Partnership Brings Butchery Training to Waikato Whānau Through Mobile Marae-Based Education

10 June 2025

Skills4Work, New Zealand’s only provider of Butchery Apprenticeships and full-time butchery training, has partnered with Waahi Paa Marae (Tainui) to deliver butchery training directly to whānau in the Waikato region.

This initiative builds on successful pre-trade butchery training previously delivered to rural communities in Kaikohe and Whangārei in Te Tai Tokerau. Through the acquisition of and fitout three fully equipped Mobile Butchery Training Units, Skills4Work is taking high-quality training to regional New Zealand, empowering local communities by offering education within Marae environments.

The Mobile Units are a direct response to New Zealand’s critical butchery skill shortage. The Meat Industry Association estimates a daily shortfall of 2,000 workers nationwide. As the red meat sector is New Zealand’s second-largest goods exporter and one of its biggest employers—employing over 24,360 people primarily in regional areas—addressing this shortage is a national priority.

Skills4Work and Waahi Paa Marae agree that this initiative will increase the pool of skilled, qualified butchers across Marae, hapū and iwi, supporting Māori self-sufficiency, capability-building, and long-term economic empowerment.

Tamai Roff, CEO and owner of Skills4Work, expressed her pride in the collaboration, calling it a “momentous occasion and the realisation of a personal and professional goal. It reflects not only my deep commitment to creating meaningful impact but also the belief that with focus, collaboration, and perseverance, ambitious ideas can become reality.” As a Māori woman and business leader, she reaffirmed Skills4Work’s commitment to supporting tauira, whānau, and industry through culturally grounded, relevant training.

The programme will address many historic barriers to access and opportunity for Māori in regional areas. According to Monique Le Marque, COO of Skills4Work, this partnership is “an innovative mechanism to incorporate tikanga and Mātauranga Māori into the learning space” and directly responds to the eight priorities of the Tertiary Education Strategy (TEC), which include:

• Prioritising learner achievement and wellbeing
• Creating safe, inclusive, racism-free learning environments
• Reducing barriers and improving teaching quality
• Responding to learners’ cultural identities and languages
• Embedding te reo Māori and tikanga Māori into daily practice
• Strengthening collaboration with whānau, employers, and communities

Huirama Matatahi, Chairman of Waahi Paa Trust, said:

“Partnerships of this nature fulfill our belief in tongikura as living statements. Kei ngaa toopito o te ao ooku hoa “our friends come from the four corners of the world”. This initiative is a powerful example of mana motuhake in action—our ability to shape our own future through culturally grounded maatauranga. It is a reflection of what we know, that our Marae are not only spiritual and cultural centres but a place of lifelong learning and opportunity for whānau to advance in their journeys.

The first intake of the 12-week Introduction to Trade Butchery (Level 3) Micro-credential begins on 16 June 2025. Upon successful completion of the 12 weeks, students will gain the Level 3 Micro Credential “Introduction to Trade Butchery (Level 3)” and will be able to gain employment in a retail butchery environment which can lead into a Butchery Apprenticeship. The course will be delivered at Waahi Paa Marae in Huntly, located on the banks of the Waikato River, adjacent to the Huntly Power Station.

For any inquiries into the initiative, please contact Monique Le Marque on 0800 275 455.