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He hinengaro pakiki, he mati haere
Ko Warren Morgan te Pou Herenga Māori mō te rohe o te Waiariki me te puku o te Ika a Māui. Kai Rotorua ia me tana tūranga mahi hou nei. Me te mea hoki kua whakawhānuihia kia toro atu ai tōna mana ki Tauranga me te rohe o Kirikiriroa ki roto o Waikato.
"Kai aku kamunga ringa ko te reo Māori, ko te tikanga me te aronga nui ki te kaupapa e tika ai taku tū ki tēnei tumu herenga waka, he kaha nōku ki te tuku ki te whāngai kōrerorero e tū ai hai māngai mō te Te Manatū Ture ā tikanga Māori nei, whai hoki he kaha nōku ki te tūtakitaki ki te iwi me ngā tangata. He noho hui tahi, kanohi ki te kanohi, wheoi anō kua oti kē i ahau te whakakaha i tēnā tūahuatanga kua mana āku herenga ki a Ngai Te Arawa, Ngāti Raukawa me Ngāti Tūwharetoa'.
He tūranga nui whakaharahara tēnei i whakahua ake i roto i te puna whakaaro rautaki o te Ture Manatū hai whakamana i ā rātou whakaratanga ki a Ngai Māori, whaihoki he rautaki whakatūwhera huarahi e ngākau pono ai ki te noho ki ngā hapū me ngā iwi Māori.
'Ko te tino tikanga o taku tūranga nei, he tūtakitaki ki ngā rangatira o ēnei takiwā, o ēnei whaitua, me te wānanga ki te whakawhitiwhiti whakaaro ki te whakarongo kōrero me ngā take o te wā'.
I whānau mai a Warren Ruru Morgan i Rotorua. Pai kē ki a ia tōna ingoa Warena, ā, hai ōna hoa tata ko Ware kē. He Ngai Te Arawa ia e whai pānga ana ki ngā hapū o te takiwā nei. He Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao, he Ngāti Rangiwewehi, he Ngāti Whakaue, He Tapuika, ā, he Ngāti Moko.
Ko Cheryl Adams tōna mākau kua eke nei rāua ki te rua tekau mā rima o ngā tau e piritahi ana, he Pākehā, he Kūkī Airani hoki ia. Tokowhā āna tamariki nō tōna hoa matua wahine tuatahi, engari kua whati kē rāua. Tokorua a aua tamariki he tāne, tokorua anō hoki he wāhine.
He kotahi tekau mā wha āna mokopuna, tokowha hoki āna mokopuna tuarua. Ki a Cheryl tokotoru āna tamariki he tāne katoa rātou, tokorima hoki āna mokopuna, he kotahi tana mokopuna tuarua.
He tamaiti nō te pā taunaha o Te Whakarewarewa a Warena. I kuraina i te kura tuatahi o Te Whakarewarewa, nā wai rā ka tae ki te kura tuarua o Rotorua. Katahi ia ka tae ki te kura o Rotorua Boys High.
Nōna e itiiti ai he hiahia nōna kia tū hai manuao mō te ngāhere, nā reira i hau torotika atu ai ia ki te nehenehe mahi ai engari ko te whāinga matua ki a whai tūnga mahi ia ki te wharenoho o Woodsmen i Kāingaroa.
Warren Morgan at Public Service Day flanked by Dan O'Brien and the Governor General, the Rt Hon Dame Cindy Kiro. Photo/Mark Tantrum
He kotahi tekau mā rima o ngā tau a Warena ki te ngāhere mutu wawe tana mahi i reira rokohanga hoki e ia tana tūnga mahi ki te puku o te kooti whenua. Nā kua huruhuru ngā taringa.
He ahakoa tana mahi ki te kooti, kai te pā taunaha ia e kitea ana. He pū kōrero mō te paepae o Te Pakira, kai te paepae kaumātua o Tūhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao hoki ia. Ko te whutupōro me te kapa haka te uho o tōna ao.
'Ko ahau tētehi i whakapau kaha ki te whakarewa ake i te kapa haka o Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao mō ngā whakataetae kapa haka i tū ki Ōtautahi i te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e waru tekau mā ono, ka oti ana, kua nanakia te wā e ngaro nei a Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao i te ao kapa haka.
Kātahi au ka tahuri ki te kimi tangata haka, e hika, kai taku tīma whutupōro kē ngā tāne, kātahi ka puta mai he kotahi tekau mā tahi o rātou tokorua o rātou ko oku ake taina, ko Wayne me Doug, me te mea hoki, he tauhou ētehi ki te kapa haka. Wheoi anō ka kaha tonu mātou.
'Nā Irirangi Tiakiawa te kupu kōrero kia tū ahau hai Manukura mō te ropu, ā, a tuaruangia tēnā tūnga māku i te tau kotahi mano, he iwa rau, e iwa tekau mā ono i te whakataetae nui i tū ki te takiwā o te Rotorua. Ko taku tūnga whakamutunga hai pou mō taku ropu ko te tau i whakaihuwaka ai mātou i te whakataetae ā rohe nei ko te rua mano mā waru te tau, kātahi mātou ka haere ki te pakanga nui i tū ki roto o Tauranga, ko te tau whai muri atu, ara he mā iwa te tau.
'Kai te kaha rawa atu te kapa haka ināianei kai te tihi o te ao kapa haka rātou e kawe ana i te haurongo o te kāinga, nā wai rā pea rātou ka eke ki te karamata o te rākau, engari taihoa tēnā.
He tangata pūrei whutupōro hoki ahau, ko wai atu i a Te Whakarewarewa he tīma whutupōro māku nōku e itiiti ai a moroki noa nei, e mea ana kai te taumata Premiers ināianei. Ko ahau hoki te kanohi o te karapū. Kua toru tau ahau e kawe ana i tēnei taitara, tēnei tūranga nui-whakahirahira.'
Kua tata a Warena ki te wha tekau o ngā tau e mahi ana mā te kooti. Kua kitea hoki e ia i ngā huringa ingoa e rua. Department of Justice rānei ko te Justice Department , kātahi nā ko te Department of Courts, nā wai rā ko te Ministry of Justice.
'Ko taku tūnga mahi tuatahi i kōnei nō te wā e ora ana a Te Uru-o-Te-Whetu (Fred) Whata, he kaumātua nō Ngāti Pikiao me Ngāti Te Takinga, he pou-manu ahau, wheoi anō ko māua tahi e hāpai ana i tāua tūranga nā, engari ko ia hoki te kaumātua mō te kooti. Ka roa ahau e mahi e noho tahi ana i a ia nā wai rā i huri ai ahau ki te ako i te reo'.
Me te mutunga hoki o āna whakamihi ki te kura reo – He kāinga mō te reo, nā reira i mātau ai ia ki te reo taketake o tēnei whenua. Ināianei ko tana aronga kai ngā pukapuka whakapapa. He kaupapa kai te kaha whāia hoki e tona taina a Doug, wheoi anō kua whiwhi hoa kōrero ia.
Ki te taha o tana mahi, kātahi ia ka tū hei pou kawe mā te kooti, kātahi ka tū ia hei rangatira mō tana tīma taihara.' Ā, I tuaruangia ahau nā wai rā ka eke atu ahau ki te takiwā Pou whakahaere mā te kooti i Tokoroa, i reira ahau mō ngā tau e iwa tae noa ki te wā i tīni anō te āhuatanga o te mahi e te Ture Manatū i te tau e rua mano, he kotahi tekau mā toru te tau. Ā, ka roa rātou e whakawhiti whakaaro ana ka puta te whakatau pai kē atu ki a whakakotahi ai te kooti i Tokoroa me te kooti i Rotorua nei, ka mutu ana taku mahi i Tokoroa'.
Ka hinga taku ngākau, engari ka rewa ake he mahi anō māku hai Pou-whakahaere mā te Manatū Hauora. ' He oranga ngākau aua mahi nā, he whakaara tūnga mahi mā ngā manuao, mā te hunga tiaki i te hunga hauā, ko te hunga mātauranga itiiti, engari mā ngā kaupapa akoako, mā ngā kaupapa ako rorohiko me te apo haere i ngā tiwhikete – hōtō he oranga ngākau! Engari ko te tau o taku ate, kai te kooti. He rā puku mahi, he rerekē hoki te wairua o ngā rangi mahi, engari hoki ko ngā hoa mahi te mahi tahi me ngā tiati me ngā pou mahi katoa hoki'.
Nā reira i tono tūranga itiiti ahau he tūnga CRO ki a hoki ai ahau ki te Manatū Ture, nā kua waru tau ahau e mahi nei. He ahakoa i wehe ahau mō ngā tau e rua, ko ahau tonu te ika-a-whiro o te wāhi nei. Kua riro hoki i ahau te tūranga o tōku hoa rangatira a Te Uruotewhetu Whata, ara ko te tūnga kaumātua. He honore hoki.
'He whakamihi hoki nāna ki a Wendy Roberts tetehi o ngā pouwhakahaere matua nānā a Warena i ako ki ētehi o ngā wāhi mana nui me te whakapakari i a ia ki a totara te tū i ngā hau pūkerikeri. Nānā i eke ai ahau ki taku tūnga amokura, nāna hoki i akiaki i ahau ki te tono tūnga i Tokoroa hai pou-whakahaere.
'Me whai wāhi hoki ai ahau ki te tuku i ngā whakaaro nui ki a Dan O'Brien koia toku rangatira ināianei he kaha hoki nōna ki te tautoko me te pei i ngā rangatira o te Manatū Ture ki a tū tēnei tūnga nā te tokomaha o te Māori e uru mai nei ki te kooti, ka rua, nā te tini hoki o te Māori ki tēnei whaitua.
Nānā hoki i tautapa ahau ki te whakawhiwhinga Public Service. Anei hoki ētehi o ngā tīpakonga whakahirahira ā mahi āku;
He whakamihi mō āku mahi ki te pae kanohi hiranga ki te whakawhiwhinga Public Service. Ko te taonga whakahirahira tumuwhakarae mō te whakapau kaha ki te whakapakari i toku kaha nō te tau e rua mano kotahi tekau mā ono tēnei whakawhiwhinga. Nāku tonu te rōpū waiata o te kooti nei i tāti i te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau e iwa tekau mā toru.
Ko te pōwhiri i a Kahurangi Silivia Cartwright te take koia hoki te wahine ka noho ki tēnei taumata whakahirahira hai tiati mō te kooti teitei. Kai te kaha hoki tō mātou rōpū waiata engari kua hono atu ai mātou ki Te Kooti Whenua Maori, te kooti tupapaku me ngā pou mahi a NTS.
Ko te mahi tahi me ngā tiati o Rotorua e ngākau pūare nei ki ngā tikanga o te Ao Māori kia hīkoi tahi ai te ao Māori i te ao o te ture. Ko te whakawhiwhingā nui āna ko te mea i riro i a ia i te tau e rua mano kotahi tekau mā ono. He raweke rorohiko te take i eke ai ia ki taua taumata nā.
Ko Warena te tangata tuatahi ki te mahi rorohiko i te ruma kooti me te kawe i te kooti, koina tana tūnga matua. Nāna tēnei tono ki tona rangatira mahi kia whakanōhia he rorohiko ki tana ruma mahi ( nā Warena ia i ako) wheoi anō ko te take kia awhinatia te tangata mahi rorohiko i te tari ki te whakahou i ngā pepa mōhiohio me ērā atu tūmomo āhuatanga, mā reira e wawe ake ai ngā huringa mahi o te tari, ā , hai patu hoki i te taimā o te hunga e tatari mai ana.
'I aua taimā kai te whakahaerehia e ahau e rua rorohiko i te kooti, ko te mea whakaū ture me te rorohiko waihanga pukapuka. 'Nā reira i whakahuri ai te āhuatanga tono mahi ka whakaurua tētehi wāhanga e mea nei, me mātau hoki te tangata tono mahi ki te mātauranga rorohiko, kātahi ka whakarewangia tētehi pūnaha CMS, ā, kai te kaha hoki tērā ināianei…e kī nā te tamaiti totohe nō te pā taunaha o te Whakarewarewa tēnei āhuatanga, e kī, e kī!
In his new role as Te Pou Herenga Maori for the Waiariki and Central North Island Region, Warren Morgan is based in the Rotorua Courthouse.
The portfolio for this new role has now been extended to include the Tauranga Judicial Region and the Hamilton-Waikato Judicial Region.
"I bring a knowledge of Te Reo Maori as well as tikanga and kaupapa to this role, communication, being able to make decisions on behalf of the Ministry of Justice in terms of tikanga Maori, and ability to engage with iwi at face to face level (kanohi ki te kanohi), which I have already created with Te Arawa, Raukawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, and just recently Ngāti Awa at the Whakatane Te Kōti Rangatahi."
This role was created in line with two pou in the Ministry of Justice strategic plan of Honoring our responsibilities to Maori, and Creating opportunities to engage and partner with Maori.
"This means meeting iwi leaders/kaumatua having hui and having meaningful korero to create those opportunities. "
Warren Ruru Morgan is Rotorua born and raised. He prefers to be called Warena and mates and colleagues call him Ware.
He is of Tuhourangi, Ngati Wahiao, Ngati Rangiwewehi, Ngati Whakaue, Tapuika and Ngati Moko. His partner of more than 25 years, Cheryl Adams, is Ngati Pakeha/Kūkī Airini. From previous marriages he has two sons and two daughters, 14 moko and 4 mokomoko.
Cheryl has three sons, five moko and 1 mokomoko.
Warena loved being raised in Whaka village, and attended Whakarewarewa Primary, Rotorua Intermediate and Rotorua Boys High School. He always wanted to be a forest ranger so went straight to work in the bush after high school, aiming to get into the Woodsmen School Hostel in Kaingaroa.
He spent 15 years with the Forest Service and when made redundant found out there was a job in the courts — and the rest is history.
Warena is still actively involved in the life of our marae, Te Pakira, where he sits on the pae tapu and is a member of the Tuhourangi Ngati Wahiao kaumatua panel.
Rugby and kapa haka are two of his passions.
"I assisted in resurrecting our kapahaka, Tuhourangi Ngati Wahiao for the 1986 National Polynesian Festival in Christchurch, after a long absence from competition, where I managed to persuade 11 of my teammates from the Whakarewarewa Senior A Rugby team, counting my brothers, Wayne and Doug to join the kapa, some never having done kapahaka before.
"I was also the male leader for the kapa that year (chosen by Irirangi Tiakiawa) and also in the 1996 Festival held in Rotorua, but I have led the group on a number of other occasions, the last time was winning the Te Arawa Regional competition in 2008 to qualify for the 2009 Matatini festival in Tauranga.
"The kapa is still going strong today and has been one of the top teams around the country for a long time, very rarely out of the top 6, but not lucky enough to win the festival yet, but one day, and I hope I'm around to see that.
"I also played rugby for the marae's rugby club, Whakarewarewa for a number of years from JAB to Senior A level (now called Premiers). I am the current Patron of the Whakarewarewa Rugby Club, and have been for the past three years."
Warren Morgan at Government House. Photo/Mark Tantrum
Warena is also hoping to see the promised new Rotorua courthouse but knows the project will probably take some time.
During his nearly 40 years with courts, Warena has seen two name changes Department of Justice or Justice Department, then Department for Courts, to the current name, Ministry of Justice.
"I began employment as a Court Attendant at the Rotorua High & District Courts, working alongside renown Ngāti Pikiao and Ngāti Te Takinga Kaumatua, the late, Te Uru o Te Whetu (Fred) Whata who was also a Court Attendant and the kaumatua of the Rotorua Courthouse.
"He became my mentor and started me on my journey in Te Ao Maori."
Warena can't speak highly enough of the year he spent at He Kainga Mo Te Reo to build and improve his reo.
These days he prefers to concentrate on whakapapa, an interest he shares with his brother Doug.
Furthering his career, he became a court-taker, which was followed by a promotion to team leader of the Criminal jurisdiction team.
"I was then seconded, and eventually recruited to Court Manager of the Tokoroa Court where I was for 9 years until the Ministry of Justice had a nationwide middle management restructure in 2013.
The ministry then deemed that the Tokoroa Court could be managed from the Rotorua Court, so the Tokoroa Court Manager role was dis-established."
Disheartened, Warena left the ministry for two years and worked as a HR Manager (and sometimes Health & Safety Manager) for a Ministry of Health service provider who cared for people with disabilities.
"This work was rewarding, providing employment for care-givers who came with no experience, and putting them through training courses, completing modules and gaining certificates and watching them flourish, it was awesome.
"But I missed the Court work, the busyness of the day to day work, no one day ever being the same, and I also missed the camaraderie of working closely with the judges, as well as the court staff.
So I applied for an advertised lesser CRO role to return to the Ministry of Justice, and have been back for the last 8 years. Even with the 2 year breakaway period, I am still the longest serving court staff member at the Rotorua Court, and I now also uphold the mana of my mentor and predecessor Fred Whata, as the current kaumatua of the Rotorua Court."
He thanks a previous manager, Wendy Roberts, for training him in all aspects of court processes and procedures in all jurisdictions, as well as making him look outside his comfort zone.
"She was the reason I was promoted to a Team Leader, as well as supporting me to apply for the Tokoroa Manager role.
"I must also pay credit for my new Te Pou Herenga Maori role to my current manager Dan O'Brien, who has pushed and pushed the Ministry hierarchy to formalize this specialist role, seeing a need for such a role where there is a high percentage of Maori appearing in our courts, and a high population of Maori in the region. He also nominated me for the Public Service award Commendations.
Highlights of his career include: ■ The Commendation for Frontline Excellence at the Public Service Awards. ■ The Chief Executive Award for Continuous Improvement in 2016, for something I pioneered back in 1996, my court-taking days. ■ Starting the Rotorua Court waiata group in 1993. This was for a powhiri to welcome Dame Silivia Cartwright for her first sitting as a High Court Judge, the first woman to be appointed a High Court Judge. And our waiata group has been active since then, but now combined with Te Kooti Whenua Maori, Coroners Court and NTS staff. ■ Working with the local Rotorua Judges who have always been receptive to tikanga and Te Ao Maori and support any kaupapa Maori event at the Rotorua Courthouse 100%. Warena plays it cool but that 2016 award was something really special and came about because in 1996 a penny diver had too much time and had to tutu with computers.
He was the first court worker in New Zealand to use a computer in the courtroom, as well as take court, my principal role.
He put a proposal to his manager that they put a computer in his courtroom (showing him how to use it first), so hecould hel the computer operator in the office with updating files, generating documents/bailbonds/orders/new charges…etc, which would speed up the process and minimize waiting times.
"Back in those days I was using 2 computers in court, the Law Enforcement System computer to update files and a separate word computer to generate documentation.
"As a consequence, the job description for a court-taker changed to add that applicants must be technology savvy, and a new one stop shop computer system called CMS was created and used today, just from this Maori boy from Whaka wanting to be a tutu."
