EXPOSED : Manaaki's $5.3 Million Dollar LIE to Creative NZ!

Get your popcorn & take a seat - We've got receipts!

Kia Ora everybody,
Andddddd we’re back for another thrilling Episode of the We Are Manaaki / We Are Indigo Saga that has blown up the NZ startup ecosystem and shaken up multiple government organisations with countless OIA’s and accusations. If you give a shit about Kiwi Startups, Founders and Small Business I promise you TODAY will be worth the time.

So what have you missed since Xmas? Well until today - not much tbh - it’s been months and STILL Manaaki and their Directors Pat MacFie, Andy Hamilton & Monty Betham have done nothing but try and weasel their way out of any genuine accountability or show any remorse for their bad actions when they rolled a bunch of Maori / Pasifika Founders which has been MORE than documented by ALLLLL the media over the past year including the infamous Callaghan Due Diligence Report. And to make matters worse for Manaaki Directors, they are now all getting sued personally for Defamation by Vic Crone, the previous CEO of Callaghan Innovation who has a huge amount of respect, mana and integrity within the entire public and private sector.

Despite Manaaki publicly promising a process of restoration months ago to those affected, true to form, Manaaki still hasn't offered to help any of the victims to make things right (Does a $82,831.28 legal bill that Manaaki left to a young indigenous founder ring any bells?). 

But that brings us to today. Today ladies and gentlemen, some more OIA’s have arrived on my virtual desk and boy do I HAVE SOME RECEIPTS to share with you all. So let’s keep it simple shall we and I’ll give you the topline in a nutshell if you totally suck at reading like me…….

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TODAY’S BULLET POINT RECAP :
Manaaki has been caught lying red handed!

- Manaaki applied for Callaghan Innovation’s Multi Million Dollar RFP to support Founders/Startups but was removed from the process after Callaghan completed Due Diligence which discovered a multitude of bad behaviours from its Directors.
- Manaaki claims ‘conflict of interest’ in an official complaint to Callaghan Innovation CEO Stefan Korn.
- Callaghan Innovation CEO Stefan Korn OFFICIALLY REJECTS ALL of Manaaki’s claims.
- Manaaki Directors Pat MacFie & Andy Hamilton then BLATANTLY LIE on separate occasions to Creative NZ saying that Callaghan Innovation had ‘accepted’ there was a conflict of interest, solely so they could further Manaaki’s application for over 5.3 Million from Creative NZ.
- Creative NZ’s CEO Steven Wainwright then chooses NOT to engage with Callaghan Innovation at any level or even bother to read any of the available Due Diligence reports that were at his disposal, but simply ‘trusted’ the word of Andy Hamilton NZMN and Pat MacPhee for a multi million dollar government contract.
- Creative NZ was then awarded Manaaki a 5.3 Million Dollar Contract under a barrage of fury from the Creative sector.
- Seriously. This all happened. And we have alllll the receipts!

Get your popcorn. Let’s begin.

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The Faces of Manaaki’s Leadership: Andy Hamilton NZWGAF, Rachel Adams and Pat MacFee - where it it seems their entire revenue model was simply winning government contracts through leveraging close and personal relationships to those in power who don’t want to look under the hood of anything, and clearly DON’T GIVE A SHIT about who they hurt along the way (eg. Young Maori / Pasifika).

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THE 5 MILLION DOLLAR LIE :
‘CONFLICT OF INTEREST’ TIMELINE

August 12, 2022:
Manaaki Co-Founder, Director & Shareholder Andy Hamilton emails Callaghan Innovation CEO’s Stefan Korn regarding Manaaki’s Failed bid for the Founders/Startup Programme RFP claiming a ‘CONFLICT OF INTEREST’ in regards to the consultant and World Award Winning Private Investigator John Borland who produced the damning Due Diligence reports on Manaaki’s bad behaviors, reports which were not only factually correct, but even verified by the witnesses themselves, AND verified by EY. (See OIA Excerpt below released by Callaghan Innovation).

August 16, 2022:
1 Week later Callaghan Innovation CEO Stefan Korn replies back to Andy Hamilton via email and FULLY REJECTS ALL of these claims from Manaaki. (See OIA Excerpt below that was released by Callaghan Innovation).

September 14, 2022:
4 Weeks later Pat MacFie, the Co-Founder, Director and Manaaki’s majority shareholder emails Creative New Zealand and BLATANTLY LIES saying that Callaghan Innovation ‘In principle accepted there was a conflict of interest’. Well, as released by Creative NZ’s own OIA info which is attached below from page 65 of 104. Da da da daaaaa - THIS IS 100000%% NOT TRUE!!!! 

And THENNNN after Callaghan’s EY review was complete then…….

October 6, 2022:
Manaaki Director Andy Hamilton then emails Creative NZ separately and FALSELY claims ONCE AGAIN that Callaghan Innovation had ‘accepted there was a conflict of interest’ and Manaaki’s application for the 5.3 Million Project Application with Creative NZ should proceed under the blind eye of Creative NZ CEO’s Stephan Wainright’s ‘Gold Standard’ Due Diligence Process. (Creative NZ OIA released below from page 65 of 104). 

So there you have it team - in black and white for the world to see. Both Andy Hamilton and Pat Macfie lied to Creative NZ to influence their 5.3 Million Dollar application saying that Callaghan ACCEPTED there was a Conflict of Interest, and convinced Creative NZ’s CEO Stephen Wainwright and everyone else involved to simply trust their word over an entire process that had been already completed and even verified by EY - so Manaaki could STILL be awarded the 5.3 Million Dollars. Serious question - is this what collusion looks like?

How do we know the extent of Creative NZ’s ‘Gold Standard’ of Due Diligence as led by their CEO? Well if I bring up page 65 of 104 you’ll see the following released from Creative NZ via the OIA.

You read that right team - it was actually We are Indigo that found that Callaghan’s due diligence was conflicted.  WOW! I didn’t realize We Are Indigo were the judge and juror for Due Diligence to their own multimillion dollar government contract they were bidding for. Was Creative NZ’s team LITERALLY this shit at their job they FULLY dismissed any of the facts that lay ALLLLL around them, including multiple government agencies, the many Media reports or the multiple victims done wrong, and simply trusted Andy and Pat? Sure looks like it.

Actually, while we’re on the topic of this ‘Gold Standard’ Leadership under CEO Steven Wainwrong at Creative NZ in regards to awarding  5.3 Million Dollars of hard earned Taxpayers funding to Manaaki, in their recommendations to the Council they only highlighted ONE single media article regarding any issues with Manaaki, despite there being at least 6-7 available at the time where Due Diligence was discussed. These articles not just covered the Due Diligence report but also other people who came forward outlining their poor experiences with Manaaki. 

How pathetic and horrendously poor was Creative NZ’s Due Diligence Process to award a 5.3 Million Dollar contract? Well if I quickly insert a section from page 89 of 104 we can see the depth of the quality of Creative NZ’s Due Diligence that took place over ‘months’.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? This is it? This is the GOLD STANDARD that Creative NZ’s CEO used to give Manaaki millions? They simply spoke to 2 referees that were NOMINATED by the applicant themselves, spent 2 minutes on Google Search (and found only one article) and then browsed in the NZ Companies Office for 10 minutes? And then awarded Manaaki over 5 Million Dollars. I got a bigger grilling when meeting my Mother in Law for the first time. And as far as this process is concerned - I have a more thorough process while going through the Wine Aisle searching for a beautifully heavy Pinot Noir. But I digress.

And how do we know Creative NZ’s Due Diligence process was clearly broken and looked like it was proactively trying to hide any misdoings of Manaaki?   Well I present to you a nice ‘lil section’ which I found.

Read No. 15 again team. This shows Creative NZ’s project Manager ‘EXPLICITLY’ advising Mr Malcolm Luey from MBIE NOT to discuss any other issues. So Creative NZ chose NOT to talk to any Founder, Provider or even Callaghan Innovation who had completed and verified Due Diligence reports, but they would talk to one of Manaaki’s own referees Malcolm Luey from MBIE, BUT before they interviewed him Creative NZ 'EXPLICITLY advised’ the referee not to speak on anything else.  

Put simply - Creative NZ ONLY asked how well Manaaki managed MBIE, BUT NOT how well Manaaki treated ANY of the people they provided services to.  

I’ll try to say this in the nicest way possible - You guys are looking super shit!  If ‘leading the witness’ was in the dictionary - I think it would look a ‘lil like this wouldn't it?

Even worse - this is what I found on page 91 of 104. 

And FYI - The Project Manager who did this part was Philip Crampton it looks like. We haven’t even met mate but you deserve alllllllll this smoke too. Remind me never to hire you to even be able to manage a kids birthday party or even be trusted with a goldfish for a sleepover. It’s looking like you knew EXACTLY what you were doing through this whole process with all that was burning around you. 

So let’s keep it 100% and say the obvious shall we - This 5.3 Million Bucks looks like it was SET to go to Manaaki from DAY ONE - regardless of what Creative NZ found. Creative NZ didn’t want to find anything - so they didn’t look for anything. And when stuff was there - Creative NZ simply looked the other way. It’s as simple as that! Some could probably call you CROOKS. I obviously would never say that - but I could see how some people would call you CROOKS.

Is this the type of governance and process that Creative NZ’s Board can seriously stand behind and be proud of?  The Creative NZ Board should literally fire the CEO for this level of incompetence that has now escalated to this point in the public domain, where after today's evidence - will rain even more well deserved shit straight onto all of your laps. And you deserve every single bit of it. Every inch of shit, drama, OIA, Press enquiry, back channel calls, text and all the drama that is about to come with it.

You know what. Management is also to blame. WHY! Let’s quickly pull up what Management’s position is - This is what Creative NZ Management said:

Open and Honest and transparent huh? I think what Management mean was Manaaki LYING to their faces from 2 different Manaaki Directors on separate occasions to lock in the 5.3M? Yeah ok Old Mate! This really is getting worse for you muppets by the second.

And what humans were directly involved inside Creative NZ that got us to this point? Bring on Page 96. You all are responsible! Each one of you. YOU!

The release of these new OIA’s from Creative NZ and Callaghan proving both of Manaaki’s Directors Andy Hamilton and Pat MacFie LIED multiple times on the road to 5.3 Million of taxpayers dollars will now be read by the all Board of Creative NZ and even will be sent up the food chain to the Minister and the ENTIRE Creative industry - I can guarantee you that. 

So the question I have today to the Board members of Creative NZ Caren Rangi ONZM, Michael Prentice, Bonita Bigham, Whetu Fala, Garth Gallaway, Robyn Hunt, Kura Moeahu, Janine Morell-Gunn, John Ong, Hilary Poole, Ane Tonga and even Minister Carmel Sepuloni is this……..

After this release of verified OIA evidence proving that Manaaki’s Directors Andy Hamilton and Pat MacFie lied directly to Creative NZ during their applicant process for 5.3 million of taxpayers dollars - now the Board has been made aware for all to see - WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT? 

And as for the Chair - You may not know but on Nov 22nd there was actually an Audit and Risk Committee meeting regarding Manaaki led by Chair Hilary Poole and attended by the following……

And to start things offffffffff….….

You heard that right - The Chair, Hilary Poole (HP) ‘PRAISED’ Stephen Wainright and his team for the paper AND the Due Diligence work regarding Manaaki. It’s literally like every single tentacle of Creative NZ that touched this thing was high on Acid like the 7th Day of Burning Man just circle jerking each other's incompetence.  I thought you all were better than this - obviously not! #DISAPOINTED

I failed High School and couldn’t get into University but this shit is VERY simple team - Creative NZ has been lied to by 2 of Manaaki’s Directors in an application for millions of funding about a Due Diligence process that would have probably opened up doors to discover other issues that may have caused Creative NZ NOT to award Manaaki with $5.3m of taxpayers money. It seems Creative NZ and IN PARTICULAR the CEO Stevin Wainwright turned a blind eye to all the evidence, but today with this release it NOW brings the whole Creative NZ organisation into serious disrepute and is making the entire organisation look even worse than it already does to the huge community of passionate creatives, the industry, the Minister and more.  

Let me put it even simpler as if you were a 5 year old - because not much seems to have gotten through to you lot yet:
“Manaaki lied to your face - and THEN you gave them 5.3 Million Dollars. NOT COOL Creative NZ! Now go sit in the corner!”

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Creative NZ and Manaaki : The $5.3 Million Dollar Happy Family

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I think if you’ve got this far down we can all agree that I am an ABSOLUTE and utter HR, Legal and PR nightmare to deal with, and I’m unfortunately NOT a lawyer but surely with these new facts coming to light, I couldn’t help but use my retina’s after a few heavy single malt Whiskeys and noticed a ‘lil thing’ called Clause 14 of your agreement for this 5.3 Million. This would be a good time to stop what you're doing and go through it IMMEDIATELY as it specifically states - “The parties agree to a) act with honesty and trust…..”.  

Well with these new facts now in the public domain through the release of the OIA it’s clear there was a breach of both honesty AND trust shown by Manaaki’s Directors Andy Hamilton and Pat McFfie when they LIED TO YOU in pursuit of this $5.3 Million. A suggested start for the Creative NZ Board, CEO and Chair could be a quick glance at Clause 17 which then covers CNZ’s rights when there is a breach of ANY provision in the agreement. 

See look guys - I even did your homework for you - and I’m not even on the payroll.  Now DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Seriously Creative NZ - STEP UP and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! A bunch of your personal legacies as industry leaders are about to be cemented with what you decided to do next in dealing with this shit show of a Manaaki situation. 

In light of these damaging revelations regarding the ‘honesty and trust’ of Manaaki’s Directors, your agreement with Manaaki literally gives you the ability to terminate it, or at least pause this 5.3m contract while you step in to do the proper checks and ask the ‘Gold Standard’ questions that your inept CEO probably should have completed in the first place before you entered and escalated this gong show in the public domain with millions of dollars at stake. 

Thousands of kiwi artists are struggling to get breadcrumbs of a few thousand bucks from you, and yet you have allowed and enabled Manaaki to just wander in on Day One, to spit in the face of those who ACTUALLY are worthy, and then take millions of taxpayers dollars. SHAME on you!

How about this for some ACTUAL leadership as a Board? You hold an emergency board meeting TODAY, you’ll then probably go around in a big kombaya circle talking a BUNCHHHHH of shit about some asshole you’ve never even met named ‘robert’ because he’s now making you look bad and you ‘have to address it’ - but then as mature Board members you’ll remove the emotion for a second, you will freshly look at the evidence and realise that as responsible Board Members you actually need to do something. Like maybe ring Stefan Korn - the CEO of Callaghan Innovation and ask if they ‘accepted the conflicts of interests’? Or even to see the Due Diligence report AND the EY report as it relates to government funding? Or talk to the multitude of people that have been involved directly?

Then the Creative NZ’s Board can simply put out a Press Release tomorrow announcing an immediate hold on the entire programme and any further funding to Manaaki STOPPED until a proper and verified review of the Creative NZ Due Diligence process has taken place based on the recent revelations of lies told to Creative NZ my several Manaaki Directors during their application for 5.3 Million of TAX PAYERS money. Your own contract certainly provides you good enough provision for this. Literally in Clause 17 you have the legal provision to do what’s now NEEDED! So stop PISSING around - and DO IT! 

If I was the board of Creative NZ I would be SOOOO PISSED OFF right now! Seriously, I DO NOT GIVE A SHIT if Stevan Wainwritte’s been at the helm since I was in diapers - your CEO has literally failed the Board and the public at every single turn through this Manaaki Fiasco, and the lot of you, including the Chair and now even possibly The Minister are looking like complete amateurs in the eyes of MANY for letting it get this far.

I can tell you right now SOOOOOOO many creatives in the sector are beyond fuming and waiting for you to step up and show some real leadership. How will you sleep tonight knowing that REALLY you got played by Andy and Pat (and the incompetence of your CE) and let Manaaki line even more of their pockets, cashing in on the vulnerability of the creative sector?

Manaaki and its Directors Andy Hamilton, Pat MacFie and Monty Betham have proven they do nothing to build the capability of anyone - except themselves.

And if you felt the deceit shown by Manaaki was enough to terminate their contract, what other party would take it on? Great question CNZ. Wellllllllllll if I quickly pull up an excerpt from page 32 of 104  you’ll see that your own team actually says ‘any one of the three would be capable of acceptance’. So I guess without Manaaki as a credible provider anymore - you already have TWO other fully capable options in the bag ready to choose from - shit - maybe they could even colab together. Am sure when these 2 parties are reading this they might also have some questions of their own.

Soooooo - will the Creative NZ Board let Pat and Andy get away with this? Balls in your court crew.

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And actually, before we move on, and because at times I can be a total petty prick but with principals -  I do need to address and quickly end the utter bullshit that one of Manaaki’s Senior Leadership Team posted on one of my Social Media links claiming that THIS $5.3m contract was a ‘different company’ and NOT Manaaki that won the Creative NZ bid. Well as per Creative NZ’s own OIA I’d just like to point out the following…….

So the newly formed company that just popped up and took 5.3 million is LITERALLY still owned by the EXACT same people as Manaaki? GUMMONNNNN! We are NOT idiots!

And don’t think for a second that you’re fooling anyone when you make the new Directors of this company that won the $5.3 Million Pat MacFie’s wife Jada MacFie and Rachel Adams, Manaaki’s own General Manager. I’ve seen better smoke and mirrors at a Primary School Magic show.

And I would also have tagged Rach and Jada both on LinkedIn but it seems they’ve both blocked me. Maybe its a bug in the system? super weird… anyways.

And regarding the name Toi Ki Tua on the company's office that is the company name that won this bid, and actually just  100% owned by Manaaki / Indigo - why did you change your name from ‘Toi Ki Tua’ to ‘Toi Hourua’ after only a few months in? What was that wasted cost of taxpayers money and time to change this? And why the name change?

Well here’s a crazy thought - Was it actually because there is actually already someone else with that EXACT SAME NAME ‘Toi Ki Tua’ based in the Bay of Plenty that does THIS? 

Didn’t you EXPERTS just win a 5.3 million dollar project in charge of ‘building capability’? Well one capability in business is to do Due Diligence on your OWN name before you spend other people’s money on it?

Additionally - why on your new site does it NOT mention a single name of any of it’s Directors or show the faces or photos of any of you who are supposed to be LEADING this project to the masses? It’s almost as if all of a sudden you're trying to hide your faces to be seen next to this publicly.

Andddddd…. All the site seems to do is go to a submission form where a grand total of 3 whole PEOPLE have engaged with and submitted to be ‘part of the change’ that you have hyped so hard to the nation. Man - this 5.3 Million of taxpayers funding is looking like it's off to a great start. 

Oh yeah - while we’re on the topic of how you’re such experts in leading the way in the digital landscape for Aotearoa maybe you should check the link that you send everyone too for your own Twitter account from the Homepage which Not only can not be found - it DOESN’T EVEN EXIST. Your professionalism in the digital space really does to continue to break barriers and lead the way for the next generation to follow.

Annndddddd just when you thought it was over - are you ready for the kicker to see how worse this whole thing gets?

As we speak - Manaaki has applied for EVEN MORE government funding from the Ministry of Culture and Heritage. Seriously! HERE’s THE LINK to submit feedback on their latest money grab  : https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/X3PSNRH

If you’re reading this - Please go to that link and leave your feedback and thoughts about Manaaki’s application. Here was mine which I just submitted. I wonder what will happen next?

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Soooooo anyways…….

After witnessing what’s all now coming to light with the pure and deliberate deceit STILL shown by Manaaki and their Directors and having to write this all down into this article has got me VERRRRYYYYYYYYYYY PISSED OFF!!!! 

Soooooo….. STUFF IT!

VENT MODE ACTIVATED. 

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The team at Manaaki including Andy Hamilton, Pat MacFiie, Monty Betham and Rachel Adams were more than happy to sign their names publicly in multiple gaslighting media and Industry Press Releases to try defame my character after speaking out in defence of the Founders, with allegations about me that had about as much truth and substance as Manaaki’s own credibility = which is ABSOLUTELY ZERO!! 

I’ve actually been sitting on this next lil thing for months as I didn’t really give a shit to squabble amongst the seagulls for some idiotic fish and chip bullshit but today I’m gonna allocate a small piece of my bandwidth and return serve on the lying piece that is Andy Hamilton ONZM. Yes I said it! In my opinion from my own experiences of what I’ve witnessed through this entire Manaaki debacle and from what has now been proven clearly for all to see in cold hard facts - I feel Andy, Pat and of their business partners should NEVER be allowed to get close, advise, support, raise or invest in ANY startup, small businesses or Founders EVER AGAIN!! Now why would I say such ‘pointed’ opinions? (Apart from literally just proving they’re both liars with these OIA’s). Wellllllllllllllllll - let’s ‘spill the tea’ shall we on how they ACTUALLY roll behind the scenes? (I think that’s what the cool kids say on the tikky toks).

Anyways, when all the media was digging and discovering a load of Manaaki’s bad behaviour in Q4 of 2022 Andy Hamilton actually threatened legal action against one of the biggest media outlets in the nation and THEN told the same media that the King's Counsel Mickey Heron who is Manaaki’s lawyer had issued an official ‘cease & desist’ letter against me for my damaging statements that I had made publicly against Manaaki. 

Well here we go folks - let me spell this shit out as clear as humanly possible - I HAVE N E V E R received any email, any letter, and text message, any phone call, any DM’s, any smoke signals or any communication whatsoever from The King's Counsel, Queen's Counsel, Prince’s Counsel, Princesses Counsel or even our local Peasants Counsel with any ‘cease and desist’ of any kind WHATSOEVER - EVER! And guess what? EVERYTHING I’ve said publicly (which was told to me directly from Founders/Victims when they came to me for help) about Manaaki’s bad behaviours since I first spoke up has turned out to be TOTALLY true. Who would have thunk it?

Sooooooooo Basically…..
I have told the truth about Manaaki, but Manaaki has lied publicly and privately about me - and somehow I’m the asshole? Ok Boomer!

Then to make it worse - not only was The King's Counsel Mike Herrron copied in on these legal threats that were sent to media by Andy Hamilton, the King's Counsel DID NOT step in to correct this LIE that was told by Andy, even though I assume he knew this to be false as he was presented as Manaaki’s lawyer in the email. And because this lie wasn’t corrected by the neither Michael Heron or Andy ‘Hammy/o’ Hamilton, this led to one of the largest media outlets publishing false claims about me which literally wasn’t true, factual or correct in any way (I have screenshots of this too - I think THAT would be defamation wouldn’t it?). Well if that doesn’t that just paint even more of a picture for you all to see on how they have ACTUALLY been rolling behind closed doors - I’m not sure what will.

TLDR : Andy Hamilton, with Michael Herron, The King's Counsel who was acting as Manaaki’s lawyer, threatened the media and then lied to them saying they had issued me a ‘cease and desist’. Which NEVER happened. 

So speaking of non-existent threatening legal letters about this imaginary ‘cease and desist’ which was purely used to intimidate others from reporting the truth - how about this……… 

How about you go take a big breath, and go CEASE DEEZ NUTS!!!!!!

And how do I know about just one of the extra many LIES that were told by Andy Hamilton and Manaaki? Because I LITERALLY HAVE THE EMAIL YOU SENT you arrogant Gooch Goblin. If you want me to release that publicly just lmk. I even have the attempted gaslighting done to members of my own circle which provided me with even more receipts? Should I share those too?

So Pat, Andy, Monty & Rach - Even as hard as you have tried to craft your delusional narrative to anyone that will listen as you try to convince the world you’re the victims, the harsh reality is this - The streets no longer mess with you, The Boardroom and government backchannels that matter have ALL read the reports and the C-Suite hitters who really move the dial ALLLLLL now know how you roll. Furthermore any Kiwi leader or business with an ounce of credibility and genuine intent - wants ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with your bullshit! The gig is up!

It’s just sad to see industry leaders that we were all supposed to look up to actually be driven by nothing more than ego, money, clout, status and genuinely not even giving a SHIT about anyone who stands in their way, with NO remorse for anything.

Manaaki, your threatening and bullying behaviour may have worked with all these other Founders, companies and even government organisations to keep you in your self-hyped Ivory Tower of ‘influence and perceived power’ - but I’M NOT THAT GUY! 

How have the entire lot of you, who ACTUALLY KNOW ME personally with where my heart and energy resides not realised what I was going to do when I decided to step up and fight for the innocent Founders and Underdogs who couldn't speak for themselves? I have done this for years and will continue to do so for years to come - so put simply - you should have KEPT MY NAME OUT YOUR MOUTH!

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Actually - you know what, after all of this entire fiasco has come to life truly showing how Andy Hamilton actually rolls I actually believe Andy Hamilton’s ONZM title should be STRIPPED from his name officially!  That’s right - I said it…. STRIPPED!  This title of being an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit is a serious badge of honour and huge amount of Mana that only a select few legends can hold. Honor and Mana - 2 things that we all know are seriously in question when it comes to Andy Hamilton -  alongside any type of moral or ethical compass.  

I FIRMLY believe having the distinguished title ONZM after Andy Hamilton’s last name is an absolute slap in the face to all the REAL New Zealand legends that have truly helped others and hold the moral character that is worthy of the title. Andy Hamilton's actions and attitude as he has led Manaaki through this shameful moment in Kiwi Startup land alongside fellow Directors Pat McFiie and Monty Betham has proven he is NOT worthy of this title.

In my opinion liars and bad business actors like Andy Hamilton, Pat McFie and the entire Manaaki squad who have targeted and exploited the vulnerable (especially Maori and Pasifika) DO NOT represent the best of business, or Aotearoa - AT ALL! And they can jog on. 

And while I’m at it - ANYONE reading this, that is still hiding in the shadows who drunk Manaaki’s kool-aid and is still supporting this type of behaviour - like a delusional blogging soccer mum who has read the DD reports and STILL thinks ‘their kid did nothing wrong’ continuing to justify their bad behaviours - you can ALL jog on too.

“Being honest may not get you a lot of friends, but it’ll always get you the right ones”.

And you lot for SURE ain’t the right ones!

END VENT.

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Anyways, back to our scheduled programming with a positive spin and way to try and bring some much wanted and needed closure to the Manaaki debacle for all of us.  

This shit is simple Manaaki - Pat, Andy, Monty and Rachel - the game is up! You have publicly claimed so loudly about team, care and Aroha to anyone who will listen - but the truth is you have shown ABSOLUTELY NONE of that behind the scenes to those that matter.

Anyways, you started this and you can actually finish it. While all of your industry credibility and each of your own ‘personal brands’ are clearly all toast and burnt to smithereens from the constant deceit you’ve displayed for the world to see and the shame you have brought on your own names, the reality is this - all your careers and future moves are literally all on hold and will NOT go anywhere while this issue stays outstanding in the public eye. 

So zooming out from a personal lens for a second it would be fair to say we all want the best for everyone, genuinely, and people DO deserve a final chance to try make things right, even the four of you - but you lot have brought all this smoke upon yourselves from the get go, and have no one to blame but yourselves so you now NEED to front up with some actual accountability and deal with it authentically before the industry will truly ‘move forward’ with you anywhere close to it. All joking aside - if you’re genuine about wanting to move forward then please listen…..

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How can this all end? Well here’s 3 Simple Steps which Manaaki should have been done a year ago.

1. Manaaki accepts responsibility and PRIVATELY and genuinely apologies to all the Founders/Victims who were done wrong. Manaaki then pays for ALL of their legal bills of the Victims. I REPEAT : Does a $82,831.28 legal bill that Manaaki left to a young indigenous founder ring any bells? 

2. Manaaki apologises to all those involved PUBLICLY and just is up front with what actually happened. Stop trying to organise falsely veiled private sit-downs with only 2 of 5 of your team present trying to ‘restore’ relationships with others while Andy Hamilton is simultaneously running at full speed in the background with the backing of the Kings Counsel (who’s paying him btw?) and ramping up legal actions with more government agencies and enquiries just to try to clear your names and blaming everyone except Manaaki.  Just STOP it guys! It’s OVER! It’s sooo over! You all got busted! So just admit it, make it right to those you did wrong and move on. We all stuff up! Even me. I have stuffed up sooooo much. We alllllll stuff up. We are human. But this is becoming a Netflix series at this point.

3. Finally and most importantly to help end this, a Face to Face hui with ALLLLLLLLL involved, even including myself if the Founders want me there, so we can all move FORWARD to help build it back with the proper Aroha that this situation and our Kiwi startup ecosystem actually deserves.

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So my final message to Manaaki is this - if you’re honest with yourselves you’ll realise this really is an olive branch that’s being offered to you from the Founders and Industry with ANOTHER chance for you to try and make it right…. For the ones who you did wrong. For the ones that this has been about since Day 1 that so many have forgotten about - THE FOUNDERS. You’ve had countless times to do this and time and time again your whole team has kept choosing the WRONG path - let’s hope you finally choose the right one now.

Manaaki - make it right with those you did wrong - and let’s move on. PLEASE. Aotearoa deserves better. 

(Extra bonus points for reconciliation : Maybe even a personal apology from one of Manaaki’s Directors to a certain legendary and VERY well known female business leader who was literally told by a Manaaki Director, and I quote, to “SHUT THE F*CK UP!” in front of all her whole team - yeah. My bro witnesses this too). I wonder if Manaaki’s recently added shareholder Sir Stephen Tindall would approve of this type of treatment towards women. Maybe someone could ask him? 

Soooooooo anyways…..

Your move Manaaki, and the Board of Creative NZ (we are ALLLLL are watching).  And yes if you’re wondering - I have a LOT more ammo in the chamber. I just know when to fight, and TODAY we FIGHT for the Founders! 

• Robett Hollis

Ps. Remember  - The truth goes UNDEFEATED, and those who KNOW - KNOW - and they have ALLLLL been talking for a LONGGG LONG time now.

Pps. If you’ve managed to get all the way through - you OBVIOUSLY give a shit about this gong show - so if you care about Founders, our Startup ecosystem and genuinely want to help build a safer space for others the same way I do free to SHARE this article onto as many people, Founders, Companies of even government agencies as you wish - because HOPEFULLY I won’t EVER have to publish something like this again. Churrrr. Now I'm off for a well deserved Whiskey!