As part of the telling of the Ongare Story and to grow the awareness of our whānau especially those living outside of Tauranga Moana, we would like to share the individual stories of our current Trustees, each of their journey’s in governance and with Ongare Trust.
Many of our owners probably already know two of our responsible Trustees and Kuia Pua Taikato and Kura Benton from the various kaupapa that they are involved with around the rohe mainly supporting our three Marae of Whareroa, Hungahungatoroa and Waikari in their roles as Kuia and Kaikaranga.
We want to share more of our Trustee stories here so our whānau get to know more about our Trustees and how we came to the Ongare Board in this series of Trustee Profiles.
Tena rā koutou e Te Whānau,
I became interested in this Trust back in the 1980s when I used to drive my father Jimmy Paki to meetings. He was one of the foundation Trustees.
After his passing, I was confirmed as a replacement Trustee in 1985. Those early years are dear to me because I had a wealth of experience and rangatiratanga around me, including Turi Te Kani, Kapua Te Ua, Ngaroimata Cavill, Kiri Hall, Ron Papuni as well as my father who were the first Trustees.
Maori blocks had returned to Owners after 99 year leases on peppercorn rentals ended.
The collective drive still continues after 38 years to develop our own land with kiwifruit production.
Nāku noa
Pua Taikato
