Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa – we’ve come full circle
John Whaanga – Ngāti Rākaipaaka representative

We wish to acknowledge and thank the great contingent of Ngāti Rākaipaaka whānau who supported our chairperson, John Whāanga and our whanaunga Moana Rongo (Rongomaiwahine) who were both formally welcomed on to the board of Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa on Friday 20 January 2026 with a pōwhiri at Taihoa marae.

The support (and pride) for John and Ngāti Rākaipaaka was evident for all to see!

Importantly, this signals a full circle as we acknowledge the great work John done in leading not only Ngāti Rākaipaaka, but Wairoa whānui to a settlement a decade ago. It is good to have him back in the fold.

The pōwhiri was followed by the first official Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa board meeting for 2026. Keeping in line with his mantra to not waste time, John, on our behalf raised concerns over the status of the Mōrere hot springs project, negotiations over Mangapōike and greater Ngāti Rākaipaaka involvement in the Wharerāta Forest. What a start eh!

Importantly, John has made a commitment to be open and transparent and to provide us all with regular updates – which we will do through this channel and others. Keep a watch out in this space!

Te Iwi o Rākaipaaka Trust inaugural meeting
John Whaanga, Tāmati Olsen, Eva Jones, Sonya Smith, Leo Koziol, Paris Greening and Katarena Smith – TIORT Board

Although we have had a couple of informal catch ups since the recent elections, Saturday 21 January 2026 saw the newly elected Trustee’s hold our first formal in-person meeting. It was good for the Trustees to come together, to celebrate our election, but more importantly to begin the task set for us! Some highlights of the meeting include:

 Confirmation of the officers of the Trust including John Whaanga as Chairperson, Eva Jones as Deputy-Chairperson, Leo Koziol as Treasurer and Katarena Smith as Secretary. Please join us in congratulating them!

 We also agreed Tāmati Olsen and Sonya Smith will be our TIORT representatives on TIORI and further, that Sonya Smith will be our new representative on the Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa Taiao Committee. Congratulations to Sonya and a big thanks from the Trustees to Leanna Barriball for the work she has done in this space on our behalf previously.

 Trustees were provided with much information to review in relation to the current state of our tribal assets (in particular our housing and papakāinga, including our current liabilities and the work programme to complete these projects). Trustees were grateful for the information and know that we have some important decisions to make soon.

Trustees appointed Paris Greening and Tāmati Olsen to work with Leo Koziol (TIORI Rep in this instance) and Dennise Rāroa (TIORI) in forming the new Housing Project Team. They will be compiling a report and recommendations for both TIORT and TIORI to consider in February. Once we make those decisions we will communicate them out. In the meantime, everything remains as is.

 We progressed several administrative matters as well including the tabling of the Trustees and Management Policies and Procedures Manual for review.

 As mentioned in the first part of this pānui, John also gave the Trustees an update on Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa board meeting including the issues he highlighted on our behalf. It is obvious there is much for us, as an iwi to consider in this space moving forward – however, as Trustees we remain committed to Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa in progressing our collective interests.

 Finally, in line with our mandate to maintain regular communications and to report-back to our iwi, Trustees agreed to set the date of Saturday 21 March 2026 to hold our Annual General Meeting. This will serve as both the AGM and the first of our quarterly report-back sessions to iwi.

Transitioning from the old to the new

We’ve had some queries as to recent posts regarding outgoing and incoming trustees. Our Deed (TIORT) states that in order to complete the transition process, we need to hold an AGM to allow the outgoing Trustees to present their annual report and hand-over to the incoming Trustees. We have pretty much completed that process, bar holding the AGM. At the upcoming AGM we’ll receive the Annual Report and outstanding audited accounts in bringing us up to date.

As mentioned, we’ll also use the AGM to report-back on our activities and seek your views on where to next.

TIORI and TIORT Boards meet together
Tāmati Olsen, Sonya Smith, Elana Love, Levia Smith, Eva Jones, Dennise Rāroa, Leo Koziol and Ngaire Pasma – TIORI Board

Again, as mentioned Trustees are very aware of the mandate given to us, including a desire to review our current tribal groups and organisations with a view to consolidating these under one umbrella. Added to this, TIORI and TIORT have a number of shared projects - most notably the housing projects at hand. This provided a great opportunity for both boards to meet.

However, prior to this joined-up meeting TIORI Board quickly convened to welcome Sonya and Tāmati on to the TIORI Board, and at the request of current members, renewed the officers for TIORI including Tāmati Olsen as the new chairperson, Leo Koziol to remain as Deputy-Chairperson, Sonya Smith as the new Treasurer and Elana Love as the new Secretary. Congratulations to all!

Again, as mentioned previously much of the discussion between both Boards centred on our current housing project. TIORT board members were very grateful for the depth and breadth of knowledge TIORI has in relation to these projects including providing broader context and history – very important things to remember!

Finally, both Boards committed to providing our people with a pathway for consolidation at our upcoming AGM, as evidenced in our commitment to align our meeting schedules for the year to ensure we remain in sync with each other through this process.

Looking to re-open our offices as soon as is practical

Both Boards made a commitment to re-open our offices as soon as is practical. This includes making our office a free administration hub for our marae, tribal groups and community organisations. However, we have some health and safety issues to work through first before we open the offices. In the meantime, TIORI will relocate its’ office from Kahungunu marae to the office. Again, keep an eye out for future comms in this space.

Getting our comms in line

While this is our first communication, we are working on how we will communicate regularly with you all. We are committed to in-person quarterly report-backs – with the first of these on 21 March 2026. Please bear with us as we sort through these issues, but also please feel free to contact us directly in the meantime. The best way to do this is through our facebook page – Te Iwi o Rakaipaaka or by email to: exec@rakaipaaka.com. Please remember, facebook is a public facing social-media platform – and while we welcome the views of all, consenters, dissenters, abstainers – the lot, think carefully when making comments on this platform please.

This has been a combined message from the Trustees
Of Te Iwi O Rakaipaaka Trust and the
Te Iwi O Rakaipaaka Incorporated Society:

Te Iwi O Rakaipaaka Trust

John Whaanga - Chairman
Tāmati Olsen - Trustee
Eva Jones - Deputy Chair
Sonya Smith - Trustee
Leo Koziol - Treasurer
Paris Greening - Trustee
Katarena Smith – Secretary

Te Iwi O Rakaipaaka Inc.

Tāmati Olsen - Chairman, TIORT Representative
Sonya Smith - Treasurer, TIORT Representative
Elana Love - Representing Te Poho O Te Rehu Marae
Levia Smith - Representing Manutai Marae
Eva Jones - Representing Kotahitanga Marae
Dennise Rāroa - Representing Tāne Marae
Ngaire Pasma - Representing Tamakahu Marae
Leo Koziol - Deputy Chairman, Representing Kahungunu Marae

Te Iwi O Rakaipaaka is operated by two entities, Te Iwi O Rakaipaaka Inc. and Te Iwi O Rakaipaaka Trust.