Tangata Tiriti Candidate Outlines

Overview

Please find below our Tangata Tiriti candidates for the Trustee Board Elections for 2026.

Reuben Davis - Tangata Tiriti Candidate

For seven years, Morningside Playcentre was our whānau’s second home. This is our first year as extended whānau. Joining Playcentre was important to us as we deeply believe parents are the first and best educators of their tamariki. The adult education offered through Playcentre really helped us grow as parents for our two children.

We also highly value learning through play alongside other families. Through this we made deep family friendships that have helped make playcentre a place of safety, acceptance and manaakitanga that is rare and precious. This was invaluable while navigating disability within our family, and we never felt alone with the Playcentre community around us.

Playcentre is facing big financial challenges, and many centres are also not getting the maintenance they need. There is also mahi needed to grow trust between whānau and Playcentre Aotearoa leadership.

I believe I can make a real difference in solving these problems. At Kāinga Ora I help lead one of Australasia’s largest turnarounds, where we have rebuilt financial sustainability and stakeholder trust. Our tenants also tell us things are better for them now. This is important because we must keep the things that make Playcentre special while solving these challenges. I have also spent years helping organisations look after large numbers of buildings, so they stay open, maintained, and fit for the people using them in a cost-effective way.

I whakapapa to Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Kahungunu, and bring bi-cultural governance experience.

Playcentre has given my whānau so much. I’d be privileged to help protect and strengthen it for the whānau who come next.

Suzanne Manning - Tangata Tiriti Candidate

Ka mihi ki a koutou, ko Suzanne Manning ahau. A chance meeting in a children’s playground led to a long association with Playcentre in the Hutt Valley, where my three (now-adult) tamariki attended until leaving for school. My husband, Bruce, and I still catch up with our Playcentre friends regularly.   

I was involved with the adult education programme at the centre, association and then federation level with a stint as national Education Convenor from 2008-2011. I was part of the process of implementing a Tiriti-based structure in Playcentre and remember the significant achievement of our first election of Tiriti Co-Presidents. It is fantastic to see that the Tiriti-based structure is still embedded into Playcentre Aotearoa, while being continually refined to meet changing needs.  

My interest in Playcentre Education led to a Masters and PhD in “Playcentre” (officially Education, but the topics centred on Playcentre). My next moves broadened my areas of activity, moving from being the Playcentre representative at the local National Council of Women branch to involvement in NCWNZ at a national level as Education Convenor and then as Board member, and President since 2021. My term will be finishing in September. My working life has followed an academic and research pathway, with a focus on social systems change and equity issues.    

In my latest transition, I am focusing on combining my leadership in community organisations over many years with my social research background, to focus on governance – particularly in for-purpose organisations. This is what leads me back to Playcentre, which has been so formative in my life and the lives of my whānau. I am looking forward to the chance to serve as a Tāngata Tiriti Trustee, contributing to a sustainable future for Playcentre Aotearoa. 

Karl Roberts - Tangata Tiriti Candidate

Kia ora, I’m Karl Roberts.  I’ve been a full-time stay-at-home dad since our eldest turned one, and Playcentre became our family’s second home – first Parklands in Whangārei, then Redwood in Christchurch, and now Fendalton and St Albans, four mornings a week with my girls. If you’ve ever done a messy-play clean-up with a toddler on your hip, we’ve likely lived the same morning!

We’ve moved around a fair bit of New Zealand – dairy farming in the Waikato, military years in the Manawatū, Wellington where my wife and I also grew up, then Auckland with a virtual reality education technology company, to Whangārei with whānau, and now Christchurch. I know what Playcentre means for a small community, or for parents in a city where you don’t know anyone yet.

I’d like to be useful beyond our Playcentres – I’ve spent fifteen years in operations and leadership across Defence, management consulting and education technology. I hold an MBA, belong to the Institute of Directors, and served a term as a director of a kiwifruit orchard company – budgets, risk and independent scrutiny of a multi-site operation. I can read our financials, ask the right challenging questions, and help steer big decisions without losing sight of whānau and our community.

On Te Tiriti o Waitangi – I spent a decade in uniform, most of it with the New Zealand Army, Ngāti Tūmatauenga, where marae and tikanga were part of everyday service. As a Tāngata Tiriti trustee, my job is to keep the structure strong and follow the lead of Tāngata Whenua on the things that are theirs to hold.

If this is the kind of trustee you’d like, I’d be grateful for your vote.

Liam Rutherford - Tangata Tiriti Candidate

Ko Liam Rutherford tōku ingoa.  I live in beautiful Ashhurst (the Hawaii of New Zealand, as it is often referred to), just ten minutes outside of Palmerston North, alongside my wife Aleisha and our two tamariki, Max and Millie. My wife grew up in Ashhurst, and I have lived here for the last 17 years. My background is in education and governance; when not working, I personally enjoy running and football. Currently, we are in the Harry Potter phase, so I am really enjoying reading that to the kids. 

As a former attending caregiver whose own tamariki spent three wonderful years at Ashhurst Playcentre, I have a deep, personal love for the Playcentre model. I experienced firsthand how it acts as a vital community hub – a supportive “village” that empowers parents and whānau as their children’s first and best teachers. My absolute vision for Playcentre Aotearoa is to ensure this unique, whānau-led opportunity is sustainable, thriving, and accessible to more families across the country. 

I bring a wealth of leadership and governance experience to this role. As the former National President of NZEI Te Riu Roa, I led a membership of 50,000 educators, and I currently serve as a Senior Leader at Ross Intermediate. My governance background includes serving on various Finance, Audit, and Risk committees, meaning I can bring robust fiscal oversight and strategic risk management to support our national framework while fiercely protecting local centre autonomy. Crucially, I am deeply committed to ensuring Te Tiriti o Waitangi is a living, breathing reality in our governance, rather than a compliance exercise. I would love to bring my collaborative leadership style, professional educator background, and governance skills to the Trustee Board to help steer our beautiful movement forward.