Paewai cousins form partnership

Tu Tangata, Issue 16, 1 March 1984, Page 15

Paewai cousins form partnership

Cousin products of the Maori Affairs training scheme at Hastings, Justin and Delwyn Paewai have gone into partnership as builders in and around Dannevirke and at present have sufficient work lined up to last several months.

They are the sons of two of the three Paewai brothers who have formed the well known Paewai Partnership, originally to plough back into land purchase and development, money earned and saved from a shearing/fencing/scrubcutting gangs operation but one which branched out into training youths when unemployment started to grow throughout New Zealand. Justin is the son of Punga Paewai, a Kaitoke farmer, and largely the initiator behind the Partnership’s venture into the training area. Delwyn’s father Ringa manages Tiratu Station, the Partnership’s largest block of land. Justin attended the Maori Affairs carpenter training in 1976-77, then worked for an Auckland building firm High Rise Construction. Delwyn was trained in Hastings just after his cousin in 1978-79 and then worked for a Dannevirke builder until last year. About this time, less work was being found in Auckland and when Justin returned to assist with the building of a new woolshed on Punga’s farm the cousins decided to go into business together.

First job was to find somewhere to live themselves, so being carpenters that presented fewer problems, and rather less expense than the man in the street would face. Justin was able to buy an old house, ivhich he had transported to a block of his father s land at Magatoro and converted to his requirements; then the pair set about building a house in Dannevirke for Delwyn. This they completed a couple of weeks ago and at present they are converting and modernising a large somewhat dilapidated house just off the State Highway south of Dannevirke. This is a major job and will keep them in work for several months, but there should be no long-term shortage of building business in Dannevirke, which is having something of a miniboom, with Oringi, New Zealand Woolspinners and the Perendale Wool Yarn manufacturing and marketing firm Carter Stovell all seemingly very much on the up and up. Besides their occupation, the pair have wide outside interests. Delwyn has played senior rugby for Aotea for a

number of years, at halfback and often inside is uncle the former Hawke’s Bay and Maori All Black Hepa Paewai, the third member of Paewai Partnership. An overloaded commitment to basketball and other sport has prevented Delwyn from going on to play at representative level for Dannevirke more than occasionally.

He has been asked to do so b suc “"E playing for the club Sixers> though a rugby knee injury has restricted Justin in both sports, forcing him out of rugby

after playing to second grade level in Auckland and making him what he terms” a somewhat cautious basketbailer. Sixers is rather more than a team or even a club. It is something of a social institution, hiring the Dannevirke Sports Centre one night a week and inviting all and sundry to come along and have a go at basketball at various levels. At the same time it fields four highly skilled teams in the local competition two men s and two women’s, A slowed-down Justin has a less vigorous hobby. He owns a pedigree Golden Retriever which he has shown, winning a number of ribbons. He is hopmg for a championship in the not-too-distant future and later to breed he hopes # a string of champions. He also plays a little softball, It was to some extent at their fathers’ insistence that both entered the building trade. Both Ringa and Punga pushed their sons hard to qualify in a trade. Being good with their hands they each opted for building, and training with hfaori Affairs has started them on o road that seems likely to lead to a long term success for both.