July 24, 2020
Te Arawa banking on vision for future
A bank and a parliament are some of the key ideas in Te Arawa wish list for the next 30 years.
Te Tatau o Te Arawa chair Te Taru White says Te Arawa 2050 Vision outlines a collaborative future for iwi and hapū in the Rotorua region.
The strategy document has been more than a year in the making and was launched at Te Puia last weekend.
He says a parliament would respect the rights of hapū and iwi, but would allow it to come together when collaboration is needed.
The bank idea comes from recognising Te Arawa trusts and whānau deposit hundreds of millions of dollars in overseas-owned trading banks.
"Why can we not channel those resources into our bank, ring fence it for our own housing need, for our own business development needs so create in many respects a Māori circular economy, one that feeds off our own resources. Now that makes damn sense to me and I'm sure it will make a lot of sense to others around the motu," Mr White says.
Te Taru White says the 2050 Vision document brought together not only the experience of elders but the wishes of rangatahi who will be the ones who need to implement it.
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