Rawiri | Maketū, Waikato

“My story about regret is once time’s gone you’ve lost it. So, I think it’s time with other people. Growing up it was always about me. It was always about going out there, doing my own thing and having those people who loved and supported me always there in the background, but me not really appreciating them, and not really appreciating that they weren’t always going to be there.

So when the time came and they did pass it was always sudden or unexpected. That regret I’ve known, that I’d never get back that time with them, that played hugely on me. So, when I became a father and now a grandfather, I guess for me it’s the importance of actual relationships and connection with one another, because once somebody’s gone, they’re gone and you’ll never actually get back that time. So, that regret of not really knowing what you have until it’s gone.

I was lucky, I was the first-born of my mum and father, and my kuia, my grandmother came and picked me up from my parents who live in Ōhinemutu, Rotorua and then I was lucky enough to be raised between Maketū on the coast, and Rotorua inland, too. So, between coast and living by the lakes, I had a really, really amazing upbringing, really, really supportive. One of those lucky ones to be brought up by their grandparents, so being imparted with all that knowledge, but then also having the love and support of my parents. I’ve done a variety of jobs. Lots of time in youth work, giving back to my community, and currently, for the last two-and-a-half, three years I’ve been working as the iwi liaison for the Regional Council.”