Council and Ngāti Tūrangitukua win national award for excellence in Māori partnership
Taupō District Council and Ngāti Tūrangitukua have won this year’s Te Tohu Waka Hourua - The Buddle Findlay Award for Māori-Council Partnerships for their ground-breaking Mana Whakahono agreement.
The award was presented yesterday afternoon by Taituarā — Local Government Professionals Aotearoa, which is the national membership organisation for local government professionals.
Ngāti Tūrangitukua holds mana whenua over Tūrangi township and its surrounds, and together with the council has spent several years carefully discussing and negotiating a Mana Whakahono partnership agreement, which will be signed next month. The comprehensive agreement covers Resource Management Act, Local Government Act and Reserve Act matters and will be implemented by a co-governance committee equally made up of Ngāti Tūrangitukua and council appointees.
The award recognises programmes, projects or initiatives that demonstrate outstanding results from working in partnership with Māori. Entries may come from any area of local government activity but must be able to demonstrate a commitment to such partnership.
In the decision, the judges said the entry was a stand-out in this category with its focus on culture and behaviour change.
“This genuine desire to empower mana whenua in joint decision-making across the council made this the most transformative entry in this category. We look forward to hearing more of the progress Ngāti Tūrangitukua and Taupō District Council are able to jointly make for their community."
Council chief executive Gareth Green said it was an absolute honour that the council was recognised through the award.
“This award was a great recognition of the hard work that went into developing the Mana Whakahono agreement. It’s been three years of really hard mahi. We acknowledge our partners Ngāti Tūrangitukua who took the step to initiate the Mana Whakahono-a-Rohe process and who have been there with us every step of the way,” Mr Green said.
“It’s a new dawn for Tūrangi from a governance perspective and will enable the development of Tūrangi in a more inclusive way – it’s a wonderful example of what co-governance can be, and we hope it will be a model that other councils can follow.”
Tina Porou, who accepted the award on behalf of Ngāti Turangitukua, noted the long-term effects the government’s confiscation of most of the hapū’s land in the 1950s for a hydroelectric project had had on her people.
“Fortunately, Mana Whakahono has given us another opportunity to open a stronger relationship with the Taupō District Council in a way we have not seen in this country to date. This is not about a treaty settlement, this is about doing the right thing, and I want to really acknowledge the council as our Te Tiriti partners.”
Head to www.taupo.govt.nz... to learn more about the agreement. Information about the award can be found on the Taituarā website at taituara.org.nz...
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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62.5% Summer
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36% Winter
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1.5% Other - I'll share below
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Best way to use leftovers?
I'm sure you've got some excess ham at home or cold roast potatoes.
What are some of your favourite ways to use leftover food from Christmas day? Share below.
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