"Being here is to be where my ancestors are buried, and to be home where I grew up ... I love Waitangi Day and I love being home in Wanganui."
Mostly, he travels throughout New Zealand, working for government departments for health providers, iwi or Maori tribal authorities, government reference groups and Crown agencies.
His roles have included social worker, youth worker, counsellor, educator, lottery commission funder, health promoter and cultural adviser. His work in Lyttleton started five days after the February 22, 2011, quake.
He insisted the community come together and talk about what they should be doing, how they should be doing it and how they felt.
"We expected about 200 people and were just blown away when 400 people crowded into the hall."
Everyone was asked to give written answers to five questions, then a microphone was passed around and everyone was invited to comment.
The board collated all the information and presented it in a report to the council long before anything else official such as the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority [CERA] had been set up. "That document we presented has not only helped CERA but also the urban design team."
Mr Te Patu loves Christchurch and next year will run for council.
"Well, I've been there 20 years now, it's where my family is ... but a part of me will always belong in Wanganui."
The public uproar about council chief executive Tony Marryatt's $68,129 salary increase announced before Christmas was predictable, he said.
"It was terrible timing ... a real shame, because Bob Parker had been brilliant throughout the quake ... this has been terrible for him," Mr Te Patu said.
Being part of, and heading, the board of a small community through the quake aftermath had been incredible, he said.
"It's about being strong as a community, and we really are. We even had a wake for the historic Godley House in Diamond Harbour last year when it had to be demolished after the quake. We all got together as a community and mourned the passing of the great old place. We all spoke, we brought a pot-luck lunch and said our farewells."
Wanganui's Maori community was out in full force with family groups and dozens of young children enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.
Mr Te Patu said the community gathering was perfect.
"It is lovely here ... look at these wonderful families and people of Wanganui. It's great."