Bill Rogers is standing again for Te Tumu Arataki, Māori vice-president. Bill has been an architectural tutor at Northtec for nearly 20 years. Bill is Ngāpuhi and grew up in the Matawaia marae area.He is the current Tumu Arataki Māori vice-president, a Tertiary Education Union council member, executive member, co-chair of Te Tiriti Relationship Group and branch co-chair at NorthTec.“Essentially it’s a desire to carry on the work I’ve started in Te Tiriti group,” he says of his motivation to stand.“It’s giving Māori members a voice in the union, encouraging Tiriti education, representation for Māori members and encouragement at the branch and national level.”Bill played a part in starting the work of Te Tiriti group over 12 years ago. He says that over the past five years it has got traction and got things moving as far being embedded in the rules and processes of TEU.“What we’re after is the rules and processes in TEU recognising Māori,” he says. He’s pleased it is now standard practice to open TEU meetings with karakia and waiata.For him, it’s also about kotahi mano, a goal of having at least 10 percent Māori members in TEU. There are currently 948 Māori members, so Bill says the kotahi mano aim is not too far off. He’d like to see that percentage in representation throughout TEU.But Bill also acknowledges work that has already been done.“I have to acknowledge TEU nationally has taken on Te Tiriti kaupapa,” he says. “It’s reflected in representation across the country, for example in the number of Māori chairs and co-chairs.”