The twelve Iwi confederation of Te Kahu o Taonui are delighted the NZ Police wish to work in partnership with our Iwi
Border Controls to help keep all our communities of Te Taitokerau to be safe.
Te Kahu o Taonui Lead Chair Harry Burkhardt says that “despite our collective challenge to the Government not to open
the borders until our region and Auckland were at the 90% vaccination rate, we acknowledge the vaccination passports
allow us to actively partner to keep our communities safe.”
Kahurangi Naida Glavish Chair of Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua who are also the Kaitiaki of the Te Hana opening to Te
Taitokerau affirms that "our focus on border protection will always remain on protecting the most vulnerable members of
our whānau whatever the Covid19 settings are, and we continue to encourage our whānau to get vaccinated".
Ongoing safety of our communities can be seen in the precautionary approach taken with the halting of Waitangi
commemorations in February 2022 by Waitangi National Trust as well as implementing the new settings across different
Iwi-owned campgrounds and events during the Christmas holiday period.
Overall, we welcome our whānau who are double vaccinated who meet the current criteria to return home and alongside the
Police we will be taking our role seriously in helping to actively protect our borders. We ask manuhiri to take their
responsibilities in keeping our communities safe seriously. We are confident that those who do not will be turned around
by the NZ Police.
Burkhardt affirms that “current and future Governments must recognize and act on the importance of partnership and
collaboration with Iwi as the basis of our relationship moving forward. We must not squander the lessons and learnings
that a global pandemic has instilled. The orthodoxy of the past will not serve us well in a post-pandemic world.”