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Five of the Kiwibank Local Hero of the Year semi-finalists (Images: Supplied; additional design: Tina Tiller)
Five of the Kiwibank Local Hero of the Year semi-finalists (Images: Supplied; additional design: Tina Tiller)

BusinessJanuary 26, 2022

Meet the local heroes at the heart of Aotearoa’s communities

Five of the Kiwibank Local Hero of the Year semi-finalists (Images: Supplied; additional design: Tina Tiller)
Five of the Kiwibank Local Hero of the Year semi-finalists (Images: Supplied; additional design: Tina Tiller)

The Kiwibank Local Hero of the Year is due to be announced at the end of March. Now, the judges have the hard task of selecting from the pool of individuals creating positive change in their communities. 

The Kiwibank Local Hero of the Year, Te Pou Toko o te Tau, award was established to recognise those putting in the hard yards for their communities and taking extraordinary action to make Aotearoa a better place. These are the people that unite us through their tireless work for others. Individually, they are the people having meaningful impact in their respective communities. Collectively, these outstanding individuals remind us of the true spirit of New Zealand, and reflect the mana of this prestigious award.

These local heroes are the students fighting for equality, the former addicts fighting for sobriety and the mums feeding the kids. 

The awards tautoko the mahi that has kept communities afloat and full of hope during an unprecedented and difficult time in Aotearoa. They are a celebration of the people who keep the lights on, whether in the school hall or the wharekai.

This year’s nominees showcase the richness and breadth of the pockets of selfless community campaigners across Aotearoa. They advocate for food rescue, an end to domestic violence and child poverty, and the economic revival of some of the most marginalised communities in the country. During a tough couple of years for Aotearoa, they have connected people, given them a purpose, and given them hope at a time when those values were in short supply.

Hundreds of amazing individuals were nominated from across the country. From that group the top 100 were recognised as local hero medallists for their contributions. Now, 10 semi finalists have been selected from that group.

The 2021 semi finalists are:

Alice Mander (Wellington)

Alice Mander (Image: Supplied)

As tertiary institutions moved online during the Covid-19 pandemic, law student and activist Alice Mander wondered why remote learning had taken so long. Living with muscular dystrophy, she advocates for accessibility and an end to ableism across Aotearoa’s tertiary institutions. Founder and president of the National Disabled Students’ Association, a national representative body for disabled students, Mander writes with a sharp wit and powerful voice across publications including The Spinoff and Victoria University of Wellington’s Salient magazine on the issues and disparities facing the disabled student community. Following Mander’s campaigning, VUW instituted a pastoral care code for students in 2021. 

Brendon Warne (Auckland)

Brendon Warne (Image: Supplied)

From addiction to activism, Anti-P Ministry founder Brendon Warne’s journey has inspired thousands of former drug users to free themselves from the vice grip of substance abuse. Warne (Ngāi Tahu) founded the ministry to bring people together to share their experiences with addiction, creating a community of almost 7,000 members and a network of walk-in clinics, online support groups and even an app to support recovery. Following increasing demand for face-to-face support, the Anti-P Ministry crowdfunded a mobile clinic and hit the road, supporting whānau one stop – and step – at a time. 

Caroline Herewini MNZM (Porirua)

Caroline Herewini (Image: Supplied)

Caroline Herewini MNZM (Ngāti Kahungunu/Ngāi Tuhoe) is a human rights advocate who works to end all forms of violence against women and children. Kaiwhakahaere of Te Whare Tiaki Wāhine Refuge Charitable Trust for more than two decades, Herewini is a founding member of the Everywoman Treaty Global Coalition and the International Network to End Violence Against Women and Girls. Her advocacy is underpinned by te Tiriti o Waitangi, bringing an indigenous approach to refuge services and providing spaces grounded in aroha and manaakitanga for the victims of domestic violence. Herewini has been a keynote speaker at international conferences from Mexico to the Hague, and remains based in the field in Porirua. 

Dame Areta Koopu DNZM (Auckland)

Dame Areta Koopu (Image: Supplied)

Dame Areta Koopu (Te Aitanga a Hauiti, Ngāti Konohi & Ngāti Kahu) is a former Māori Women’s Welfare League President, Human Rights Commissioner, Waitangi Tribunal member, and mother and grandmother. A veteran social worker and activist, her work in establishing kohanga reo and promoting te reo Māori in schools is esteemed throughout Aotearoa. Koopu has also campaigned for women’s rights and access to health care, particularly cervical cancer screening. A member of the Māori Women’s Development committee, Koopu advocates for Māori women in business, financing and empowering their organisations. Now an octogenarian, Koopu continues to work for the welfare of tangata Māori across Aotearoa. 

Dave Letele (Henderson)

Dave Letele (Image: File)

After losing almost 100kg in a journey to save his own life, Dave Letele (Ngāti Maniapoto) founded the not-for-profit Brown Buttabean Motivation programme in Manukau to change the lives of Māori and Pasifika facing obesity. Today, BBM is a community of thousands of whānau with access to free weight-loss plans, foodbanks, community kitchens and gyms across Auckland. Letele, a former professional boxer, is a community leader, motivational speaker and social media star. 

Deborah Manning (Auckland)

Deborah Manning (Image: Supplied)

In just 10 years, Deborah Manning’s KiwiHarvest has rescued almost seven million kilograms of edible nutritious food destined for the landfill, redistributing it to whānau in need across Aotearoa and preventing 17.5 million kilograms of landfill-based carbon equivalent emissions. A former lawyer turned social entrepreneur, Manning founded the New Zealand Food Network in 2020 to enhance the storage facilities and nationwide infrastructure used by organisations like KiwiHarvest, connecting those with food to donate to those who need it. Together with KiwiHarvest, the NZFN has since redistributed almost four million kilograms of food to iwi, food banks and food rescues countrywide, providing more than 28 million meals since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Matt Dagger (Wellington)

Matt Dagger (Image: Supplied)

Founder of Kaibosh, New Zealand’s first food rescue agency, Matt Dagger has led food rescue efforts for more than a decade, raising awareness of food waste and fighting food insecurity. Dagger, chair of the Aotearoa Food Rescue Alliance, manages a team of more than 250 volunteers across Wellington and liaises with 25 food rescue charities across Aotearoa to eliminate food waste and poverty. 

Panapa Te Wheru Ehau (Gisborne)

Panapa Ehau (Image: Supplied)

Panapa Te Wheru Ehau (Ngāti Uepohatu/Ngāti Porou) is the co-founder and director of social enterprise Hikurangi Enterprises and pharmaceutical cannabis firm Rua Bioscience. A father of four from Ruatōria, Ehau champions projects that increase the wellbeing of whānau and whenua in the Waiapu Valley and Te Tairawhiti, some of the most marginalised communities in Aotearoa. Ehau is co-founder of Te Mahere Whakauka/The Hope Project, a nationwide network of 40 Māori-led enterprises creating jobs, campaigning for food security for tangata whenua, reestablishing indigenous ngahere and establishing papakāinga.

Sian Neary (Auckland)

Sian Neary (Image: Supplied)

In 2020, the Graeme Dingle Foundation celebrated its 25th year of empowering rangatahi through school-based programmes that build self-confidence via outdoor learning and mentorship. But as Covid spread throughout the country, and tamariki stayed home, the foundation was faced with the challenge of moving their programmes online. And so, as Aotearoa went into lockdown, general manager Sian Neary took the foundation’s approach online, partnering with TVNZ and the Ministry of Education to produce the Tamariki Talks series on Papa Kāinga TV. Aiming to connect tamariki with a learning curriculum at home, Tamariki Talks featured lessons around perseverance, self-discipline and problem solving. 

Te Warahi Kokowai Hetaraka (Whangārei)

Te Warahi Kokowai Hetaraka (Image: Supplied)

Tohunga whakairo Te Warihi Kokowai Hetaraka (Ngāti Wai/Ngā Puhi/Tainui) is a renowned teacher and mentor within Te Tai Tokerau. A cultural leader and artist, Hetaraka is the winner of the Outstanding Individual Contribution to the Arts award and the Creative New Zealand Kingi Ihaka award. A respected expert in whakairo, kapa haka, maramataka and te reo Māori, Herataka spent much of 2021 revitalising Ngāti Wai’s Wai 262 te Tiriti o Waitangi claim. Pou Whakahaere at Te Puni Kōkiri, Herataka’s lifework is sharing matauranga Māori with tamariki and taitamariki. 

Now the panel of judges have the difficult task of distilling the 10 semi finalists down to the three finalists announced in mid February. The winner will be announced at the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards on 31st March.


Made in partnership with Kiwibank, When the Facts Change is Bernard Hickey’s essential weekly guide to the intersection of economics, politics and business. Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast provider.

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Holiday Records
Joel Woods and Ben Wallace, the founders of Holiday Records, are sticklers for quality control. Image: Supplied/Archi Banal

BusinessJanuary 23, 2022

Two friends, one dream, no holiday: inside NZ’s only vinyl pressing plant

Holiday Records
Joel Woods and Ben Wallace, the founders of Holiday Records, are sticklers for quality control. Image: Supplied/Archi Banal

It’s called Holiday Records, but for those working on the frontlines of the turntable resurgence, there’s barely been time for one.

Behind a glass door on Auckland’s Wellesley Street, secrets are being kept. Like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, a boiler gurgles mysteriously, steam hisses sporadically, and large machinery whizzes, whirs, pumps and pounds. At Holiday Records, they’re making magic: vinyl records, those sleek back discs that are suddenly in shockingly high demand. 

“We live it and breathe it,” says one staff member at New Zealand’s only vinyl pressing plant. He’s standing in front of a pile of freshly pressed records, holding each up to the light, checking it over for imperfections. Once it’s approved, it will be slipped into a protective sleeve, then a cover, shrinkwrapped and boxed, waiting to be purchased and played on a turntable at home. 

The problem? On a recent Wednesday morning, the album in question was from a major artist signed to the famed Seattle label Subpop, one so hot off the press it’s not due for release for another three months. A perk of a job like this is getting to hear highly anticipated albums earlier than others. After all, it counts as quality control.

Could The Spinoff perhaps have an early listen? Joel Woods, who runs New Zealand’s only vinyl pressing plant with his friend Ben Wallace, shakes his head.

“This,” he says, mega ironically, “is off the record.”

Holiday Records
Joel Woods matches over Holiday Records’ vinyl press, imported from Canada. Image: Supplied

Woods and Wallace can be found at their noisy inner city pressing plant most days, working at the coal face of the vinyl resurgence. Thanks to an idea they had three years ago coming to fruition in a big way, business is booming, expansion plans are in full swing, and they, along with their two other full-time staff members, are no longer able to live up to their name. “We should have called it Anti-Holiday records,” jokes Wallace.

Thanks to a six-month backlog of orders, the fact they’re New Zealand’s only pressing plant, and one of just three across Australasia, Holiday Records is at capacity. To pump out up to 1300 records a day, staff can be found there six days a week from 6.30am until close to midnight. It’s like running a cafe, “and a restaurant,” jokes Wallace. A wait list six months long means they’ll soon move to seven days a week to keep up with demand. 

They’re not done yet. By the end of the year, things are about to get even more crammed on their central city site. A second custom-built press will arrive from Toronto, meaning that, with twice the staff, they’ll be able to double their output. By then, their small site will be at capacity. “We’re going to take over the whole carpark,” says Woods. “Or we’re eyeing up a new location.” 

All this work means Woods and Wallace have been forced to keep a few secrets lately. Demand from record labels for their services means they’re entrusted with new albums from major artists. At the moment, they’re working through back catalogues for Lorde, Johnny Cash, Crowded House and Tame Impala — albums that have been out of print and hard to get for months.

Holiday Records
Records are made by pressing melted PVC pellets into record plates. Image: Supplied

Being able to press records from their favourite artists or listen to albums ahead of a release date is a major perk of their job. Being able to go on holiday is not: Woods and Wallace were only recently able to take their first break since they opened, closing for two weeks over Christmas. They don’t know when their next one might be.

It hasn’t always been this way. Holiday Records began when Wallace’s old Hawke’s Bay folk band tried, and failed, to get an album pressed on vinyl. No one in New Zealand could do it. “It was like, ‘Why isn’t there one here?’,” says Wallace. With Woods, the pair investigated what it would take to open a pressing plant, talking to other owners around the world and flying to Toronto, Canada, for training.

They realised it could be done, but it was a huge gamble. They had no experience, and didn’t know anyone else here who did. But they’d seen vinyl’s comeback first-hand. “We started to hear anecdotes of people going to dinner parties and taking records instead of wine,” says Wallace, “or of vinyl being given as gifts at weddings”.

Vinyl seemed to be on the rise. Their fortunes did not, and the bank didn’t see their business dreams in quite the same light. “We thought it was a bonus that there were no competitors,” says Wallace. Yet the lack of similar business models made banks sceptical. “They were like, ‘Why are you the only one?’ … but we got it in the end.”

Holiday Records
The finished record is allowed to cool overnight, then checked for imperfections before being sleeved. Image: Supplied

That first year was rough. Records labels didn’t yet trust them, and they had to hustle for orders. Equipment sometimes broke down, a tiny hydraulic spring putting them out of action for weeks. When you’ve only got one press, time equals money. “There were some really tough moments,” admits Wallace. Yet they had no back-up plan. “Because of the gravity of it, you’ve got to make it plan A, B and C, and make it work.”

They – ahem – pressed on, focusing on making quality control as high as it could be. They also emphasised making things as environmentally friendly as possible, with PVC offcuts recycled as piping, and cooling water being re-used. And they learnt how to fix breakdowns themselves, stocking up on spare parts. News spread, orders got bigger. A request for 2000 Six60 records pushed Woods and Wallace to their limit. “It took us over two weeks,”says Wallace. “We had to press and  sleeve and shrinkwrap everything ourselves.”

Now, they’ve sped up, and everything is trending up. Since April last year, vinyl’s rise has been “exponential,” says Wallace. Up to 15 requests a day land in their inbox from acts or labels looking to get their vinyl moved up the supply chain. Overseas, wait times can be a year or more. Holiday Records is slightly more flexible: last year, when Ladyhawke’s vinyl pressing plans for her new album fell through, Holiday Records answered an SOS call and managed to slip her album in, completing a complicated marbled vinyl request.

Is it a fad? Will vinyl fade away like CDs and DVDs? They don’t think so. “Vinyl has just overtaken CDs (in sales),” says Woods. “It’s booming everywhere.” Wallace, who has kept rubber gloves on his hands throughout our interview, needs to get back to work. “It’s been astronomical,” he says. “We’re pressing far more than we ever thought we would be.”

Read more: ‘People froth it’: Inside the craze for Aotearoa’s most sought-after record

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