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See below for English translation
He ahakoa he taiohi tā tātou pōtiki, he wahine kaha, he ngākau pono ki te oranga tonutanga o te taiao, nā reira ka toko ake te whakaaro ki te ngākau o Matariki Mihinui-Maxwell ki te kore tētehi mā wai atu?
He mōhio hoki nōna me whakatakoto rautaki atu i te porotēhi, me tae ā tinana ki te tēpu whakarite rautaki ki te kore e tāea te noho ki te tēpu me hau atu rānei ki te rūma e hurihuri ana ngā whakawhitinga kōrero.
Nā reira i tāti ai tana haerenga me te kaupapa ko Youth Engagement. He pahi e mahi tahi nei me te Kaunihera ā rohe o Te moana o Toi te huatahi. Ko te aronga matua ko te whakapakari i te taiao.
"Ko te tikanga o tēnei kaupapa, kia whai huarahi ai ngā rangatahi ki te tēpu, ki a whai mana ai ō rātou whakaaro hai arahi i te Kaunihera ā rohe o Te Moana o Toitehuatahi ko te whakaaro matua ko te oranga o te taiao.
"Ko te aronga o te rautaki matua, mā ngā whakaaro o te hāpori tātou e arahi tērā pea ētehi whakaaro kāore anō kia whakaarongia e rātou e whai mana ai ināianei".
Kai Rarotonga a Matariki me tana rōpū haka ko Tūhourangi i te wiki nei, wheoi anō he tauira ia ki te kura o ngā kōhine, he tau kotahi tekau mā rua.
Atu i tēnā, he manu mīrei hoki mō te ropu kapa haka o Raukura, kia tirohia e tātou te ia o te toto nā reira ka mātai ai tātou ki tēnei āhuatanga ōna, he uri nō Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wahiao, wheoi anō he taha hoki ōna nō Tahumatua me Ngāti Rangiwewehi.
He kotahi tekau mā rua ngā marama i āta wherawherangia ai tēnei kaupapa rangatahi nei, ko te otinga hoki he ripoata nui i puta mai i te timatatanga o tēnei tau.
I karangangia ki a kotahi tekau mā rua o te hunga rangatahi, me tō rātou pakeketanga mai i te kotahi tekau mā ono ki te rua tekau mā rima o ngā tau, katoa ēnei rangatira nō ngā awa huhua o Toi te Huatahi.
Ko Matariki te hua whakapakanga o ngā mema katoa.
"Ko te tikanga o tēnei kaupapa i puta mai i te kitenga pakeke o te kaunihaera-ā-rohe me ētehi atu o ngā mātanga mōhio i te korenga o ngā rangatahi i tēnei tūāhuatanga mahi.
"Me te mea nui ki a mātou kāore e kore ka heke ēnei āhuatanga taumaha katoa ki a rātou ā taihoa ake nei, nā reira i whakaara ake ai tēnei kaupapa me tāti kē e tātou ki te whakariterite ki a toa ai tēnei kaupapa".
Me te huhua noa atu o ngā painga. Ko te wāhi tuku reo o te rangatahi kia kōrero ai e rātou ngā mea kai te kitea kia whai mana ō rātou whakaaro mō te āpōpō ki te tēpu whakatakoto rautaki, hai tā Matariki, ko ngā painga ka heke ki a tātou katoa, āe rā hoki mātua ko te whakatupuranga e anga ake nei, nā te mea ka whakakō-koiringia ēnei whakaaro hou inākuanei.
Kāore e take ana te mahi akoako, ko te mea nui ko te muri aroha ki te whenua, ko te pūtea awhina kai te kaunihera.
"Tā mātou taenga ki te pae o te kaunihera me te hiahia o te ngakau he whakaaro iti nei, e rima tekau mano tāra hai whakarewa i tēnei waka, wheoi anō nā tō rātou arohanui ki te kaupapa ka whoatu e waru mano tāra kē ki a mātou, auahi ana".
Mō te pae tata nei, ko te āhuatanga o tā mātou rautaki e āhua pēnei ana; Te Rautaki Rangatahi, 2020 – 2022 e wha ngā wāhanga nui.
■Ko Te Reo kōrero: Kia whakarongongia tā mātou reo, kia whai mana hoki te reo, ā, kia whai take ai mātou ki te tēpu whakatakoto rautaki.
■Ko te oranga: Kia tautokongia mātou, kia toa kia pakari ai.
■Te Amokuratanga: Mana motuhake me te wairua toa ki te whakauru i tō mātou wairua ki ngā kaupapa here o te Kawanatanga me te hāpori.
■Te whakahuringa whakaahua: Mā te hunga whaipānga ngā tukinga o te māuiui urutā e whakamauru.
Ko te pae tawhito o te rautaki-ā-rohe ki a Māori noa te oranga o te taiao, kia pūāwaitia, kia ihi, kia wana, kia ngākau ngangahau. Me te mea hai tā Matariki, nā te kaha o te wairua rangatahi tēnei kaupapa i tū ai, huri noa, huri noa i ngā tai katoa o tēnei takiwā i te korenga me te ngoikore hoki o te kaunihera ki te whakarongo mai ki ō mātou nawe me te tangi o te ngākau ki te taiao. Ināianei, kua ea, kai te tēpu mātou.
He rite tahi nei te māuri o tēnei kaupapa i te wā o te māuiui urutā, ehara i te mea i piroku te wairua hahana engari i kaha ake.
"Nā te māuiui urutā i kore ai mātou e hui ā kanohi ia marama, wheoi anō ko te oranga o tēnei raruraru iti nei ko te hangarau tōpā – e koe e mate!"
—Raimona Inia i whakamaori
Matariki Mihinui-Maxwell is a young wahine toa so concerned about her taiao she set out to do something about it.
She knew it wasn't enough to protest, she had to be at the table where the decisions are made. If not there, then at least in the same room as the decision makers.
So began her involvement in the Youth Engagement Project with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council about improving the way we live on our taiao.
"The project was to create a plan about how the Bay of Plenty Regional Council would engage with rangatahi on the development of sustainable living.
"The engagement plan focuses on community-led solutions to diverse environments to provide perspectives that may not have been considered or identified by the council or government yet."
Matariki, who is currently in Rarotonga with the Tuhourangi-Ngati Wahiao kapa, is a Year 12 student at Rotorua Girls' High School.
She is an enthusiastic member of Raukura, which, given her whakapapa, is understandable. She is Tuhourangi-Ngati Wahiao, Tahumatua, and Ngati Rangiwewehi.
The youth engagement project took about 12 months to investigate and the report was presented earlier this year. It involved 12 rangatahi aged between 16 and 25 and from all around the Bay of Plenty.
Matariki was one of the younger members.
"The purpose of forming this kaupapa was that it was recognised by our regional council and other key figures that there was little to no involvement with rangatahi from around our lakes.
"Specifically, since it is going to be the rangatahi that will be primarily affected by the decisions made by the council regarding the whenua.
"The council wanted a way to connect with rangatahi and bolster their presence and input into council decisions."
It was also to help mitigate the risk of exacerbated post-disaster outcomes through enhanced connection to people, place and activity.
It would also amplify rangatahi voice and leadership roles in decision-making. Matariki said everyone would benefit from improving our team but specifically the next generation, as the change will most likely happen over the next few years.
No training was needed for the project but a love of whenua was. The council also came to the party with funding.
"When we presented to the council, we asked for $50,00, but since they loved how hard we worked as rangatahi, they gave us $80,00."
In the short term, Youth Plan 2020-2022 had four main focus points
■ Voice: listened to, valued and embedded in decision-making.
■ Wellbeing: supported and strengthened
■ Leadership: self-determination and influence over government policy and communities
■ Transformative change: stakeholder collaboration to mitigate impacts of Covid-19
The long-term goals of the regioinal project are to live sustainably and provide a healthy environment, freshwater life, safe and resilient communities and a vibrant region.
According to Matariki, this project was initiated from the strong demand for change from youth voices from around the region and because of the lack of effort from the council to listen to advice from tangata whenua on topics that need to be included.
Like the rest of the country, the project participants learned to live with covid.
"The only thing Covid stopped us from doing was having monthly meetings in person, but we, alongside most other people, diverted to using zoom."
'We really have something special going on here,' the academy co-founder says.