Kaiwhakahaere Report

There is much to be said about the current economic climate and the effects it is having on Ngāi Tahu business, but while the picture is not as we would like it, our collective tribal interests are well positioned to weather this current storm.

Although we have not been unscathed by the recession, I think Ngāi Tahu has been rewarded for our intergenerational policies and conservative approach to financial investment. While our profits were well down on the previous year, we have still registered a profit and been able to honour our commitments to Ngāi Tahu Whānui. Yes, we have had to draw on our ability to be resilient in difficult times, but others would be envious of this result.

At one point this year, I was actually being called on a regular basis by whānau, old and young, offering to forego all manner of programmes, grants, subscriptions, anything to save the iwi money. How envious would be the chiefs of industry to hear of such selfless expressions from shareholders. But then we are an iwi, and 'shareholder' is an inadequate term to describe whānau bound by whakapapa and the pursuit of self-determination.

I wish to express my gratitude to those who have worked longer, harder and with less reward to ensure our steady course over the past 12 months. I also want to remember that there are some whānau who have had a much worse year than the iwi and continue to find themselves in troubled times. Fathers and mothers out of work, bills not paid, and dreams not met. With commentators predicting a slow recovery, it is important that we continue to look out for one another and to take courage from our achievements.

And there have been achievements: Te Rūnanga put kotahitanga back on the agenda for both the Office and Ngāi Tahu Holdings Corporation (NTHC); cash flows were tightly managed allowing debt levels to be reduced by $3 million and staff across the group were able to find savings yet still complete numerous work plans. I offer my thanks to everyone for seeing tasks through despite the challenges.

There was an 11% reduction in expenditure by the Office over the year and this was a significant achievement as people pulled together to come up with efficiencies, and whānau accepted reduced Whai Rawa distributions. There was also an assessment of staff and resources and creation of a shared services area within Te Rūnanga Group. Staff were faced with adjustments and yet still managed to focus on the core mahi, achieving many programme goals. The number of whānau joining Whai Rawa, the tribal savings scheme, continues to grow. Membership is now well over 14,500.

In looking to combat the effects of the recession, the NTHC Board determined that its approach would be to manage for the worst case scenario. Overall the net surplus of the commercial entities was $13.3m compared to $58.2m last year. The majority of this decrease was attributable to a change in property values. A tight capital expenditure policy was implemented by NTHC and Ngāi Tahu Property and Ngāi Tahu Tourism focussed on reductions to controllable costs. It was without doubt, a challenging year for NTHC; there were changes to the Board, the kotahitanga programme was implemented and there were management changes. I would like to thank the Board and staff for seeing their way through these changes. NTHC will continue to focus on protecting assets and prudent management.

The Triennial Election Process gained significant momentum. Already two Papatipu Rūnanga have confirmed their representatives, with all other Rūnanga working to complete their election process by December 2009. More active use is being made of the website and Community Net to provide details of progress.

For much of the year I have been involved in Pita Sharples' Ministerial taskforce and my particular job has been to come up with ways that iwi can measure future success, not just in terms of dollars, but in terms of core values like mātauranga, kaupapa and tikanga. It is not an easy task but it is extremely important and we are making headway. It will be interesting to see if iwi can in future capture improvements in cultural connections, improved wellbeing, job opportunities and so forth. It is the view of the taskforce that iwi need to be working together to maximise our social and economic opportunities and improve the wellbeing of whānau.

A highlight this year was our agreement with the Crown over 'pre-commencement' aquaculture interests. At the heart of the Deed of Settlement, signed at Te Papa in May, was a one-off cash payment in full and final settlement of the Crown's obligations for aquaculture space approved between 1992 and 2004 under previous marine farming regimes. An important aspect of this event was the historic level of cooperation between the many iwi involved in the Settlement, including all iwi of Te Waipounamu. Elsewhere Treaty protection issues kept us busy, with discussions continuing with the government on the impact of the Emissions Trading Scheme and continuing efforts to protect our boundary to the north via court proceedings.

For Ngāi Tahu the recession has been difficult but we have done much better than simply survive. Our hard work means that we are ready to take advantage of the growth periods ahead. We have learnt how to be even more efficient, and we have learnt that our policies are robust enough to see us through a global financial crisis.

Mark Solomon
Kaiwhakahaere

Mark Solomon

Ko te kōpū uriuri
Te puna hekeka takata
I rere i a Waiariki o Āio
I a Hotu Māmoe,
i a Hemo ki te Raki
Ka hora te aitaka a kā Hākui
Tū mai Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe,
Kāi Tahu whānui e.

Ko Kā Tiritiri o te Moana tū tou,
tū tou. Ko te kāhui tākata,
karo noa, karo noa, ka haere.
Ki a rātou rā kua karakahia
e Tahu Whakairo
ki te whare o Poutereraki.
Moe mai, okioki mai rā.
Ka huri ki a tātou nei, kā konohi ora.

Nō te puna kotahi tātou katoa
Nō reira, whatua kā aho o te whare
Haere tōpuni e te iwi
Au kaha, kia kaha.

Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.