Category: Media Releases (Page 3 of 5)

Whānau, there have been some updates to the official tangihanga guidelines during Alert level 4, and additional resources have been added to the Ministry of Health website in regard to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) requirements for essential workers. 

Updated tangihanga guidelines during Alert Level 4
Over the past week there have been some changes to the guidelines relating to tangihanga during Alert Level 4. This new set of guidelines from the Ministry of Health is intended to ease restrictions on whānau already struggling with loss, while maintaining the overall requirements of Alert Level 4. It allows for whānau who were in the same isolation bubble as their deceased loved one to go with the tūpāpaku to the funeral home and then to the urupā also.

John Whaanga, Deputy Director-General Māori Health, and his team are continuing to work with trusted experts to ensure whānau feel heard, understood, and supported throughout this pandemic.

Further guidelines for whānau on what to do during Alert Levels 3, 2 and 1, will be sent out over the coming weeks. It is also important whānau are aware that should things change during the Alert Level 4 lockdown, we may be required to review these guidelines again.

Click here to read the latest guidelines.

Whānau, we know the official guidelines for tangihanga during Alert Level 4 are a significant change to how we normally do things. However, now is the time to do all we can to overcome COVID-19. Kia tū kōtahi tātau.

We encourage you to read these guidelines and to let us know if you have any pātai.

PPE for essential workers
Many of our whānau are continuing to do mahi as they provide essential services to the rest of the community.
 
The Ministry of Health has put all the information you need to know about PPE in one single page on their website. Click here to read. The content on this page provides guidance for all essential workers across a variety of work settings.

The page includes:

• Tips on how to keep you and your whānau safe as an essential worker
• PPE and hand hygiene posters
• PPE and handwashing videos
• More information for specific groups such as community-based midwives and health care workers at border-control.

Flu vaccinations
Free flu vaccinations are available for kaumātua aged 65 and older, pregnant women, and other people with serious health conditions like severe asthma, diabetes, heart, lung and kidney problems or cancer. Tamariki with a history of severe respiratory illness are also eligible for free vaccination.
 
Please encourage your at-risk whānau, especially kaumātua, to get their free flu vaccines as soon as possible. The flu vaccination won’t protect whānau from COVID-19, but it will help protect against influenza.

Nga mihi mahana mai tenei pito ki tena, ki tena – huri noa atu ki te hapori o Te Wairoa.

We all are living in times some think are uncharted and challenges our tikanga. But we are not.

My grandfather, who will be 89 next week, as a child was restricted to home at Tahaenui because his brother had infantile paralysis. This whanau quarantine lasted six months. Grandfather is still here today because his whanau followed the rules. We can do the same.

Kawa is permanent. Kawa is the law set by the example of our Gods. Tikanga adapts and changes according to current situations. Tikanga is based on kawa, yet tikanga adapts to the times we live in. Tikanga tells us to do so in the meaning of the word which is ‘that which is right’. This is knowledge according to our ancient Takitimu teachings.

Our marae are now faced with a change in tikanga. In considering your options be sensible, be wise, be mindful of future generations and of those who today carry our culture. Tikanga has never, ever been set in stone.

Each of our marae is their own kingdom. Our marae will always do what is right for them. Some marae have done this already. We are here to support each other. I encourage you all to make firm decisions on how our marae in Wairoa District operate based on fact and practicality – in the end that is the essence of tikanga.

Pai Marire, Nigel.

Nigel How
Inaugural Chairman of the Kaumatua Council of Tatau Tatau o Te Wairoa Trust
Chairman of Ngati Kahungunu Wairoa Taiwhenua Incorporated
Board Member of Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated

We continue to work alongside the Wairoa wellness network to ensure information and resources are reaching the people here in the rohe during these times. It’s important to be responsive and ensure the ongoing resilience and sustainability of all businesses and jobs, including Māori businesses.

Through Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa Trust and Wairoa District Council, we are aiming to take a proactive approach to supporting businesses by undertaking a stocktake with local businesses, identifying short and medium-term needs and future business development opportunities.

We have engaged JMP Consulting to contact businesses in the Wairoa district over the next four weeks to understand:

1. Current operating position, including type of business, industry, number of employees, service delivery approach (face to face, online etc) and the like
2. Short-medium term needs and issues, including plans for employees and business income
3. Business recovery needs post-COVID-19
4. Other information as required.

This project will help to ensure that the right business supports are put in place for your business and across the District as we work through this difficult time. We want as many of our businesses as possible to be resilient and sustainable over the coming months and years. 

We are currently pulling together a contact list of businesses in Wairoa and if we have your details, we will be in touch to seek your participation. If you would like to be involved, please provide your contact details to Jody Hamilton at JMP Consulting (email jody@jmpconsulting.co.nz or call 021 919 779) and one of the team will be in touch with you to set up a time to either video or phone call.  

Please note that participation is voluntary and by the agreement of business owners. All information will be confidential and the individual business reviews will not be shared wider than the project team unless express permission is given by the business owners.

Stay safe whānau and look after each other.

Tēnā kōutou katoa e te whānau,

These are unprecedented times, and we know the next while will be challenging for our whānau, iwi and hapū.

Our Wairoa community response group has been meeting daily to establish ways everyone can support each other as we navigate the health, social, cultural and economic effects of COVID-19. We have a network dedicated to this kaupapa, which includes local health and social services providers, Civil Defence, social organisations, iwi, hapū, local business, as well as lcoal and national Government. Ngā mihi ki Te Taiwhenua o Te Wairoa, nā rātou tēnei roopu e ārahi.

We know many in our community are not connected digitally, so we encourage you to share the information in this pānui with them.

Simple precautions you can take:

We can all do our part to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

1. Wash our hands with soap regularly, for 20 seconds each time.
2. Maintain physical distance – Try to refrain from hongi, hugs and handshakes using the elbow tap, nod, or karakia instead.
3. Stay home if we’re sick or think we may have been exposed to illness.
4. Find safe ways to support our older or more vulnerable community members
5. Don’t panic buy bulk groceries and supplies. Be sensible and community minded – there is enough to go round for everyone.
6. Avoid public events of 100 or more: Currently all public events of 100 people or more are discouraged. Every community organisation, club, society, churches and marae are asked to please follow these to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading.  We encourage everyone to keep having these conversations around public events and to be sensible and avoid putting our community at risk. It’s great to see most are taking this seriously and doing this already.

More information on COVID-19 and symptoms, can be found here: www.covid19.govt.nz. It is important that you familiarise yourself with all the updated official information from the Government via this website. You can also call Healthline on 0800 358 5453 at any time of the day or night.

Important: If you are feeling sick, please stay home and ring the Healthline number above, or your local health centre for further advice on 06 838 8333. Please do not go to our hospital if you think you are displaying COVID-19 symptoms – ring from home first and they will guide you on what to do.

Support to help with financial hardship:

Many in our community may be experiencing financial hardship due to what is happening with the economy currently, be it via reduced work hours or job loss. There is organised support for all our workers, their families and employers who live in Wairoa. Please contact Wairoa Taiwhenua, weekdays from 9am – 3 pm on 06 838 4748 or call in to their Bridge Street office for more information. 

Approved health posters:

For businesses, if you would like current information posters to hang at your organisation or anywhere you feel they may be helpful, these can be collected free-of-charge from Wairoa Taiwhenua, from their Bridge Street office (9am – 3pm, Monday to Friday). If you would like them them emailed to you – please contact wairoa.tai.whenua@xtra.co.nz.

Marae:

We have been asked to help coordinate marae with how they will respond. We are calling together marae to discuss the recommendations and how this may affect the use of marae and tikanga practices. Please contact your respective marae in the first instance, and visit the marae facebook page or website. 

It goes without saying, but it is important that we work together as a collective to stop the spread of COVID-19 in Aoteraoa, and protect our people and our communities. Tātau Tātau means together, so please do not hesitate to reach out if you need support.

It is important we remain strong, act sensibly and without panic, and that we take the correct precautions. Kōrero with your whānau, and make sure they are feeling safe and not overwhelmed.

Kai te mihi nei ki a kōutou i tautoko mai.

Hai konā mai i roto i te tauwhiro a te runga rawa, nā

Lewis Ratapu

General manager

Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa

As 2019 draws to a close, we can reflect on the year, and we can look forward for what is to come as we carry out the work you, our people, have entrusted us to do. 

First and foremost, we acknowledge whānau members throughout the motu who have passed during the year. We also share the sorrow of all those who have been impacted by the aftermath of the Whakaari eruption. Our thoughts are with Ngāti Awa during this time of immense grief.

Now, as we turn our attention to Wairoa, and work to realise the benefits of our settlement, we must also acknowledge the hard work of our tīpuna who set the wheels in motion so we could be where we are today. 

For Tātau Tātau, much of 2019 was absorbed by implementing the structure of the Unit Trust and Kāhui representation model, which you approved in 2018. This mahi included our Kāhui finalising their Trust Deeds and holding their Kāhui representative elections and appointment of Directors to our Commercial Board. 

It was wonderful to connect with whānau at the Engagement Hui in November where we sought your feedback on our Five-Year Strategic Plan and Annual Plan. It was great to see both familiar and new faces, and we are thankful for your support as we work to realise a prosperous future for the Hapū and Iwi of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa. 

It was important to us that we had our members’ input into our Five-Year Strategic Plan and Annual Plan, an important document that will shape our kaupapa over the years to come. The feedback we received was invaluable and we took this feedback on board as we updated the plan once feedback had closed on 30 November. 

We were pleased to receive approval on our Five-Year Strategy and Annual Plan at our Annual General Meeting on 14 December. Now we are geared up to work towards those milestones for 2020 and we look forward to updating you on our progress over the coming months.

You can read our Annual Report, Five-Year Strategic Plan and Annual Plan here. Hard copies are also available at our office in Wairoa (34 Marine Parade West).

Whānau, now is our time to be the successful Iwi and Hapū of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa that we always aspired to be. Our future is bright and we are so glad to have you with us on this next phase of our journey. 

We thank you for your continued support and we wish you all a safe and festive holiday. We look forward to connecting with you in the new year and working with you achieve great things for our Whānau, Hapū, Kāhui, and Iwi of Te Roge o Te Wairoa.

Nākū noa, nā
Your Tātau Tātau Representatives 

It is our pleasure to announce the appointment of Mr Lewis Ratapu to the position of General Manager for Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa Trust. Lewis has strong whakapapa connection to Mahia and Te Wairoa and is currently employed as the General Manager for Business Growth and Design at Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga. We wish him all the best in this role in leading our operational team.

We wish to also announce the appointment of Deloitte as our Commercial Advisor. After advertising and unsuccessfully attracting a suitable candidate for this role, a Request for Proposals (RFP) process was undertaken, through which the selection was made. Our relationship with Deloitte builds upon previous work the organisation has undertaken for Tātau Tātau and will be led by Mr Lee Gray from Deloitte who has whakapapa connections to Whakakī. Whānau, now is our time to be the successful Hapū and Iwi of Te Rohe o Te Wairoa that we always aspired to be. Our future is bright and we are so glad to have you with us on this next phase of our journey.

Ahead of our Annual General Meeting on Saturday 14 December, Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa Corporate Trustee is pleased to make available the final Five-Year Strategic Plan and Annual Plan for your perusal ahead of, and approval at, the AGM.

Click here to access this document. Hard copies are available at the Trust office (34 Marine Parade West, Wairoa) and will also be available at the AGM.

The Five-Year Strategic Plan and Annual Plan, which was originally presented to members in the November 2019 Engagement Hui Information Booklet and at the Engagement Hui across Aotearoa, has been amended following feedback received at these hui and via our feedback form on our website.