Innovation key to reaching our potential: Karaitiana

STANDING FOR COUNCIL: Gisborne District Council city ward candidate Tina Karaitiana sees three areas that are crucial to the future of Tairawhiti — economic development, infrastructure and the Resource Management Act. Picture by The Black Balloon

GISBORNE District Council candidate Tina Karaitiana has spent her life giving to her community.

The city ward candidate has been involved in everything from the Country Women’s Institute to the War Memorial Trust and numerous economic development initiatives.

She is probably best known, however, for her roles in netball at local, national and international level.

Her focus for council, should she be elected, is economic development, infrastructure and the Resource Management Act.

“These are three key areas that I see as crucial to the future of Tairawhiti,” she said.

“Each has a direct link to achieving health and wellbeing outcomes for our people.

“I am passionate about our community and know how important each facet is in making a difference to us all.”

She is an advocate for innovation.

“To reach our real potential we have to be innovative and open our minds to new ways of doing business.

“Let’s be the first place in the country to offer a living wage across our business communities.

“Let’s be the ones who insist on health funding that is needs-based, not population-driven.

“Let’s take ownership of our real stories to share inside the corridors of our school classrooms.

“Let’s not just be the first place to see to sun, but the first place where the world begins.”

Mrs Karaitiana says she brings to the table a raft of personal strengths, including commitment, transparency, leadership, authenticity and resilience.

She sits on the Lottery Community Facilities committee, Lotteries Significant Projects Fund committee and the New Zealand Community Trust Gisborne regional committee.

She also has been or is still involved with Chelsea Hospital, the Maori Women’s Welfare League, Women’s Refuge, Gisborne/Bay of Plenty Community Lotteries, the Tairawhiti Maori Economic Report and Economic Action Plan and Tairawhiti REAP and is a trustee of the Matariki Partnership.

Her governance experience is extensive. It includes Tairawhiti Polytechnic, board of trustees at Gisborne Girls’ High School and a director and a member of the international board for Netball New Zealand and SPARC.

She is self-employed and is completing her PhD with a focus on entrepreneurship.

Mrs Karaitiana holds a Masters of Indigenous Knowledge, a Bachelor of Education and a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies. She has contractual obligations to Te Matatini Inc and Te Wananga o Aotearoa.

“Now is the time to be bold, brave and beautiful but most importantly be courageous,” she says. “These are words I live by and what I carry through everything I do.

“This is what I would bring to council.”