Newsmaker: Te Taru White

Te Taru White is the new programme director for the Lake Rotorua Incentives Scheme. PHOTO/ FILE A_100415sp8.JPG

This week's Newsmaker is Te Taru White, programme director for the Lake Rotorua Incentives Scheme, the group responsible for administering a $40 million fund to encourage land owners in the Rotorua catchment to reduce their nitrogen discharge.

Tell us about yourself:
I was born and raised in Rotorua. My mother is Te Arawa and Tainui and my father is Ngati Porou. I had a great start and graduated with a BSc, a BSc(hons) and an MBA.

I was an engineering geologist for the Ministry of Works, a mining engineer and geologist in the Huntly Coalfields, a human resource manager for Rotorua Hospital and headed Maori development portfolios for the government in the early 1990s.

I have worked as a trustee on various Maori trusts and incorporations around Rotorua. I was the co-leader of Te Papa Museum for six years and chief executive of the NZ Maori Arts and Crafts Institute, Te Puia for several years. How did you get into your career?

I have a lifetime of experiences both nationally and internationally but home is always where the heart will be and for me that is Rotorua. I have a passion for the people, the culture and our place and a strong sense of belonging.

What do you love about your job?
When I was interviewed by the panel they asked me what I thought the lakes would be like if we were successful in our endeavours noting that the purpose of reducing nutrient discharge into Lake Rotorua is to get it back to early 1960s condition. To answer this, I recalled childhood memories. I can remember paddling around Okawa Bay in an inner tube and I could see down to the bottom of the lake and there were no weeds. I can recall gathering a bucket load of inanga (freshwater whitebait) with my family from the Ohau channel. That was my sense of what I thought the lake would be like if we were successful. This may not have been a technical answer but I believe it was the right answer.

What have been your biggest achievements?
I think my early working life as an engineering geologist in the early 1980s was a big achievement for a young Maori boy from Rotorua. Making a significant change into tribal development issues and being front and centre in some controversial issues including overseeing the treaty fiscal envelope consultation process was something I won't forget. A third significant achievement was my cultural leadership roles in two national institutions - the Museum of NZ, Te Papa and the NZ Maori Arts and Crafts Institute. My family are my other major achievement.

What do you love about Rotorua?
It is simply a beautiful place to be with its richness in natural resources particularly our unique geothermal resources and you can't beat a hot soak in a geothermal pool. We have great people here and our central location is just superb.

Tell us three things about yourself most people wouldn't know:
I love motor bikes and have been riding for over 30 years. I came off at 100km an hour at 53 with barely a scratch.

I did the 50th Rotorua marathon on a whim last year with no preparation whatsoever. Damn near killed me but I finished - just! I obviously didn't learn because I did the full half Iron Maori two years before without any training.

My children are dear to me. My oldest girl is a registered valuer in Rotorua, my son is a website designer and developer in Wellington and my youngest girl is a sweetheart working at Te Puia. I am happy that they have an education and choices and I hope that what I do in my new role will add value to their generation and others to come.