As a Trust we want to acknowledge the years of service given by Aunty Kura Benton to Ongare Trust as a responsible Trustee and also as a Kuia to our wider community of Whareroa Marae and Te Runanga o Ngaiterangi in particular.
Aunty Kura was elected to the Board 11 years ago following the passing of her late older sister Aunty Ngaroimata Cavill.
Following Aunty Kura's retirement, we announce the appointment of Ngawaka Walker to the Board as he transitions from Associate Trustee to responsible Trustee following the 2024 owners meeting.
Ngawaka was elected by the hui in an uncontested election and we will progress our application to the Mãori Land Court to appoint Ngawaka in 2025.
We went to the Owners meeting with a number of recommendations out of the 2022 Owners meeting which included to start holding AGM's from 2025 on and also for annual Trustee rotations.
Our Owners, which were primarily represented by our wahine Owners, chose to support the call for an AGM which we will now continue to hold from 2025 annually.
The recommendation for annual Trustee rotations wasn't supported so we will continue with the status quo.
Joel Ngātuere continues to be a staunch advocate and mouthpiece for the whanau of Whareroa Marae and the kaupapa around a managed retreat of the Port of Tauranga and the adjacent heavy industry precinct.
This past week Joel was once again busy engaging with industry representatives on behalf of the Whareroa whanau, in relation to the use of the agri-chemical methyl bromide at the Port.
We acknowledge all of the hard mahi that Joel continues to do in support of all the whānau of Whareroa.
