How can NZNO commit to partnership and define its commitment?

Partnership, what it means, and how NZNO commits to partnership and defines that commitment, were art debated at length at the board's June meeting.

Te Runanga o Aotearoa NZNO kaiwhakahaere Brenda Close disagreed with the notion that if partnership was done really well, NZNO would not need Te Runanga. The good things about differences between Maori and Pakeha needed to be celebrated, and the two cultural identities should not try and be one. She also disagreed with the idea that partnership would be a reality when NZNO could walk in both worlds because, she said, if you were not Maori you could not walk in a Maori world. The ideas Close was responding to were among many put forward during a discussion on partnership at the April board meeting.

The outcome of the partnership discussion at the June meeting was to identify and document how NZNO commits to partnership and how it defines that commitment.

The board agreed it needed to take a lead in developing the ethos of partnership. Close suggested that once the board developed its statement, a process should be put in place to discuss the document in the regions or within national committees, that such discussion should take place in an environment safe for everybody, and the discussions should be guided by a board member, alongside a Te Runanga representative. Hawke's Bay board representative Kerr Nuku said partnership was equality and working practices needed to reflect this.

Te Runanga equal to the board

Close saw the Te Runanga executive as equal to the board, yet in NZNO's structure the committee sat below the board. She did not see her role as lesser than that of NZNO president. NZNO made a commitment to partnership with its memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the 1990s and partnership needed to be expressed throughout all levels of the organisation. Chief executive Geoff Annals said representatives of both parties would have to work on updating the MoU, which would then have to be endorsed by members, perhaps at an annual general meeting.

Issues to be discussed

Summarising the discussion, president Marion Guy said the board acknowledged NZNO did have a partnership but work was needed to identify how the partnership should be applied. The board agreed to discuss honoraria, delegation, speaking rights, rules, structure and required changes, international representation, governance decision-making, power, roles, support and resources, at its August meeting, with a view to agreeing outcomes and moving forward.

BOARD BRIEFS

* The board of directors wants marketing NZNO to be a priority and for a specialist marketer to carry out this work. It reached this decision after discussion about the difficulty of attracting people to the nursing and midwifery advisory committee (NMAC) and on to section and cortege national committees. Te Runanga o Aotearoa NZNO kaiwhakahaere Brenda Close suggested the organisation needed to took at the profile of all groups and this year's conference could be used to launch such a marketing project. The management team is to discuss the suggestion, decide appropriate action and feedback to the board.

* NZNO's member funds have grown by more than 22 percent in the last year. Reporting to the board, business services manager Rupa Bala said member funds were $7.6 million in March 2006 and now stood at $9.3 million.

* The board approved a contribution of $2000 to the Council of Trade Unions' Super Union Campaign. With the advent of KiwiSaver, the focus of the campaign has shifted to getting the best out of KiwiSaver for union members and tiffing the ability of low income workers to join Kiwi Saver through collective bargaining.

* The board approved a diagrammatic representation of NZNO relationships and the accompanying explanation, developed by Te Runanga kaiwhakahaere Brenda Close. (See box at left.)

NZNO RELATIONSHIP DIAGRAM

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

This whare represents the relationships within NZNO. The whare was chosen as it is something we believe everyone can relate to, whether it be your own home, a hospital, community service centre, whare tupuna etc.

The members are our foundation upon which everything else is built. Our ancestors, tupuna and kaumatua are our central pou--they hold the knowledge of where we have come from and teach us so that we may move forward. Te Runanga national executive komiti and the board of directors represent the overarching leadership and umbrella or korowai. Staff are also integrated here as they overarch and interrelate within all aspects of the organisation.

The structures of the house are all dependent on one another to stand as a complete unit. Our mahi and our relationships are reflected within the aims of our strategic plans.