Below please find the content of our last panui.
E rere atu ana ngā mihi maioha ki a koutou
ngā uri whakaheke o rātou mä – Tēnā koutou
Koianei te pānui o te wā e whakamatau ana koutou i
ngā mahi a te kaporeihana i tānei wāhanga o te tau.
Seafood & AquaCulture Centre of Innovation
The Incorporation, together with our partners, plans to develop the “Horoirangi Centre for Seafood and Aquaculture Innovation”.
The site takes its name from Horoirangi, a female deity of fertility who carried the mauri of the whenua and the maona.
The area is known to our people as a food basket rich with food resources, rongoa and an abundance of kūmara crops, bird life and kaimoana.
The redevelopment of the site as a seafood and aquaculture centre acknowledges our continued association to the whenua.
This will be a long-term project, with staged development.
Once complete, the centre will reshape New Zealand’s seafood and aquaculture industry by providing a world-class facility tosupport industry development.
To achieve the goal of creating a sustainable $1billion aquaculture industry, collaboration is needed to transfer investment in research and development into successful commercial enterprises selling sea-food products into premium markets.
The Horoirangi Centre plans to bring together leading research and develop-ment with the seafood industy and commercial enterprises.
KAITIAKITANGA
The Incorporation is looking at options to minimise its impact on the environment by reducing its carbon footprint. An option is to sign up to CEMARs (other-wise known as the Certified Emissions Measurement and Reduction Scheme).
The scheme enables entities to measure their greenhouse gas emissions, and puts in place management plans to reduce their emissions as well as more widely throughout the supply chain.
Scholarship recipient Renee Thomas undertook a university project using Wakatü as a case study. She measured and calculated the carbon emission at the Wakatū Head Office.
Renee is keen for Wakatū to nominate a ‘Carbon Champion’ who will drive the process to reduce carbon emission across the Wakatü Group, starting at Head Office level. By starting at Head Office, it ensures buy-in from staff as the message filters down from management.
Calculating our carbon emissions are merely the starting point. From the owner’s perspective, it is important that their values are shared by the Incorporation.
By measuring and making efforts to reduce its carbon emissions, Wakatü will demonstrate its concern for the natural environment and take responsibility for its resource usage as Kaitiaki over its assets – preserving them for future generations to use and benefit from.
Our special places of significance
Forestry Contractor, Murray Inglis, has had a long assoc-iation working with Wakatü. Murray is also very familiar with our whenua and Iwi across Te Tau Ihu.
He is leading a number of land-based research projects that protect and enhance significant natural areas ie. remnants of native scrub and forest, wetlands and coastal landscapes.
The Motueka River research project on customary use includes a feasibility project into the creation of wetlands in gravel pits following gravel extraction, and the possible resurrection of a tuna fishery in the awa.
The emphasis of the taonga species project includes research into the traditional use and the stories associated with particular places in the rohe.
WAI56 claim
Wakatū’s WAI56 Claim was presented to the Waitangi Tribunal in 2003.
Our statement of claim focused on the issues of legislation, regulation, alien-ation and Treaty of Waitangi breaches by the Crown relating to our lands.
At the recent SGM in Wellington, shareholders were updated on the key issues of the claim and the need to achieve durable redress for all of the descendants of the 254 original families.
Our claim relates to:
• Recognition of the original breach of property rights
• Inadequate allocation
• Tenths lands
• Occupation lands
• Misadministration
• Alienation
• Discrimination (perpetual leases)
Durable redress could be a distinct WAI56 Deed of Settlement recognising, for example:
• Provision for new entity for recognition of all WAI56 beneficiaries.
• The descendants of ALL of the 254 original families. And completes the Wakatū whānau.
Going forward, focus will be on:
• Negotiating with the Crown to agree a fair and durable settlement proposal.
• Keeping in contact with you, our owners, and seeking your approval about any proposed settlement, and the post-settlement structures.
Shareholders at the SGM supported the recommendation to continue advocating and pursuing settlement of the WAI56 claim with the Crown.
Snippets
Whānau Trusts – A Whānau Trust allows a family to bring together and consolidate the land interests of a parent or tupuna, whether alive or deceased.
A number of whānau are having problems with successions to land interests so, to help whānau through the process, a workshop was held in Wellington following the recent SGM. The workshop was well attended and will be repeated following the Nelson November AGM.
Kimi - Toa Takitini. Kimi is a joint partnership of the Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa Iwi Trust, Wakatū Incorporation and Work and Income.
The partnership aims to assist Māori to achieve success through employment, education and training. The essence of Kimi is helping Māori in their search for a successful future.
The phrase `Your future success’ high-lights the role Kimi can play in linking individuals, businesses and other organisations via learning and work opportunities. For more information please visit www.kimi.co.nz
Food for thought - The Associate Directors hosted an Alumni breakfast prior to the Wellington SGM, with over 20 Alumni attending.
The group is working on a long-term strategic plan, known as Te Pae Tāwhiti. Te Pae Tāwhiti is a 1000 year intergener-ational vision, with the aim of forecasting and strategically positioning Wakatū for the future.
Te Pae Tāwhiti will be be launched at the Nelson November AGM.
Scholarships – the boys’ biennual taiaha wänanga is scheduled for 4-8 October at Te Āwhina Marae in Motueka.
Cultural Wānanga – the staff wānanga is also scheduled for Te Āwhina Marae, and is tentatively planned for 9-11 Nov.
Website update - a major upgrade of the Wakatū website is planned for the coming financial year. The existing printed scholarship forms and website PDFs remain in place for 2010 applications, but the website upgrade will add functions allowing scholarship applications etc to be completed on-line.
To view copies of previous newsletters, please click here.
