when down south while Troy was learning to drive, Gavin would take him to a wide-open car park in which it became the norm to complete exactly eight laps every Saturday and Sunday.

“Once that was a pattern, we switched to driving on the street. Apprehensive at first, one day I just watched it all click.”

Gavin said he’s grateful for how “warm and friendly” customers have been since he and Troy have been on the road.

“We love seeing them, and they love seeing us. The cool thing is, they’re helping play a part in being among those who – in time – will tangibly see how Troy develops and grows.”

Meanwhile, talent clearly runs in the Tucker family.

In pursuing his passion for writing, Jack’s subsequently published his first book.

Called the Rise of Maioura, it’s the first of a 10-title series Jack’s already mapped out in his head, Gavin said.

Gavin Tucker, left, with his son Troy loading up the first box of their latest Parcel Run deliveries.

Rosalie Rea, left, with Te Awamutu Menzshed member Terry White, centre, and Te Awamutu RDA funding coordinator Aileen Davies pictured with the new donations box.

CountryLife

Riding into the future

By Jeremy Smith

Groundbreaking equine reproduction – or horse breeding - research at Equibreed NZ is helping keep work undertaken by Kiwi industry specialists “right up there” on the world stage.

And, director Dr Lee Morris says nearly four years since the family-owned Puahue company - halfway between Cambridge and Te Awamutu - pioneered a New Zealand first which “opened up a whole new world”, the team’s latest capabilities are helping Kiwi horse breeders overcome fertility problems in their mares and access better worldwide genetics.

Ultimately, she said, that’s yielding key benefits like lifting overall industry efficiency, increasing pregnancy rates and meaning breeders are not confined to the traditional window between October and March.

It’s possible via an in vitro fertility treatment using intracytoplasmic sperm injection, or ICSI.

The process involves recovering unfertilised eggs from the mare’s ovaries while she is sedated.

The eggs are cultured in the laboratory until they’re ready for fertilisation, then a single sperm cell is injected into each egg. The resulting embryos are cultured for up to 10 days in the laboratory before being transferred to a surrogate mare, or frozen for future use.

Equibreed made New Zealand history in 2019, when the country’s first foal – Sienna – was produced using ICSI because the imported donor mare, Wonette, was unable to carry a pregnancy due to damage from a previous foaling.

A specialist equine breeding facility with many of its clients being breeders of sport horses, or horses which show jump, event or compete in dressage, Equibreed has breeders from around New Zealand and the world on its books.

Morris has owned the company - which she runs alongside her husband Newlands - since 2008.

Work had been underway for several years prior to the “watershed moment” that was 2019, with Morris even involved in research in England with leading Kiwi professor and equine reproduction pioneer, the late

Professor William ‘Twink’ Allen.

“Two key turning points were, firstly, the ability to freeze embryos and now this ICSI technology,” she said. Almost four years on, Morris said a recent New Zealand study stated natural breeding first cycle pregnancy rates in thoroughbred mares was 53 percent.

In vitro fertility treatment using ICSI undertaken at Equibreed is now consistently achieving rates above 60 percent, Morris said.

“That’s as good as – if not at times – better than natural mating.”

With research backed by the New Zealand Equine Research Foundation (NZERF) and the New Zealand Equine Trust, Morris has just returned from presenting the findings of New Zealand equine reproduction work at last month’s 2023 International Symposium on Equine Reproduction (ISER) in Brazil.

Held every four years, the symposium is the world’s premiere gathering in the equine reproduction field - it attracts about 300 of the world’s top equine reproduction scientists.

“It was a real honour – and an incredible environment – in which to be given the chance to share the findings of the work we’re doing,” Morris told The News.

“Realising the work being done in the field here in New Zealand is actually right up there with the best in the world made me so proud.”

This year’s symposium was the 13th such gathering. Eight years ago, when it was last held in New Zealand in Hamilton, Morris chaired the organising committee which helped make it a reality down under.

Here in New Zealand too, Morris’ desire is to collaboratively share research findings for the betterment of the whole industry. She regularly publishes research reports and findings and speaks at New Zealand Veterinary Association conferences.

“It’s not just about me, no man is an island, right?”

ICSI, Morris said, is the latest of several services Equibreed offers breeders under an “evolving” arm of the company called Equibreed Advanced Reproductive Technologies, or ART.

Growing up in Australia, she always wanted to be a vet.

Among a storied resume, Morris graduated from The University of Sydney in 1992 with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science. She then undertook a three-year residency programme in Theriogenology, Latin for reproduction of beasts, at the University of Guelph in Canada.

“Put simply, our key aspiration is to give breeders and their horses as many options as possible, while at the same time increasing efficiencies.

“I love advancing scientific discoveries and helping make them practical and useful.

“Newlands calls me lucky lucky Lee because – supported by my family – I’m literally living my dream,” she smiled.

“Being at the forefront of the equine reproduction industry, with my finger on the research pulse, really is one of the major joys of the work we do.”

SALES | PARTS | SERVICE

Equibreed New Zealand director Dr Lee Morris in the company’s embryo lab.

Equibreed made history in 2019 with the birth of New Zealand’s first foal – named Siennaproduced by an in vitro fertility treatment using intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

Calving in the big wet

By Jeremy Smith

“I’ve been farming for nearly 30 years and can’t remember a season that’s been so wet for so long, particularly over summer.”

Amongst at times

“astronomical rainfall and the tough challenges” that’s brought with it, Karapiro farm owner and Fonterra supplier Matt Hoskin says he’s determined to focus on

the positives.

“Given the contour of our property, we’re fortunate that we can handle quite large amounts of rain.

“What it does mean is that pasture management – and minimising pasture damage - becomes a key consideration.

“In our case, I’d say we’re a little short of grass cover at the moment. The ground’s

just been so wet for so long.”

Now about “75 percent” of the way through calving 320 cows on the property – H & H Karapiro - he runs alongside his wife Naomi, Hoskin told The News on Tuesday they recorded record production figures last season.

They have farmed the nearly 100 effective hectare property for nine years and

have been putting in up to 80-hour weeks since calving started in July – and milking twice a day. They won’t be finished calving until midSeptember.

So, Fonterra’s “massive pay cut” during such a busy time came as a “bit of a kick in the teeth”.

“In the midst of calving, that’s been hard to swallow, honestly,” Hoskin said. “It’s

a big hit, yes, but I’ve been farming for nearly 30 years, and I’ve seen the payout go up and down like this before.”

Both Waipā Fonterra dairy factories at Hautapu and Te Awamutu employ about 300 people and during peak season they each produce about three million litres of milk – and one million of cream - every day.

Fonterra Te Awamutu operations manager Russell Muir told The News the site has a “long processing year”.

“We process winter milk at Te Awamutu, so that mean operate 50 weeks per year.” Off the back of their record figures last year, Hoskin said it’s too early to tell what the combination of the prolonged wet weather, coupled with the reduced payout, will ultimately do to his bottom line.

He is grateful to be able to use supplementary feed left over from last summer.

“A lot of other farmers would be in the same boat because the summer was so wet. There’s no doubt it’s been hard work at times. But that hard work does pay off.

“Every year when we get to the end of calving, I do look back and think how did we get through that?”

Matt Hoskin

The calving season is well underway in Waipā.

King Country and Waipā face hits

providers.

"Taking steps now to forecast what this impact is for your business, is crucial.”

Jarrod Godfrey, associate partner at Findex Waikato, said in dollar value the forecast milk solids drop from $8 to $7 it would represent a $500m hit to the region - and $200m will be a direct hit to towns in Waipā and King Country. He is encouraging dairy farmers and other business owners in the region to take steps towards revising business forecasts.

“Dairy farmers should be engaging with their local accountant or farm advisor now to see what the farm cashflow looks like at the proposed $7 milk price. Other business owners need to model what a drop in business revenue might look like – as we have already heard from local farmers that they will be tightening belts a few notches” he said.

He said farmers were generally conservative in nature, but also proactive in managing risk in their farming businesses.

“As a result, we are already starting to see farmers take steps now to budget for a lower milk price environment. Unfortunately, this budget won’t have much in the way of discretionary spending, with expected reductions in areas such as repairs, maintenance, capital expenditure and personal spending.”

He says having knowledge of what the new cashflow forecast looks like will help farmers and other business owners to prepare.

MARTIN

For an average 124ha Waipā dairy farm, peak milking 370 cows, the drop in the milk price will reduce farm revenues for the 2024 season by $145,000.

LEVERIDGE FENCING

“For any business, a drop in yearly revenues of $145,000, or say $12,000 per month, is going to hurt.

"Unfortunately, most of this will be coming off the bottom line, which means dairy farmers in our community won’t be in a position to spend any of this locally with retailers or service

“The agribusiness industry continues to grow and develop with the help of technology advancements. The growing array of farming technology means that farmers are better placed now more than ever before to react faster to adverse events, including milk price drops. These tools often include farm financial tools such as Xero/Figured” he says.

“Taking steps now to re-forecast your farm cashflow will help you navigate this unfortunate milk price drop. And when milk prices re-bound, which they often do, you will be well placed to take a firm grip on those future profits.”

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COME JOIN US & HAVE SOME FUN

By Chef Louise Chidlow

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Sudoku

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Last week

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Street name ‘balance’ right

By Mary Anne Gill

Council staff appear to have struck the right balance when it comes to naming Waipā streets, says deputy mayor Liz Stolwyk.

“A road name can be quite sensitive for our residents,” she told this week’s Service Delivery committee meeting which considered six new names across the district.

The council rejected iwi recommendations for the Cambridge Health Hub development – opting instead for names from the developers with strong links to the late Sir Patrick Hogan.

But on the other side of the river at Te Awa Rise Development on Cambridge Road – looking towards the Waikato River – a suggestion for Maunsell Road was not approved despite the former owner’s recommendation.

Developments in Pirongia and Cambridge will all take names suggested by local iwi.

The Amberviews development in Pirongia was consented in December 2021 and is being

Briefs…

Pump blockages

The pump controlling water supply to Te Awamutu War Memorial Park’s fountain is still playing up. Council staff have met with contractors to find a solution.

Artwork collection

An audit of Waipā council’s artwork collection is nearing completion and covers the condition and significance of the works. A care management plan has been developed to improve storage conditions while a photographer took images of the collection

built in three stages with three public roads and 35 lots.

Mana whenua representative and The News columnist Tom Roa suggested Kahu Street. Kahu is the recognised as the fuller name of Mt Pirongia - 'Pirongia Te Aroaro o Kahu‘.

At Te Awa Rise, mana whenua’s Beth Tauroa suggested Awarua Crescent – which refers to the ditch that now protects an adjacent reserve, Paa Road, which refers to the pā site, Papatahi Lane, a floor or area where people were working, and Awarua Reserve.

The developer retains the naming rights as to which proposed names are presented to council but did not submit one recommended by Geoff Maunsell, the previous landowner.

Graduate Development engineer Brendan Koevoet said there was nothing specific to the site which warranted the name Maunsell for one of the roads.

“The developer presented the name to iwi representatives who did not prefer

this name,” he said, so submitted the iwi recommendations which meet the council’s road naming policy.

Hogan’s widow Justine partly owns Cambridge Health Hub. Developers suggested the names Sir Tristram Boulevard – after the thoroughbred racehorse who stood at Cambridge Stud for several years and Tavistock Place. Tavistock is another successful stallion from the world famous stud owned and operated by Hogan for decades.

Iwi preferred Waahi Ngaro Road, a reference to the loss of ngaa Tapuwae oo ngaa tuupuna (footsteps of our ancestors) and Mahitahi Road.

“Elements of the development to date have been exclusive and disjointed between

partners. Mahitahi is a reminder for all parties to work together to achieve positive outcomes for the community,” the naming paper said.

Peak Mews Development on Cambridge Road, near the Velodrome, had three names approved. Poto Davies as the mana whenua representative suggested Kookihi Crescent which means “to begin to grow.” That is an aspirational objective of the Brian Perry Charitable Trust which developed the site.

Liquidambar Lane and Whitespire Way, in reference to the mature trees on site, are the other names.

Service Development chair Clare St Pierre said the report highlighted what could be a sensitive issue across the district and agreed staff had struck that balance.

and outdoor sculptures to ensure a highquality digital documentation of each of the works.

Members up

Te Awamutu Library signed up 288 new patrons in the three months ended June 30 taking membership to 16,296. Book issues lag behind their Cambridge counterpart with 39,747 for the quarter, compared to Cambridge’s 73,052. The library had 159,541 books issued in 12 months while Cambridge had 293,633.

ADVERTISE WITH THE EXPERTS

VACANCIES

In the heart of Te Awamutu, Freeman Court makes independent living affordable and a little easier for older people. We are looking for people for the following positions:

VACANCY

• Kitchen hand/relief cook –30 hours/week

• Kitchen hand – casual

• Volunteer meal delivery drivers

In the heart of Te Awamutu, Freeman Court makes independent living affordable and a little easier for older people. We have one vacant position to start as soon as possible. COVID-19 vaccination required. Caregiver- casual position. Rostered shifts covering 24 hours and seven days a week

PARISH OF ST JOHN

We are looking for an administrator who can support the many ministries in the Parish.

For more information, please feel free to contact Tricia Ball (residential manager) at tricia.ball@habitat.org.nz or call 07 871 5260.

Contact Tricia Ball, Residential Manager, for more information. tricia.ball@habitat.org.nz

07 871 5260

Te Kura o Ngā Purapura o Te Aroha

Kaiāwhina/ Associate Teacher Part-time (30 hours per week) Te Awamutu: He tūranga e wātea ana ki te Wharekura o Ngā Purapura o Te Aroha. E kimi ana mātou i tētehi Kaiāwhina mō te kura, e mōhio ana ki ngā mahi whakaako tamariki. Me ū te kaitono ki te reo māori me ōna tikanga. Me matua mōhio hoki te kaitono ki ngā mahi whakahaere i te akomanga, me ngākaunui hoki ki ngā mahi whakaako tamariki. E whakapono ana mātou, he taonga te tamaiti, ko rātou hoki te pūtake o tā mātou kaupapa.

Ka kati tēnei tono hei te 01 o Mahuru, 2023 Tukua tō Tātai Oranga (CV) ki te Tumuaki: tari@npota.school.nz

• You will be engaging, friendly, and with excellent customer service skills.

• You will be well organised and be a great multitasker.

• You will work in a flexible and varied environment.

• You will have values that align with the Parish.

The hours are 20 hours per week, 9am to 1pm Monday to Friday.

For more information, including a job description, please contact Julie Guest (Vicar) julieguest7@gmail.com