Minister Jackson visits Hokonui Rūnanga
By Tegan Ramage
On Wednesday 27 April, we were very lucky to have the Minister for Māori Development Willie Jackson join us at the Hokonui Rūnanga with his amazing Te Puni Kōkiri team.
Group photo of tauira, staff, Minister Willie Jackson, Dr Liz Craig, and Te Puni Kōkiri colleagues.
During their visit, the Hokonui Rūnanga Taiao team presented the different projects happening in partnership with Toitῡ te Whenua (Land Information New Zealand) and other funders. This presentation spoke to capacity building, the Hokonui Hill biodiversity kaupapa, the Kaitiaki Whenua programme and seed collection.
Abby-Lee Evans presented the outcomes and future aspirations for the tauira of the Kaitiaki Whenua programme, while sharing experiences that would not only benefit the tauira 
Presentation from Abby-Lee Evans about the Kaitiaki Whenua project.educationally, but also their wellbeing and individual growth. This was then reinforced by Raniera Smyth who spoke about his experiences in the programme. He shared his experiences as the team leader and he believed that the programme was helping him to develop necessary skills for work and for them individually. He continued to share how everyone was like whānau and he felt very supported, by his peers and facilitators. His experiences have helped him to grow and develop a definite pathway for himself.
Other presenters for the evening were Riki Parata, who spoke to the other important environmental projects while Ivan Hodgetts and Terry Nicholas spoke to the Murihiku Regeneration 
Riki Parata gave an overview of all other projects within Te Taiao Department.Projects which involve developing educational programmes to encourage positive transitions for rangatahi from education into work or into higher educational settings. Terry Nicholas spoke to the six key priorities of the project and what this will look like for iwi, including up to date progress and where to next.
The evening finished in the dining room with kai and kōrero about projects happening in and around Hokonui. It was great to hear the conversations of our tauira with the Minister and his colleagues about their journey and where they hope to be when they graduate from the programme. We are so very proud of all the tauira who were there and shared their experiences and thank you to all the staff, Minister Jackson and colleagues for being a part of such awesome kōrero.
Posted: 4 May 2022