The UCT negotiations team completed its fourth round of treaty settlement information hui on Friday, October 21, in Hamilton.

Beginning at home in Raetihi, the team held six hui throughout Aotearoa over seven days, from Invercargill to Auckland.

UCT chair and negotiator Aiden Gilbert said the team was proud to provide an update to whānau around the country on its progress in the treaty settlement process.

“We were especially pleased to see kaumātua supporting every hui, many people attending for the third year running, and many new faces too. A special aspect of this round was the number of rangatahi who attended and were keen to learn more and become involved. For example, in Wellington, we had a group of students from Victoria University who meet regularly to build their whakapapa links as uri mai i te Kahui Maunga ki Tangaroa. This bodes well for our future as whānau, hapū, iwi.

“We also had a number of Wai claimants attending, and there were plenty of questions and a lot of robust discussion. Feedback from each of the six roadshows was extremely positive.

“We would like to thank our whānau for attending and for their tautoko and endorsement of the work being done on their behalf. As promised, we will be ramping up our communications programme to provide frequent updates between our roadshow rounds so that everyone has the opportunity to be fully informed with accurate and up-to-date information.

“At many of our hui, whānau asked how they could help. One way is to encourage all your whānau to register with UCT (online at www.uenuku.iwi.nz or by contacting the office for a registration form) and provide a current email address and phone number so that we can easily keep the information flow going.”

In addition to social media (website, facebook and twitter) and newsletters, the negotiations team plans to trial a live-stream treaty settlement information update in the near future, with the aim of live-streaming regularly. Keep an eye out for the date of our first live-stream broadcast.

In the meantime, the easiest way to stay updated is to LIKE the Uenuku Charitable Trust facebook page and check in regularly.

The negotiations team returned home on Saturday and enjoyed a day off with their families before heading back to Wellington on Monday to prepare for the next round of mahi.

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