20 October 2004

Report Released to Whanau Next Week

The deputy chairperson of Te Whanau O Waipareira, Naida Glavish, says the board is now focusing on “looking after our whanau”, now that the formal audit of the board’s financial operations has cleared it of allegations of misappropriation, and mismanagement.

“A series of wild and inaccurate claims were made; we’ve had an audit, that’s confirmed we’ve done nothing wrong –end of story,” Ms Glavish says.

“We’re a major provider of health and social services to our whanau. That’s always been our core business, and now that the Trust has been cleared of all the allegations made against it, it’s time for us to get on with things.

“The Trust has always been there for the whanau, and while there has been a lot of publicity over recent days –much of it inaccurate, and prompted by people with other agendas – we’re not distracted by any of it.

“The time will come when people will have to front up over a whole series of things. We look forward to that, because we’ve never had anything to hide.”

Ms Glavish also says Te Whanau O Waipareira will assist in any on-going formal inquiries into any aspect of its operations in a positive, pro-active and co-operative manner.

But the Trust did also not intend to get involved in the politics of the situation, either.

“Whilst that aspect of it saddens us, we have full confidence in the Trust CEO, and the Waipareira staff who have got on with the daily task of looking after the whanau, while all this other stuff has been going on.

“It’s obviously been unsettling for the whanau, but we’re getting through it. Now, we want to be left alone to get on with things.”

Ms Glavish says none of the information which had been released over the past few days had been sanctioned by the board.

“We are appalled at this has been used as a political tool in an attempt to discredit individuals, It has always been our intention for the audit report to be a way forward for the trust. “Given the political nature of how the report is being used, we have decided to release copies of the audit firstly to whanau, and we’ll be doing that next week.

“We’ve always said we run things in an honest, open and transparent manner, but we won’t be rushed into making decisions simply because it suits other people, or the news media.

“Our first obligations are to our whanau. That’s who we are here for. Straight and simple.”

ENDS

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