The 2011 winner of the Te Puni Kōkiri Award for Excellence in Māori Business is Moemoeā Records of King’s and Queen’s High Schools in Dunedin.

Moemoeā Records produced an album with seven original songs written and performed by students from the two schools. Moemoeā Records team members are: Matheson Tane, Ranui Ellison-Collins, Taikawa Tamati-Elliffe, and Vladimir Manza.

In one of her final duties as Associate Minister of Māori Affairs, Hon Georgina te Heuheu presented the award to Moemoeā Records. In her address she said: “You inherit resilience and flexibility, curiosity and the willingness to diversify, uniqueness, and dual-world skills. These qualities are our ‘edge’.”

The Moemoeā Records team were invited to the Te Puni Kōkiri Head Office in Wellington, where the Executive Leadership Team hosted a congratulatory morning tea for the students and their teachers.

To be eligible for this category, the majority of company directors must be Māori, or the business must have a distinctly Māori kaupapa.

Te Puni Kōkiri has sponsored this award for five years.

The Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) is an experiential business programme where secondary students set up a company, create real products or services, and make real profit or loss. If you would like to get involved, visit www.yetrust.co.nz