E rere ana te reo mihi o Te Tumu Paeroa ki te hau o uta, ki te hau o tai, ki te tai whakarunga, ki te taiwhakaaro, ki te iho tū, ki te iho whenua, ki te iho tāngata.
Tēnā koutou katoa
Once again, it’s been a busy and productive year at Te Tumu Paeroa and I’m certainly looking forward to being at home for Christmas and cooking up a big feed for the whānau.
In 2015, housing (or rather the lack of affordable housing) has been one of the biggest stories in the news media. With good cause. Good housing is a major factor in whether your whānau is healthy and happy and able to do well in all aspects of life.
At Te Tumu Paeroa we’re looking at ways in which we can best support Māori aspirations for quality, affordable housing. They are small steps but are making a big difference to people’s lives.
In Wellington, the descendants of the original owners of Te Aro Pā are watching their new papakāinga development going up at an extraordinary pace and they are getting ready to move whānau in by the end of March 2016. Te Tumu Paeroa is the responsible trustee for these owners and played a key role in getting the project off the ground.
And one of my personal highlights this year was to hand over to George Schwenke and Kesa Edwards, the keys to their new home. Their home is in the South Auckland Waimahia Inlet development that we’re involved in through Te Tumu Kāinga. As it was the 100th finished home in the development, a bit of a fuss was made to mark the milestone including a ceremony attended by many dignitaries. I’m sure you’ll join with me in wishing this whānau well for their first Christmas in their new home.
As well as housing, around the country our Māori landowners are making strides in a variety of land based industries - like dairy and beef farming, kiwifruit, and the burgeoning honey industry. And at Te Tumu Paeroa, we’re looking forward to a busy 2016 with some exciting changes in some of the areas we work on.
We’ll be building on our investment in the Mānuka Research Partnership which goes commercial this month and is now called Mānuka Farming NZ.
The research on growing Mānuka that will lead to more and better honey, has been going for several years. We’re now ready to test the findings in the field and will be working with Māori landowners to plant different Mānuka on different land types. We want to provide Māori landowners with both scientific and commercial data to enable them to make informed decisions about how they might participate in this buzzing industry. If all goes well, they will start to see financial returns after three years from planting. The key for Te Tumu Paeroa is to provide information and share it with landowners wanting to turn their honey into money.
After a bit of a slump, the Kiwifruit industry is on the rise again and in 2015 we’ve celebrated several successes with Māori landowners around the country. In 2016, we will be continuing to support Māori in this industry, including ways in which Māori can participate more fully at the higher ends of the industry. Watch out for some exciting news in this space soon!
But, there’s little doubt that one of the major kaupapa for Māori landowners next year will be the changes to Te Ture Whenua Māori Act. Te Puni Kōkiri is leading this work and keeping us up do date on their website.
We are obviously keeping a close eye on developments. Te Tumu Paeroa strategy aligns with the principles underpinning the changes. We are supportive of any reform package that delivers value and benefit to Māori land owners. However we want to make sure that the changes do not add cost to the administration of Māori land or inadvertently place owners’ interests at risk.
And on that happy note, Meri Kirihimete me ngā mihi nui o te tau hou.
Jamie Tuuta
Māori Trustee
Chief Executive of Te Tumu Paeroa
