Ōnuku Rūnanga

Kia Kūrapa ki Ōnuku

On 19th – 21st Mei 2023 Kotahi Mano Kāika delivered a very successful Reo Wānanga at Ōnuku. We had over 60 whānau attending the event. Akaroa Area School graciously allowed us to use their learning space to deliver a range of lessons to all our whānau. We also hosted the wānanga for Irakehu Pae ki Tua – strengthening the Paepae capacity across Irakehu whānau at the marae. What an absolute success the weekend was! Keep an eye out e te whānau, as we look to build on the success of this wānanga with other reo learning opportunities in the next 12 months!

Kori Millar

Kori is the daughter of Reiana Tainui. She was born in Akaroa, went to Te Waipounamu College and lived in Queenstown. She is now a director of 67 Pall Mall in Singapore.

(The below article of Kori Millar featured in Portfolio Magazine 9 March 2023.)

Covid made it that much harder due to travel restrictions. The biggest feat here was the building of the 11,500kg, six-metre-tall wine tower that holds 2,500 of our Club’s wine bottles. And by the time of opening, we had grown the team to 60 employees.

I had delivered on my promise to open our doors for our member previews by Valentine’s Day of 2022. The date had been chosen by our CEO as a treat for his wife’s birthday. It was ambitious – not only was it one of the busiest days for most food and beverage establishments, but it was also the last day of Lunar New Year. There was no time for practice runs due to Covid and construction delays. We started operations straight away with 4,200 covers over the course of 13 days of back-to-back dinner previews for members.

Makaia Wineera

My leadership style… is rooted in empathy, kindness, and the nurturing of others. I believe these are values that will flow through your team when they come from you. As we are in the hospitality industry, it is important that we are hospitable, and service centred. It’s not about being in charge; rather, it’s taking care of those in your charge. I drive my team by allowing them to find their own feet; I facilitate suggestions and inspire creativity to give them direction and vision. I always believe you should try to be the leader that you wish you had.

My most memorable career challenges and triumphs include… working on something of 67 Pall Mall’s magnitude. I joined the team as the fifth employee of the company. This was a mere six months before opening – in the midst of Covid – and the space was completely bare. I had to oversee the entire renovation and keep up with our CEO Grant Ashton’s engineering-centric brain while my global executive team was situated remotely.

Makaia Wineera (13 years old) has recently joined the NZ Cadet Forces in Feilding, Manawatu. On Anzac Day 2023, Makaia was able to support her whakapapa by wearing the replica war medals of her greatgreat-great grandfather George Aaron Bunker. George married Nohomoke Bunker (née Hokianga) from Ōnuku in 1907, he is pictured on the left. Their daughter Keita Ruru (née Bunker), often called Aunt Kate is pictured on the right with Makaia’s great aunt Eleanor Knox. Makaia felt very privileged to wear these taonga on such an important occasion.