TAUMATA MONTHLY E-PĀNUI
December 2019
MIHI FROM THE CHAIR | Chris Karamea Insley
Te Taumata members (L-R): John Tiatoa, Dr Robert Joseph, Te Taru White,
Angeline Greensill, Chris Karamea Insley (Chair), Rawson Wright (Deputy Chair),
Victor Goldsmith. Absent: Johnny McGregor (Alternate Deputy Chair).
E hika ma, tēnā tatou
This is our first Te Taumata e-pānui for whānau and Māori businesses to share the work we’ve been doing since its inception. Our focus over the first two months was to get up-and-running – getting processes and programmes signed-off and committed and agreed to between Te Taumata and the government.
Much of the planning for 2020 is now complete. We're proposing four regional hui – at the very least – to bring each of the lead negotiators who are negotiating free trade agreements with the rest of the world, back to our Māori businesses, leaders and whānau, so they can hear directly from our people.
Te Taumata will also be actively working over the next 12 months, and in fact two years, to bring in rangatahi from across the motu and immerse them into trade discussions. This is a very deliberate strategy by Te Taumata to identify and grow the next cohort of Te Taumata leaders, as a succession plan for the long-term.
Another important focus for Te Taumata in 2020 is to systematically address the diversity across Te Taumata membership. That’s diversity in everything – but critically, diversity of thought and ideas – which you get from having representation from all sectors and groups.
So, while this year has been about getting Te Taumata established, the hard work will begin next year, as we ready ourselves for complex discussions with Government to ensure the interests of our Māori people and businesses are represented into those free trade discussions. Remember to check out our website to register for monthly e-pānui and 'like' our Facebook page to keep up-to-date on the latest issues.
We wish all our whānau a safe and merry Christmas, and we look forward to working with you, and for you, in 2020.
Kia ora rā
Chris Karamea Insley
Chair, Te Taumata
MĀORI AT THE TABLE | World Trade Organisation
Te Taumata chair, Chris Karamea Insley, talked with New Zealand ambassador to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), David Walker, this week to discuss the Māori perspective on some of the world’s current trade issues.
Chris says David wanted to hear the Māori view on some of the big issues floating around in WTO discussions, in particular the impact that subsidies in different parts of the world have on Māori business. He says Māori own fifty percent of New Zealand’s fisheries, while the country’s agriculture sector is also largely Māori-owned.
“With each of these big industries, subsidies are paid to companies in other countries in direct competition with Māori companies. This puts our Māori businesses at a considerable disadvantage.
“David wanted to get a sense from Te Taumata if these subsidies were big issues for Māori companies, and the answer is absolutely yes. He’s advocating into the WTO for the removal of those subsidies and pleased the Māori view reinforces the one he holds.
“A key point for now though, is through Te Taumata, the interests of Māori are not only being represented in free trade negotiations, but also into the WTO process.”
Chris applauded the leadership from New Zealand on NEW trade agreements on climate change with likeminded countries (Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability) given the current stalemate at the United Nations in Madrid, and the Digital Partnership Agreement to promote digital country-to-country trade with Chile and Singapore.
OUR BUSINESS | Rua Bioscience
Rua Bioscience co-founders (L-R): Panapa Ehau & Manu Caddie.
IMAGE: Josie McClutchie Photography.
A ‘little start-up’ which began its journey in Ruatoria is well on its way to becoming a world-leading medicinal cannabis company.
Rua Bioscience was founded in 2017 as a subsidiary of Hikurangi Bioactives, a joint venture between charitable company Hikurangi Enterprises and private investors. Hikurangi Bioactives is focused on the health benefits of indigenous organisms, including kānuka and kina.
CEO, Manu Caddie, says cannabis was something he and co-founder, Panapa Ehau, decided to look at because it also has medicinal properties and their whānau have a lot of experience cultivating and breeding the plant.
“When we started out with cannabis, we weren’t sure if we’d focus on food, fibre or pharmaceuticals,” says Manu. “But the economic opportunities and job creation potential seemed to be mostly around medicinal products.
“Since 2017, we’ve been focused on producing affordable cannabis-derived medicines proven safe and effective through clinical research for domestic and export markets. The medicines we’re developing include extracts for oral administration, topical balms and dried flower.”
International trade relationships are business critical for Rua Bioscience. Manu says exports are the only way a pharmaceutical manufacturer can survive in Aotearoa – especially when the cost of production is high because it’s plant-derived and a controlled drug.
He returned from a business trip to Colombia this month, where they’ve been building a relationship with a company founded by indigenous peoples and employing locals in all areas of the business. They’re discussing opportunities for trade in products produced in both countries, as well as co-investment opportunities.
“It’s early days still, so we won’t be able to judge the success of these efforts for at least a couple of years. But there are learnings along the way from the exchanges already, so in that sense, it’s already been successful.”
Manu says New Zealand has an excellent reputation as a trading partner and a source of safe, trusted products.
“We’re grateful for that point of difference. We also have a tradition of cooperation within key export sectors, so I hope we can find more ways to collaborate within the emerging medicinal cannabis sector as the world is huge and our country is tiny.
“We’ve strong interest from a number of export markets in Europe, the Middle East and Asia – these all take significant resources to research and committing to entering even one of them is a multi-million-dollar exercise, so we’re progressing with caution.
“Regardless of the company future, it’s been an exciting journey to date. We had no idea when we started out a few years back that a little start-up in Ruatoria could become a leading pharmaceutical company, let alone in the cannabis industry.”
Plants at Rua Bioscience's cultivation site. IMAGE: Josie McClutchie Photography.
Trade Profile
Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA)
New Zealand is talking with Chile and Singapore to establish new international rules and best practice for supporting and promoting trade in the digital era, called the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA).
DEPA is a way to use technology to enable more efficient country-to-country trade, and New Zealand negotiators are working hard to set-up a framework for cooperation on issues of Digital Inclusion and Inclusive Trade.
Te Taumata chair, Chris Insley, says digital trade is growing exponentially, and this creates opportunities for Māori businesses.
"We’re trying to create a digital trade to make it much more efficient for our Māori businesses to ship product from New Zealand overseas."
“There’ll be much more confidence that what was produced back in the forest, is exactly what arrives at the other end. That’s what digital trade is all about. And for me, it’s about getting our Māori businesses at the front-end of that technology for our trade. Māori don’t have to be followers in this space. They can be leaders and pioneers."
“Several Māori companies have now put their hands up. They’re keen to work alongside this project over the next 12 months, to help design and define how this new digital process will work in practice. It creates an opening for Māori business to pilot this initiative. It gives us a bit of an edge.
“Global consumers can use their smartphones to scan a barcode, which will instantly link them back to the business, land and whānau who produced the product and learn its whakapapa. This is smart, and our point of difference as Māori.”
Richard Luarkie, President & CEO of Southern Sandoval Investments,
in New Mexico, USA.
Te Taumata recently met with indigenous leaders from Canada, United States and Australia to discuss valuable indigenous-to-indigenous trade leads.
Chris says these First Nations trade leaders don’t have DEPA, but they know what New Zealand is doing with Chile and Singapore.
“They desperately want to piggyback off what we’re doing with these countries and are absolutely engaged with us right now. Indigenous people around the world are watching this space.”
Richard Luarkie, President & CEO of Southern Sandoval Investments (SSI) was among the indigenous leaders who met with Te Taumata in Rotorua.
SSI is a Native American business wholly owned by the Pueblo of Santa Ana (Tamaya) Tribe in New Mexico, USA.
Richard says in the early times of his people’s existence, their tribal ancestors prophesised that sometime in the future, the people will be communicating through electricity.
“That future came swiftly with the advent of the telegraph, the telephone, radio, internet, email etc. The next phase of this electric revolution is the transmission of value through digital currency.”
He says Southern Sandoval Investments Ltd has the vision, drive and intentions to participate on the international stage in the new digital economy.
“As indigenous nations, we should not be sovereign only in name. We must behave like sovereigns in all aspects of economic, governance and strategic advancement. The digital economy is the ideal ecosystem to positively exploit the strength, innovation and genius of responsible economic sovereignty."
“Southern Sandoval Investments Ltd is a tribal nation who does not sit back and wait for the world to come to us, we take Tamaya to the world. Participating in the global digital economy as a participant in DEPA would catapult our indigenous Sovereign Nation to the world commerce stage."
SSI brings the status of a U.S. Federally Recognized Indigenous Sovereign Nation to the partnership, as well as the anchor to be the North American partner to the agreement.
"SSI can quickly become a value-added partner to the agreement,” says Richard.
Te Taumata Board Member Profile
Angeline Greensill
Angeline Greensill is of Tainui, Ngāti Porou, and Ngāti Paniora descent, born in the late 1940s in Kirikiriroa (Hamilton) and raised at Te Kopua (Raglan), Whaingaroa on the turangawaewae of Tainui o Tainui ki Whaingaroa. She was educated at Raglan Primary, Raglan District High School, Hamilton Technical College, Hamilton Teachers College and at Waikato University. She holds a Trained Teachers Certificate, LLB (Bachelor of Laws), Bachelor of Social Sciences with 1st class Honours and is currently completing a Masters of Social Science.
Angeline’s first job was as a primary school teacher both in New Zealand and in Brisbane. Between 1984-1996 while raising her young family, she worked for her hapū as coordinator of employment and skills training and conservation programmes for youth in the Raglan Catchment area. After completing a law degree, she was employed by University of Waikato in 1999 to teach in the Geography, Tourism and Environmental Planning department, specialising in treaties, Māori Geography and Resource Management.
She assisted in organising the land occupation at the Raglan Golf Course, which played a prominent role in helping recognise issues around Māori land rights in New Zealand. She was with her mother, Eva Rickard, when she was arrested on charges of trespassing. Due to prolonged legal efforts the land was later returned to the local tribe. Angeline was also involved in land occupations at Bastion Point, Awhitu, and others elsewhere.
Indigenous-to-Indigenous Trade
Te Taru White
Indigenous-to-Indigenous trade has been identified as a key priority area for the Taumata and Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade (MFAT).
Indigenous people around the world share a very deep sense of cultural value and look intergenerationally to develop and maintain resilience in their social, cultural, environmental, and economic wellbeing. Part of that wellbeing is the ability to market their product in the international marketplace.
Indigenous people have been excluded from the conversation, even though in Aotearoa, New Zealand, our key development area is the primary sector. A lot of our product goes overseas – yet we have no participation in the polices that establish the framework for trade. Nor have we had any say in the negotiations of free trade agreements, let alone an understanding of what’s going on in that space.
So, the Taumata considers Indigenous-to-Indigenous trade as a real value-add opportunity to change that picture. To enable and empower our people to be participants in the international trade arena by working creatively with those unique aspects of our culture. The unique aspects that bind us across thousands of miles of water into Canada and the United States, and onto Australia, and other places such as Chile, enables us to make the linkages to create scale and a smorgasbord of product we can market and take out there together.
With the current turmoil in the world – such as the Trump effect on trade, and trade wars between the giants like China and the United States – we have to be creative about how we enter that space. What better way to do it, than to link-up with like-minded, culturally aligned people. We’re now working with First Nations in Canada, and looking to extend that into the United States and Australia. Also looking at the opportunities in places like Chile, Brazil, and of course some Asian countries. We believe that if we can unite trade along that indigenous platform, then a small country like New Zealand and others can mutually benefit from a sector largely ignored in the international trade space.
The Taumata has embarked upon this now. We’re actively talking to our Canadian and United States counterparts. And we intend to extend this further, to see what products we can exchange and what products we can develop. It won’t happen overnight. But we need to make a start.
Taumata board member, Dr Robert Josephs from the University of Waikato, and myself are taking the lead in this project. I’ve been co-opted onto the Taumata board because of my experience with the First Nations in Canada, in particular, over the past 20-plus years. And Robert, for his current connections with First Nations academia and practitioners. If we can work these networks in smart ways, we believe we can make a real difference. Our indigenous brothers and sisters around the world are looking to unite, so let’s see how far we can go by taking our collaborative efforts to the marketplace.
The Taumata and MFAT are very keen to see indigenous trade included in the APEC Summit agenda in 2021. New Zealand will be hosting the event, so it gives Māori a real opportunity to take the lead in announcing indigenous trade as having real potential and turning this into reality. Hopefully it becomes part of the normal discussion and updates when APEC meet in subsequent years.
