03/01/2025
E te kahurangi Tariana, moe mai ra.
For your support, advocacy and aroha over the years we thank you, we thank your whānau for sharing you with us all, our aroha and most deepest heartfelt condolences to you all💜
Detailed and comprehensive biography Written by Helen Leahy in 2015. Below is the citation from the honorary doctorate conferred on Dame Tariana at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi graduation in 2023, as amended for today sourced from Justice Layne Harvey. It outlines a number of her achievements but there are also many others that were not written up or documented. They were the innumerable ways in which she supported constituents, hapū and whānau and members of the community without fanfare or recognition. Her tireless advocacy for the disempowered will remain one of Dame Tariana's enduring legacies both now and in the days yet to come.
Tariana Turia
Te Tohu Hōnore Kairangi
D.MD (Honoris Causa)
An Honorary Doctorate in Māori Development was awarded to The Honourable Dame Tariana Turia DNZM for her dedication and service to her iwi, to Māori and to the community in a career that was distinguished by unprecedented firsts over five decades.
Of Ngā Wairiki Ngāti Apa, Whanganui and Ngāti Tūwharetoa descent, Dame Tariana was a tireless advocate for whānau, hapū and iwi rangatiratanga. Her life’s work was to create environments within local communities to enable whānau to flourish. Dame Tariana’s experiences and knowledge of the strength and capability of Māori to maintain responsibility for their own communities and well-being started from her early years. She steadfastly pursued this commitment throughout her life. Dame Tariana was raised in Whangaehu with her Ngā Wairiki-Ngāti Apa whānau and then later in Pūtiki. She attended Whanganui Girls College and subsequently trained as a nurse. Before entering national politics, Dame Tariana had built her reputation in the Whanganui region with her advocacy in pre employment Marae ACCESS programmes. With her colleague Linda Thompson, also a nurse, they established Te Korimako, a social and health services provider in Whanganui. Following that, they then established Te Oranganui Iwi Health Authority where she was the first Chief Executive. At the time of its establishment in 1993 Te Oranganui was the first and largest Iwi-led Public Health Organisation in Aotearoa.
In the context of supporting tangata whenua, it was during the 79-day Pākaitore reclamation in 1995 that Dame Tariana came to national prominence as a leader. That she was also involved in supporting the eventual return of that land to the iwi is also testament to her tenacity to right historical wrongs. The following year, she entered Parliament as a list member. Her record of legislative and policy achievements was outstanding. She held key Ministerial and Associate portfolios in her roles as a Member of Parliament for both the Labour Party and Te Pāti Māori. She was Associate Minister for Health, Disability Issues, Social Development, Māori Affairs Child, Youth and Family, Housing, Corrections, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment.
Dame Tariana left Labour in protest at the party’s plans to give ownership of the foreshore and seabed to the Crown. In doing so, she changed the political landscape of Aotearoa when she returned to the House in 2004 as Te Pāti Māori’s first MP and Co-Leader. Dame Tariana also became the first MP to swear the oath in te reo Māori. She was the driving force of Whānau Ora and was Minister of Whānau Ora, Disability Issues and the Community and Voluntary Sector. Dame Tariana oversaw the investment of over $65 million into addressing and preventing rheumatic fever as a national, cross-government priority; extended home insulation for low-income families and supported free doctors' visits and medicine for children up to age 13 years. Dame Tariana implemented pioneering reforms to reduce consumption in all types of to***co products in all population groups. That strategy was a comprehensive campaign across health education, legislation, removal of to***co displays, plain packaging, smoking cessation, smokefree cars and to***co taxation.
Unsurprisingly, Dame Tariana received numerous accolades and awards for her work. There are even several issued in her name. In 2010, she became the first recipient of the 'Tu Rangatira mo te Ora' award, given every year to a key figure in Māori public health by the New Zealand Public Health Association. In the 2015 New Year’s Honours, she was made Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to Parliament and to Māori. Later in 2015, the American Cancer Society awarded Dame Tariana the Luther Terry Award for Exemplary Leadership in To***co Control. In 2018 she was awarded the Blake Medal for leadership from the Sir Peter Blake Trust.
In 2014 after 18 years of service, Dame Tariana left Parliament to return to Whanganui to continue with her mahi for the iwi, especially in the hauora, social services and tribal governance environments. She was chairperson of the Parihaka Settlement Trust; a Pou for the North Island Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency; Pou Arahi for the Accident Compensation Corporation; Manu Taki i te Kahui for Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu; a trustee of Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust, a lay member of the Māori Land Court, a member of the Whanganui District Health Board and an Assessor for Tipu Ora. Dame Tariana was also an Honorary Fellow of the New Zealand College of General Practitioners, a life member of CCS Disability Action in recognition of “exceptional work for the disability community” and a Mentor for ABI Rehabilitation New Zealand. She was also the Chairperson and Trustee of the National Hauora Coalition Trust from 2015 until November 2022. In July 2021 the Trust opened Te Turangawaewae Manahau a Tariana Turia – The Tariana Turia Centre for Excellence, to be used as a space for researching better outcomes for Māori.
From 2017 to 2021 Dame Tariana served alongside tribal historian Turama Hawira as Te Pou Tupua, the human face to act in the name of Te Awa Tupua, with responsibility for speaking on behalf of and upholding its status. That status was conferred by Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act 2017, the ground-breaking legislation establishing the Whanganui River as a legal person, an indivisible and living whole.
Dame Tariana was regarded with great affection and respect by many around the country and especially in Whanganui where she was known simply as “Aunty Tari”, a strident, inspiring and persistent advocate for whānau, and for the marginalised and the disempowered. She maintained a consistently forthright approach when expressing her views, even where that tenaciousness has occasionally caused angst for others. Many who have worked alongside her speak to Dame Tariana’s uncompromising adherence to fundamental principles that she has carried throughout her life. She mentored many and kept a watching brief over their careers.
Of all her achievements, Dame Tariana acknowledged that her greatest as being her marriage of 56 years to the late George Turia, her six children, 28 grandchildren and growing number of great and great-great-grandchildren. She continued to live close to her marae at Whangaehu within the whānau and iwi that will always be her source of inspiration. In honour and recognition of her incomparable leadership, her unparalleled service and lifelong dedication to Māori, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi awarded to Dame Tariana Turia an Honorary Doctorate in Māori Development at Graduation in 2023.
May you rest now, rest in eternal peace🙏🏼
