From the CEO’s desk

Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board

Tēnā koutou katoa, Welcome to the Kōanga / Spring issue of Te Kōtuku. I trust that you and your whānau are well and keeping safe in these challenging times. The arrival of the Delta variant is of serious concern to us all.

I encourage you to continue to follow the health guidelines and to consider booking your vaccination appointment if you haven’t already. • “...More than 100 whānau were vaccinated recently at a COVID-19 Vaccination Drive Thru held at Hīrangi Marae – the first Tūwharetoa marae to host such an event.”

COVID-19 continues to affect our lives in many ways. The popular Taiopenga Tūwharetoa was scheduled to take place this month. However, due to the recent lockdown it has been rescheduled to late November. Hopefully, it will be able to go ahead then. It is also hard to believe that we are already more than halfway through the year. The High Court finally released its long-awaited Declaratory Judgment. This confirms and upholds our property rights, including our ability to charge commercial operators running businesses on Taupō moana. It was unfortunate that due to the uncertainty of COVID-19, our Kaumātua Dinner could not be held in the usual way this year. However, our marae and whānau still came together in smaller groups to celebrate, as you will read in this issue. Until our next issue.

Me tiaki i to tatou whakapapa – looking after our whakapapa is most important. Ngā manaakitanga,

Shane Heremaia Chief Executive