Tide turns as Bayden Barber becomes newly elected Iwi chair
Newly elected Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated (NKII) chairman Bayden Barber says being given the opportunity to lead is both sobering and humbling.
Barber, who is also a Hastings District Councillor, successfully ousted long-serving chairman Ngahiwi Tomoana by a majority of 486 votes in the triennial election, run by independent poll operators Election Services.
The results, announced late yesterday afternoon, mark the first time a new chairman has been elected since the first NKII election in May 1997.
Of the 19,694 eligible, 20.88 per cent cast votes in the election for chairman, kaumatua and board, in which Barber claimed 2273 votes, and Tomoana 1787.
"When I heard the result at the Iwi office, it was quite a sobering and humbling feeling actually, just acknowledging the impact Ngahiwi has had on our Iwi over the last 25 plus years," Barber told Hawke's Bay App.
"And I guess the honour and privilege given to me to be able to take that role on after such a great contribution from Ngahiwi."
Barber says he was "anxious" going into the meeting yesterday but admits it was a "huge relief" to hear the final result.
"At no point did I ever think that I was a clear winner and I actually always felt I was the underdog that needed to do a whole lot of work to even get close to Ngahiwi considering his long incumbency in the role."
He received a text from Ngahiwi shortly after the results were announced congratulating him.
"We all actually went to the same dinner for our respective dinners so Ngahiwi was there with all his whanau and supporters. So we were having dinner at different tables but we did come together at the end and speeches were made and mihi's were given appropriately."
Ngahiwi Tomoana has commended Barber on the win, saying the "tide has turned".
“E pari te tai, e timu te tai, e ngunguru nei te moana, kua huri te tai. The time and tide wait for no man, and the tide has turned with Bayden Barber being elected as the new Chair of Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated.
“Myself as the Chair for the last 26 years deem it an honour and a privilege to have served our people through all their ups and downs, ins and outs, from whānau to hapū, to iwi to waka, to mataawaka, to indigenous peoples around the world, to serving our country as well.
He says he has no regrets about the decisions made and wishes Barber all the best.
"I will be supporting him, but from the background, because he needs sunlight to grow and to thrive, and to prosper with his own mana, his own ambitions, and his own trajectory. I congratulate him and his whānau for their good effort. I had said to Bayden earlier that I was not going to give it to him, that he will have to come and take it, and he did."
While the future is unclear, Tomoana says he and his wife Mere are "young enough to start again in any adventure we wish to undertake”.
"We have tried and we have taken huge risks on behalf of our people, but time and tide have caught up with us and now it’s time to move on."
