Huaki
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HUAKI
“To bring to Light”
Edition 18
Friday, April 25, 2025
Long-term view, needs of people, drive Māori business leader Pita Tipene Tai Tokerau Māori Business Leader Award winner Pita Tipene says he is a servant for his people of the Mid North. Photo / Denise Piper
Northland’s top Māori business leader, Pita Tipene, is motivated not by money but by the needs of his people in the Mid North.
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ita Tipene is guided by the words of ancestor Te Ruki Kawati: “look to the horizons of the sea, for there you will find wellbeing.” The message inspires him to think globally and act strategically. Tipene’s leadership spans multiple roles, including chairing Ngāti Hine Forestry Trust, Waitangi National Trust, Te Pouahi o Te Taitokerau, the Indigenous Peoples Economic Co-operative Trade Agreement, Radio Ngāti Hine, and Ruapekapeka Trust.
For these contributions, he was recently awarded the Māori Business Leader Award at the Te Taitokerau Māori Business Excellence Awards. His approach to leadership rejects a profit-atall-costs model, favouring a circular economy grounded in Māori values. A key example is Te Pouahi o Te Taitokerau, the housing provider he founded in 2020 to address homelessness in Kawakawa. The initiative received $55 million in government funding, with building underway and an eventual aim of self-sufficiency.
Tipene also co-chairs the Indigenous Peoples Economic and Trade Co-operation Arrangement (Ipetca), a global agreement focused on indigenous trade and knowledgesharing. Founding members include Aotearoa, Canada, Australia, and Taiwan, with growing international interest.
replace pine with native species and generate income from nutraceuticals.
As chair of Ngāti Hine Forestry Trust, Tipene has helped shift forestry operations in-house to create local jobs, with a long-term goal to
“I’m not rich in money,” he says, “but I’m very wealthy in other ways – I’ve got lovely mokopuna.”
Although his time with the Waitangi National Trust is ending, he remains focused on Ngāti Hine’s pending Treaty settlement and continuing to uplift his people.
Far North Roading wins top honour at Māori Business Excellence Awards Far North Roading Group had never entered business awards before, so winning a prestigious one came as a surprise. The company has transformed from paving forestry roads to becoming an award-winning operation.
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hat began as a small forestry roadbuilding business has grown into an award-winning civil construction company employing 160 people across Northland.
Burkhardt-Macrae joined in 2017. Alongside road building, it now operates in construction, consulting, quarries, and concrete, with clients including Waka Kotahi, Kāinga Ora, and the Ministry of Education.
Far North Roading Group was named Supreme Winner at the 2025 Tai Tokerau Māori Business Excellence Awards in Whangārei on March 7, also taking home the Māori Enterprise Award in the “employing more than 14 staff” category.
Major projects include the $11.5 million Te Hiku Sports Hub, Kā Uri tourism complex in Awanui, civil works for Bunnings Waipapa, and a significant portion of the $24.5m Waipapa roundabout. Other work includes Kāinga Ora housing in Kaitāia and school refurbishments in Taipa.
It was the Kaitāia-based business’s first time entering the awards. Managing director Manu Burkhardt-Macrae called the recognition “a nice surprise” and a tribute to the team’s hard work. Founded in 2011 by Brady Wild and others, the company expanded significantly after
Burkhardt-Macrae credits local staff for the company’s success. “They’ve gone away to train and come back. They’re part of the community.”
FNR Group’s Manu Burkhardt-Macrae, Connor Dent and Michaela Bell are proud to be supreme winners of Te Tai Tokerau Maori Business Excellence Award. Photo / Jenny Ling
The business supports youth through cadetships and apprenticeships, including Ministry of Social Development-supported Māori Trade and Training placements, plus 24 building and diesel mechanic apprenticeships.
Far North Roading Group also sponsored the Tai Tamariki Development Award, won by Ahiparadise, a creative business founded by Lennox Goodhue Wikitera.
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