Opening of the Waiwhetû Cultural Centre,

Speech notes prepared for opening of Waiwhetu Cultural Centre,

Ka mau te wehi Te Atiawa, Puketapu me Ngâti Hamua! Te Rûnanga o Taranaki Whânui, Kara Puketapu, yet again I am honoured to share in the fulfilment of yet another of your dreams.

I look around at this magnificent complex; I can’t help but get excited about the future that is waiting to be had by our tamariki, mokopuna, whânau, hapû, iwi and community.

The Waiwhetû Cultural Centre has been many years in the making. Yet when I look around I see why you have succeeded and achieved your dream. You have used your ‘collective strength’ to persist and face the many challenges in getting this centre built.

Waiwhetû marae has provided a base of strong leadership and has never waived in its quest to get this centre up and running. To your credit you have earned a reputation for strong governance and operations expertise.

The calibre of leadership you provide has kept the community, hapû, whânau, ‘solution-focused’ and prompted you to draw on your own resources and innovations. On the other hand you have reached out to broker partnerships with others in the community and in the country who were able to contribute to your vision.

Your collective strength, leadership, resourcefulness and inclusiveness have served you well. The result has been this complex which will be an ongoing source of vitality for the whânau, hapû, iwi and the Waiwhetû community.

Waiwhetû has been and is the base for nurturing traditional cultural values and it is also the springboard for launching your future development. And can I say that right now there’s never been a better time to consider the future.

I want to build on the success we have all worked so hard to achieve. Particularly, as we are on the threshold of a new and exciting çrâ, which rejects the notion of Mâori as a marginalized tribal group clinging to the past.

Everything we do now must be measured for the contribution it makes to the future of our people as successful achievers, secure in our culture and operating at the forefront of our national and international life.

I need only look to the strengths and innovations you have drawn upon to develop and build this cultural centre and I am buoyed with great confidence.

The centre will house:

• Te Atiawa radio station, allowing for the station to generate extensions of its programmes, including te reo and creative writing for editorial careers for young Mâori
• A gallery for Aniwaniwa, the carved waka with information about Parihaka and the Atiawa residents of the Wellington region
• An internet centre to allow for sophisticated education support operation
• A more advanced Learning Centre, beyond the end of the school day
• Video Films about Mâori Art and their Culture
• The home of Te Rûnanga o Taranaki Whânui
• Art Gallery / Art Exhibitions with an opportunity for utilising the gallery, local art talent, the marae and whare nui for high quality visitor programme for both local and overseas visitors

The cultural centre will provide a significant tourism opportunity based on a real tribal community, which will engage with other Hutt Valley marae to participate in the programme.

Waiwhetû Cultural Centre is a fitting reminder that Maori success and achievement is not a whimsical dream – you have already made it a reality!

Congratulations to you all. Tçnâ koutou, tçnâ koutou, tçnâ koutou katoa.