20 minute read
Mauria Te Pono
Making a difference, through hard work and perseverance
Rore Stafford
Photo: Russ Flat
Lynne Stafford
Photo: Russ Flat
Rore and Lynne Stafford have dedicated their lives to making a difference to their whānau and hapū and the whānau whānui of Wakatū.
In January 2019, this contribution was acknowledged with Rore being recognised as an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori.
In the official acknowledgements, the Crown noted that Rore had co-lodged the WAI 56 claim in 1986 on behalf of descendants of the Māori customary Owners of the Nelson Tenths’ Reserves and Occupation Reserves in Whakatū, Motueka and Mōhua, and has led the team dedicated to seeking restitution for over 31 years.
Rore was also a founding member of the Maniapoto Marae PACT Trust in 1980 and has been chairman for more than 20 years. He was active in a group that worked on land reforms that led to the Māori Reserved Land Amendment Act 1997.
Lynne was an early Wakatū Board member, serving from 1980–1982. Rore has been on the Wakatū Board since 1985. In this role, along with his fellow board members, Rore has been a key driver behind the strategy and direction of the commercial businesses of Wakatū – Whenua and Kono NZ LP. Rore also played a central role in establishing and leading Manaaki, the cultural arm of Wakatū.
Kerensa Johnston spoke with Rore and Lynne about their work over many years for Wakatū, the ongoing fight for justice over the Nelson Tenths’ and Occupation Reserves, and their hopes and aspirations for the future.
Wakatū Incorporation board 1985–1986. Back row: Rore Stafford, Hōhepa Solomon, Steve Marshall. Front row: Brian Yates (Incorporation Secretary), Bob Shore (Incorporation Under Secretary), Wara Kātene, Andy Joseph (Chair), Margaret Beveridge (Incorporation administrator), Robert Park. Absent: Mugwi MacDonald.
Can you tell us about the creation of Wakatū Incorporation in 1977 and what was your involvement?
Rore: Wakatū was established by the whānau of Wakatū following a long commission of inquiry into the state of Māori reserved lands in Aotearoa, which took place in the 1970s. Lynne and I went to those meetings, and it was during that time we learnt a lot about the state of our lands in Te Tauihu and how they had been managed by the Māori Trustee. Following the commission of inquiry, our whānau met at Takapūwāhia Marae in Porirua for a hui where our whānau decided to end the Māori Trustee’s management and control of our land. Essentially we were given three choices by the Crown: set up a trust, set up an incorporation or stay with the Māori Trustee. Our whānau voted by postal vote to set up the incorporation, which we believe was a great result.
Lynne: I got involved when the commission of inquiry was going on in the 1970s. I felt that if you were going to complain about the state of things, then you needed to do something about it. It was important for me to get involved because my children’s whakapapa is to the land – and I didn’t want them to have to deal with all of the issues and the problems associated with the land. Rore was very busy working on our farm at that time and although I was also busy with our children, I put in a submission on behalf of our family about the state of the lands. Along with people like Eva Rickard, who was heard on the same day as me, I objected to the way the land was being sold off by the Māori Trustee at the time. The Owners of the land had very little authority over the decisions that were being made, especially if they were small shareholders. There were a number of people involved in the discussions at the time, people like Judge Marumaru, Kiwa Morgan and Wara Kātene.
Wakatū Incorporation board 1980–1982. Back row: Kiwa Morgan, Lynne Stafford, Andy Joseph, Eva Rickard, Mugwi MacDonald. Front row: Wara Katene, Māui Pomare (Chair), Brian Yates (Incorporation Secretary). Absent: Hoeroa Marumaru.
Lynne, you came on to the first board of Wakatū. What was it like being on the board in those early years?
Lynne: Well, in 1978, the Māori Trustee handed back the land that was left – it was a real mess and we realised there was a shortfall in terms of the land that should have been returned. The biggest problem we faced at the outset was that the Crown was the largest shareholder in the incorporation – this is due to legislation which allowed the Māori Trustee to buy up shares and position itself as the largest Owner and decision-maker. The Crown refused to give those shares to us and we had to buy them back. It was a no-brainer, we knew we had to do that otherwise the Owners would have no control. It took us 12 years to pay the debt back, as it cost us close to half a million dollars to buy the shares from the Crown. The other part we really struggled with in the early days was coming to terms with the law regarding leased lands as all of our land at that time was controlled by perpetual leases – we couldn’t use or access any of the land and we were receiving very poor rentals – less than 1 per cent of the value of the land. It was a very difficult time as we had to break some of those leases and we had all sorts of objections from lessees. We faced so much criticism from the media and within our community. It was quite toxic. But we managed to get through it, because we knew we had to get the land back and start getting a better return for the Owners.
The board meetings at that time were very hard work – as well as hard on the body. We live at Waitomo and we’d arrive in Whakatū at 5 p.m. on a Friday night because we all worked or had to travel to Whakatū for the hui. We’d be there until about midnight or one in the morning and then up at seven the next morning to start again. We’d finish on Saturday night. So, it was quite difficult. A challenging time, especially when we were busy raising a young family and running the farm.
PHOTO: RUSS FLAT
And for you, Rore? You came on to the Wakatū Board in 1985. How was it for you?
Rore: In the early days, we were basically just rent collectors. I think the families themselves didn’t realise how much land they had and where it was located. There were close to 800 leases, ranging from 800 square metres up to 50-acre blocks, I believe. There were all sorts of things we were trying to come to grips with. To start with, we weren’t in the horticultural business, but as our lands started coming back to us in Motueka with apples and kiwifruit on them, we had to learn how to operate these businesses and how to become employers. In those days, we were feeling our way through, learning about our lands and also reconnecting with the families. We also had residential land to manage, and we decided we had to sell some of that land so we could invest in buying and developing other land. We took these proposals to our people at the AGM to decide. The kōrero from our people was, ‘If you sell land, you must buy land to replace it.’ This became one of our most important policies, which is known as our corpus policy.
Who were some of the other people involved with Wakatū then and what issues were you dealing with at that time?
Rore: There were people like Wara Kātene, Judge Marumuru, Mugwi MacDonald, Eva Rickard, Kiwa Morgan, Andy Joseph, John Mitchell and Robbie Park and others. Lynne resigned after two years so she could look after her mother who was not well, and about five years later, I was appointed to the board. Māui Pōmare was the chairman for some time and then Steve Marshall. Once Steve retired from that role, he was replaced by Paul Morgan. Bob Shore was our secretary and later he also joined the board as a director. At that early stage, we weren’t looking too far ahead in the way we are now with Te Pae Tawhiti. We were just trying to manage the day-to-day things.
Lynne: Every day was a challenge. Literally. I think the most impressive thing was that the board and the Owners worked together – no matter how many times the questions were asked or decisions challenged, the board was very tolerant, very patient. We recognised that in order for the people to trust you, you needed to take them with you, and so the board was very interested in making sure the Owners had all the information they needed to make decisions, that they knew the truth. Nothing was hidden, and gradually the people began to appreciate what they actually owned, where it was, the history and what they were getting in terms of a return. The Owners started to understand that the people at the helm were trying to do the best they could under difficult circumstances. Over time, the focus of the board and of Wakatū changed and we started looking outward, especially how we could influence things. I think one of the things Steve Marshall, the chairman, brought to the table was that he had the ear of the politicians in Wellington. He knew the importance of lobbying politicians and communicating well with people – this was really important for us when it came to changing the law on Māori reserved lands and perpetual leases. Although we still don’t have an ideal situation, we are at least able to set more commercial rents and have slightly more control over our lands in the longer term. The main thing we achieved was ending 21-year rent reviews on perpetual leases and moving to a shorter seven-year rent review cycle.
Rore: The work on reserved lands was an interesting journey for us. There was a big group of us, a collective of Māori who had reserved lands all over Aotearoa. We all worked together to get a positive result for our land and whānau. The Federation of Māori Authorities (FOMA) was also important at that time, making sure we were all involved. We all paid in money to help with the lobbying effort. Paul Morgan, Steve Marshall, Bob Shore, Peter Charlton, and others, would run from one politician to the next politician to the next whenever the House was sitting, trying to get them to support the changes we were proposing. There were some ugly parts to it. I can recall a Taranaki farmer on a tractor driving up the steps of Parliament building, protesting about the reforms and what we were doing. There was a lot of opposition from the farmers and those who had enjoyed the benefit of the perpetual leases for many years, often paying ‘peppercorn rents’ to the Owners.
At the same time as we were developing our lands and businesses, we were developing the cultural and social part of Wakatū, which we now call Manaaki. Can you talk about why we established Manaaki and what this part of the organisation does?
Rore: We needed to grow the capacity of our whānau, and create opportunities for our whānau to manage their lands and our businesses. So we created scholarship programmes and the associate director programme, which is designed to get people ready to be on the Wakatū Board or to come and work within Wakatū. There are other kaupapa too, such as the boys’ and girls’ wānanga, which is to inspire our tamariki and teach them about leadership. We have our ahi kaa programmes, designed to get people back on their land and from time to time we have wānanga for our kaumātua.
Lynne: Over the years, Wakatū has also given a lot of support to the marae in the region, with funding infrastructure and so on. We have also provided a lot of support to the community through sponsorships and grants – sometimes this is monetary and sometimes through providing food or other kinds of support. This is a really important part of what we do – we contribute a lot to the community. The Owners were very supportive of the establishment of the Manaaki programmes.
Rore: The Manaaki programmes are very important to us. They are about the bigger picture and about our whānau – growing our skill base and building a base for the generations to come. But it’s important for those participating to realise it is not all about taking from the incorporation; it is very important to contribute back.
Lynne: It was always a part of our dream when we first started that we would be able to create a financial base that would ensure we could grow the capacity of our people in all areas, commercial and cultural, through education and development.
Can you tell us about the work that took place in the late 1980s and 1990s, and the Waitangi Tribunal claims process in Te Tauihu?
Rore: In 1986, Wakatū decided to file a Treaty of Waitangi claim against the Crown on behalf of the Owners of the Nelson Tenths’ and Occupation Reserves in Whakatū, Motueka and Mōhua. Myself and Hōhepa Solomon were named as the claimants acting on behalf of all the Owners of these lands. This was the first claim to be filed in the top of the South Island, known as WAI 56. After that the different iwi entities were established and began to file Treaty claims, along with some whānau claims. This set off a whole process of research and hearings which lasted throughout the 1990s and 2000s.
The good thing was, in the beginning, we worked together as a collective, with the four iwi who affiliate to Wakatū (Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Rārua, Te Ātiawa and Ngāti Koata) and joined together as the mandated entity, known as Tainui Taranaki. We worked together well to begin with. We were lucky that the trusts of the time put their hands around us and Wakatū became part of that group, even though the Crown was not supportive of that approach. The Crown tended to see us as some sort of body corporate; they didn’t realise we are a whānau and hapū group and a whānau organisation. So there were challenges from the Crown agencies but we were lucky that people put their arms around us and said ‘No, you’re going to be part of this.’ That happened in Whakatū, at Whakatū Marae.
What were the Waitangi Tribunal hearings like in Te Tauihu?
Rore: They were quite vicious at times, actually. I didn’t realise things could get so vicious among different families, especially when we are closely related. I always say, ‘We’re not the crooks. We’re the families. Don’t fight us. Fight the Crown.’ The process itself takes time to recover from.
Lynne: The stories that came out during thet ribunal hearings were heartbreaking. One of the stories we told was about Rore’s kuia, Rāmari. She was incarcerated in the mental hospital in Whakatū, Ngāwhatu. She was sent there because she refused to sell her land at Motueka. Every time the surveyors came to survey the land she would attack them, and so they declared her insane. She lived at Ngāwhatu for three or four years and nobody knew. The stigma of that affected her badly for the rest of her life. She was not insane, she was just very angry about losing her land.
PHOTO: KATE MACPHERSON
In the early days, when the Labour Government was still in power, there was some goodwill to settle the Treaty claims for the Tenths’ Reserves and Occupation Reserves. This changed when National came into power, and as a result we had to go down a legal road in an attempt to get the redress we felt was deserved. I think the saddest thing in the whole process regarding the settlement of Treaty claims in Te Tauihu was the way the Crown fed incorrect information to the different groups involved, and led the iwi entities to believe that if the Wakatū claims were settled as part of the settlement process, then they would lose out in monetary terms. This was really unfair and created a lot of angst at the time.
Rore and Lynne with their mokopuna Wade Stafford, Wakatū 40th celebration dinner, 2017.
Photo: Kate MacPherson
Can you talk about what happened next in terms of the decision to go to court to deal with the Crown’s breaches in relation to the Nelson Tenths’ and Occupation Reserves?
Rore: This was a new process for me. I’d never been through a court process before but because we were not going to accept that there was no legal remedy, we decided to go to court. We were not going to lie down, that’s for sure, we felt we should fight on, on behalf of the descendants of our tūpuna. The only place we could go was the High Court, and of course it’s a journey, quite a legal journey, and you’re in the hands of one judge who is looking at both sides of the kaupapa, and trying to come to the right decision. In the High Court and the Court of Appeal we lost – although we did very well in terms of establishing the facts of the case. All the history is written down in those decisions now. The timeframe goes back to the early 1800s in London right up to 2017. It just blows your mind. We won in the Supreme Court.
Can you tell us about that day in the Supreme Court, when the decision was announced by Chief Justice Sian Elias, and you knew you had won?
Rore: It happened so quickly. You know, they basically just came in and read out the outcome, it was very fast. Then the judges just stood up and walked out.
Lynne: We were like stunned mullets. Did we really hear what we heard? You know, Paul [Morgan] looked at me and he burst into tears. It was years and years of work and negotiation coming to an end, a huge weight lifted from our shoulders. All that time, all we had been seeking was fairness and to be told we were right. That we had prevailed was just such a big win.
Rore: I remember I said to our team, the ones who were around us on the day, supporting us in the court, ‘Just stay grounded; this is not over yet. Yes, yes, just relax and take it step by step.’
Lynne: I think it’s interesting to see how some of the iwi groups who initially did not support us in the court proceedings have now realised that it is a win for everybody – not just the Owners but for Māori in Aotearoa and indigenous people around the world. So many people have come out of the woodwork to contact us at home, to ask how was the decision arrived at, and what did it look like. We have had all these requests from different universities and faculties of law to come and talk about the case to students and academics. All sorts of articles and journals have been written about the case. I believe it is the first time the courts in Aotearoa have recognised that the Crown owes fiduciary or trust-like duties to Māori. These duties are legally binding and have real power. Some people might say, what made you do it? We felt that Wakatū had a responsibility to the descendants and to our mokopuna going forward, to make the effort, give it a go. If we lost, nobody could say we didn’t give it a go, but if we won, everybody was a winner.
Rore at the Wakatū AGM, 2017.
Photo: Kate MacPherson
What is the next step following the Supreme Court’s decision?
Rore: The next step is to work through resolving the issues with the Crown. To me it is simple: land was taken by the Crown that should have been part of the Tenths’ and Occupation Reserves – this has to come back to the Owners. So, the next step is heading back to the court to sort out the extent of the losses to the trust and to seek the return of our land. The other option we are looking at is negotiating directly with the Crown to settle the case. At the end of the day, we want to make sure we do the best we can for our whānau and our wider community here in Te Tauihu. We are about creating jobs and good opportunities in our region, so regardless of which government is in power, this is what we want to focus on.
What are some of your reflections as you look back over the role and work of Wakatū over the last 40 years?
Lynne: We have got to the point where we have addressed many things for the benefit of our children and grandchildren, although there is still a great deal to do. It was a heavy and painful road in the beginning. I don’t think people who have not been involved can fully comprehend what it was like in the beginning, before Wakatū was established and when our lands were under the control of the Māori Trustee. You were just a piece of paper, a number, with no authority or mana over your own land. Rore and I did not want that for our children or grandchildren, so our role is to make sure the future is a positive one. Here we are, 40 years or more down the track, and we have built something really positive. What we have achieved has been very, very worthwhile.
Lynne at Te Hunga Panuku summit, 2009.
Photo: Carly Ave
What are some things you’re most proud of?
Rore: I am very proud of our Owners and our wider whānau, and seeing our people come to hui and wānanga. Looking at our rangatahi getting up there on the stage and presenting themselves so well in terms of their education and their plans for the future, it just blows me away. I love all of the different kaupapa that we are working on. I mean you can talk about dollars and cents at the meetings and that is important, but to hear about the different projects going on and to actually see our young people getting up and talking about how they have performed and where they want to go is significant.
Lynne: Yes, it is beautiful to see how capable and confident our young people are – this confidence was missing when we were younger because we didn’t have the same sort of opportunities. Wakatū has been able to create a strong financial base and many opportunities for our young people and their families. We see the likes of Kerensa, Rachel, Johnny, Miriana and Jeremy coming into management roles and onto the board – this is a huge achievement for our families.
Rore: It’s working, you know, the things we put in place are working in terms of the generations coming through to run the organisation and our businesses.
When you look into the future, what are some things you’d like to see for the families of Wakatū?
Rore: Looking forward, education has to continue to be number one. Build the skill base. It is a must. It has to be in all areas, tikanga, te reo, kawa, the values, as well as commercial and professional skills, they all go hand in hand – we can’t leave anything behind. So the young people today, they have to learn about values, tikanga and most importantly who they are. Actually, number one is knowing who you are. Genealogy, whakapapa, it’s all a collective way of coming together. You can’t leave anything at the door.
Lynne: I think for me the biggest thing, in the future, is that the people who take ownership and responsibility for Wakatū remember the struggle and the history of the organisation and the people. Remember it’s a gift. It’s not something to be squandered. It’s to be developed in a way that develops all of your people. Not just for some of your people. That’s what I’d like to see happen and remain in place, in terms of how we think and do things.
What advice would you give to future leaders of Wakatū? Especially those who may want to serve on the Wakatū Board?
Rore: I think just work, work your guts out. Don’t muck around. If you’re going to come, if you’re going to be part of this, you’ve got to work hard. Earn your space. And you know, if you have got skills that you can use on the Wakatū Board or any of our subsidiary boards, bring them to the table, don’t hold back. But at the end of the day, don’t muck around. We’ve all worked hard for you. We look at the generations, who go right back to when the heke came here from Kāwhia and Taranaki – they all worked hard for us. So going forward, all I’m saying to the new generation, just put yourself out there, work your guts out.
Lynne: I think for me, it’s about people being astute about those they choose to take leadership roles at the governance table. You can’t afford to have one idiot. So, choosing the right person, nurturing them, supporting that person in a really constructive way has got to be positive. The moment you bring a person in who has a personal agenda, you’re lost. So be careful, choose wisely.
Rore: There’ll be other challenges in the future and they will be quite different to our challenges. I mean, we’ve fought to get the whenua back and I hope they’ll keep growing it and protecting it for the longer term and for the benefit of our mokopuna.
That brings us to a nice place to finish, which is Te Pae Tawhiti – our 500-year intergenerational plan. Te Pae Tawhiti is about looking backwards and forwards. What does Te Pae Tawhiti mean to you?
Rore: Well, when you talk about that 500-year vision, Te Pae Tawhiti, we’re talking about our children, we’re talking about our great-grandchildren, those we’ll never see but how we’re going to make sure the foundations are right for them in the future. It’s about looking long-term and what would this taonga look like in another 40 years or 500 years. We always want to be land owners here in Te Tauihu, we always want it to be about our families. And for me, it’s making sure the skills are there to grow this taonga, and never forget where it came from,never forget the history of it, what’s brought us here. Never forget the migration, the heke in the 1800s and what brought our people here to settle.
In the future, our families will face different challenges, for example, climate change is going to be a huge challenge. We’re talking about water now,that’s another challenge – who owns the water, who manages the water? So, I see those big things in the next few years as being at the forefront of our thinking.
Lynne: Looking back for me it is about realising that at the very beginning, our people had security,health and wellbeing, and then we lost all of that and have gone down the path of poverty. I don’t ever want to see that revisited, but don’t forget about it– because we don’t want that going forward. Going forward it’s about the quality of the whenua and the health of our whānau – is it going to be in a good state for our children and our grandchildren to take ownership of?
Everything that is done has to be done in a way that is going to benefit the people now and in the future. It also has to benefit our whenua, our sea,our water, everything is related to our wellbeing. And don’t waste the opportunities that are going to come. I’m really proud about the fact I’ve been given the opportunity to make a contribution.
Rore: I didn’t get a hell of a lot of education at mainstream schools, but I have learnt a lot in the last 40 years – and its all stored in my computer,here in my brain! I have had lots of opportunities and together as a board we have done our best to create opportunities for our families and make sure we are leaving things in a better state, so that they can continue on into the future. Glory to God, peace on earth.
