We're pleased to feature one-on-one interviews with two key stakeholders who have long collaborated with and provided expert guidance to New Zealand Steel on Māori culture, history, local community and sustainability. They are Piki Jakeman (Cultural Adviser to New Zealand Steel) and Riki Minhinnick (Chief of Ngāti Te Ata), and both generously share their personal stories and explain how they've worked with the company to encourage employment opportunities, enhance intercultural understanding through open dialogue and jointly learn from and improve on a challenging history of Western colonialism.

Chapters

1. Introduction: 0:00
2. Piki Jakeman: 1:50
3. Riki Minhinnick: 17:39
4. Conclusion: 51:02

Links

• Read a transcript of the episode, which includes te reo Māori definitions.
• Māori People (Te Ara  encyclopaedia listing by Manatū Tonga | NZ Ministry for Culture & Heritage)
• Learn about Ngāti Te Ata at Te Puni Kōkiri and in Te Ara.
• Iwi
• Waiuku and its meaning and history
• Maioro
• Marae
• Te Ara Rangitahi
• Tuwhera
• Manukau Harbour
• Huakina Development Trust
• Waikato River
• Resource Management Act 1991
• Watch a FocusOn video on TVBlueScope about ironsand operations in Waikato North Head.
• Sustainability Snapshot by New Zealand Steel
• Sustainability reporting suite by BlueScope
• Browse a Flickr album of our participants and the surrounding area.

Ethical Note

The conversations were recorded in February 2023 in Waiuku and published in August 2025 after an ethical review with participants. Such a review is known as the collaborative podcasting process and was pioneered by Day et al. (2017) in their study, The Expanding Digital Media Landscape of Qualitative and Decolonizing Research: Examining Collaborative Podcasting as a Research Method (key diagram on p. 209). All episodes are subject to the same process; however, in the case of such personal and historically significant First Nations accounts, it is important to highlight here.

Connect with Us

• Corporate website
• LinkedIn page
• TVBlueScope on YouTube

Credits

• Edited by Martin Feld
• Interviews organised by Vicki Woodley and recorded in Waiuku by Craig Nealon and Tim Robinson