Last week, 19th September, the Taemaro Marae met to discuss the Kahukuraariki flawed nomination processes and timeframes that undermines the mana of marae, does not give sufficient time for whanau to consider and encourage a member to stand and come to a marae meeting to seek endorsement.  We sent an urgent letter to the Kahukuraariki Trust  seeking clarity about registration processes and nomination process, undermining the right for us as marae whanau to be engaged in discussions and nominate a representative for Taemaro. We also responded to outstanding issues not addressed to our satisfaction from previous correspondence.  We also sent an email to several members of parliament including the Minister for Treaty Settlements challenging the poor communication and undermining of marae mana and due process by the election process.

Because of the tight timeframes imposed on us we sent an URGENT email to whanau members last week asking members to consider whether they were interested in representing Taemaro Marae and to please send their details and CV to us for urgent consideration.  You will recall last week the 3rd Reading of the Bill which would have seen it passed into law was not held as planned.  As a marae this is another example of Kahukuraariki Trust’s failure to communicate that the bill was due to go before parliament and is seen as yet another way they are tightly constructing the process to exclude.  This is not democratic and lets face it tikanga has been left out a long time ago.

Last night, 26th September, the Taemarae Marae was forced to meet urgently to discuss the process.  We received only one submission from a whanau member, which we believe the  flawed timeframes and process was the main reason for this.  We resolved to accept the only nomination received and to write again to the Kahukuraariki Trust and to cc in Election Services to challenge the process and seek/demand time frames be extended for nomination.  The current registration process is also flawed as we have whanau members who registered through their site, who have not received confirmation of their registration nor a response to their query.  This effectively undermined whanau members the right to stand for nomination to the Kahukuraariki Board and or vote.  We resolved that the Taemaro Marae would then encourage whanau members to reconsider their ability and willingness to represent Taemaro Marae at the Kahukuraariki Trust Board and come to the planned Taemaro Marae meeting Labour Weekend to discuss and confirm a marae nominee.