New young trustees elected to Nga Tangata Tiaki o Whanganui Trust

Tamahaia Skinner helps to co-ordinate many iwi events and is one of seven elected to the Ngā Tāngata Tiaki o Whanganui Trust. Photo / Stuart Munro

Proud Raetihi boy Elijah Pue is elated to be chosen as one of seven to lead Whanganui iwi on the Nga Tangata Tiaki o Whanganui Trust for the next three years.

Joining him is Tamahaia Skinner who said he felt grateful, thankful and humbled.

Nga Tangata Tiaki o Whanganui Trust (NTT) is the post-settlement governance entity of Whanganui iwi for the purposes of the Whanganui River settlement.

NTT kaihautū (chief executive) Nancy Tuaine said it was heartening there was such a good range of candidates.

She wanted to acknowledge the "unwavering and committed leadership" of the chairman, Gerrard Albert. He has led the trust since it began and did not stand for re-election.

The trust has seven trustees. The first three were chosen in May in a Te Rūnanga o Te Awa Tupua process. They are Dr Rāwiri Tinirau, the previous deputy chairman, and previous trustee Joey Allen.

The third, Sheena Maru, is not new to the trust but new to a governance role in it.

Another 13 people stood for the four remaining trustee roles. Two were previous trustees, Che Wilson and Siani Walker. Wilson was the highest polling of the 13, with 945 votes.

He is the former chief executive of Ruapehu iwi Ngāti Rangi and current president of Te Pāti Māori.

Elijah Pue is also a Ruapehu District Councillor. Photo / Bevan Conley

The other three, Pue, Skinner and Tāwhiao McMaster, are all males under 30. Most others on the trust are in their mid 40s, Pue said.

"We are a relatively young board, that's for sure. I think it was quite clear that it was time for another generation to take the mantle.

"I'm proud that our iwi can put faith into younger trustees."

Skinner said there was a wealth of experience for the trust from the returning trustees.

"I'm confident with our combined effort and commitment to our tupuna awa and our people, we will be fine," he said.

For Pue it will be important to meet the dreams and aspirations of his people, and he said Ngā Tāngata Tiaki had already done a lot of good work there.

Skinner will be keen to first understand what has been done so far. He will want to protect the awa and make opportunities for rangatahi to move towards leadership.

Pue is also a Ruapehu district councillor and operations manager for Ruapehu tribe Ngāti Rangi. The trusteeship will be his third major role.

"I manage my time quite effectively. It's going to be a matter of prioritising."

The seven trustees will be inducted at NTT's virtual AGM on September 12. They will choose a chairperson at their next meeting.

The election was run by Dale Ofsoke, of Election Services.

There were 7933 voting papers sent out to registered members of Whanganui iwi. Of those 1721 were returned, a 21.69 per cent return rate.

One high point for the iwi was that interest in the election gained it new registrations.

Voting for Nga Tangata Tiaki (NTT) was held between June 30 to August 3.

Others who stood to be 2021-24 trustees were Siani Walker (321 votes), Hayden Turoa (522), Sunny Teki-Clarke (451), Kiritahi Firmin (370) Geoff Hipango (452), Stephanie Osborne (168), Soraya Peke-Mason (291), Hayden Potaka (356) and Utiku Potaka (351).