Te Ao Tūroa Policy Podcast

How Māori got to the table, and what is still missingOutgoing Tū Ātea chief executive Antony Royal on 26 years of Māori spectrum claims, and the law we still lack.Radio spectrum is invisible, finite and worth billions. Māori have spent four decades arguing it is a taonga. The Crown has spent four decades saying it is not, while paying out anyway. Antony Royal has been in that argument for 26 of those years, first through the Māori Spectrum Working Group (MSWG) and then as founding chief executive of Tū Ātea. He stepped down as CE last month in August 2026, but remains as co-convener of MSWG to continue on with the objective of turning our MoU into legislation.In this episode he walks Hermione McCallum through how Māori got to the table, what was traded to get there, and the protection Māori still do not hold.

For our first episode, we are joined by Elle Archer.Elle is of Ngāti Tamaterā, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Porou, Ngāpuhi and Ngāi Tūhoe. She is a Māori technology, governance and digital equity leader whose work spans science, infrastructure, data, education, emergency management, iwi economic development and community resilience.She is a Director of Tū Ātea, Executive Chair of Te Ao Matihiko, a Director of Network for Learning, and a Director of AgriTech New Zealand. She also holds leadership roles across digital equity, emergency management, education and iwi economic development.In 2024, Elle was named the Datacom Hi-Tech Inspiring Individual at the New Zealand Hi-Tech Awards. In 2025, she received the CIO Award for Outstanding Contribution to Technology and Business, recognising leadership grounded in kotahitanga and inclusive innovation. (NZ Hi-Tech Awards)What makes Elle’s perspective so important in this first episode is that she does not view technology in isolation.She sees the digital backbone of this country from within Crown governance, Māori governance, industry, emergency systems, and community advocacy, all at the same time.