Kimiora Trust

03/10/2025

SAVE THE DATE! 🗣️🗣️

He Pukenga Wai - The Whanganui River Symposium 2025

Tuesday, 21 October 2025
9.30am Whakatau: Mōrero Marae, Taumarunui
Symposium: Taumarunui Memorial Hall

He Pukenga Wai – Whanganui River Symposium 2025 is an annual event for hapū and whānau to showcase the work being done to improve and protect the health and well-being of Te Awa Tupua. The He Waka Pakoko Pathway to 2040 report reinforced:

“There is a need to share our own experiences and learnings with each other.”

Last year we held a larger-scale, two-day event in celebration of 10 years since the signing of Ruruku Whakatupua, our Deed of Settlement with the first day dedicated to iwi and the second to the nation. This year, as with every second year, the symposium is dedicated to iwi and hapū.

Our collective aspiration remains: to improve and protect the health and well-being of Te Awa Tupua o Whanganui. Several projects will be showcased, with opportunities to engage and ask questions. The symposium aims to outline existing projects, share learnings, and strengthen our collective capability to undertake initiatives in our own areas, and in our own way.

More information on the agenda and speakers will be provided in the coming weeks.

“He pūkenga wai, he nohoanga tāngata, he nohoanga tāngata, he putanga kōrero.”

Where there is a body of water, people settle, and where people settle, histories unfold.

- nā Morvin Te Anatipa Simon.

30/09/2025

Voting is climbing!

As of 26 September, over 4,931 votes have been returned across Whanganui District, that’s 14.7% of all voters already making their voices heard.

👉 For the Whanganui Māori Ward, turnout is sitting at 13.9% less than 1% behind the general roll.

This is historic it’s the very first time Whanganui has Māori Wards, and whānau are stepping up to show our voices count.

The trend shows that voting is building momentum each day, and with plenty of time left, we can make this one of the strongest Māori Ward turnouts in the motu.

So, grab those voting papers off the kitchen table, from the car dash, or wherever they’ve been sitting, and get them into one of the orange bins around town. Every vote adds strength to our collective voice.

Let’s keep the momentum going and show that participation is powerful.

25/09/2025

Opinion: Out of Touch with Rural Realities

Another recess, another photo opportunity. Ministers sweep into our rural towns with promises of “future hubs” and “nice-to-haves,” smiling for the cameras while our whānau wait several weeks to see GPs sitting in overcrowded waiting rooms today.

South Taranaki doesn’t need more roadshows. We need urgent action to fix the crisis in rural health now. That means pay increases for nurses, and proper support to recruit and retain good doctors where they are most needed. It means better resourcing Whānau Ora, holding Iwi Māori Partnership Boards and valuing on the ground community experience.

The irony is, iwi already lead in this space. Ngāti Ruanui own and operate the region’s largest health entity, Ngā Ruahine are amongst their community living their solutions as is Ngā Rauru through Te Oranganui. We already run rural training and scholarship programmes with universities. We already support our rangatahi into medicine, nursing, and allied health careers. Yet when it comes to resourcing, partnership, and urgent solutions, Government prefers to roll out announcements that make for good headlines but deliver little relief on the ground.

This is not about rejecting investment in training. Of course, building the future workforce matters. But a pipeline that might deliver in five to ten years does nothing for whānau and communities today who cannot see a doctor this week. Without better pay, safer conditions, and support for frontline staff, these “hubs” risk being nothing more than PR.

Rural communities and Māori in particular deserve more than photo-ops. Iwi in South Taranaki took the weight off the public health system when they ran their own Covid response. We deserve urgent investment in frontline services, genuine partnership with iwi providers, and recognition that the solutions already exist here. Instead of dropping in with promises, Ministers should be better resourcing the people already doing the mahi every single day.

22/09/2025

31/08/2025

27/08/2025

19/08/2025

Our Taiao always guides me everywhere I go and what ever I do. I gives me 'rongomanawa' intuition to do what I do for and with our people.

Protecting our Taiao and our Awa Tupua is top of my list when I represent US on the Whanganui District Council in the Maori Ward and the Rural Community Board.

My son and I have just completed writing a series of books that help our families do just that at the ground level.

13/08/2025

Kiaora tatau,

Kiritahi Here,

Did I tell you that my family and I are building our Papakainga to house our whānau.

Eight brand new homes, they will be up for us to celebrate Xmas together.

Āna

I've lead us all the way through, and weve have done everything ourselves.

Weve upskilled in Project Management. We sought out the right Professionals from Infrastructure to Construction.

AND 95% of all these works were locally sourced from home here in Whanganui. Non-negotiable for me.

BRAND NEW HOUSING DEVELOPMENT, actual first hand skills, is what I bring to the table as a Councilor on the Māori ward, and member of the Rural Community Board in Whanganui.

I want to advocate for you to make consenting so much easier, quicker, more efficient..

Whether Lifestyle blocks, marae, Papakainga.
I need your vote to make this happen. Vote Kiritahi Firmin for Whanganui Maori Ward and Rural Comunity board

Rotary Club of Whanganui, Awa Fm Whanganui, Whanganui Online Healthy Families Whanganui Rangitīkei Ruapehu Te Ātihaunui-a-Papārangi Whānau

09/08/2025

E te whanau , I've a specific page now that will share my campaign

Do me a favour and click on the link, like my page so we can share more campaign korero as far as we can..

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61579096958331&sk=grid

I'm Kiritahi Firmin and I'm running in the 2025 Atihau Management Committee elections - The Board for Whanganui.

08/08/2025

You can still vote.. we need you on the Maori Roll, Vote yes for Maori Wards.