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TE RUNANGANUI O NGATI POROU
Patrick Tangaere
Tena hoki tatau i o tatau tini mate. Ko Tuheitia tera, te Maori rongonui i hinga atu ra i te marama o Hepetema kua taha ake nei. Ka hoki ki a te korero a nga tipuna, ara, kua hinga te totara o te wao nui a Tane. Kare hoki e warewaretia o tatau mate huhua kua wheturangitia. E nga mate haere, haere, haere oti atu ki te ao wairua. Waihotia mai matau ki muri nei hei kawe i nga ahuatanga o tenei ao, noho mai ra i raro i nga manaakitanga o te wahi ngaro.
Ka hoki mai nga korero ki a tatau te hunga ora, Tihei mauri ora.
ME TIRO WHAKAMURI, KIA ANGA WHAKAMUA
As the new Chair of TRONPnui, I not only feel grateful and privileged to be elected into this position 12 months ago, but also realise I am standing on the shoulders of Ngati Porou giants. Great Ngati Porou leaders such as Dr Apirana Mahuika and Dr Te Kapunga Dewes to name two, are whom I used to watch in awe as a young boy at many of our marae, as they worked tirelessly on behalf of our people to build the Runanga and help create a better future for us.
So when I was asked to suggest a theme for this year’s TRONPnui Annual Report, the kupu ‘anga whakamua’ were among the first ideas that came to mind. In order for our organisation to move forward into the future, we must look towards and recall the lessons and legacy from our past: Me tiro whakamuri, kia anga whakamua.
Part of this legacy is our outgoing TRONPnui Chairman, Ta Selwyn Tanetoa Parata (KNZM), who served 37 years in the roles of Board Member and Deputy Chairman of the Runanga and later as a Director and Chairman of the Runanganui. 10 Hui a Iwi, January 2024. Ta Selwyn is another Ngati Porou giant I would look up to as a youngster admiring his ability to whaikorero alongside our pakeke, recite whakapapa and sing our Ngati Porou anthems and moteatea alike.
One of the great honours in my new role as Chair was to welcome other iwi and invited dignitaries from around the motu to the Investiture Ceremony for Ta Selwyn at Uepohatu in Whakarua Park. It was a beautiful occasion full of our waiata and whaikorero, and we are fortunate our Tairawhiti Iwi Radio Stations captured the event on livestream for our uri around the world to partake in this celebration of Ta Selwyn and ‘To tatau Ngati Poroutanga’.
Another part of our TRONPnui legacy are the twelve outgoing TRONPnui Directors (Rei Kohere, Ani Pahuru-Huriwai, Dean Moana, Lilian Tangaere-Baldwin, Derek (Tini) Fox, Marijke Warmenhoven, Tui Warmenhoven, Ta Selwyn Tanetoa Parata (KNZM), Te Rau Kupenga, Trudy Lewis, Maui Tangohau, Kelly Blackman). I mihi to all the outgoing Directors and thank you for the contribution you made to Ngati Porou through your role. I also thank you for the support, wise words of advice and lots of laughter you gave me during our times together.
I especially mihi to five of these outgoing TRONPnui Directors, who had represented the interests of their respective Rohenga Tipuna since the board was established in 2011. They could not stand again to be elected, as our current Trust Deed states you cannot serve more than three consecutive four-year terms. The loss of their institutional knowledge with their departure, combined with an 85% new change in the total make-up of our TRONPnui governance, cannot be understated.
HE ANGA WHAKAMUA
But as the saying goes, ‘Ka pu te ruha, ka hao te rangatahi’, and our new net still needs to go out fishing at the ngutu awa. So the second half of the financial 2023/2024 year has been a period of transition, as our new members (Wayne Abraham, Pohatu Poutu, Taryne Papuni, George Konia, Hekia Parata, Wattie Goldsmith, Karen Tangi Ki Ngatirangi McClutchie, Bobbi Morice, Kanewa Stokes, Juanita (Whiti) Timutimu, Alana Irwin, Annette Wehi) got to grips with their new governance roles and responsibilities.
Collectively as a new board we have also had to work on forming new relationships and getting into sync with one another. Part of this bonding has involved discussions about a new direction forward, he anga whakamua. We have been looking at technical updates to the TRONPnui Trust Deed to keep up with relevant legislation, and we are also in the planning stages for setting a new TRONPnui Strategic Plan. Our subsidiaries have embarked on completing their strategic five-year plans, and we will soon join them in painting the big picture of what the next five years looks like for us. Our 2024-2029 Strategic Plan will outline our big goals as TRONPnui Group, and what we need to do to achieve them.
Ngati Porou Iwi members already gave us their initial thoughts about what they would like to see in this big picture, when we held the Ngati Porou Hui-a-Iwi at Uepohatu in the beginning of 2024. Our get-together on January 13th, had a very good turnout with more than 200 Ngati Porou attendees, with some even joining online. We originally called the hui in response to the call by the late Kingi Tuheitia for Ngati Porou to attend the Kotahitanga Hui-a-Motu at Turangawaewae. Before attending, we wanted to make sure first of all that Ngati Porou wanted to attend, and then what would our stance be if we did go to the national hui.
When we held the Hui-a-Iwi at Uepohatu, our whanau and hapu not only shared their concerns about the Government’s policies and provided the mandate for Ngati Porou to attend the Kotahitanga Hui, they also shared their 4 key priorities for Ngati Porou going forward:
These four kaupapa, will help to inform our strategic planning document which we intend to release in early 2025.
ANGA WHAKAMUA!
I would like to end my report by giving a big acknowledgement to all the operations staff and management who work for TRONPnui Group. While we TRONPnui Directors have been sorting ourselves out at a governance level, the kaimahi of Ngati Porou Oranga, Toitu Ngati Porou, Nāti Growth and TRONPnui Corporate, have just been quietly carrying on with the work that needs to be completed. They have been out in the communities caring for our whanau in need, supporting our marae, creating wealth from our whenua, making sure the paper-work gets done and the bills are paid. We, as TRONPnui Directors, owe them our deep gratitude, as without them we wouldn’t have a functioning TRONPnui outfit.
The old people I grew up around always stressed the importance of ‘doing the do’. Despite the many challenges or obstacles that may come your way, you have to carry on and move forward. Anga whakamua! Just get on with it! Forge ahead! As Chair of TRONPnui, I am keen for myself and fellow Directors to practise more of this advice.
NGA MIHI O TE WA
Meri Kirihimete and hapi niu ia to all our Ngati Porou whanau - both here at home and those far away. I look forward to 2025 and to keep forging ahead.
Ma Te Atua tatau e manaaki.
Patrick Tangaere,
Tiamana, Te Runanganui o Ngati Porou.
To read more korero from the 2024 TRONPnui Annual Report go to: https://www.ngatiporou.com/hui-a-tau-2024
