From the Chair

Kia ora e te whānau

Starting a new year is almost a relief given all that we have been through in 2020. I do hope that you have all managed to meet up with whānau over the festive period and have recharged your batteries ready for another year ahead.

The commercial board met in mid-January and a number of decisions will be implemented throughout the early part of this year. Regular meetings between the commercial board and Trustees is planned for 2021, thus continuing a good communications platform for both boards.

Ngāi Tahu will host the next Te Waka-a-Māui hui in Christchurch in mid-February. The nine iwi of Te Waipounamu are committed to working together for the betterment of us all. Whilst there may be disagreements along the way, there is a willingness to try and iron these out and find solutions so that everyone is as close as possible to meeting iwi needs.

Trustees have a scheduled board meeting on February 27 in Blenheim. At the end of last year, Trustees met to plan strategies for 2021 and this first meeting will follow on from those decisions made and continue with business as usual while also addressing any matters that may arise in the interim.

The National Iwi Chairs Forum was to take place on February 4 and 5 at Waitangi. However, with the recent Covid-19 community case in Northland, the host iwi  made the decision to manage the forum via Zoom. This was a massive undertaking and must have caused tremendous logistical problems so I would like to extend our thanks to their secretariate for working through any matters that arose and continuing to host the forum, albeit virtually.

Towards the end of last year, I scheduled into my diary regular times to be visiting individuals and organisations within the rohe. If there are issues you would like to discuss, please contact me and I will endeavour to make an appointment time for you. If you live ourside the rohe, please know I am happy to take calls to discuss iwi matters that may be concerning you.

As an entity, we are trying to keep abreast of the many hui, whānau and community  events that are happening around us. If you should hear of something that we might need to be aware of or support, then  please let me know. 

Noho ora mai

Hinemoa Conner

Chairperson, Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō Trusts