Back row: Malcolm Robson, Awhina Rickard, Trudy Brown, Kingi Kiriona (Te Aka Whai Ora), Ellie Berghan (Te Aka Whai Ora), Rawinia Mariner (Te Aka Whai Ora), Boyd Broughton, ? (Te Aka Whai Ora), Margareth Broodkoorn, Nicole Anderson Front Row: Kiri Sloane-Hobson, Wallace Rivers, Aperehama Edwards, Cynthia Otene, Naida Glavish, Teei Kaiaruna (Te Aka Whai Ora), Simone Edwards, Tracee Te Huia (Te Aka Whai Ora), Wane Wharerau, Huhana Lyndon.
On 16 March 2023, Te Aka Whai Ora were warmly welcomed by Te Iwi o Ngātiwai to sit with Te Taumata Hauora o Te Kahu o Taonui Iwi Māori Partnership Board (IMPB) at Terenga Parāoa Marae in Whangārei.
Arriving with carefully planned and curated agenda for the day that was elegantly and typically tipped on its head from the outset of the hui with Dame Kahurangi Naida Glavish, setting the scene declaring 'Ngāpuhi Nui Tonu, never ceded sovereignty'. Further reiterated that all partnership engagements will and must be based on He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti with aspirations of devolution of resource, funding, and authority to the region.
The kōrero that followed was rich with embedded solutions (Rongoā, Whānau), contemporary (Information and Technology solutions), and future thinking - acknowledging the vast challenges our whānau are facing, challenges that are urgent, challenges that are varied, challenges that are numerous, and challenges that are compounding. Therefore, the responses for whānau need to be swift, agile, plentiful, and courageous.
This was a great opportunity to share the learnings, strengths, and aspirations of not just the IMPB so far, but also the incredible collectives of whānau, marae, hapū, Iwi and Māori Health and Social Service Providers across the region, who have supported and strengthened whānau and communities during the pandemic, through droughts, the earlier flooding, and more recently post-cyclone Gabrielle.
The hui was the first of many between the IMPB and the Crown, with much alignment and of course, some challenges put to the Crown.
We look forward to further kōrero, wānanga, and tohe with our Crown partners, as we seek solutions, equitable outcomes, and mana motuhake on behalf of our whānau, hapū, iwi, and communities of Tāmaki ki Te Reinga.