The new Te Arawa Lakes Trust chair, Wally Haumaha, says he feels privileged to continue the trust’s 100-year legacy and honor the leaders who paved the way for him.
Haumaha, formerly the Deputy Chief Executive of Māori and Commissioner of the New Zealand Police, assumed the role yesterday, with former Te Pāti Māori co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell appointed as his deputy.
Haumaha says the 2006 Te Arawa Lakes Trust settlement, which entrusted the management of 14 lakes within their rohe to the trust on behalf of 61 iwi, has made restoration efforts and exploring commercial opportunities to be top priorities under his leadership.
He says this is not about profit, but about providing future generations of Te Arawa uri with educational opportunities like those he was fortunate to have, which helped me get to Hato Petera.
“So you know, when I think back to what the Trust Board did, and it wasn’t just about education, it was around the whole social spectrum. So again, our focus is, how can we support our young people in education and employment and early child education, Kohanga Reo all of those areas, but also maintain the focus on our core business, which is the management of those lakes,” says Haumaha.
