Dame Tariana Turia has died
I’m very sorry to hear that Dame Tariana Turia died this morning, after suffering a stroke earlier this week.
She was a principled politician who resigned from the Labour Party and set up Te Pāti Māori in 2004 because she opposed the foreshore and seabed legislation the Labour Government introduced.
Between 2008 and 2014, with the Māori Party in a support arrangement with the John Key-led National government, her ministerial portfolios included Whanau Ora, Disability Issues and the Community and Voluntary Sector.
The Whanau Ora policy, which devolved social policy delivery to communities and whanau and aimed to support families rather than individuals, was seen as her proudest legacy.
She was widely admired, including by some very conservative people in my family. Both my older brother and my wife’s uncle, who were and are pretty racist, thought highly of her.