Chairperson's report

Matapōrehutia ngā tini mate o te wā Waiho mai te tewe muri nei Hei hopo mō kautau. Moe mai rā i te korōriatanga o Ihoa o Ngā Mano Okioki mai rā.

Kei ngā paepae o Te Kāhui o Paerangi Tēnei te whakamānawa atu, tēnei mihi kau atu. Nau hoki mai, tēnā haere mai Ki tō tātau Hui-ā-Tāu o Ngāti Rangi. E te iwi, kia ora.

‘Protecting our whakapapa’ is probably the key theme that led out our efforts around COVID-19.

The government COVID-19 lockdowns placed increased pressure on our rural communities and marae last year but were a necessary means to keep us safe. COVID-19 limited our ability to host hui, tangihanga, wānanga and karakia in person which meant as an iwi and a country we were forced to take key activities on-line.

We were consistent in our messaging across various media platforms that any would-be inter-regional travellers were not welcome if they wanted to escape to their holiday homes from highly populated COVID-19 positive towns. Protecting our whakapapa was the ultimate aim. Ironically keeping non-locals away was also heavily supported by our community.

We established a Te Kāhui o Paerangi COVID-19 sub-committee in response to the imminent arrival of COVID-19 into our communities. We then commissioned a Marae rapid response survey and report from there we were able to quickly establish the capacity needs of marae but also establish which marae could host Hui (ora and mate) once the government’s traffic light settings permitted.

We are also proud to see the many marae development infrastructure projects that are starting to take shape. Some are more advanced than others but by the end of the calendar year we look forward to seeing them all completed.

Te Tōtarahoe o Paerangi

The Board held a wānanga in July 2021 with key tribal members that were instrumental in leading and informing key parts of our settlement and other key kaupapa important to the iwi. We were indulged by the collective knowledge, kōrero and energy from our panelists which included Uncle Keith Wood, Aunty Biddy Mareikura, Uncle Bobby Gray, Che Wilson and Kemp Dryden. Having access to the foundational kōrero that lead to the rationale behind many iwi strategies and approaches was pivotal to enable our Board to shape our work priorities and programme for the year.

These types of wānanga with individual panelists we intended to carry on throughout the year. Sadly with the loss of Aunty Biddy and Uncle Bobby in 2022 the key messages shared over time will now be etched into our collective memories.

Government Reforms

A multitude of government reforms are upon us. We have had to be very strategic in our participation in the various forums with government agencies. The key thing to not lose sight of is ensuring we hold the Crown accountable to what had been guaranteed in our settlement – Rukutia Te Mana. We have actively voiced our views across various reforms to date and continue to manage the operational relationship with key government agencies.

Our association with the National Iwi Chairs Forum (NICF) has been a valuable resource to leverage, where required, a collective voice in response to the issues of national significance that impact Māori. Through NICF other more established post-treaty settlement entities have a greater resource pool to draw on the technical support and hone in on treaty issues or potential breaches.

Te Ranga Tupua

Te Ranga Tupua was incredibly active over the past year, particularly prior to Christmas in 2021. Iwi leaders gathered to collectivise our efforts to lead out a progressive COVID-19 vaccination programme. We met with Minister Henare to lay out a plan to achieve higher vaccination rates and funding support followed. This is yet another demonstration of the power of size and scale that can be achieved through Te Ranga Tupua. In future, we hope collaboration on more collective outcomes can be achieved together.

Rukutia Te Mana Implementation

COVID-19 may have disrupted our ability to hold Board Hui and wānanga throughout the year but it provided us with a real opportunity to put in place the necessary building blocks to activate levers in our settlement. In particular, Te Pae Ao and Te Mana Paenga have started to take shape and we have commenced proactive Board discussions around Te Kōpae. We look forward to sharing some of that progress in the coming year.

Ngā Waihua o Paerangi

The organisation has been under increased pressure, due mainly to the impacts of COVID-19, to carry on with business as usual and meet its annual plan targets. Our Hauora team, in particular, had to abandon their workplans for a number of months to back-up COVID-19 efforts. This was a huge undertaking and I want to thank all of the kaimahi for their undying commitment to that kaupapa.

In addition, the breathing space created during lockdown allowed the Board the opportunity to reflect on what was most important and determine the key priorities. The kaimahi have done an amazing job to make good progress across the departments in spite of all of the disruption.

(Please refer to page 9 of the Annual Report for the 'Group Structure' and 'OUR CURRENT TE KĀHUI O PAERANGI REPRESENTATIVES' image content)