Waiāriki Institute of Technology

E aku rangatira whanaunga o Te Arawa, me ngā rangatira o te Kuratini o Waiariki, tēnei ahau, te Māngai a Kuini Irihapeti, te uri o Ngāti Kahungunu, o Ngāti Tūwharetoa, e mihi nei.  Kia ora huihui tātou katoa.  Distinguished guests, and particularly leaders of Te Arawa and the Waiāriki Institute of Technology, ladies and gentlemen, I extend greetings to you all.

I specifically acknowledge: Arikinui Sir Tumu Te Heuheu—tēnā koe; Pihopa Kingi, representing Te Mana Matauranga o te Waiariki Trust—tēnā koe; Your Worship Kevin Winters, Mayor of Rotorua—tēnā koe; Te Ururoa Flavell, MP for Wāiariki – tēnā koe; Graeme Nahkies, Chair of the Council of the Waiāriki Institute of Technology—tēnā koe; John Snook, Acting Chief Executive and your predecessor Dr Pim Borren, and Keith Ikin, Deputy Chief Executive Māori—tēnā koutou.

Thank you for inviting me here to open this new building, Te Tahūhūroa o Īhenga, the new teaching and administration centre for Te Wānanga a Īhenga, the School of Māori Development, Humanities and Research. 

The opening of a new building is always a cause for celebration.  In a physical sense, it marks the culmination of years of planning, design and construction.  In an abstract sense it also represents the enduring qualities of relationships, culture and wisdom.  I would like to speak of the importance of centres of learning like the Waiariki Institute and the education it provides.

However, can I start by congratulating everyone who has been involved in bringing this project to fruition.  The 12 teaching spaces, the 180-seat lecture theatre and the office space for teaching and support staff, is the largest capital investment in the history of the Institute and a marvellous commitment to the future.

This building represents more than just bricks, mortar and the smell of new paint and furnishings.  Those sensations will pass quickly, what this building represents will be more enduring.

Te Tahūhūroa o Īhenga represents an organisation that is dedicated to meeting its commitments — being responsive to the needs of the community, meeting the targets placed before it by the Government , and most importantly, being bound to lifelong education.

The Institute has come a long way from its beginnings in 1978 as a small community college.  Over the past 34 years it has established itself as a leading institute of technology that is uniquely bicultural.  That commitment is represented by its long-standing and formal relationship with Te Mana Mātauranga Trust, the rohe’s Iwi tertiary education authority, which I acknowledge here today.

The number of students has also grown dramatically, with some 8,500 enrolled across the Bay of Plenty and South Waikato that is a testament to your efforts and reputation.  Your degree, diploma and certificate programmes in subjects as varied as forestry, tourism, trade training, nursing, management and information technology to name a few are sought after.

These are all areas in which New Zealand, and particularly the Bay of Plenty with its burgeoning forestry and tourism sectors, sorely needs well-educated and qualified graduates. 

I was impressed to read in the Institute’s most recent Annual Report of the significant achievements you have made in meeting the government’s priorities for tertiary education.  Your “stats” are indeed notable: those completing higher qualifications, increased reach to those under 25, higher proportion of Māori enrolled—now accounting for 56 per cent of students—and the big rise in course success rates.  You can take pride in these achievements. 

These statistics, however, represent more than boxes ticked and targets met.  They represent more rangatahi studying towards qualifications that will better equip them to meet the challenges of today’s and tomorrow’s world. 

The people who graduate from this Institute, including those from last week , enter a competitive world where employers need people who can offer more than just the labour of their hands.  Employers need high-quality graduates who can apply skills and knowledge to a world that constantly poses new and demanding challenges.  They need graduates who are well rounded and have a clear understanding of the world around them.

In turn, those who graduate want to be assured that the work they have completed and their qualifications, in which they and their whanau have invested heavily, will lead to meaningful careers.  Successfully meeting those needs does not come about by chance.  It occurs because the Waiariki Institute has a clear understanding of its role, and the expectations of its many stakeholders in being first and foremost, an educational enterprise.

Success here also reflects an institution that talks and walks the values on which it is founded.  It lives and breathes them.  The values of whakapono, whanaungatanga, mana, wairuatanga, kōtahitanga, mōhiotanga, aroha and manāākitanga resonate in so many ways.  You would expect an organisation like yours to say it was committed to honesty, inclusion, honour, spiritualism, unity, life-long learning, love and care.  However, it seems to me that Waiariki Institute does “mean it”, and your public commitment to those values in all classrooms and throughout the Institute is a powerful sign.

In conclusion, I want to again congratulate everyone who has been involved in bringing this magnificent project to fruition.  It is a superb new facility, connecting the Te Wānanga a Īhenga, with Waiāriki’s Tangatarua Marae, and symbolises this Institute’s commitment to its values, to its students, to the community, and most importantly to education and its power to transform lives for the better. 

As the Māori proverb explains so well:  “Ko te manu e kai ana i te miro—nōna te ngahere.  Engari te manu e kai ana i te mātauranga—nōna te ao.  The bird that eats of the miro berry owns the forest, The bird that eats of knowledge owns the world.”

Kia ora huihui tātou katoa.