A desire to help realise the dreams and aspirations of her elders was one of the key motivations for Katie Paul to become involved in Maori land trusts.
After spending many years away studying and developing her career, which included a diplomatic posting overseas, Katie Paul returned home to her whanau in Rotorua. Her exceptional skills and abilities were immediately recognised by her aunties who asked Katie to put her name forward to be a trustee on two of her family land trusts. Katie viewed the position as a way to continue the vision of her elders.“When I was growing up the old people had visions of utilising the land to create wealth and employment for future generations. If the land is well governed and managed it can provide those kinds of opportunities.”
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Key quotes from article:
“Through her involvement as a trustee of Taheke Paengaroa and Tautara Matawhaura Maori Land Trust, Katie has seen the necessity to encourage more young people to take on similar responsibilities. “The governance system we have now has been inherited from the Maori Land Court. Traditionally the court appointed governors who held a status and were of an older age group. The legacy of that system currently is that young people are not usually involved in the decision making processes of the whenua,” says Katie.
“The former diplomat acknowledges many land trusts face the challenge of attracting young people to join their boards. Many seek opportunities to work or educate themselves away from home and do not return. And while some trusts have decided to counter this issue by co opting skilled young people from the cities, Katie believes this is not an ideal solution because many may only have had limited contact with their tribes and hapu. “I think the difficulty with that situation is that people from the city often don’t know who they are. They just fly in from Auckland or Wellington, make the decisions, and then fly out. I think that only works to a point but if you are going to grow an asset base, you have to engage with the people on a daily basis. You can’t do that from the cities.”
