They’re promising 12,000 jobs

The corporate lies coming from Mad Mike Pohio & co continue…

Picture of a moron. Mad Mike Pohio.

The sh!t that Rahui Papa says (our comments in the bracket thingys):

“Everything we do has to be for the people.” (F*cking rubbish!)

“Glory of independence.” (Another f*cking joke.)

Rahui, have you paid back the money, you know $10,000 dollars that you took from the tribe?

Oh wait a minute, isn’t this all to do with the imaginary $3 billion dollar truck-stop? But the people over at Tainui Group Holdings don’t have $3,000,000,000 sitting in their cheque account. Has the government decided to fork out the $3 billion instead?

Oh wait another minute, the banks sure as hell won’t give TGH the leverage that they want unless all the tribal assets are put up as security. I bet Rahui Papa and Mad Mike Pohio ‘forgot’ to put that in their press release. Everything could be lost. How badly do you want these goons to risk everything?

Mad Mike Pohio wants us to “trust” him.

We’re already in the hole for $300 million because of Mad Mike Pohio. Remember Mad Mike lost the tribe at least another $120 million because of the premature sell-off of millions of Ryman shares for $2.60 each. They are now worth about $8.40. We continue to be stupefied over Mad Mike’s moronic decision.

Hang on, 12,000 jobs won’t appear tomorrow as if the magic job-fairy sprinkled a load of magical job-dust all over Tainui! Another detail got left out of Pohio’s press release, any job promises are projected far into the future at least 30 years, but more likely 40 or 50 years.

They are making it up as they go along.

What a big joke – all their wonderful promises are only supposed to eventuate long after the liars have disappeared from this plane of existence. How convenient!

Those goons release more rubbish and we are supposed to swallow it. Yeah right!

‘Everything we do has to be for the people’

The supports of the whare have been braced and the roof fastened to the ridge pole but there is still more to do as Waikato-Tainui continue to build their own house.

Inspired by the words of the second Maori King ,Tawhiao, the iwi are building their whare where people are the foundation, the Kingitanga the ceiling and a new set of social and economic initiatives will bolster the walls.

When Tawhiao fled to the King Country after the land wars of 1864, he eked out a meagre living but left an enduring message for his people.

“Maku ano e hanga toku nei whare,” he said. “I will build my own house.”

Fashioned from trees not known for their building potential – the hinau, mahoe and patate – Tawhiao called his people to be nurtured by the rengarenga (rock lily) and strengthened on the kawariki berries (coprosma).

In 1995, with the signing of the Waikato-Tainui Treaty settlement and the pain of raupatu and exile forgiven, the iwi set about building a new house.

“With the winds of change, you have to fashion a house that will shelter you from those winds and every generation will have to face their own challenges,” said Rahui Papa, chairman of the iwi’s executive arm Te Arataura.

Tawhiao’s words were a “never ending vision statement” and were as relevant 150 years ago as they are today in setting out a plan for independence and self governance.

” ‘Kia tupu, kia hua, kia puawai’ is the key mission statement. ‘To grow, prosper and sustain, to flourish’ and we think we can do that under our own steam.”

He said the iwi were guided by what made them unique, the principles of Kingitanga and Waikato-Tainui reo.

The tribe’s overarching 50-year plan, Whakatupuranga 2050, guides their progress but a manageable three-year plan was prepared where health and social initiatives, financial security and a review of the tribal governance structure are at the fore.

Waikato-Tainui chief executive Parekawhia McLean said the time had come to invest more in people and that meant the reliance on property needed an overhaul.

In March, they purchased dairy technology company Waikato Milking Systems and McLean said it was an indication they wanted to make further moves into the agricultural sector.

“That’s an indication to our people that we really do mean business,” she said. “Our property has been very successful – The Base, the hotels – but we also realise that there is a strong voice from our people to say they want to see an increase in dividend and an increase in distribution.”

The plan focused on employment, education, housing, financial literacy and the wellbeing of the people and included a social housing initiative where tribal members would be assisted into home ownership.

“The first step for us is to get some basics around financial literacy. What does home ownership mean, can we do rent-to-own and really getting into that education information space.” They formed a partnership with BNZ and an insurance broker to ensure marae can afford to protect their buildings.

Relativity money, derived from the 1995 settlement, sits in a bank account but the iwi wants to see it put to good use and one of the key areas is education.

“We’ve got this $70 million that’s been in the bank for over a year now and marae and Te Kauhanganui have said where are we going to invest that.”

Study grants will expand to support education from early childhood and while students in Maori schools have seen excellent results, there was concern for children in mainstream schools.

“Our education approach going forward is going to change that. We’re saying to our people, if we are going to make a difference we’ve got to start early.”

Social policy areas would benefit to the tune of $8m to $9m and employment opportunities like the 12,000 projected jobs at the Ruakura inland port project will be targeted. “Obviously, what we are doing is identifying what those opportunities are for our tribal members, making sure of vocational pathways . . .”

Reaching all of the 65,000 registered members was a mammoth task but steps were under way to do that and while distributions were set to increase, McLean was loath to say individual dividends had to be weighted against the long term ambitions of the collective.

“That’s the hand-out hand-up korero that I hear a lot. You’ve got to balance that really. It’s not about a handout, it’s about facilitating opportunities.

“Waikato-Tainui are building an empire, one that embodies tino rangatiratanga where the underlying principles are self reliance and independence.

“Our vision is ‘Maku ano e hanga toku nei whare’, from Tawhiao,” she said. “That tongi was really said at a time when the tribe was at its lowest. The raupatu had happened, he’d retreated to the King Country but had that insight. If it’s the lesser known trees in the forest we will use that to build our whare.”

Rahui Papa said Tawhiao’s descendants were trying their best but the repatriation of land, culture and language needed to continue.

“We believe we are only as strong as our most vulnerable member of Waikato-Tainui,” he said. “Everything we do has to be for the people, especially those ones that have been impoverished by the consequences of raupatu and we’ve got to come up with a vision so our people can come out of destitution and bask in the glory of independence.”

MOVING FORWARD

Waikato-Tainui three-year plan Governance review:

Consultation with marae until July.

Relativity: $70 million to be invested in education, employment, health and social initiatives.

Social housing: Pathways to home ownership.

Social policy: $8 to $9 million dedicated to social policy areas.

Education initiatives: that target early childhood to tertiary study.

Relationship with BNZ: to provide financial literacy programmes.

An insurance broker: to provide professional advice to marae.

12,000 projected jobs: at Ruakura development.

Move into the agricultural sector: and diversification of asset portfolio.