Te tangi o Tamatea Pokai Whenua. Raiera te atua he tohu he rangatira. Huia, huia, tuia, tuia Ka tukuna te reo mihi ki a koutou e oku Whanau.

 

Ko Reno Skipper toku nei ingoa. He uri no te Whanau Wiapo, no Otamatea Marae. 

 

I am passionate about education and Te Reo Maori, hence the reason I gained a degree in both areas from Auckland University and continue to study with Te Wananga o Aotearoa in order to increase my proficiency even further. This is the reason that I would like to use the honorariums (trustee payments) that I receive to assist any kaupapa that will increase the quality of Te Reo Maori for Whanau from Te Pounga or Otamatea Marae. Teaching at Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Ngaringaomatariki in Oruawharo and living in Maungaturoto near the marae helps so that I am actively looking after the ahi ka, attending most kaupapa there.

 

As the current marae committee chair I would like there to be more feedback coming back to the marae and the beneficiaries of Te Uri o Hau. I believe it is the trustee’s responsibility to bring more resources back to the marae that they are responsible for.

 

I will koha the rest of my honorarium from Te Reo Maori initiatives to the marae that I represent if I am chosen as a trustee. As a chair and on the Taumata of the marae I have made myself available to Whanau and have worked with the marae, hapu and iwi to improve the service of the marae being transparent through meetings and our current FB marae account Otamatea Marae Komiti. I have experience in strategic planning using marae meetings and AGM’s to engage with Whanau; reporting back on the previous year’s mahi and forecasting future growth and plans to the beneficiaries. Whatungarongaro te tangata, toitu te whenua. We need to look after our whenua and prevent the selling of Te Uri o Hau land. Not one more acre.

 

I will act with integrity as a trustee to ensure that Whanau are getting the best representation that they can get. I walk the talk in the Maori world. Mauri tu, mauri ora.