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We are incredibly proud to share that our Health, Safety and Environmental Manager, Jess Bourke, has been named Safeguard New Zealand's Health & Safety Practitioner of the Year.
This prestigious national award recognises outstanding leadership and contribution to workplace health and safety across Aotearoa, and we couldn't think of a more deserving recipient.
Since joining Nāti Growth, Jess has played a key role in helping transform how we approach health, safety, wellbeing, and environmental management across our diverse operations. From forestry and farming to honey, tourism, environmental projects and property development, Jess has helped build practical systems, strengthen capability, improve training, and create a culture where people genuinely care for one another and feel empowered to speak up and make a difference.
What sets Jess apart is her commitment to understanding work as it is actually done. Whether standing alongside our farm teams in remote hill country, visiting beekeeping crews on the Coast, or supporting our forestry operations, she is known for being present, listening, learning, and working alongside our people to find solutions that work.
Jess's influence extends well beyond Nāti Growth. Across Tairāwhiti, she has been a passionate advocate for lifting health and safety capability, particularly for women in forestry. Through training initiatives, networking programmes and professional development opportunities, she has helped more than 40 wāhine build confidence, gain qualifications, and strengthen safety leadership within their businesses and communities. Her leadership following Cyclone Gabrielle, her dedication to continuous professional development, and her unwavering focus on people have earned widespread respect across the region and throughout New Zealand's health and safety community.
While this award carries Jess's name, many of the initiatives she champions are only possible because of the support and engagement of our kaimahi across the business. Thank you to everyone who contributes every day to making Nāti Growth a safer, healthier, and stronger place to work.
Jess, congratulations on this outstanding and well-deserved achievement. We are immensely proud to have you representing Nāti Growth and Ngāti Porou on the national stage.
Porou Miere Extraction Facility
Working in the honey industry on the East Coast teaches you that no two seasons are the same. Over the last 12 months alone, we've had to navigate flooding, road closures, and the challenges that come with processing and exporting honey from rural Te Araroa.
The key is having a resilient team that's willing to adapt and find solutions. Whether it's adjusting freight schedules (or routes), managing customer expectations or finding ways to keep orders moving despite disruptions, we're committed to keeping things moving and delivering a quality product that reflects the dedication of all our staff and the unique environment that makes our honey what it is.
What's been Happening at Makarika Farms
We popped in to Makarika Farm this month and found Farm Manager Rore busy drenching sheep. Drenching is a routine part of farm management that helps protect livestock from internal parasites, keeping animals healthy and growing well so they can reach their full potential and contribute to a productive farming operation.
Lambs are drenched when required, but typically this can be as frequenty as monthly in warm or wet conditions where internal parasites thrive. As animals get older they build natural imune defences and by the time sheep are adults they require dranching only rarely and if they are under pressure (ie pregnant or in drought conditions and lacking feed).
Drenching all the lambs on Makarika at this time of the year (over 2000 of them) would typically take most of the day for one person, or half a day if two people work together. It takes time to get them in from their paddock, and they are often weighed or drafted at the same time. Drenching ewes takes longer as we can fit fewer of them in a drenching race due to their size and as they are stronger and much more physically demanding to handle, the job is also slower.
Meet the Team - Chantelle Houkamau
Ko Pātangata te maunga,
Ko Wharekāhika te awa,
Ko Hinemaurea te marae,
Ko Te Whānau a Tūwhakairiora te hapu,
Ko Horouta te waka,
Ko Ngāti Porou te iwi.
Ko Chantelle Houkamau awau.
Tēnā tātau e te iwi,
I am the Honey Processing Operator at Porou Miere. I took over the role in August 2025 with little to no knowledge of the Honey industry but with an eagerness to learn and be part of the growth of something innovative and exciting for Ngāti Porou whānui.
My role is to oversee the extraction operations and processing of the honey from the frames to the drums, blending honey for orders (both domestic and international), general maintenance of the machinery, storage/inventory and loading & unloading the trucks.
I experienced my first Extraction Season over the summer months and learnt just how critical the flowering of the mānuka is for our beekeepers and how short the window can be before the bees begin to seek other flowering plants and create different variations of honey. Every day the factory filled with bees eager to rob honey to take back to their hives.
I've never been stung so many times in my life!
In January's weather event which severely isolated our Matakāoa communities, myself and one of our seasonal workers were the only two who could get to work and with a 20 Metric Ton order pending; we were able to get the shipment ready just in time to load onto truck which arrived the first day the road opened at the Taurangakoau bridge washout.
We continued working through the isolation period minus four team-members to keep production flowing while communications with management were limited due to loss of cellphone/internet reception. Slowly but surely our roads re-opened and we could get back to semi-normal operations.
I truly enjoy my mahi and the team I get to work alongside here at Porou Miere.
Ngati Porou Wear
Discover the latest from Ngati Porou Wear – quality clothing and accessories that celebrate our people, our culture, and our pride. Browse a selection of featured items below, or explore the full range on our website.