E Tū Tā Herewini (Selwyn) Tanetoa Parata – he tangata kī tahi
7 June 2023
Ko Hikurangi te maunga
Ko Waiapu te awa
Ko Ngāti Porou te iwi
We are proud of our Director, Chair of Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Porou, and Chair of Te Matatini, Tā Herewini Parata (Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tahu), who has been awarded a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in this year’s King’s Honours List for his service to iwi and Māori.
Tā Herewini has been a tireless, dedicated leader and fierce advocate for iwi, hapū and whānau through-out Aotearoa on a vast number of key kaupapa throughout his career to date. He joined the Board of Te Ohu Kaimoana in November of 2015 and has always kept the interests of iwi at the heart of his decision making around our leadership table.
Tā Herewini has been in service to Ngāti Porou for the past 47 years; as a trustee of Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Porou since 1987 and its successor Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti Porou since 2012, serving as deputy chair and then chair. He was also a member of Te Haeata, the Ngāti Porou Treaty Negotiation. Recently as the co-chair of Tairāwhiti Rau Tipu Rau Ora leadership group, established to lead Covid-19, future pandemic and natural disaster responses and recovery.
He is a renowned champion of the utilisation and revitilisation of te reo Māori, tikanga, waiata and kapa haka. Under his stewardship, the profile and financial position of Te Matatini has grown significantly, along with audience numbers, rising to more than 1.8 million television viewers, for Te Matatini Herenga Waka, Herenga Tangata 2023 and kapa participation across the country. This was recognised by Government with an increased $34 million dollar investment over the next two years.
Tā Herewini and his wife Amohaere Houkamau are proud parents of four adult children, Āwhina, Ngārimu, Rapaea and Te Muiora and doting grandparents of Mokena, Tumatahaia, Huriata and Tanetoa.
We also wish to acknowledge and congratulate Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust Director, Awerangi Tamihere, who became a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to Māori health.
Awerangi has spent the past 30 years working with Māori communities, beginning her career as a speech language therapist for severely autistic children before moving into the Ministry of Health as part of the Health Reforms.
Awerangi has also worked with the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in Social Reform, served as general manager for Tairāwhiti Health Care and was a Māori consultant for KPMG (establishing and leading the KPMG Māori Consulting . She has a business degree and been with Whānau Ora since its inception as Te Pou Matakana in 2014.
