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.”

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