September 23, 2020
Kahungunu model stands test of time
Ngāti Kahungunu chair Ngahiwi Tomoana says the iwi’s taiwhenua model has stood the test of time.
Its Hastings-based Taiwhenua o Heretaunga celebrated its 35th birthday yesterday and its growth from a shed in Flaxmere to a multi-service organisation employing more than 300 people.
Six taiwhenua from Wairoa to Wairarapa were set up in the late 1980s in response to Labour’s devolution policy of shifting government resources to iwi.
But a change in government led to Winston Peters’ Ka Awatea policy and three decades of Pākehā organisations trying to deliver to Māori.
Mr Tomoana says the taiwhenua stayed the course.
"We now have nearly 400 employees and our aim was to make the government dependant on us for the best service rather than us to depend on them for contracts and that’s what it’s like today," he says.
Ngahiwi Tomoana says COVID-19 has shown how effective Māori organisations can be looking after the welfare of the whole community, not just Māori.
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