Kia ora, In 2011, I purchased land and settled permanently in the hills of Tryphena. It marked the beginning of a natural life - more meaningful, beautiful, and fulfilling - albeit not without early hardship. My path to comfort and contentment required resilience, adaptability, motivation, and community. I am profoundly grateful to our generous Island whānau, yet equally aware of the role personal agency has played in this journey. This essential, often analytical quality - shaped by my academic background (PhD in Theoretical Chemistry) and life in diverse cultures - guides my vision and actions. The extreme rise in living costs has created unnecessary hardship, with likely damaging long-term consequences for Aotea. While no single solution will fix this, I believe in empathetic, collective agency - coming together as a community to find practical, shared responses that protect and empower our Island, Identity, and People. Community. Voice. Choice. Ben Assado