Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ruanui Trust statement

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ruanui Trust wants to make it clear that Ngapari Nui was appointed by the Iwi as kaiwhakamana for prisons.

For all the years he has been in this role there has never been a reported incident, nor has there been any contact made to the Iwi to say that he has been stood down pending a review.

Ngapari has always made all the appropriate disclosures and has never hidden who he is.

This has given him the unique ability to empathise and connect with Whanau and inmates of all affiliations; be it gang, non gang, Maori and non Maori.

He has spent countless hours working with inmates and Whanau helping them settle back into the community.

He leads by example and is active in taha Maori, living a drug and alcohol free, and fit life.

Trust Kaiarataki Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says he is a tireless volunteer worker in his community and has never hidden who he is.

“Most days you will find him driving our moko to kohanga, kura and coding computer classes to ensure our young ones get the best start in life.”

He holds paepae at Tangi, respects and connects with Kaumatua and is actively involved with Marae activities.

We do however question why that after five years as a successful and respected kaiwhakamana in all prisons this is now being brought up as an issue.

We also want answers as to why Judith Collins has not contacted us directly to say there was an issue - we are a post settled iwi the crown has obligations to us.

And the Sensible Sentencing Trust has no place telling us what to do via the media.

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