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news • business • opinion • sport Thursday, June 6, 2024
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A remarkable kuia Sigrid Christiansen
A driving force who spearheaded New Zealand’s first Waitangi Tribunal treaty settlement in 1989 – a farmer and mother with no formal legal background – has been appointed a Companion of the King’s Service Order for services to Māori. Josephine Huti Anderson’s lifetime of service to land, language and tikanga saw the Waitomo kuia receive the honour in the King’s Birthday list. Anderson worked alongside husband Walter and others including Te Aue Davis and Bob Koroheke on the 1989 Ruapuha Uekaha mediated settlement,
chiefly concerning the Waitomo Caves. Because of this work, the taonga is today owned and cared for by tangata whenua, rather than the Crown. The “strong and determined” Anderson is described by Te Nehenehenui chair and relation Peter Douglas as “spearheading” the process. He spoke to The News because Anderson is unwell although “doing well”. The settlement work was especially notable because it was the first time one had ever taken place. The process was kicked off by a Government decision to sell off
State owned assets, in particular the Waitomo Caves Hotel. That could be the subject of much discussion in its own right – but it saw Anderson and the other “folks from a little village… thrust into the position” of negotiating the settlement. The Waitangi Tribunal was given power to look into historic claims in 1985, Douglas said. So in the next few years, the Ruapuha Uekaha settlement was breaking new ground. “It was extraordinary,” he said. “You can’t underestimate how hard that must have been. During the Maniapoto settlement, we used the Treaty Settlement office plan.
“But in the 1980s, no one had ever done a settlement. Not on the Māori side, not on the Crown side. She was so ahead of her time.” The two worked together from the early 1980s to today – through that first settlement, and the subsequent stressful 12 years of legal challenges. Both are also committee members of Tokikapu marae in Waitomo. “We’ve become close as a result of those experiences.”
Continued on page 2 RIGHT: Josephine Anderson
Rugby boss to move on By Paul Charman
Kurt McQuilkin
King Country Rugby Union general manager Kurt McQuilkin is stepping down after just under four years in the role. McQuilkin, who lives in Taupo and works one-day a week in Te Kūiti, will step down on July 5. “I just want to finish my time out professionally and on good terms, while wishing everyone well. I’m in very early discussions that may eventuate in a year or so that involves rugby, possibly overseas,” he
said. He met his wife Barbara while playing and coaching in Ireland and they have two daughters - Ella, 23, who graduated from Victoria University and is working in a Taupō accountancy firm and Lily, 20, who is a cabin crew member with Air New Zealand. There is a high turnover rate for rugby chiefs – McQuilkin noted 13 chief executives have resigned while he has been in his present job. On the calls for New Zealand Rugby Union to reform its governance structure he says it’s good that its being debated. “I agree with the provincial unions take on this. There should be at least three people on the NZR board who have a feel for the
game at provincial level and have served on a provincial board at some stage during their time. Along with much needed representation from our Māori and Pasifika communities, we also need people with that bit of grass roots knowledge, who have moved through the systems, in order to create effective governance.” On the state of the game in King Country he says since Covid, numbers are picking up again, especially at school level. “Numbers are on a good trajectory and we have a good KCRU board in place who will hopefully drive that along. Our flagship side, the Rams, had a relatively good season last year and we hope to build on that. We have
Continued on page 11
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