May 18, 2022
Muriwhenua throws out line for Te Tau Ihu jobs
A top of the North Island iwi is encouraging its rangatahi to travel to the top of the south for work and training.
A delegation from Te Aupouri led by rūnanga Chief Executive Mariameno Kapa-Kingi recently visited Te Tau Ihu to meet with large employers including Whakatū Incorporation, Sealord and Talleys and went on to the Westport Deep Sea Fishing School.
Member Shane Jones says there are more than 500 jobs doing in the region in fishing, fish processing and other industries, and generations of Muriwhenua and Ngāpuhi rangatahi have found work in Te Waipounamu.
“It’s an opportunity for young men and women from age 18 to 25. It’s not to depopulate the north but the reality is we don’t have the engine of growth in our own rohe that the South Island represents and immigration is no longer as accessible for enterprises around the motu as it used to be,” he says.