John Barrett - XŌtaki College Alumni Trust Hall of Fame co-winner 2023

Like the famous philopshers (rappers) Blu & Exile said, “homai ngā putiputi ināianei, kaua e tātari ki te wā e mate au. Give me my flowers now. Don’t wait until I’m gone.

 And we do tend to wait, aye? We wait until the people we love are gone before we thank them. So I want to thank everybody who’s here to celebrate Dad and his leadership tonight and to the college for creating space to do that. Space to give him his flowers.

 He aha te mahi ā te rangatira? Ko te mahi ā te rangatira, te mahi mo te ora o te iwi.

 What is leadership? Leadership is working for the thriving of the people.

Leadership isn’t something shown by awards, or something shown by your name on a wall, regardless of the exceptional quality of the other names on that wall, there are some choice names on that Head Boy list though.

 Leadership is about the wellbeing of people, and your contribution to that. Regardless of the people, the group, the person. The contribution that a leader makes to the well-being of the people they serve, is how you define how well that leader has led.

 Tokohia ngā tangata ka puawai kei raro i te korowai o tōkū papa? He maha. He maha.

 How many people have blossomed or flourished under the guidance of Dad? Many. He’s been a leader as long as I’ve been alive, and for a long time before that too. He’s been married to Mum since 1971- they have children, grandchildren and Great grandchildren now.  In 1962 he started at Otaki College. According to him, his best subjects were Rugby & Cricket & Tennis. He captained the 1st XV and 1st XI.

I’ll skim through a few of the contributions he’s made to different groups: 

• He’s the Chairman and co-founder of Kapiti Island Nature Tours- and Nature Lodge, a whānau operated, multi award winning tourism business.
• Dad is active within the confederation of our iwi - Ngāti Raukawa, Te Ātiawa ki Whakarongotai and Ngāti Toarangatira.
• He established the Kapiti Skills Centre with Eddie Bisdee in the 90s to work with rangatahi at home in Otaki. 
• 1991-1993 he worked on the conservation corps with Eddie Bisdee
• Currently in the Leadership Group for NZ Tourism Industry Transformation Program
• Current NZ/Oceania rep and founding member on the Leadership Council of WINTA- World Indigenous Tourism Alliance
• Current Chair of Raukawa Whanau Ora Ltd.
• Current Director – Te Waananga o Raukawa Foundation
• Current Hon Sec. Raukawa Marae Trustees
• Current Maoriland Film Festival Charitable Trust
• Current Director Regenerative Vanuatu-Pacific Region
• Managing Director – Kapiti Island Manuka Honey
• Managing Director- Kapiti Island Nature Tours
• Kapiti District Tourism Advisory Board member
• Past Director -Tourism NZ.
• Past Dep Chair. NZ Children’s Health Camps Board
• Past Chair - NZ Maori Tourism Council,
• Past Director- Wellington Conservation Board
• Past Director-Aviation/Tourism Training Organisation

That’s a long list, and every line is focused time on contributions to others. That’s where you see a leader - contributing to others. Sometimes it's also how you don’t see a leader because their time is going to to another place where it's needed more at that moment.

 Dad’s had to make plenty of sacrifices to make those contributions, you can’t be everywhere for everyone, for every whānau, or every kaupapa, and I know that won’t have been easy.

 But being self-less enough with your limited time - because it's limited for all of us - so that you make the best use of what you have for others, while being smart enough to use your time here for the greatest impact, and not just for the prettiest flowers, is one of the skills of a great leader.

 I know we’re here to acknowledge Dad, but you can’t read a list like that and not acknowledge Mum.

Because for a lot of that time working for others, her leadership of our whānau and our household, the shaping of us, her and Dad’s children, is what meant Dad could make those contributions he was making. So I want to acknowledge you as well Mum. We love you even if some of us forget your birthday sometimes.

 That list I read doesn’t include the countless whānau, hapū, iwi and members of our community who have benefited from Dad’s contributions. Every one of those leadership roles has meant a whole bunch of people Dad was serving.

 As just one example from that long list, the thousands of manuhiri (visitors) who have stepped from the boat onto the rolling beach cobbles of Kapiti Island. Alongside them stand dozens of iwi, hapū and whānau members Dad and Aunty Amo serve by creating a business that reconnects them with their whakapapa and creates a space to earn a living from the mahi of manaakitanga for those manuhiri surrounded by the ngahere, moana and stories of their tūpuna.. Creating a business that survives in the world is hard - 63% of them don’t. Creating one in the dynamic of whānau and iwi, national-level conservation interest, and the hash realities of a sea, beach, and island based logistics is nearly impossible. But good leadership makes the impossible happen.

 Ma te ora o te iwi, ka puta te ora o te tangata. Ma te ora o te tangata, ka puta te ora o te iwi. The wellbeing of the group is dependent on the well-being of the person, and the wellbeing of the person is dependent on the wellbeing of the group.  

How does a person flourish. What makes a person well?

 Whare Tapa Wha tells us:

Whanau

Tinana

Wairua

Hinengaro

That’s the whare dad and Aunty Amo built over there, where so many have worked and flourished.

 He aha te mahi ā te rangatira?

Ko te mahi ā te rangatira, te mahi mo te ora o te iwi.

Ka nui te mihi ki a koe, Dad.

A massive thank you, Dad.

 We’re grateful to be privileged with your leadership.

(Inducted by Pera Barrett)

See the citation for co-winner Rex Kerr