Joint press release from Ngāti Whātua and the Iwi Chairs of Te Kahu o Taonui.

In order to ensure the safety of our whānau, Ngāti Whātua hosts for the scheduled National Iwi Chairs Forum (NICF) hui, Te Kahu o Taonui (Te Taitokerau Iwi Chairs Forum) and the wider NICF, have decided to move the hui that was to be held in Waitangi from the 3-5 February 2021 to an online forum.

“Leadership is about having to make the hard decisions and having the foresight to see beyond this generation, it is our duty to care for and protect our whakapapa - our moko’s, moko. It is important that a forum such as ours shows leadership in relation to the health and wellbeing of our people. As such we have made the collective decision to move our proposed NICF face to face hui to an online/virtual kaupapa” said Kahurangi Naida Glavish, Chair of Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whatua.

Alternative arrangements are also being made for other events associated with the NICF that were to be held in the lead up to the hui.

The Mātike Mai, Māori Constitutional Convention will also take on an online format.

Te Tomokanga a Te Kawau Iwi Asset and Economic Symposium and the Iwi Housing Symposium that were to be held at Ōrākei Marae will also be postponed until a further date.

The Hauora Symposium being run in conjunction with the Health Promotion Agency will be postponed until further notice.

Further information regarding the adapted hui format will be shared via the NICF secretariat to our Iwi partners as information comes to hand.

We urge caution and consideration as we work together to protect our whānau from Covid-19 and ask that we all continue to help protect our kaumātua and tamariki by staying home and not travelling to Te Taitokerau unless absolutely necessary.

Kia noho haumaru tātou.

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