‘Kahungunu takes giant step into farming’

Saturday, 18 May 2013, 1:29 pm
Press Release: Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Inc

Ngati Kahungunu Iwi

Media Release – 17 May 2013

‘Kahungunu takes giant step into farming’

Chairman Ngahiwi Tomoana says, “Ngāti Kahungunu have taken the first step to diversify its interests from Fisheries to Farming.”

The Kahungunu Asset Holding Company on behalf of its shareholder Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated has completed a Sale and Purchase Agreement for the Tautane Station, owned by the Herrick family for over 120 years. The iwi is pleased to have been the successful bidder of this historic farm located south of Porangahau.

It is the first major Real Estate investment that the iwi has made and is a template for further land acquisitions. This is part of the iwi’s ‘gate to plate’ strategy to build on relationshps in the high end growing Asian market that’s demanding high quality food product direct from the producer to the supplier. Over two years the iwi has investigated orchards, dairy farms and other commercial properties, but Tautane meets all the iwi’s economic indicators covering environmental, social, educational, historical and cultural objectives.

The farm itself has a 12km coastline and allows the potential for aquaculture, sea ranching and reseeding of kaimoana stocks. The local hapū Ngāti Kere have adjacent farm blocks and are keen to work together.

Taratahi Agricultural Training for New Zealand will lease the land immediately from the iwi. The relationship offers a unique training facility for farm managers and agri scientists to learn, work and train.

Tautane features prominently in the history of Ngāti Kahungunu. This is also the only Māori land block from Mahia to Wairarapa that has both Kahungunu and Rangitane whakapapa. It is the place where Ngarangiwhakaupoko established the settlement of Poroporo, the southern post of Te Kupenga o Te Huki, a political strategy formed over 300 years ago to unite the people of the East Coast. It is also the place where Henare Matua established the Repudiation Movement, an attempt to overturn all Māori land sales in the 1860’s. This led to the establishment of the first Māori Parliament in 1892 held at Waipatu Marae.

The purchase of Tautane is the iwi’s first step in buying back tribal land, creating employment, and building investment for future generations.

Today the Chairman of the Kahungunu Asset Holding Company, Rangi Manuel and the Deputy Chairman of Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated, Rill Meihana, signed the Deed of Sale Agreement with Richard Carlyon, a representative of the Herrick Family. A second agreement will be signed between Ngati Kahungunu Iwi, the new owner of Tautane and the Taratahi Agricultural Training for New Zealand organisation.

Rangi Manual said, “This is a significant investment for us and is the first part in our plan to control our interests and build our assets.”

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