'From Hibernation to Restoration'

Some twenty generations ago, an act of self-sacrifice and courage took place in Hawaiki. Times were hard, resources sparse, conflict had dampened the flame of the home fires.



Out of distress, the great leader, Houmaitawhiti, challenged his son, Tamatekapua, along with the tohunga Ngatoroirangi and other members of the tribe, to set sail in search of new lands.



Their waka followed traditional pathways, guiding them to aspire to a new horizon, the land called Aotearoa.



And so today, as we gather in this tupuna whare of Houmaitawhiti, it is the perfect location for celebrating the journey you embark on today, the graduates of the National Certificate in Hauora (Maori).



Just as Houmaitawhiti bid farewell to his son, there are many leaders and dreamers, who had the vision to foresee what was needed in the programme, Hauora Ahu Whenua Whanau (Tamariki).



While you set forward on your vast adventures, I know your thoughts will always drift back to reflect on the inspiration provided by people such as

Moana Shortland – the Programme leader of Tihei Mauri Ora;
the entire team of Tipu Ora,
the support of the Clinical Training Agency,
the tautoko of Waikato Institute of Technology,
the guidance and mentoring role of the Advisory Committee and in particular Manu Neho;
and the overall leadership provided by Donna-Lynn Douglas, the general manager of the Tipu Ora Charitable Trust.


The strength and foresight of such a powerful team, will have established a formidable foundation for you to set forth on this, your greatest of life’s adventures.

The skills that have been shared with you, to help set you off in the right direction, will be transferable to many settings, many locations, many peoples.



You have acquired the best of clinical practice through experiences with a variety of Maori health providers.



Your academic knowledge has been heightened through the pursuit of those magical unit standards which lead to a national qualification.



All these skills have been wrapped around you with the warmth of tikanga and te reo Maori, providing the unique vigour of our own cultural assets.



But all of this means nothing, if it remains static – a numerical grade on a piece of paper which can be used to decorate your CV.



The greatest test of all is now in the application of the learning you have relentlessly sought over 1200 hours in meeting the course requirements.



For the real adventure has only just begun.

I was interested to see that along the way, you have undergone some intensive wananga, including eight modules involving computers and clinical placements.



I wonder if any of you have been in the situation I have been in, when you are in the midst of an amazing piece of work on your laptop, the words are literally flowing from your fingertips, and suddenly a warning flashes across your screen, ‘prepare to hibernate’.



In a nano-second the piece of genius disappears, and you are caught frantically looking for the source of power, to reconnect. The blank screen stares back at you, your growing frustration and helplessness compounded by the sense of panic that all may be lost.

But then, the powercord is found, and wallah, the document returns, labelled “Recovered”.



It seems to me an apt description of the state we are going through in these challenging times; and the inspiration that programmes such as the National Certificate in Hauora (Maori) can offer us to reconnect to our source of power once more.



There would be some who may say that we have been in a state of hibernation over recent decades, resigned to a context of complacency, until one shock after another forced us out of that blank void.



Shock attacks such as

the Foreshore and Seabed Act;
the removal of the Treaty from the school curriculum;
the discrimination against 230,000 children of beneficiary parents – prevented from accessing Working for Families;
the persistent crisis of violence in our families, sexual offending, child abuse, leaving whanau in fragile condition;
and the most obscene invasion of children and families, under the veiled threat of terrorism.


One by one, we have to steady the waka, to pick ourselves up again, and to know that every whanau has the potential to lift themselves out of their despair.



In the Maori Party we know with every breath that we take, that our whanau need inspiration, hope, faith and trust in their own ability to address day to day issues.

They do not need to be told, as the Minister of Maori Affairs said last week, that they are ‘takers’.



They do not need to be told they are terrorists, that they are to be feared, to be photographed at police blockades, to be searched.



The pain, the grief, the poverty of so many of our whanau can be overcome, and transformation achieved.



You are in the unique position of having access to our whanau – access which will come about from establishing trusting relationships based on a belief in their power to change.



The Maori Health workforce has been at the forefront of transforming whanau lives, and I expect that all of you here, are already well on the way towards moving our whanau from hibernation or helplessness to a state of restoration and wellbeing.



The key thing is how vital it is to have hope. We need to cultivate the hope to know that we can overcome barriers and carve out our own unique pathways to leadership.



I am reminded of the healing powers of supportive relationships, and how we can help each other to care for ourselves, to strengthen our ability to cope with the challenges of life, and to reconnect with the people who are important in our past, present and futures.



The roles that you will now take up will be challenging and they will be diverse. You will be required to act as navigators, as guides, as advocates, as cause champions, as mentors, as life coaches, as arbitrators, as mediators, as whanau.



And ultimately, it will be that connection as whanau, the whakapapa that provides you with your unique energy source, that will enable the transition to be made from ‘ready to hibernate’ to the state of recovery and restoration.



I wish you all the utmost of courage, of compassion and of confidence that your journey forward, as Graduates of the National Certificate in Hauora (Maori) Programme, will be indeed, the greatest journey of your life.