Duo already eyeing council participation
Waikato councils back rangatahi leadership scheme
Hamilton’s Tuia leadership programme mentees Jacinta Ormsby (Ngāti Wairere), 23, and Te Auta Mcphee (Ngāti Māhanga), 22, have just started the programme, but already feel empowered to eye up future council positions.
The duo were chosen by their hapū to participate in the annual 12-month programme, which is a nationwide initiative whereby rangatahi Māori aged 18-25 are mentored by their local mayors and councillors.
Kirikiriroa Māori ward councillor Melaina Huaki has taken Jacinta and Te Auta under her wing and says the programme is important.
“With [the mentees] comes a rangatahi perspective which is not as evident on council as it could be.
“I’m making [this initiative] a priority. I want Hamilton [City Council] to participate every year . . . [because] it is one small step for the council towards equity and meeting Te Tiriti obligations,” Huaki says.
Jacinta and Te Auta both say they didn’t know what to expect from the programme, but, more than two months in, they are positively surprised.
“I thought it was going to be a few meetings and lots of reading. But it is actually very non-traditional and more about learning from each other and meeting like-minded people,” Jacinta says.
The programme, developed by the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs (MTFJ), has the aim to build a network for rangatahi to support them in their contribution to their communities.
The programme’s name, Tuia, derives from a tauparapara, a Māori proverbial saying, that explains the potential that lies within meaningful connections to the past, present and future, to self, and to people, place and environment.
Jacinta, who is studying towards a Bachelor of Nursing at Wintec, says although the programme has just started, she can already see herself in a leadership position in the future.
“I want to be a voice for people, especially rangatahi, because everybody sort of disregards us. But rangatahi are the next generation . . . becoming a councillor sounds pretty cool.”
Te Auta, who is studying for a Bachelor of Art and Design at AUT, says she hopes to develop leadership skills.
“[This] will help me be a voice for my hapū . Rather than a councillor, I could see myself in an adviser role [to the council].”
Meanwhile, the Waikato Regional Council, which has participated in the programme since 2018, has chosen Kayla Waudby (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngā Wairiki, Ngāti Apa and Te Arawa iwi) to be mentored by councillors Tipa Mahuta and Jennifer Nickel.
Kayla says: “I have a vision of providing environmental support... and working alongside my whānau to revitalise our taonga.”
Other Waikato councils participating in the Tuia programme this year are Waipā, Taupō, Waitomo and Ō torohanga district councils.
Waipā District Council has chosen Maude Rewha of Te Awamutu College, Waitomo District Council’s delegates are Te Kū iti locals Aroha Wehi and Taetia Kopa, Taupō District Council selected Turangi local Waimarino Warena, and Ō torohanga’s Tuia delegate is Kauri Coffin.