I tēnei rā, i ngā tau kotahi rau, e rua tekau ma whā ki muri, ko Aotearoa te whenua tuatahi i tū ake ki te whakamana i ngā wāhine kia tuku pōti. E ai ki a Parekawhia McLean, te ūpoko hou o Te Whakakitenga a Waikato-Tainui, he nui tonu ngā mahi me tutuki kia rahi ake te kitea o ngā wāhine Māori i ngā tūranga amorangi.
Kua hoki atu te tāhūhū rangapū o mua o Waikato-Tainui ki te kei o te waka, arā, ki tōna whare pāremata o Te Whakakitenga.
"I know the tribal business very well across the group, but I also understand the important role that governments plays in terms of setting direction, strategic direction, supporting our executive to deliver," tā McLean.
I raro i ngā whakahoutanga a Te Whakakitenga me whakawātea ngā mema i ō rātou tūru ā muri i ngā tau e iwa.
"It's very exciting. You know, the last term we had our governance review and what I'm seeing now is a bit of a generational shift."
I tēnei rā, i te tau tekau mā waru rau iwa tekau mā toru, i whakaturehia te mana pōti ki ngā wāhine i te kōwhiringa pōti i Aotearoa. Ko tā McLean he nui tonu ngā mahi kia eke ai ngā wāhine ki ngā poari whakahaere.
"We're well behind Australia, so we need to do more," e mea ana ia.
"And it's important that we're sharing our stories, share our aspirations and visions for women being in leadership roles."
Wheoi anō, he nui ōna tūmanako mō ngā rā e haere ake.
"Tipa Mahuta is the deputy chair. We've got Rukumoana Schaafhausen as the Kāhui Ariki representative and we've got some other very strong Māori women who've come into our executive."
"We've got to lead in that space. We've got to put ourselves forward into leadership roles. Those of us that are in leadership roles need to bring others along with us as well."
Hei ngā wiki ruarua nei hui tahi ai ngā mema o Te Arataura kia whiriwhiri i tō rātou heamana hei ngā tau e toru.