Are you there Minister Sepuloni?

As you are dealing with some harsh reminders of those infamous dawn raids back in the 70’s when our Pasifika people were so harshly treated by law enforcement officers that your government, under the last Prime Minister, issued a formal apology for the appalling way they had been treated.

In light of the recent dawn raids, I was wondering when you might step up and offer a similar apology to the young Pasifika technology founder who wrote this letter of thanks to Robett Hollis for his unrelenting campaign to bring a voice to the voiceless.

THANK YOU

Robett,

I just want to shoot you a message personally to share my heartfelt gratitude to you and those who have extended their support.

My journey through business as a founder has been lonely and when I found myself in this situation, I felt completely isolated. Through a variety of reasons, my self-worth, confidence and wellbeing took a massive dive and I felt like an imposter for even getting myself into this place in the first place. As things played out, I was beginning to accept my fate that I was no David in this Goliath situation.?

But the tides turned when I met you. I distinctly remember the day we were connected by a mutual friend. From day one you simply listened, you put your head down, and you went to work. Over the last 12 months you’ve put a lot on the line for me - someone you don’t know too deeply - and you never asked or expected anything in return. You rallied people around me quickly and I finally felt seen; I felt heard. For the first time in a long time I had hope and I often wonder how differently things would have played out if we never met.

While I have followed quietly behind the scenes, just know that I’ve read every post, substack and comment. I’ve humbly seen every pledge too. So thank you. And thank you to those you’ve rallied loudly (or quietly) to back us founders. What started as a lonely journey has certainly not ended in the same way. I sleep better tonight knowing that there’s a whole bunch of good folk out there backing us, and that this debt will have a big chunk of it gone. And that’s enough for me to start my healing journey.?

This is a young Pasifika technology founder who suffered at the hands of a powerful group of people who were funded, almost entirely by your government, to take care of young innovators like this, and help them grow.

The story of Manaaki/We Are Indigo has been well canvassed - but despite the concerns that were raised, Creative New Zealand, part of your ARTS portfolio, made a decision that they did not need to hear the voice of these young entrepreneurs.?

Take your time - read the letter - and then ask yourself should you have asked more questions before Creative New Zealand gave a further $5 million to the people who not only brought this young person to the brink of despair, but also issued legal threats against Robett in an attempt to silence the ever growing questions he asked?of Manaaki/We Are Indigo.?

Questions backed by evidence that he spent months prying from officials through the OIA.?

This latest letter of gratitude is a result of the $30,000 Give a Little Campaign that Robett conducted to help with the founder’s legal fees. It’s a number that pales into insignificance when compared to the $11 million reportedly already handed over to the Manaaki We Are Indigo startup by various government agencies - including yours.