Treaty and Cultural Advisor

Kia ora, Hoani has in the past been a cleaning business owner in the Christchurch and Wellington Regions from the mid 1980’s into mid 1990’s, having service contracts with Central and Local Government and a cross mix of commercial businesses. At this time, Hoani had 90% Māori staff and supervisors conducting daily cleaning tasks. Hoani’s other interests include IT, and he was a part owner in a Communications Database contracted to Telecom, which led to further development in software for tendering out cleaning contracts.
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Leaving his cleaning business and passing interest of the company back to his staff at no cost to enable them to continue in employment as a New Zealand owned/Māori owned businesses entity, Hoani’s new focus turned to the environment. Hoani gained qualifications that would enable him to play a major role in preserving the environment while volunteering his time with local communities and their whānau.
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In 2021 Hoani was recognised in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours for his contribution to conservation with a MNZM. Along with board membership and other accolades for the environment and governance experience, Hoani has joined NZ Cleaning Coop as their Treaty and Cultural Advisor.  

Hoani and NZ Cleaning Coop members recognise our responsibility to Māori and will proceed to incorporate Māori business ownership as a principal role to develop employment opportunities, along with supervisory and management training that will lead to experienced Māori business ownership in the cleaning industry.

Hoani was a member of the Otago Conservation Board for 10 years, 5 of those as Chairperson. He has been an independent RMA Commissioner for the last 10 years and has a background in environmental management and is the senior Ecological Consultant for Ngaio House Consulting, working for both corporate and government.

An active member of the Otago conservation community, with a diverse skill set and responsibilities, the Chair of the Otago Peninsula Biodiversity Trust, a founding trustee for Wild Dunedin Festival and Predator Free Dunedin. Hoani is currently the Manager of Ecotourism responsible for the Royal Albatross Centre and Blue Penguins Pukekura at Pukekura.  Hoani is also a member of the General Policy Options Development for DOC and the Technical Reference Group for the MBIE New Zealand Battery Project.

Hoani is also an active member of Ngāi Tahu, with 11 years of governance experience at Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu.  He has experience supporting communities to achieve successful business and environmental outcomes.  Contributing to community wellbeing and ensuring that long term strategies blend environmental sustainability whilst ensuring social and economic benefits are realised.
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