Some reflective thinking is required. What happened to stymie Arapeta's worthwhile idea? What happened to the independent report written to identify where collaboration and working together, for the good of Te Arawa, could occur? That information would still be applicable today. Did Te Arawa male egos get in the way? New ideas, whose time has come, are usually generated by individuals who focus on what is needed rather than who will get the recognition and the coveted positions that are created.
Perhaps with younger people involved things will be different this time. I have met many impressive young Te Arawa people in the last few years from trades and professional backgrounds. They have high expectations of themselves, their families and from those managing Te Arawa's assets. And so they should.
Leaders only have their positions as long as there are trusting followers and the younger Te Arawa followership is starting to make their presence felt.
They know Te Arawa's asset base consists of more than land, fisheries, forests, geothermal and commercial resources. They see people as their most valuable asset, in particular the largely young, undeveloped human resource. They want exceptional leadership that understands the struggles many families face.
For various reasons, some of their own making, these families are not coping. Many live isolated, bleak lives within their own tribal area. Although many marae are scattered throughout Te Arawa these families rarely visit them or take part in marae activities. They don't seek the scholarships and education grants available and these, when given, are for the supposedly more worthy tertiary and university studies and not usually for apprenticeships, human services studies or basic trade training.
Young parents struggle to afford to attend courses to learn what goes into making a great mum and dad. Financial help for preschool, early childhood services and holiday programmes, so that parents can start to look for work and remain working during school holidays, is hard to come by.
And Te Arawa still has no retirement village or rest home on the horizon to provide quality long-term care and safe housing for kaumatua and kuia when needed. Asset managers will doubtless say "these areas are the Government's responsibility; we'll concentrate on investing and growing our capital base". But who are they growing this for if they are not considering those in need right now? These people are barely hanging on.
Many Te Arawa iwi are developing their own growth plans. These include cultural, social, economic, environmental and political goals in some cases. But where is the overarching Te Arawa strategic growth strategy in these areas?
Everyone is doing their own thing. A shared vision for Te Arawa for all collectives and iwi organisations, irrespective of whether they're a post-Treaty settlement entity, is required.
Each iwi can then determine how they will align their own plan objectives to support all or some of Te Arawa's overarching growth strategy, including people development. Over time, this will produce measurable improvements and positive results for everyone. Te Arawa's leadership has a responsibility to leave no one behind. They should be way past shared office services by now.
