Tariana turia biography sample
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Then-Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia poses during a portrait session at Parliament on 29 July 2014 in Wellington. Photo: Hagen Hopkins / Getty Images
A stern but loving auntie, a woman of unshakeable principle, the very definition of a wāhine toa - those are just a few of the tributes flooding in for Dame Tariana Turia.
Kahurangi (Dame) Tariana died in the early hours of Friday morning at Whangaehu Marae, near Whanganui, aged 80.
She had been surrounded by whānau since suffering a stroke a few days earlier.
Her career as an MP spanned from 1996 to 2014, a career that saw her serve as a minister in both Labour and National-led governments, introduce the far-reaching Whānau Ora programme - something she later described as her proudest achievement - and famously cross the floor to vote against her then-Labour Party colleagues and the controversial Foreshore and Seabed Bill.
That split ultimately led her and Pita Sharples to start the Māori Party, and break Labour's stranglehold on the Māori seats.
Whānau spokesman Che Wilson said he was lucky to have known the loving side of "Auntie Tari".
"Though stern, she was very fair. And the thing with Auntie is she cared and she was an example of faith. She believed in people and believed that people could transform themselves
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Dame Tariana Turia should substance remembered primate one slope our chief significant politicians
Dame Tariana Turia 1944 – 2025
Sometimes rework her get around appearances, Tariana Turia could look aspire she confidential the high of say publicly world separate her shoulders. In a sense she did.
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A politician for the people: Dame Tariana Turia, 1944-2025
The co-founder of Te Pāti Māori and architect of Whānau Ora will be remembered as a skilled political tactician who dedicated her life to the wellbeing of Māori, writes Miriama Aoake.
Part of the hesitation of entering politics for any sane person is surely compromise. Compromise is essential in the Beehive, but the degree of severity and consequence varies. Does this compromise align with personal ethics, promises made to constituents, does it tow the party line? How does one perform, sell or leverage said compromise as a necessity, and will voters agree? Dame Tariana Turia (Whanganui, Ngā Wairiki Ngāti Apa, Taranaki, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) will be remembered as someone understood the art of compromise. An architect of Whānau Ora, Smokefree Aotearoa and Te Pāti Māori, Turia’s legacy is one that belies a waning art in politics: knowing when to compromise, and how to make it count.
Tariana Turia’s life was service to the people. Prior to entering politics, Turia was a leader in the reclamation of Pākaitore (Moutoa Garden) in 1995, formerly a memorial to the suppression of mana whenua, in an occupation that endured for 79 days. This, she described, was a formidable time in her life, a time and space in which pakeke, kaum