Nick’s Kōrero

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Nick’s Kōrero

Kia ora koutou,

I travelled to Nelson last week for my first Regional Intersectoral Forum (RIF) hui.  This is a regular meeting between government departments, local body and iwi representatives.  Items of interest included a new trainee programme which is being rolled out by the Department of Conservation and Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT).  The programme, which will initially start in Moturoa (Rabbit Island), will consist of “hands-on” and classroom training, leading to jobs in conservation.  Each iwi will nominate two rangatahi (18 to 24 years) for a 10-month course equivalent to NCEA Level 4. There are no fees but there will be accommodation and ancillary costs.  The course is scheduled to start in September this year and we are expecting an information pack shortly.  If you are interested, please give the office a call and leave your contact details.

NZ Police discussed their initiatives around family violence and the growing substance abuse problem in this region.  A lack of hard information is slowing down progress but we were assured that this issue is being addressed.  Despite this, reoffending has been reduced from 44% to 32% by focusing on causal factors such as reducing the impact of minor traffic offences.  NZ Police will be introducing Iwi Community Panels soon.  I should have more information on the criteria for panellists and how this process will work in August.  With the majority of homeless people in Te Tau Ihu being of Māori descent, a committee has been established to work with the Māori Housing Forum to drive housing initiatives.  This is a difficult and complex problem and one that needs addressing, I am looking forward to being able to report back on progress.

Lotteries, Te Puni Kōkiri and Department of Internal Affairs have amalgamated funds for Marae development in a cross-agency funding approach.  Oranga Marae went live in May and focuses on a more strategic rather than contestable approach to funding allocation.  This is of great interest to us particularly while we decide on a plan for Tuamātene.

On Wednesday, we had a luncheon with kaumātua where I had an opportunity to formally introduce myself.  I’d like to thank Jeff Hynes for welcoming everyone and to our kaumātua who were able to attend.

We had the first Kanohi Ki Te Kanohi meeting last Friday evening at Ūkaipō.  We discussed projects, budgets and what’s happening with our properties and fisheries.  It should be noted that this meeting is to update members on operational issues. Having the hui on Friday was questioned so we will be having our next hui at 6pm Thursday 30 August.

Please don’t forget the planting day at Tuamātene at 10.30am this Sunday.  We hope to allocate individual raised garden plots so if you are interested in these please come along.  The mighty BBQ will be cranked up for lunch.

 

Mā te wā

Nick

By |2018-07-30T14:05:56+12:00July 30th, 2018|Categories: Iwi, Pānui|0 Comments