Jon Stokes: Wetere tenacity a mixed blessing

The final battle begins with Te Wananga o Aotearoa's Rongo Wetere showing a marked reluctance to leave his creation.

That his name can be linked so closely to the tertiary education giant is testament to how intertwined he has become with the often embattled institution.

The reason is simple. Wetere is the wananga.

It is through his dogged determination that the institute exists. And it is this same singlemindedness that has seen the wananga and Wetere so often go head-to-head with Government officials in the battle to ensure the wananga's continued growth.

It was Wetere who, in the mid-1980s, came up with the idea to create a training organisation to offer an alternative for the stream of young, mainly Maori children who were falling through educational cracks at Te Awamutu College.

Wetere, who was on the school board, thought more could be done to provide an alternative for the increasing number of children being expelled.

At the time he was already a wealthy man, having made a fortune in the insurance business. But he saw the opportunity to make a difference.

His enthusiasm was not shared by all in the community. Wetere remarked earlier this year how he had been surprised at the opposition shown by many.

Fundraising for the golf course or school swimming pool was one thing, but a marae for the college and a training centre for Maori dropouts was another.

Wetere, true to form, continued anyway, demonstrating the immovable drive that has earned him an impressive array of knockers.

What started as a small operation, run with donations and fundraising, offering trade training and te reo lessons, soon grew.

In 1998 it successfully took the Government to the Waitangi Tribunal seeking equal treatment with other tertiary providers. The tribunal supported the claim, the Government accepted its findings, and the wananga's future was assured.

In 2000, Mahi Ora, a course designed by Wetere's daughter, Susan Cullen, was offered. It actually appealed to the educational drop-outs at whom it was pitched. The dress-for-less of the tertiary sector was born.

As the wananga grew, so did the murmurings about the quality of courses and standard of management. This week, a damning report from the Auditor-General showed that some of the concerns were valid.

The report fuelled calls for Wetere to resign. Dr Michael Cullen, the Minister for Tertiary Education, said Wetere should listen to those closest to him, and stand aside.

And of course he must. Examples of conflicts of interest and shoddy decisions appear to have been rife.

However, Wetere should and will be remembered as the wananga's founder - that legacy is deserved, and assured.

A battle for control will come only at the expense of Wetere's mana and further increase the spiralling legal bills that his defiance has created.

The wananga succeeded only because he had a vision and refused to accept barriers. But that same inflexibility can be disastrous when employed for the wrong reasons.

Maoridom is not alone in finding that the qualities to bring new enterprises into being are not always the same as those needed to sustain them.

Tainui has had its share of visionary leaders whose reputations have been shredded in futile attempts to cling to power.

Wetere's relative, and former nemesis, Sir Bob Mahuta, shared the same traits.

It was Sir Bob who ensured his tribe was hammered into some type of unity long enough to achieve its $170 million Treaty settlement. It was an impressive feat requiring buckets of mana, heavy connections, and a powerful can-do personality.

Yet Sir Bob, who died in 2001, is not universally remembered for the settlement, arguably his greatest achievement.

For many, including some within his Waikato tribe, there are bitter memories of the division and financial scandal that tarnished his final months at the helm.

Sir Bob was a good leader, but not gifted with the management skills required when millions of dollars are poured into an organisation.

Senior management positions were dished out based on whakapapa and blind loyalty. The consequences were devastating. The year Sir Bob died, Tainui wrote off about $42 million.

This year, after consistent growth, a $20 million profit was posted. The brutal internecine fighting of that time has also faded.

For Maori, especially those of Wetere's generation, the comforts of mana and legacy are what softens the burden when embarking on the final leg of life's journey.

Fighting and losing unwinnable battles serves only to deplete what are not bottomless reserves of either respect or money.

* Jon Stokes is the Herald's Maori issues reporter.