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ISSUE NINE | $4.95www.KOHA.biz

Te Matarae i Orehu:

A Leader i s Born

Hua Parakore:Mäor i Organic

Ver i f icat ion

Ngäti Whakaue Iho Ake:The Path to

Cultura l Surv iva l

B U R N I N G E A R T HSurvival or Extinction?

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6. Hua Parakore:Organic verification with culture

12. Building a Culture of Savings:How KiwiSaver is changing lives

20. Deep Sea Oil Mining Protests:Why we need to move to a clean economy

24. Iho Ake:Bright future for Ngäti Whakaue’s young

30. Miriama Morrison-Hare:A Leader is born

16. A Photo for

Every Man:Recalling the glory of the Mäori Battalion

34. Taupō Moana Group:How to invest your money wisely

37. Kinaki Corner:Cooking tips by Charles Royal

38. Mull on This:Setting the Maori economic agenda

CONTENTSFEATURES

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In this era of climate change and global earth changes, the

power imbalances that have led to the decline of both the

planet and its peoples must be corrected. How indigenous

peoples choose to respond to this cycle has become a choice

for survival or extinction.

In Aotearoa, Mäori are being confronted with that choice.

As we speak, Te Whänau-ä-Apanui and Greenpeace have

mounted a campaign to oppose the National government’s

mining agenda. The Raukumara Basin off the East Cape has

been slated for deep-sea oil drilling by Brazilian company,

Petrobras, who have one of the worst environmental records

in the industry. In this issue of KOHA, we recognize the efforts

of this courageous Iwi and Greenpeace who are choosing life

over short-term economic gain. Let their actions remind us

that despite 300 years of colonial rule, there are still those who

walk among us willing to defend our ancestral inheritance.

For many years, the First Nations canoe has been

unceremoniously diverted “off course” as European demand

for land and natural resources throughout the world has

displaced millions of indigenous peoples. The struggle to

protect the earth has become synonymous with the fight for

cultural survival. Until indigenous peoples are able to restore

traditional economic independence and reject state welfare

and dependency, it is likely that this scenario will continue.

So in the spirit of indigenous self-determination through

greater economic control, this issue also looks at the

inspirational work of groups around the country, from Iwi

to Kōhanga Reo, who are working to develop the building

blocks for Mäori to achieve this vision.

We hope you enjoy it. Whaia te ara tika!

Come to the edge.

www.KOHA.biz

C O M M E N TMERE TAKOKO

EDITOR

Published by FOMANA Capital Ltd, May 2011P.O. Box 10758Wellington 6143Email: koha@fomana.co.nz

By Gretta Carney and Pounamu Skelton, Te Waka Kai Ora

HUA PARAKOREensures your plate is full of goodness

Sunflowers and spinach at Auntys Garden

at Waipatu Marae, January 2011

Photography by Gretta Carney

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Healthy delicious pure kai is what you will find on the supermarket shelves in the coming months with the label ‘Hua Parakore Kai Atua’. The Hua Parakore label signals that the product has been through a tikanga Màori validation and verification process that gives the product the Mana of Hua Parakore authenticity. Te Waka Kai Ora will launch Hua Parakore during Matariki this year.

Hua Parakore began as a dream of founding Chair Percy Tipene, with the intention “to educate and feed ourselves”. Within this simple statement is the heart of a new and thriving sustainable Mäori economy based on the values and aspirations of our tïpuna. Our new tribal sustainable economy maintains the health and wellbeing of our people and our resources. Our new tribal sustainable economy facilitates vibrant trading both between ourselves in the traditional way of koha, and through modern commerce-based markets. Tribal sustainable economies extend beyond the shores of Aotearoa, facilitating native-to-native trade between indigenous peoples.

With a Hua Parakore product you will have peace of mind knowing that your kai has not been exposed to any contamination by GE, nano or chemical manipulation compared to the majority of the food found on our supermarket shelves. Hua Parakore labelled products will give you the peace of mind that the food you are feeding your family is traceable – created in a safe environment, harmonised with all elements of nature, complemented by one’s intrinsic values.

Our growers are accountable for ensuring the product’s purity and integrity is intact when it reaches your plate. Te Waka Kai Ora are responsible for creating the world’s first tikanga-based verification to trace and identify the integrity of food. Considered as a korowai that overlays the NZ organic standard and integrates with standards of the NZ food safe authority.

Look out for Hua Parakore products in your local health shops, community markets, Aunties Gardens online system, Iwi festivals, and supermarkets throughout the country.

KAIWHENUA ORGANICSKaiwhenua Organics, nestled in the cliffs of Whaingaroa overlooking the magnificent Whaingaroa harbour, is a garden and thriving Mäori business which is all about growing healthy vibrant food for the local economy.

For Kaiwaka Riki (Tainui) his business started as a small-scale garden ten years ago and to his delight he had abundant success of big and hearty vegetables. The return to the uncontaminated growing practices of his ancestors has been a journey of healing for both tangata and whenua. Over ten years Kaiwaka and his wife, Lynne, have built up a thriving garden that provides good quality kai to the local supermarkets, restaurants and local food outlets in Raglan, as well as the tables of maraes during Poukai celebrations.

Kaiwhenua Organics was awarded the Hua Parakore Tohu last September receiving the Hua Parakore korowai affirming the leadership role they have carved for themselves in their local economy.

Rt. Hon. Georgina Te Heuheu receives the Maara Kai Kete

from Te Waka Kai Ora Chairman Percy Tipene at Hua Parakore

Consultation Hui, Turnbull House, 16th September 2010

Photography by Steve Abel

Kaiwhenua Organics grow a huge variety of kai: four varieties of Mäori taewa, heirloom kümara, gourmet lettuces, seasonal vegetables, root vegetables, spring onions, herbs, watermelon, strawberries, and there is a cascading koru-shaped watercress garden. At Kaiwhenua Organics the garden is producing all year round and employs five people to keep up with the burgeoning demand for organic produce.

“The last time we caught up with Kaiwaka he said they could not keep up with demand,” said Kaihautu a Motu Pounamu Skelton. Business continues to ‘grow’ as Kaiwhenua Organics begin building their wänanga centre, on the land next to the garden to realise the dream of educating more people about huaparakore and continuing to grow as a self-reliant business based on Tikanga Mäori.

Ray Reihana Ruka and Geneva Hildreth receive the Hua

Parakore Korowai with whanau 9th September 2010

Photography by Gretta Carney

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TUATEAWA The Rabarts are another whänau business poised to take advantage of the Hua Parakore point of difference. John Rabarts is farming whänau land at Tuateawa and Taiharuru on Te Tai Tamahine, the East Coast of the Coromandel Peninsular.

“I’m looking after our historic lands, we have been on for 550 years or so and try to make sure we keep the poisons and other undesirable aspects away from the land,” John explains. “We have honey hives in several places which gather mänuka honey and other honeys including pöhutukawa honey and we are quite vigilant about making sure there are no sprays or poisons that go into those areas that could risk the organic nature of our honey collection.”

John believes Hua Parakore will help keep any food that they are producing pure and that “keeping them pure is always a plus, especially when there are so many environmentally conscious people looking for that sort of food supply.”

We have been cultivating blackberries for three years to improve our cropping and are growing figs, loquats and ginger all for future organic market. Also from our 600ha bush block where we have some of the organic hives we are gathering and drying kümarahau and kawakawa for rongoä. We can gather other berries and leaves as requested, including Olive leaves (which a number of our whänau are using in rongoä). We are setting up to market our locally produced organic mänuka and pöhutukawa honey very soon. There is a consumer demand for organic and ethical products and Hua Parakore assures consumers that this is what they are getting.

PAPATÜÄNUKU MARAEHua Parakore is working for our Mäori community groups as well. Papatüänuku Kokiri Marae is a thriving urban marae in Mangere South Auckland. Papatüänuku is home to 20 flourishing community gardens. A diverse range of communities comes together with one thing on their mind – to grow healthy food. From migrant groups, disabled peoples to a range of Pacific peoples, all share the desire to grow healthy kai under the guidance of two kuia who keep a wise eye on the gardens and support the use of tikanga in accordance to Huaparakore.

“It’s not only the plants that are flourishing,” says Mangere leader Hineamaru Ropati, “gardening is influencing the attitudes and changing behaviour of our young people. Gone are the days where fast-food outlets dominate the food choices of our young people. Nowadays they are opting for home grown kai because it smells and taste better. These young people have been learning how to grow food and become self-sustainable in the mahinga kai activities.”

Communities have had the support of traditional gardening expert Tawhai McClutchie, from Te Waka Kai Ora, to encourage them in their practice. Steeped in traditional knowledge Tawhai is able to coach easy and practical steps towards becoming Huaparakore. Their garden includes an impressive five different heirloom kumara seeds and numerous varieties of rïwai as well as a range of seasonal vegetables.

“Papatüänuku are always able to feed their manuhiri with healthy kai from their mära and are a great example of a place where they embrace the community around them under the auspices of tikanga Mäori,” says Te Waka Kai Ora coordinator Pounamu Skelton.

A NEW ECONOMY EMERGINGGrowing food is not for the faint-hearted it requires land, knowledge and physical grunt. The organic market continues to soar, as the global demand increases and consumers seek healthy and safe ingredients on their shopping lists. Worldwide the organics industry is worth US$50 billion dollars plus as clean land becomes more scarce and global disasters contaminate food-producing land.

There are many other Mäori growers, businesses, whänau and organisations enjoying the benefits of Hua Parakore. Geneva Hildreth of Kaikohe reports a significant boost in the profile of her farm since the Hua Parakore Korowai went up on the farm gate last September.

Hua Parakore is gracing our supermarket shelves on the Bio farm Yoghurt range and Company Director Cathy Tait-Jamieson believes that she has just secured Australian organic distribution solely on the strength of her Hua Parakore indigenous korowai.

“Through Hua Parakore they are not only growing kai, they are growing people and they are growing a community.”

There are plenty of businesses waiting in the wings ready to come on board. First stop post-launch is Wakatu Inc. to explore the potential for Hua Parakore verified mussel production. Hanui Lawrence, original Aunty of www.auntysgarden.com is looking forward to the Hua Parakore korowai sitting on her garden gate before the year is out. Kaitoke-based organic wool producer Jessica Hutchings is also set to come on board this year with uncomplicated logic underlying her decision – “I want a tohu that’s Mäori.”

The potential for Hua Parakore extends to the distant shores of our Pacific neighbours with interest already being expressed by whänau in Papua Nui Guinea, Samoa, Vanuatu, Solomon and the Cook Islands who would like to join Te Waka Kaiora and set up native trade relationships into the future. For further information contact us on info@tewakakaiora.co.nz or visit us at www.tewakakaiora.co.nz

Geneva Hildreth (left) presents Cathy Tait-Jamieson of

Biofarm the Hua Parakore Korowai, 30th July 2010.

Photography by Gretta Carney

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BioFarm organic yoghurt

company is the first Maori

export company to achieve

the Hua Parakore label.

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AN ORGANISATION WITH A VISIONHe timatanga körero nä Te Waka Kai Ora “ Whatungarongaro te tangata, toitu te whenua.”

Vision Te Waka Kai Ora (TWKO) is the National Mäori Organic Authority and was founded at Ratana Pä in 2001 to fulfil the vision: Ki te manaaki i te mauri o ngä taonga katoa - To protect and enhance the life essence of the resources of tangata whenua. Puritia ngä tikanga o ö tätou mätua tïpuna - To hold fast to Mäori values and tikanga handed down by our ancestors. To maintain the mana, mauri

and integrity of these values to be embraced, nurtured and passed on for our children, our mokopuna and the generations to come.

Tino rangatiratanga o ngä Hua Mäori - To support whänau, hapü, iwi to grow pure healthy kai on their whenua for social, economic and physical wellbeing of people and resource.

Ngä kaitiaki me ngä kaitautoko o tënei kaupapa, Nga whänau, hapü, iwi - Te Waka Kai Ora is the custodian of the Hua Parakore knowledge treasure on behalf of whänau, hapü, iwi of Aotearoa New Zealand.

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A STRONG FOUNDATION FOR GROWING HUA PARAKOREThe ihi and mauri of Hua Parakore were conceived at a TOPIS (Te Taitokerau Organic Producers Society Inc.) hui at Waiomio marae in 1998. Kaumätua and kuia thought the organic kaupapa was just like the old days of mahinga kai until they saw how human waste was used for composting and later used for growing vegetables. After great discussion the term ‘Hua Parakore’ was adopted as being the closest to what they knew organics to be: ‘pure product’ – unadulterated, without contaminates. The term ‘parakore’ hails from the Paipera Tapu that refers to ‘te hinu oriwa parakore’ – olive oil in its purest form. TOPIS then took this taonga in 2001 to a hui at Ratana Pä and from this hui Te Waka Kai Ora was born.

TOPIS, as the founder of both Te Waka Kai Ora and the taonga Hua Parakore, sees Te Waka Kai Ora as the waka that holds and disseminates the knowledge of Hua Parakore and the processes by which one achieves Hua Parakore verification and validation at a national level.

GET INVOLVEDThe vision of Hua Parakore has been derived from the iwi, hapü and whänau of the Te Waka Kai Ora community:

Mä ia rohe e whakamananga tënei kaupapa i roto i töna ake rohe – Regionally based and owned E kaupapa mö te katoa o ngä kaupapa mahinga kai – Inclusive meeting the needs of whänau, commercial and corporate producers. Ki te whakatau huarahi, hei whakamana i te kaupapa mö Hua Parakore, me ngä whakapapa whakapiringa – Enables Mäori growers to verify themselves as organic.

Hua Parakore belongs to iwi, hapü and whänau of Aotearoa. Hua Parakore is held within the whare wänanga (learning houses) of pütaiao Mäori. Hua Parakore honours the statements and rights contained within: Te Tiriti o Waitangi, The United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and the Mataatua Declaration.

The papawhäriki or foundation of Hua Parakore are the Rohe Roopu or flax roots that hold fast the kaupapa in their area. Visit WWW.TEWAKAKAIORA.CO.NZ to join.

Te Komihana o Te Waka Kai Ora and Kaimahi from left to

right: Percy Tipene (Te Taitokerau), Mahina-a-rangi Baker,

Geneva Hildreth, Jessica Hutchings, Tawhai McClutchie,

Aramanu Ropiha, Gretta Carney, Pounamu Skelton, Te Wai

Hohaia and Hineamaru Ropati.

Taken at Papatuanuku Marae, 19 March 2011.- -

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If you have read the papers or listened to the news lately, you are probably well aware that the cost of a university education is rising – generally at a rate higher than the rate of inflation. Since the 1990s tuition and fees for tertiary institutions have risen by at least double. It is no longer safe to assume that the State will pay for your child’s tertiary education because, as recent trends illustrate, our public tertiary education is in crisis.

A survey conducted by the New Zealand Union of Student’s Association found that the average student debt was over NZ$28,000 up 54 per cent from 2004. The result is that many young New Zealanders are being caught in a rotating cycle of debt where a culture of owing more than you own is becoming accepted as the norm. Even more daunting is the rate at which student loans are repaid. For every dollar of taxable income earned, a total of ten cents is paid to the bank. And then there’s the straw that breaks every camel’s back: interest.

In many ways, New Zealand’s Student Loan Scheme is a ticking time-bomb as the total collective debt owed currently sits above $13 billion and continues to grow by $1 billion annually. If you consider that in 1989, the fee for full-time annual study at a New Zealand University was less than $300, it is not hard to work out the implications for low-income families. Many students are being excluded from public tertiary education as parents are being forced to come up with at least 40 per cent of their children’s tuition fees and costs.

But it doesn’t have to be that way if we act now says Taupö Moana Group CFO, Tina Wilson, who has been concerned for some time that many Mäori families are being caught in a net of ongoing debt and dependency on welfare. Wearing another hat, the mother of four, is the current chairperson of Te Puawaitanga Te Köhanga Reo in Taupö. After discussing the benefits of KiwiSaver with the Köhanga whänau, the past year has been about providing information to the Köhanga staff about the benefits of entering the world of savings and investment, especially about investing in themselves for the future. This knowledge transfer coincided with staff contract reviews, so the timing was very helpful.

“We are lucky to have a wide net of whänau members with fabulous skills. These skills combined with the motivation and passion of a small group of whanau members have made this potential life changing decision possible for our staff. “We’ve been trying to grow a culture of financial awareness within our Köhanga as a whole. The fact that this will also help our kaiako prepare to meet the future costs not only for educating their children but also for things like home ownership and retirement is a bonus. The first step we’ve taken to do this is to enable them to join onto KiwiSaver,” says Tina.

Ki te Whai Ao, ki te Ao Marama:

By Mere Takoko

Building a Culture of

It’s early days yet, but Te Puawaitanga Te Köhanga Reo is the first indigenous early childhood centre in New Zealand to join onto KiwiSaver – a work-based voluntary savings scheme. The benefits of KiwiSaver include a tax-free ‘kick-start’ contribution of $1,000 from the government and compulsory employer contributions of at least two per cent of employee wages to a KiwiSaver account.

After three years that a member contributes at least two per cent of their wages to KiwiSaver, the government will provide subsidies for a first home deposit and will match member contributions by up to $1,042.86 each year.

“The fact that our staff have joined up to KiwiSaver does not come without associated risks. We need to be able to meet the compulsory employer contribution also. However, the fact that 100 per cent of our kaimahi opted to join KiwiSaver and our Köhanga has the potential to change the future financial outcomes of our tamariki, it is one risk we were happy to take on.”

Te Puawaitanga Te Köhanga Reo recently became the first indigenous early childhood centre to become KiwiSaver compliant, as Mere Takoko reports.

However, the fact that 100 per cent of our kaimahi opted to join KiwiSaver and our Köhanga has the potential to change the future financial outcomes of our tamariki, it is one risk we were happy to take on.”

''I never really thought too much about KiwiSaver and didn't

really know about it before, but when I heard that in three to

five years that it can go toward purchasing a house, I made

the decision to join.''

Erica Haumate, Kaiako.

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Building a Culture of

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Savings and Investment

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Te Puawaitanga’s Operational Manager, Belinda Hawkins, says that joining the scheme was timely for the Köhanga, which was undergoing contract reviews when the decision was made to become KiwiSaver compliant.

“It’s definitely been a learning curve for us all because we’ve never heard about KiwiSaver but after holding a couple of information workshops, we decided it was the thing to do,” she says.

Since becoming KiwiSaver compliant, the Köhanga has achieved what few indigenous early childhood centres have done to date: 100 per cent sign up to the scheme. That’s something that Tina says is an amazing achievement given the current economic climate and rising food and energy prices.

“Our Köhanga doesn’t receive the same levels of funding that mainstream early childhood centres do (due to the level of qualified staff), so achieving such a high rate of support for KiwiSaver is really an indication of how much our kaiako genuinely want to create a better future for themselves and their children.”

She also says that it would be great if the government subsidised Köhanga around the country to become KiwiSaver compliant and introduce mechanisms to assist low-income families to draw down their KiwiSaver funds to meet tertiary education costs for their children. To date, less than ten per cent of Mäori have joined onto KiwiSaver suggesting that the scheme is not meeting their needs.

“Investing in the future of Mäori children by enabling the KiwiSaver scheme to allow families to meet the costs of tertiary education fees and tuition will provide an escape route out of the lower socio-economic poverty that so many of our people are battling with. There is no alternative; disadvantaging our tamariki relative to their peers for future employment opportunities is not an option,” says Tina.

With her other hat on, the Taupö Moana Group CFO and the TMG team are never short of good ideas. TMG and partners are looking to bring an option to Mäori organisations for their beneficiaries in the not too distant future. Tina and the team have lots of solutions to aid our Iwi organisations and entities to invest in their people. Changing the thinking around member distributions towards a KiwiSaver scheme is definitely a sure way of combating some of the economic issues Mäori people are faced with. She believes a smarter focus on education and how we provide for it could be the best investment an Iwi could make for their descendants and could also provide a mechanism in which to build a loyal and highly skilled tribal workforce.

The next step for Te Puawaitanga Te Köhanga Reo is to encourage parents to not only enrol themselves, but more importantly their tamariki. KiwiSaver also has the mechanism to make voluntary contributions and even has specific registration forms for children.

“Almost 85 per cent of fees paid to the Köhanga are subsidies by Work and Income New Zealand, which shows the high rate of parents who are either beneficiaries or are not in full time employment. So if we can do it in our community, then anyone can,” says Tina.

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Talking with Kaiako, it is easy to see why the decision to join KiwiSaver was a common sense choice. While the main incentive for most was the idea of a first home loan deposit of up to NZ$5,000, for others, the government’s annual contribution of over NZ$1,000 into member KiwiSaver accounts was too hard to resist.

“If it’s not too much coming out of your pay packet and if the government’s going to give you money and all you have to do is sign up, why not? That’s probably the biggest incentive,” says Robert Akuhata.

For Tina and her colleagues, taking a filtered down approach to the scheme illustrates to parents who decide to join that they’re also exposing their tamariki to better financial practices so that saving for the future is a normal thing. There are also benefits of families owning their own homes and being able to leverage off good debt instead of bad debt.

“KiwiSaver is a really positive first step for parents to consider. For me, it’s about establishing some habitual savings components and from there, once people see their KiwiSaver scheme statements, they will be happy with the rewards and fingers crossed – less anxious about their future,” she says.

“KiwiSaver is a really positive first step for parents to consider. For me, it’s about establishing some habitual savings components and from there, once people see their KiwiSaver scheme statements, they will be happy

with the rewards and fingers crossed – less anxious about their future.”

“I think everybody’s got to at least put something away for hard times ahead … the times we are in now are hard. If we don’t prepare – ka raru ai tätou te tangata.” Robert Akuhata, Kaiako.

Taupö Moana Groups CFO, Tina Wilson, is working with Te Puawaitanga Te Köhanga Reo in Taupö to help staff successfully adopt the KiwiSaver programme.

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FOR EVERY MANA PHOTO

Hone Hikitia Te Rangi Waititi (now 90 years) is

just one of the 28th Maori Battalion soldiers whose

photograph has been added to a new website that

has been developed by the Ministry of Cultural

Heritage, Te Manatu Taonga.

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A website has set for itself the impressive task of locating a photo of every one of the 3600 soldiers of the 28th Mäori Battalion.

“If the families of these soldiers assist us it will be the first New Zealand infantry battalion from the Second World War to boast a photo of every man who served,” says Monty Soutar who eight weeks ago became the coordinator of the Mäori Battalion website.

The website www.28maoribattalion.org.nz was developed on behalf of the 28th Mäori Battalion Association by Te Manatü Taonga – the Ministry for Culture and Heritage in partnership with Te Puni Kökiri. It is dedicated to the memory of the Mäori Battalion, a voluntary unit that fought in the Second World War.

The Chief Historian of Te Manatü Taonga, Neill Atkinson, who was involved in setting up the website, said, “It was the wish of the remaining 28th Mäori Battalion veterans that their story not only be preserved, but that it be presented via modern technology so that it could stand as an inspiration for young Mäori as a story of identity and achievement that still had relevance in the 21st century – so it was as much a forward looking project as a backward looking memorial-type project.”

It was that wish from the veterans that led to Te Puni Kökiri’s initial involvement and then to Te Manatü Taonga being commissioned to manage and grow the site.

Te Manatü Taonga and its predecessors have produced a range of print histories, oral history projects and web features on New Zealand’s war history, and as with the 28th Mäori Battalion website, the Ministry has been commissioned to undertake projects for the artillery and the engineer corps through their respective groups.

“We want to promote the site as a portal to everything to do with the Mäori Battalion,” said Soutar. “The site was formally launched in August 2009 at Parliament by the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage and Minister of Mäori Affairs. Nineteen Mäori Battalion veterans were present on that occasion, quite amazing when you realize there are only 43 veterans living today with an average age of 90.”

Soutar, who led a team of researchers to produce Nga Tama Toa, a book on one of the Mäori Battalion’s five companies, has joined Leanne Tamaki and Jamie Mackay in Te Manatü Taonga with the express purpose of

growing the amount of material on the site, increasing its users, and in so doing, promoting the preservation of family memorabilia for the future.

“When we were gathering information about C Company we managed to collect 900 individual photos of the men in the unit,” Soutar recalled. “It took 15 years. With the advances in technology where people can scan photos and send them direct to the website we hope to reach the 3600 target a lot faster.”

The website has seen steady traffic since July 2010 with an average 3000 unique visitors per month. Visitors to the site are viewing a high number of pages, which suggests they are looking round the site. Many users have contributed their own stories, memories and photographs, helping to build

the site’s content.

Currently the website includes an historical overview of the Battalion at war and at home, an interactive map, contributed photos, stories and memories, resources for teachers and school students, and a selection of photographs, audio files (oral history, radio recordings and waiata) and videos. It also includes a nominal roll and individual soldier pages for all of its 3600 men.

Radio New Zealand Sound Archives – Ngä Taonga Körero has digitised its historical Mäori Battalion-related recordings and these have been made available for the website. This presents an exciting new opportunity to place the spoken dialectical Mäori of the 1940s on the site. These recordings will be of huge interest to those studying the language and fit well with the government’s Mäori Language Strategy to support the growth of iwi dialects. Transcripts and in

some cases translations will also be placed on the site.

It is hoped to achieve the goal of 3600 photographs while there are still veterans around. To speed things up 3000 website postcards promoting the ‘3600 target’ were handed out at the Te Matatini-o-te-Rä festival in February. Project staff also had touch screens there so people could navigate through the site.

“Time is against us,” says Soutar. “One of our veterans, John Palmer passed away recently. It all depends on how quickly we can get the message out and how receptive whanau, who have the photos, are to the idea.”

Photos can be contributed via the website www.28maoribattalion.org.nz or sent to 28th Mäori Battalion Website, Te Manatü Taonga – the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, P O Box 5364, Wellington. FOR EVERY MAN

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Pictured here is a photograph of Haane Te Rauawa Manahi (DCM)

contributed to the site by his son Geoff Manahi. Photos of all 3600 men

who served are currently being collected as part of a nation-wide search.

Can you help? Visit www.28maoribattalion.org.nz

An example of the

technology on the site.

This interactive map

shows the progress of the

28th Maori Battalion.-

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Pte Hona Te Moananui a Kiwa (John) Palmer b. 4 January 1918 d. 11 March 2011Regimental No.25968 17 Platoon, D Company, 28th Mäori BattalionNgäti Raukawa, Ngäti Toarangatira, Ngäti Tüwharetoa

In Pahiatua, on 15 March, a large gathering assembled at 93-year-old John Palmer‘s tangihanga to farewell a much-loved friend and relative. He was the last of the Mäori Battalion’s D Company veterans who fought in the Battle of Greece during the Second World War. In fact, of the 750 Mäori Battalion members who were transported from Egypt to Athens in March 1941 only three now remain – Sir Henare Ngata (Gisborne), Arthur Midwood (Rotorua), Arthur Brooking (Havlock North).

Some years ago John gave an account of his war experiences to a young Welsh friend who wrote that no sooner had the Mäori Battalion arrived in Athens they were despatched to the pass below Mt Olympus in north-eastern Greece where on 16 April John and his mates found themselves facing a German attack in the Mavroneri Gorge. The gorge was something akin to the Manawatu Gorge except the slopes were much higher and steeper and covered in dense bush “which we thought a goat couldn’t climb or come down.” The fight was frantic but brief and D Company’s 16 Platoon lost four men before the Germans withdrew to their side of the gorge. Night fell soon after accompanied by wind and driving rain. Word was passed between gun pits that the Battalion was pulling out and each of its five companies was to hike it up the slopes behind them.

17 Platoon was made up of three 10-man sections and in the confusion that night the message did not reach the section John belonged to. “My mate and I, we stood to all night.” Each section was divided into pairs and each pair shared a trench and pup tent. ‘Stood to’ means you watched your front for two hours and then slept while your mate guarded for two hours, and you kept this up until dawn.

“We had our blankets on and we were wet right through to our boots.

Then the rain stopped in the early morning. It’s something one never forgets, it was quiet; we heard the birds twittering in the trees. It was just becoming dawn. All of a sudden we heard this voice behind us, ‘Have you seen anybody?’ We said ‘No.’ He said ‘That’s funny.’ So he went on to the next trench. We got up and had a look right around. The whole Battalion had pulled out. Six of us were left behind. We couldn’t understand it.

“Seeing that we heard that the Battalion was going to make a stand at the end of the Pass we climbed right to the top of the range … when we ran into a mob of Serbian soldiers. Through sign language, noise and whatever they told us there was nobody there; it was all Germans; our guys had left.”

John and his mates, who had been without food for three days, then decided to make their way down to the coast, steal a boat and set out for Turkey. They were attempting to do just that when they ran into Germans. “They must have been a labour corps. They were fixing up the roads because a lot had been bombed. Because the Greeks were dark like us Mäoris and a lot of them wore more or less the same uniform, we decided the only thing to do was carry on and say we were Greeks forgetting we had a New Zealand patch on. We just walked past, they just looked at us, ignored us, except the

officer. Being in the army its automatic, you hear the word 'halt' and you automatically halt. He said, ‘Halt, for you the war is over.”

So on 25 April (Anzac Day) 1941 fighting in the war ended for John and his mates and life as a Prisoner of War began. Three months in Salonika before being transported to Germany and Austria where for four years his home was a further five P.O.W. camps and where appeasing one’s hunger was always uppermost in the prisoner’s mind.

John Palmer (right) was the last of the Maori Battalion's D company

veterans who fought in the Battle of Greece during the Second World War.

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Why deep-sea oil's wrong ...

and why there's no alternative but a clean economy

Images courtesy of Greenpeace New Zealand.

By Jay Harkness

As the country adjusts to the shock of and changes wrought by February’s earthquake, and the fact that, in the short term at least, growth is going to be slow – at best – for some time to come, there’s increasing thought being given to what Aotearoa’s economy should look like in the future.

This is a good thing, as it is indeed true that the country is at a crossroads. But it’s not a crossroads formed just by the earthquake or the recession. Right now, virtually every economy in the world is wrestling with the challenge of doing something about the climate change crisis.

Add to that mix the growing global supremacy of clean energy generation and efficiency technologies, and the opportunities they present, especially in the context of the above. This leaves the world, both as a planet and a collection of nation-states, at a point at which crucial decisions are needed to dictate the shape of all our futures.

While not a total cure for climate change – the problems are too vast and too complicated – clean energy generation and efficiency technologies are an important part of the solution. Cleantech represents enormous opportunities for those who are able to recognise its potential. Cleantech is an industry that now attracts more investment worldwide than the development of new sources of fossil fuels.

A good example of the strength of the industry comes from China; because of an awareness of the social costs of climate change, and a growing problem of air and water pollution, China is spending US$12 billion a month on developing renewable sources of energy. In South Korea, plans were unveiled last year to invest over $US98 billion in ‘green growth’ over the next five years.

That’s not to say that there isn’t life in the fossil fuels sector. But any country that is keeping fossil fuels alive is simultaneously smothering its potential to become a cleantech success story. Any dollar placed on a wrong bet is a dollar not spent on a far better one.

As I write this, Greenpeace, a number of other environment groups, including Forest and Bird and the Climate Action Network, and the East Cape iwi Te Whänau-ä-Apanui, are taking direct action to put a stop to Brazilian oil giant Petrobras’ seismic surveying in the mostly very deep waters off the East Cape. Petrobras is here because the government has spent $30 million (and counting) on preliminary surveys, looking for fossil fuels, in the hope of attracting big oil to this country. By contrast, a recent government grant of $200,000 dollars was made available to help develop a biofuels initiative.

Media record the welcome by te Whanau-a-Apanui to the hui at

Whangaparaoa Bay, attended by an estimated 600 people opposed

to deep sea oil drilling in the Raukumara Basin off East Cape.

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Why deep-sea oil's wrong ...

Most of the Raukumara Basin is extremely deep. Some parts of the basin go as deep as 3,100 metres. As the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico showed us, deep-sea oil comes with a high risk of disaster. As divers can ordinarily only descend as far as 200 metres, a problem that occurs on the seabed is virtually impossible to fix quickly. While the 6000 ships mustered to try and clean up the Gulf of Mexico spill were unsuccessful, New Zealand would be lucky to gather any. A major spill would devastate our tourism and fishing industries overnight: tourists are notorious for wiping entire countries from their itineraries, if there’s even a suggestion that things won’t be as great as the brochure suggests.

So what does the government need to do, if we are to compete on the new playing field of the 20th century, besides putting a stop to its perverse incentives against the development of clean energy technologies?

The answer to that question lies overseas in what our future competitors are already doing to secure their place in a world, where carbon has gone from an unheeded waste gas to the planet’s number one threat.

Cleantech will thrive as the true cost of carbon is applied. Most governments are only just starting to apply carbon charges (including here in Aotearoa), but those companies that are developing cleantech technologies need support to position themselves for the day when real world charges are applied. This could be likened to a surfer needing a ride out to one of the big breaks that form off Hawaii – you have to be in the right place to catch a wave, but getting there can be hard.

Aligning the price of carbon with what it will need to be, rather than what is currently acceptable to big polluters, will give certainty to those who

will be looking at spending significant amounts of money on technological investments that by their nature won’t mature for some time.

For the same reason, the government must set the sort of targets and timeframes that are needed to meet this country’s climate obligations. Within those, further targets are needed to achieve those goals so as to create a local market for developing cleantech industries.

But that’s not all the government could or should be doing – in fact it’s just the beginning. A more general alignment of government policies with the realities of life this century would bear fruit – fast. Take, for example, those policies around transport. In the face of decreasing oil resources and increasingly volatile oil markets, it makes sense to build an economy that is resilient against these external market forces. If New Zealand were to decide to focus on developing a well planned and integrated approach to transport planning, with inter-nodal integration between road, rail and port infrastructure, particularly at the urban level, Aotearoa’s emissions profile would look quite different.

The creation of ‘smart’ electricity grids that manage electricity demand, creating efficiencies in the process, would enable an easy shift to an electric private car fleet, with a corresponding impact on emissions.

A placard, protesting plans for deep seal oil drilling,

on the road to Whangaparaoa Bay, East Cape.

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As a result of the sort of policy realignment mentioned above, New Zealand’s bill for imported oil products would fall, as would our exposure to oil price fluctuations. That in turn would help correct the current imbalance of payments.

While the tax system exists to raise money for government, it can and should also be used to create the sort of environment that is conducive to the type of industries that offer the best prospects for the country overall. Overseas experience shows that tax breaks for cleantech R&D, for instance, reaps rewards. Such breaks also have an important part to play in fostering those ideas that are just too far from commercial application to attract interest from the average investor.

Another means to quickly and profitably create a low-carbon economy is to set up a bank dedicated to the task. Germany and the UK have already done so with marked success. Such a bank would specialise in providing

credit and guarantees for green projects. The necessary capital would be raised through carbon taxes or the issue of green bonds, which would fit with the long-term investment horizons of pension and life insurance funds.

Overseas, green banks have so far funded: new and renovated low-energy building stock; a new multi-scale, multi-technology renewable energy power system built to achieve a 100 per cent clean target; and a clean, efficient, transport network.

It seems that whilst other nations are clear about their futures, with announcements of investment into clean technologies, job creation programmes and strong growth drivers, our government’s woeful lack of political investment suggests that New Zealand is rudderless in terms of an end goal. What a shame it would be to see our country, our talent and enormous potential being squandered by a lack of vision that threatens the very advantage we already have in our clean green image.

The Ocean Pioneer, support vessel for the deep sea oil survey vessel the Orient Explorer, attempts to

divert the sailing yacht Infinity from bearing witness to deep sea oil exploration off the East Cape.

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All images © Greenpeace

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Roana Bennett has been called many things – community organiser, educationalist, tribal economist – but never an expert of tradition. At least that’s what the mother of three would have you believe. Over the last fifteen years, Bennett has been involved in her tribe’s efforts to restore the wellbeing of its growing youth population through a focus on childhood education and more recently a new innovative youth employment scheme. And she’s done it in an unconventional manner – with the unanimous support of Ngäti Whakaue’s commercial entities.

It’s an approach that few groups have been able to achieve and one that has seen the tribe emerge as a titan not only of youth development, but also cultural revitalisation.

“We came to the realisation that on the one hand we were investing a significant amount of money into schools but not necessarily getting the outcomes we were seeking. Mäori statistics in education were appalling so we got together and decided to make a change,” says Bennett.

Prior to the formation of her organisation a decade ago, Ngäti Whakaue’s tribal entities were largely focussed on protecting and building its capital asset base – accrued from property rentals, dairy farms and forestry related activities. After having secured a significant balance sheet, Bennett says the tribe made a conscious decision to focus on finding ways to leverage off this asset base to invest in improving the lives of its members and other Mäori living in Rotorua. True to form, unlike other Iwi, the tribe hasn’t limited itself to the vagaries of government education policies and funding streams. Instead, taking the broader picture on how to transform the wellbeing of the tribe’s youth has led Bennett and her team to focus on the life cycle of members from ‘cradle to career.’ And that vision has taken the tribe on a journey to use over 60 years of commercial experience to set up a range of programs that are now subsidised by the government and Ngäti Whakaue’s commercial entities.

“We have been around for a good ten years now and we have programs that go right across the board. We have an early childhood centre, a supportive playgroup, whänau programs, parenting programs, and employment programs. But it’s all tied together by our early childhood curriculum with its focus on tikanga,” says Bennett, who is the Managing Director of Ngäti Whakaue’s social service arm, Te Taumata o Ngäti Whakaue Iho Ake Trust.

After five years of research, development and coordination, Te Taumata established its widely supported early childhood strategy called Moko-Puna Te Ao Kapurangi. The strategy covers a number of aspects blending national education standards with a focus on Ngäti Whakaue language, history, culture and lore.

The focus on early childhood education was established after seeing the high rates of attrition among Ngäti Whakaue’s high school-aged youth and the low rates of academic excellence. A decision was then made by the tribe to intervene. This led to early discussions between economic entities and tribal educationalists, parents and experts in traditional lore and customs. In a dialogue that started more than 15 years ago with meetings, workshops and more committee meetings, the results of garnering wide support for Te Taumata’s education strategy have provided an essential building block in which to drive for success at all levels.

Iho Ake: Bright Future for Ngäti Whakaue’s Young

Roana Bennett is Manager of Te Taumata o Ngati Whakaue,

a tribal organisation that currently runs one of the country's

most successful Iwi early childhood programs.

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By Mere Takoko

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“We have been around for a good ten years now and we have programs that go right across the board. We have an early childhood centre, a supportive playgroup, whanau programs, parenting programs, and

employment programs. But it’s all tied together by our early childhood curriculum with its focus on tikanga,”

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Happy Feelings: Te Taumata's innovative has helped

300 families to reconnect to their tribal heritage

through a focus on early childhood education.

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“We all sat down and said where do we want our tamariki to be by the time they enter school. We want them to be secure in their Ngäti Whakaue identity and strong in literacy and numeracy that’s appropriate for their age group. If they are strong in those areas in their younger years, they are more likely to succeed at high school,” says Bennett.

Taking the broader picture has also been a critical factor to the tribe that was quickly losing its orators and native language speakers. Now, after establishing a number of early childhood centres, the tribe is confident that a new generation of children will ensure that knowledge passed down through centuries of oral tradition will survive into the next century. That driver, more than any other, has been fundamental to Ngäti Whakaue’s innovative curriculum which also ensures parents are involved in educating their children and have the opportunity to learn alongside their children.

Waiata Mai: Ngati Whakaue's curriculum incorporates national standards of

numeracy and literacy with lessons influenced by tribal lore and customs.

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“They learn whakapapa, waiata, püräkau and we take them to places of significance to our people. Parents and extended family members are also encouraged to attend our programs. Over the last five years we’ve assisted over 300 whänau to make early childhood education decisions for their tamariki, and in the process, we’ve tied them back to their whakapapa,” adds Bennett who is quick to point out that the help of local kaumatua such as Norma Rapana – Sturley, Mitai Rolleston and Pihopa Kingi has seen the organisation establish workshops for parents in traditional oral arts called paepae wänanga which are free to members.

In recent times, Te Taumata has continued to build on its successful early childhood program by adding employment, housing and trade training to its social service portfolio. Although these programs are yet to come to fruition, Bennett’s team has been working in cooperation with Ngäti Whakaue’s commercial entities to leverage tribal capital to build new state of the art facilities for its trade-training program. The organisation will also soon launch a new online job portal to assist members to find meaningful employment opportunities around the Rotorua area.

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“The trade training program is work based, so we’re looking at modern apprenticeships and our goal is to have 200 fully qualified tradesmen and women by the year 2020. Our housing strategy fits in well with that and we’re looking at rental schemes that are more supportive,” says Bennett who also explains that looking at the whole life cycle of Ngäti Whakaue’s young people from cradle to career means that beyond education, members also have opportunities for employment and access to housing.

“We want our young people that are becoming parents to stay here and bring their children up in Ngäti Whakaue tikanga and kawa, but they’re not going to stay unless they get good jobs and housing. So that means we have to look at youth development in a fluid and holistic way,” adds Bennett.

When asked what she considers to be the most essential ingredient for Te Taumata’s work to date, the Waikato University educated Management Studies graduate says that keeping to a broad strategy where everyone in the tribe had a ‘buy-in’ and a chance to participate was key.

“We’ve got good support from our economic bodies. We’ve got good support from our marae. We’ve got good support from our whanau so it’s the whole grassroots up. We’ve also got good support from our stakeholder Crown agencies, community groups locally, local businesses and local government,” says Bennett.

A keen sense for business has allowed Te Taumata to grow exponentially in recent years and the organisation has also made a point of sitting alongside its commercial entities to use their considerable experience in commerce. That expertise has helped the organisation maintain financial systems and controls that are accountable and transparent; coupled with a policy of matching every tribal dollar with some one else’s dollar, whether it be a government agency or service provider, has also allowed the organisation to fund its growing social portfolio.

“We’ve actually got several decades of economic activity behind us, whereas some Iwi are just starting. So we might not have a big treaty settlement, but we’ve got a depth of experienced trustees and directors to ensure we follow high standards of governance as well as sound business practices.”

As Te Taumata gets set to consolidate and build on its achievements to date, Bennett says that ultimately the organisation is not in the business of maximising Ngäti Whakaue’s asset base, but has a specific role to push out tribal resources to the front lines.

“At the end of the day, you have to say what is this all about? Why are we spending so much time and energy doing this? It’s about creating collective wellbeing for the whole of Ngäti Whakaue. And that covers a number of aspects. It’s about physical wellbeing, mental wellbeing; it’s about our wairua and it’s about our cultural wellbeing.”

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Photography by Mere Takoko

Engaging Futures: Te Taumata takes a unique approach to learning and promotes an

intimate small classroom environment that includes a dynamic cultural flavour.

28 29

Miriama Morrison-Hare: A LEADER IS BORN

YOUNG, GIFTED & BROWN

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It was an entrance into the world of kapahaka that few have been able to achieve, and one that left no shortage of inspiration at this year’s Te Matatini national kapahaka championships. If ever a bar was raised, it was the performance of Te Matarae i Orehu’s electrifying bracket of patu-flinging, poi-swinging and navel-thrusting bliss that kept everyone on the edge of their seats. And at the centre of this universe of cultural expression, a new star was born.

Miriama Morrison-Hare, the daughter of the late Taini Morrison, spellbound an audience of thousands on finals day in a gripping display of mana wahine that would make any parent proud. Not only did she lead her group to their third championship title, but she also took home the prestigious kaitätaki wahine award. Clinching an image of her mother Taini close to her heart, during the groups choral section, was enough to bring tears to anyone’s eyes, but it was the grace and poise with which Miriama carried the energy of the group that left everyone thinking this woman is simply magical.

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And it’s not only the oratory skills of women that Te Matarae hopes to foster. It has a very staunch philosophy of encouraging young people to join its ranks and a large proportion of its members are under 20 years of age. While the cornerstone of its mission is to restore the traditions of the tribes in the area – a vision set down by the great Te Arawa orator, Irirangi Tiakiawa – it also has a focus on fostering pride and wellbeing.

“We want to keep our language and culture alive, but we are also out there to represent our Mäoritanga as people. We want to portray ourselves as a vibrant and youthful culture which is what we are,” says Miriama.

That vibrancy is also maintained by a gruelling gym routine, which all members are encouraged to follow in order to have the necessary stamina and strength required for optimum on-stage performance. It’s an approach that was also encouraged by Miriama’s mother who was a teacher and saw kapahaka as a vehicle that could turn young people’s lives around by instilling values such as discipline and hard work.

“When you’re on stage you’ve got to always own that stage, and mum likened it to going to fight like it was our last battle. You have to become a perfectionist and make sure your performance is consistent so you can make people believe in what you’re doing,” she says.

Watching Miriama on stage is, as one Ngäti Porou elder observed, “like watching a puhi on watercress: a delight for the eyes and the stomach.” In other words, she has an innate emotive force that pulls you in for an amazing multi-sensory experience. It certainly seems like she has been performing her entire life. But her love of music and traditional Mäori arts wasn’t always the driver behind her passion for kapahaka. In fact as a youth she often avoided anything to do with the art. It wasn’t until she saw her mother perform for the first time at Te Matatini with Te Matarae that she saw the truth in the matriarch’s words.

“My mother would say that when you perform, you feel closer to your tïpuna. And I do. I feel closer to my mum and my ancestors. I think about it all the time. I can just feel their presence on stage, specially mum’s presence on stage,” says Miriama.

At the tender age of 18, when she made the decision to join Te Matarae, she laughs that she “couldn’t swing a poi to save myself.” But through the best weapon anyone could have – her mother, and a healthy dose of determination to work hard and learn the craft, she competed with the group in regional competitions the following year. That drive, as well as her own brand of fiery and thrilling on-stage theatrics, have put her in good stead to become the new face of eponymous order that is Te Arawa kapahaka.

She says that when she’s on stage, her alter ego comes to life, but when she’s off stage, she prefers to focus on her own blend of kindness and words of encouragement for young performers.

“It was an honour to be named female leader, especially being my first time taking a group to Nationals. I guess it shows if you can just keep going, if kapahaka is your passion then make the most of it. Do the best that you can and at the end of the day have no regrets. Just go out there and give it your absolute best.”

YOUNG, GIFTED & BROWN

Three months on from Te Matatini, Miriama says she is still coming to terms with all the attention and offers for her group to perform overseas. She says that all she was really thinking about at the time was maintaining the mauri of her mother’s memory, a woman of legendary and nation-wide fame, who passed away unexpectedly last year. It was her first performance without her mother by her side and a way for her and everyone else in Te Matarae to say their final good byes to Taini, who worked in the district of Rotorua for many years promoting traditional Mäori performing arts. “Mum was our main kaupapa. We wanted to honour her and that’s what gave everyone the drive to perform well this year. We wanted to do her justice and make sure her legacy lives on,” says Miriama.

In a tribal area that is known for being predominantly patriarchal, Miriama’s family heritage is all the more intriguing. Te Arawa is infamous around the country for placing their men in the spotlight while women play a more supporting role. Unlike other tribes, such as Ngäti Porou, women are not allowed to speak on the marae and female ancestors are not often spoken about on the paepae. But recent years have seen some of these barriers subside and Te Matarae have departed from other Te Arawa groups by allowing women to play a more visible leading role. Two of the group’s main tutors are women, and the result is that the women haka just as fiercely as the men.

“I think whatever a man can do, a woman can do and that’s how it should be balanced,” says Miriama who is quick to praise the group’s kaitätaki tane, Wetini Mitai, as the creative genius behind Te Matarae’s success. “With Wetini, it’s all about balance. If your going to be a female leader, you have to lead just as much as the male because in the olden days the women would go first and battle who ever the other team was,” she says.

Miriama Morrison-Hare just moments after winning the

prestigious Kaitätaki Wahine of the year award.

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“We want to keep our language and culture alive, but we are also out there to represent our Mäoritanga as people. We want to portray ourselves as a vibrant and youthful culture which is what we are.”

Te Matarae I Orehu take to the stage at the finals of the 2011 Matatini Festival.

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I t ’s N o t A b o u t M o n e y. I t ’s H ow Yo u I nve s t I t Taupö Moana Group is New Zealand’s premier Mäori investment service provider and has an innovative approach to meeting the needs of Mäori organisations. With its skilled managers, who understand the various investment markets, they can make successful investment decisions without exposing their clients to unnecessary risks.

In today’s world, factors such as increasing competition and regulation are constantly complicating an organisation’s environment. Therefore, the demand for appropriately skilled managers, who understand the industry, their clients needs and have the energy and courage to tackle difficult situations, is constantly on the rise.

In Aotearoa, investment service provider Taupö Moana Group is taking the market by storm. With over 15 years experience working with Mäori Land trusts and tribal entities, it already manages and advises on Mäori assets worth more than $NZ220mn. As a Fund Manager, it offers a number of services to Mäori entities that reflect indigenous cultural and ethical concerns. But it also has both a capital-raising and investment arm and is able to provide investment strategies across the whole life cycle of an entity’s growth.

“One of our drivers is to grow the Mäori economy, which was a kaupapa set down by our founder, Te Ariki Ta Hepi Te Heu Heu. But it’s not enough just being Mäori, we need to have the people, processes, philosophy, and performances that are the best in the market to accomplish those goals,” says Taupö Moana Funds Manager, Brett Keno.

Taupö Moana Group has built up a solid and loyal client base and has tailored its services in a manner that protects “taonga tuku iho” or ancestral resources such as land and other tribal assets by employing prudent and rigorous processes to develop appropriate investment options. With its view to long-term growth, it has instituted an innovative investment program that can cater for both small entities and larger ones. It currently manages investments for a range of Mäori organisations, from small businesses to Iwi settlement funds, providing critical advice on helping manage and grow these funds. Their services include Funds Management, evaluating direct investment opportunities, raising capital, and at times supporting client projects by investing themselves.

“A lot of our groups are involved in land-based activities and we want to support this sector. We’ve done that by helping groups such as Te Putahitanga o Nga Ara; we manage their funds, provided due diligence, and helped to raise capital for their dairy conversion, in this case NZ$10 million, and then we liked it so much we invested into it

ourselves. Our investment vehicle Putake are part owners in this dairy venture now,” says Keno.

While innovation has been a vital part of Taupö Moana Group’s success, Keno says there are also a number of attributes that have helped its managers navigate the seas of Mäori economic development. Being creative, analytical, a good manager and a great communicator is not enough. The knowledge of financial markets contained within Taupö Moana’s Managers and Investment Committee is a key factor in the company’s success. “Access to the latest financial information and resources is important in this market,” he says and allows a good manager to make effective decisions on strategic and tactical asset allocations.

Globally the investment management industry has grown by ten per cent over the last decade. Understanding the trends and cycles of the markets and “keeping your finger on the pulse” with global developments, stocks, commodities, and interest rates is a constant challenge.

Keno says that the organisation intends to keep at the forefront of ensuring that Mäori entities can continue their pathways to stable growth and wealth generation for their shareholders and beneficiaries. That’s an often-complex environment given the kind of governance structures and accountability processes that they have to comply with as collectively owned entities.

“We offer a full range of investment opportunities for our clients. We have experience in private equity and evaluating a range of asset classes and we have systems in place to ensure that our clients are going to get the best possible returns they can,” says Keno.

As Taupö Moana Group looks to its future horizons, it is highly unlikely that the provider will take a ‘business as usual’ approach as it prepares to increase its services and ability to assist Mäori organisations achieve greater returns for shareholders and beneficiaries. To ensure these funds can flow back into the grassroots and increase financial literacy, it has a new superannuation scheme in the pipeline called Iwi Investor.

“We are in an enviable position where we get to apply our skills across numerous Mäori organisations and Iwi, and are not limited to just one. We have a lot of clients and through our unique approach, and focus on building the Mäori economy, we are optimistic that we can achieve our vision to increase Mäori economic independence. It’s not just about the money, it’s about how it’s invested.”

By Mere Takoko

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Brett Keno of Taupo Moana Funds Management

delivers a broad range of investment solutions.

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KINAKI CORNER:

Cooking with Celebrity Chef Charles Royal

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Kawakawa and Lemon Biscuits

Put your feet up, pour yourself a cup of kawakawa tea and treat yourself to something just a little bit different.

Time 20 minutes Makes 20 biscuits

Ingredients 250 g butter 1 cup white sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind 2 cups plain flour 1½ teaspoons kawakawa

Flaxseed and Mänuka Honey Muffins

Time 20 minutes Makes 6 muffins

Ingredients 2 teaspoons ground flaxseed 1 teaspoon powdered manuka leaf ¾ cup wholemeal flour ¾ cup plain flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 teaspoons mänuka honey 50 g soft butter ½ cup brown sugar 1 egg ½ teaspoon baking soda¾ cup milk pinch salt

Method 1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease Texas muffin tins. 2. Sift together wholemeal and plain flours, baking powder and salt. Add the ground flaxseed and mänuka powder into the dry mix and set aside. 3. Beat mänuka honey, butter and sugar until creamy. 4. Add egg and beat well. 5. In a small pot, heat milk, add baking soda and stir till it has dissolved. Add dry mix to creamed mixture alternatively with milk and dissolved soda. 6. When lightly combined to dropping consistency, spoon mixture evenly into the greased Texas muffin tins. Place in middle rack of hot oven and bake for 15 minutes at 180°C. 7. To test if muffins are cooked, place a skewer or a small knife through the centre of a muffin. If the muffin is not cooked, it will stick to the blade or skewer. If it comes out clean, they are ready. Turn out of muffin tin when cooked and place on wire rack. Allow to cool. 8. Ice with Kiwi Cream Cheese and Toasted Flaxseed Icing.

Kiwi Cream Cheese and Flaxseed Icing

Beat together 1 small pottle (about 125 grams) of cream cheese, 1 mashed kiwifruit, a couple of drops of lemon juice and a good pinch of ground flaxseed. Ice muffins when cool.

Method 1. Preheat oven to 190°C. 2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 3. Add egg and beat well. 4. Add kawakawa and lemon rind and mix well. 5. Add flour and mix to a soft dough. 6. Roll the dough into balls and place onto a greased baking sheet. 7. Cut into a heart shapes or flatten each biscuit lightly with a fork. 8. Bake at 190°C for 12–15 minutes or until golden brown. 9. Dust with icing sugar.

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In this article, Mull on This talks about the importance of Mäori businesses being able to set an economic agenda using research, science, technology and commercialisation systems

Mull On This argues that a fundamental shift in business incentives is required. It will be hard to build a pool of Mäori businesses engaging in the RS&T and commercialisation sector, if an investment in Mäori businesses is not made. Axiomatic, I think. There are two activities could occur to activate Mäori in the RS&T and commercialisation sector. 1. Systematic program on the economy and the role RS&T play with regards to lifting New Zealand economic standing 2. Systematic program on commercialisation, including role of capital markets, angel investors, private equity and foreign investment.

Past Mäori participation in RS&T has resulted in very few, if any, Mäori companies holding patents or the rights to patents. Ultimately, innovation requires a radical shift (and incentive) in how existing RS&T resources are used.

Photo by Nicole Freeman

Mull On This predicts that within a decade the role Mäori play in research, science, and technology (RS&T) will move from passive research participants (ostensibly the current role for most Mäori organisations) to active agenda setters, key investors and owners of patents or holders of the right to patents.

The norm in 2020 will be Mäori taking (via partnerships and ventures with other indigenous and international companies) high value science and technology products and services to international markets.

Technology and Commercial Agenda New Zealand has a number of technologies that could contribute to growing the New Zealand economy and making it less reliant on agricultural commodities and tourism as our main income earners.

Mull on This believes that New Zealand cannot afford to find solutions to our nation’s poor performance in commercialising innovation by focusing on changing the government’s funding and research mechanisms and structures. A structure is necessary, but not a solution.

By Wayne Mulligan

Mäori 2020

MULL ON THIS

Wayne Mulligan is CEO of FOMANA Capital.

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By Wayne Mulligan

New Zealand has a number of technologies that could contribute to growing the New Zealand economy and making it less reliant on agricultural commodities and tourism as our main income earners.

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Technology and Commercialisation Mull On This suggests technology and commercialisation are arguably two of the most radical and dynamic systems. They feed off one another. They are essential to each other – they are essential lovers and the pro-creators of advancement.

Financial/commercial innovation has lead to fundamental advancement of humanity worldwide. Societies without strong and innovative financial systems are fundamentally worse off than those with – even taking into account the global financial crisis.

Technology innovation has been the vanguard, and continues to drive human advancement, be it via through production, sport, transport or life expectancy. Life expectancy – in particular health, beauty, care, food and wellness – will continue to remain an aspect of the largest and most lucrative businesses worldwide. Business innovation can be seen as a threat to established companies. This can be particularly so for technology companies – when what they offer are radical technology shifts that ultimately change markets.

Margin Innovation Mull On This thinks another innovation not disucssed as often as could be is Margin Innovation. To enable New Zealanders to be higher income earners and subsequently, savers and investors, New Zealand needs to do more than sell assets, or extract more assets, or sell more commodities. New Zealand needs better margins. Margin growth will greatly determine New Zealand’s overall wealth standing.

So, back to the headline ‘Mäori 2020’. It is not a matter of if, but when Mäori will be fully linked within the New Zealand science, research, and technology and commercialisation agenda. The bottom line is an investment to engage Mäori to quicken the uptake could be money well spent. Mäori collectively are significant holders of land, marine and other commodity resources. New Zealand now needs Mäori to be incentivised and informed as to how to apply commercial holdings to assist New Zealand lift productivity and gain higher margins from exports.

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