He mihi nui ki a koutou katoa

E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karangarangatanga maha huri āwhiotia i ngā tōpito o te ao tūroa, tēnā koutou katoa. E ngā uri e noho ahi kā ana mai i ngā pou o Raukawa, ara mai Te Kaokaoroa o Pātetere, Te Pae o Raukawa, Wharepūhunga, ka nui te aroha ki a koutou katoa.

Welcome to the Raukawa Settlement Trust (RST) the post settlement governance entity for Raukawa and the governance and representational arm of the Raukawa Group.  The RST was established in 2009; however, the roots of our modern iwi organisation stretch back to 1987 with the establishment of the Raukawa Trust Board.

The RST, whose membership includes 16 Raukawa marae and over 7000 registered iwi members, is focused on advancing the collective interests of our iwi and to protecting and managing Treaty of Waitangi Settlement monies and resources for this and future generations. In March 2014 Raukawa marked the conclusion of our comprehensive settlement negotiations with the passing of the Raukawa Claims Settlement Act 2014. The Act was the final stage in a long and fraught journey for generations of Raukawa who had sought some justice and compensation for the devastation inflicted on our people by the actions and inactions of the Crown.

With the conclusion of our settlement, we have now been able to turn our considerable skills and resources, as an iwi, toward ensuring we are doing all we can to help our people to achieve their potential. Our elected trustees and hardworking staff continue to seek and nurture the opportunities before us to lift the cultural, social and economic opportunities for our people.

With the obligation to our people uppermost in my mind, we continue to take firm and considered steps in our post settlement development to return our people as a major social, cultural, environmental and economic force in our tribal takiwā. Protection of our assets and prudent investment is at the core of our economic development

Creating opportunities for our people is a key priority for our iwi organisation, not only for our registered iwi members, but also for the wider community. The Raukawa Group, while still in its early stages, has made significant traction in developing and extending its capacity to provide such opportunities. Our social services subsidiary, the Raukawa Charitable Trust, continues to provide over 40 environmental, corporate, health, social, and cultural services and initiatives that benefit the development of Raukawa and the wider South Waikato community. We also provide direct grant funding of more than half a million dollars annually for marae development, educational advancement and Kuia Koroua support. The funding for our iwi grants comes from a share of profits from our commercial company, Raukawa Iwi Development Ltd (RIDL).  RIDL’s investment strategy is to build a portfolio of quality direct investments that is prudently spread over a variety of financial assets in line with our conservative investment strategy.

The strong progress we have made in the almost 30 years since the establishment of the Raukawa Trust Board is a testament to the dedication and commitment of our forebears. It now falls to our generation to uphold the mana of our people and the lands that we have called home for the last 500 years. There is still much to do, however, an exciting future lies before us. I would like to encourage you to browse through our website to learn more about the Trust and the many services and opportunities that we provide.