Matemoana McDonald has been elected as Toi Moana – Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s first wahine Māori chair.
Matemoana McDonald has been elected as Toi Moana – Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s first wahine Māori chair.
Newly elected Bay of Plenty Regional Council chairwoman Matemoana McDonald has always had “visions” of what should happen to the Mauao constituency.
Born and raised in Tauranga Moana, she has seen pollution, degradation to the environment, the “desecration” of waterways and whenua [land], and the impact this has had onits communities.
“But I wasn’t in the position to influence that change or make that change.
“I think when the opportunity came to be chair, I think the light went on for me.”
McDonald was elected as Toi Moana – Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s first wahine Māori chair at its inaugural meeting in Whakatāne on Thursday.
She was “privileged” and “honoured” to have been selected by her fellow councillors, particularly the nine new councillors who were “just getting to know one another”.
“I think it was about looking for change.”
McDonald said she had worked in local government for more than 30 years, working in operations and management before being elected as the Mauao Māori Constituency Councillor in 2017.
“I always had visions myself of what should happen for our constituency.”
McDonald said some of her proudest achievements as a councillor were “being the Māori voice at the table” and “elevating Komiti Māori”.
Komiti Māori provided direction and guidance on the council’s obligations to Māori, including the growth of authentic partnerships with tangata whenua, emerging issues, legal requirements, effective engagement, awareness and understanding.
McDonald said Komiti Māori, which she chaired, was now one of the four “core committees”, meaning all councillors sat on the committee.
Since becoming a councillor, McDonald said she had noticed the “improvement and capacity of hapū/iwi groups out in the community”.
“I’ve seen them grow from strength to strength. It’s still work in progress, but I would love to think that I had a part in that in helping them to navigate council processes, advocating for funding around this table to help them build their capacity ... and actually, through the LTP [Long-Term Plan], getting specific funding that was ongoing and not just one-off projects ... ”
Bay of Plenty Regional councillors have elected Matemoana McDonald as chair and Glenn Dougal as deputy chair.
McDonald said the council had a lot of relationship building to do with territorial authorities, communities and te iwi Māori.
