Gordon Little

Nga Puhi

Gordon is Whangarei born and bred.  At the age of 18 he decided to venture out and see what Australia had to offer. Arriving in Brisbane in 1980 he started his first job in the construction industry at Tarong (2.5 hours north west of Brisbane).

Before embarking on a 7 year international assignment with  “Bovis Lend Lease”, Gordon was a very active member of the New Zealand ex-pat communities in Brisbane and Sydney. For 7 years he tutored one of Queensland’s biggest kapa haka “Nga Reo Powhiri” which boasted 56 performing members and supporters numbering well in excess of 100.  30 years after arriving in Australia, Gordon took on the role of EHS Manager of the biggest construction project in Melbourne.

In 2010 Gordon resigned from Bovis Lend Lease to pursue the development of his own company, Tukotahi Global Holdings (Tukotahi means “Stand as One”) encompassing an idea that he had been developing for the past 8 years.  Tukotahi Global Holdings is an ever-growing group of consumers and suppliers that benefit from each other’s participation and now embraces three international companies, Tukotahi New Zealand Ltd, Tukotahi Pty Ltd (Aust) t/a TKT Rewards and Tukotahi Phillipines Inc.   These companies operate within one framework and offer international members the ability to access discounts and/or benefits when purchasing at Aligned Suppliers. Aligned Suppliers have real visibility to the consumer membership of the group which significantly increases the possibility of Tukotahi members shopping at their business.

As well as being actively involved in the development of his company, Gordon’s skills and knowledge in the construction industry are continously called upon.  He was recently recalled to assist Lend Lease in managing various projects in Asia for six months.

This exposure has prepared Gordon well to take up a senior role within MaraeMelbourne, adding value drawn from his personal experiences within many different global geographies and from the time he has spent among many vast and varied cultures.  Besides New Zealand and Australia, Gordon has worked in the USA, London, Spain, Dubai, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, China and Taiwan.

His international experience has intensified further (if that was possible) his love and respect for the culture he inherits from his late mother Waipoua. A Maori mother and Pakeha father gave Gordon the opportunity to truly grow up with a full New Zealand perspective.

Living overseas really clarified, for Gordon on many levels, how special his people and traditions are. Despite being  involved in work which means he is travelling the world constantly, Gordon has unconditionally committed himself to being a major driving force for MaraeMelbourne as the organisation now heads into the final stages of concept planning and into pre-construction of Australia’s first operating Marae.

“At long last, the right people have come together to finally realise the dream of the people – a place we can truly call our own, here in Australia  -  let’s all join hands and together take this over the line”