The Koau (pronounced kor-oh) is a native bird admired for its strength, determination and dedicated flight towards its goal.

The Koau was often likened to both successful warriors and resilient travellers and explorers.  It was admired for the strength of its unswerving flight.

We take the koau as our logo from a story told to us by the late XXXXX:

Māori rapidly adapted their skill and instincts to the developing market economy. Deliberate, large scale trading between Māori communities and European vessels was common place at all New Zealand ports from the early 19th century.

It was not long before Māori owned their own ships and several thousand acres were planted in western crops such as potato and wheat.  But once the colony’s major cities became established the rate of change increased and the quantity of land available to Māori declined.  By this time though many Māori were already familiar with the notion of capital investment and had the vision to see growth potential.

6 January 1860, Canterbury Māori leaders met with then colonial governor, Gore Browne, at Port Lyttleton to discuss their vision for developing the local economy. They were concerned that they did not have a market place or critical infrastructure and used the metaphor of a koau to explain their position:

“We are like unto a koau sitting on a rock. The tide rises, it flows over the rock, and the bird is compelled to fly. We require a dry resting place for us that we may prosper.”

They respectfully appealed to the Governor for assistance to erect a flour mill at Port Levy. Having already spent nearly £400 to purchase all the necessary machinery, they did not have the expertise or the capital to build the mill and requested a specialist millwright to manage the work and capital to complete it, which they would repay once the income from the mill was sufficient

The mill was a great success and to this day Māori have strong relationships with central and local government, a deep commitment to New Zealand’s future economic strength and opportunities for access to many of New Zealand’s key assets classes.

For us the Koau represents solutions that create value in a dynamic and progressive Māori economy.