Horowhenua (Māori) Ward councillor Justin Tamihana has thrown his hat in the ring for a Kere Kere Ward seat in this year’s council elections.

“It’s time for someone younger to take on the Māori ward,” he says.

Justin credits his energy to continue with a love for the outdoors – and trekking all 116 trails set up by Kiwi Guardians. The trails are no longer official, but Justin has a medal for each one on his wall at home.

They haven’t not been completed alone – he took along his wife and two moko (grandkids) they are raising. The experience, along with a love for fishing and diving, had Justin drop his weight from 208kg.

“Kiwi Guardians was part of my health journey,” he says. “It unlocked activity and connected me to the environment.

“I’ve been gifted health. I was on 7-9 pills a day for all sorts of things, from diabetes, to high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. And now I take none.

“I want to give back by serving my community. A council seat representing Kerr Kere is first on the list.”

Justin says he has enjoyed his time at the council table.

“I learnt a lot from fellow councillors like Piri-Hira Tukapua. And I had huge iwi and hapū support, too.”

He says he tries to be available to anyone in Horowhenua.

“I try to promote council decisions to the wider public, who seem to be  confused about a lot of what we do. I advocate on all issues and I have tried to be transparent. That’s important to me.”

He says he feels the council conforms too much towards anything thrown at it from Wellington – “We should test legalities more vigorously.”

One frustration has been the demand from others that he declare a conflict of interest on “anything to do with Māori”. “That is undermining our roles, really.

“I am proud of the work I have done, proud to have served the community and to have been challenged by them, too.”

He says Māori wards add value.

“Māori have achieved cost savings on a few big projects, such as the Saddle Road project, achieving better outcomes, and spending a week on sorting issues rather than going to the Environment Court and have the case drag on for weeks.”

He says his role as a Māori Ward councillor is humbling and he’s had no complaints Māori wards from anyone.

“I think we have proved our usefulness. The added value is real and we have saved on external advice, too.

“We have a different perspective on life. We like to explore the bigger picture, while most take a narrow view.

“We also look for better ways to do things and identify what might be wrong.

“We take a bird’s eye view, connecting everything, and watching the ripple effect.”

He says Māori give a lot to the community, for free, and all they want is to be heard.

“They want to be involved in what happens around them. And Māori wards is one way of doing it.”

He’s appreciated the support of Local Government NZ, which has a group for Māori ward councillors with representatives from around the country.

He is keen for Foxton to prosper, and admits there’s still a lot to do, including fixing the loop, pest control and work at the estuary. Other things that grab his interest are coastal protection and saving endangered species like the long fin eel.

He would like to see more tourism development and more business in Foxton.

“We must give Foxton credit where it is due. Organisations like Save Our River Trust genuinely try to reconnect the town with the river and have revitalisation projects to achieve that.”