I did some further digging and found when it came to actually funding this glorified, open-air stone circle in Ohakune, the creators of Te Tatau o Rongonui seem to have hit the local bureaucratic jackpot.
They secured a cash injection from the Whiria Nga Hua enterprise fund. But in a stunning display of transparency, the exact monetary value of the grant has conveniently been kept under wraps by both the creators and the funding panel!
Why are we not surprised?
But with a bit of research we find out how taxpayers have actually carried the cost of this edifice!
This specific fund, Whiria Nga Hua enterprise fund, is a “partnership” model and is financially backed by the Māori Health Authority and the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency!
I don’t know about you, but I struggle to see understand why Maori health services are funding a star compass???
But my digging also unearthed Hawkes Bay has an even more elaborate Star Compass!
Waitangi Regional Park, a piece of coastal land about halfway between Napier and Hastings is the home to Hawkes Bay’s own Star Compass.
Since its construction in 2017, Atea a Rangi is promoted as a unique traditional Maori star compass and, more importantly, an essential teaching tool! It supposedly creates a much stronger connection to local culture, history, and the environment.
But in reality, it stands as a perfect example of how a personal passion project can seamlessly morph into a permanent, ratepayer-funded fixture once local councils gets involved.
The entire Star Compass, and now associated, $5.5 million Waka Hub project, venture apparently started with a single challenge.
Piripi Smith, the driving force behind the development and chair of the Ātea a Rangi Educational Trust, studied celestial navigation with the Te Matau-a-Māui Voyaging Trust. His graduation assignment was to sail a large twin-hulled ocean-going canoe from Easter Island all the way back to New Zealand. Thus, the idea to train traditional navigational skills was born.
I can’t help wondering how much Piripi charges for each “educational” lesson?
And unsurprisingly, the local councils fell completely under the spell of Piripi and his Māori mythology, eagerly opening their cheque books!
The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council led the charge by providing the primary funding, coughing up a cool $300,000 in capital funding toward the original $900,000 development cost.
Why are we not surprised?
But with a bit of research we find out how taxpayers have actually carried the cost of this edifice!
This specific fund, Whiria Nga Hua enterprise fund, is a “partnership” model and is financially backed by the Māori Health Authority and the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency!
I don’t know about you, but I struggle to see understand why Maori health services are funding a star compass???
But my digging also unearthed Hawkes Bay has an even more elaborate Star Compass!
Waitangi Regional Park, a piece of coastal land about halfway between Napier and Hastings is the home to Hawkes Bay’s own Star Compass.
Since its construction in 2017, Atea a Rangi is promoted as a unique traditional Maori star compass and, more importantly, an essential teaching tool! It supposedly creates a much stronger connection to local culture, history, and the environment.
But in reality, it stands as a perfect example of how a personal passion project can seamlessly morph into a permanent, ratepayer-funded fixture once local councils gets involved.
The entire Star Compass, and now associated, $5.5 million Waka Hub project, venture apparently started with a single challenge.
Piripi Smith, the driving force behind the development and chair of the Ātea a Rangi Educational Trust, studied celestial navigation with the Te Matau-a-Māui Voyaging Trust. His graduation assignment was to sail a large twin-hulled ocean-going canoe from Easter Island all the way back to New Zealand. Thus, the idea to train traditional navigational skills was born.
I can’t help wondering how much Piripi charges for each “educational” lesson?
And unsurprisingly, the local councils fell completely under the spell of Piripi and his Māori mythology, eagerly opening their cheque books!
The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council led the charge by providing the primary funding, coughing up a cool $300,000 in capital funding toward the original $900,000 development cost.
But, hold on, the generosity did not stop with the initial build! The regional council also took on the burden of land restoration at the site, tied themselves to ongoing park maintenance under a formal Memorandum of Understanding, and recently co-funded an upgrade for a new facility and toilet block!
Meanwhile, neighbouring city councils made sure they got their names on the donor list.
The Hastings District Council skipped the massive base capital outlay but remains hooked on ongoing operational funding, dropping $20,000 via its Multi-year Strategic Community Partnership Fund just to support a week of Matariki events.
Napier City Council chipped in smaller, localized top-up grants for secondary elements, but they have truly outdone themselves with future commitments!
They shifted their focus to a separate, related $5.5 million Waka Hub project at Ahuriri Harbour to build a permanent home and floating pontoon for the trust’s voyaging canoe, much to the annoyance of a large portion of ratepayers.
The Atea A Rangi Educational Trust are claiming they are perfectly “confident” about their planned waka hub serving as Napier’s “northern gateway”. That even after the local council chopped their funding by a massive two-thirds.
Apparently, a $3.3 million commitment for the Ahuriri Inner Harbour Hub just wasn’t realistic in these economic hard times. So, a much smaller $1.1 million was approved!
Piripi Smith played nice, stating they completely “appreciate” the Napier City Council’s financial tight spot.
Instead of folding, the trust celebrated the much smaller $1.1 million consolation prize from the council. They are already busy setting up a permanent mooring for the ocean-going waka between the Napier Sailing Club and Pandora Bridge, mostly keeping it afloat with external government grants and outside funding.
Interestingly, Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Inc is not making a cash contribution. But they are “honoured” to act as the anchor for the entire project, providing the critical cultural equity and asset backing required to secure external funding.
Do you think for “external funding” we should read
It seems that once the public funding tap is turned on, it simply never turns off.
Pee Kay writes he is from a generation where common sense, standards, integrity and honesty are fundamental attributes. This article was first published HERE
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