Tangi: Dame Tariana Turia remembered as submissions on Treaty Principles Bill closes

The legacy of Dame Tariana Turia will live on forever.

• Public submissions on the Treaty Principles Bill must be lodged by 11.59pm tonight.
• Dame Tariana Turia’s nephew, Che Wilson, urged people to focus on stopping David Seymour’s bill.
• Turia’s legacy includes the Māori Party’s formation and the rollout of Whānau Ora in 2014.

Dame Tariana Turia would have been wondering why everyone is at her tangi and not working on last-minute submissions to stop the Treaty Principles Bill, her nephew Che Wilson says.

Public submissions on the bill must be lodged via the TreatyPrinciples@parliament.govt.nz website by 11.59pm tonight.

Wilson said he can hear his aunty now asking why people are not working to stop David Seymour’s bill from going anywhere but in the rubbish bin.

“I can imagine aunty would be saying go out there and do the mahi and would be quite uncomfortable with the number of people who have attended the first three days of her tangi,” Wilson told the Herald.

“It’s a bit ironic that her funeral is on the same day submissions close.

“Despite her being in the public spotlight for a long time, she was a very private person.

“One of the greatest gifts she gave was her time to anyone who asked.

“She would try to find a connection whether you had whakapapa or not - that’s just who she was.”

Act leader David Seymour had nothing but respect for Dame Tariana Turia.

Seymour said joke aside, he had nothing but respect for Turia.

“I knew her as a true conviction politician. It was because of her that the Māori Party supported charter schools from the start,” Seymour told the Herald.

“She later served on the board of E Tipu E Rea, the original charter school support organisation. For that support on a common and important cause, I’m forever grateful.”

Since her death last Friday, hundreds of people from all walks of life, have made the journey to Whanganui to pay their respects.

Nephew and Turia family spokesman Che Wilson.

“Moments like this show me why she had so much faith in us because she knew the magic existed, whether it was at the front, or at the back of the marae where ever people are working, the magic is here,” Wilson said.

“The last few days have been truly amazing.”

Labour leader Chris Hipkins (left), National's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon (centre) and deputy leader Nicola Willis (right) arrive for a pōwhiri at Whangaehu Marae during Dame Tariana Turia’s tangi. Photo / Michael Tweed

Yesterday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and senior Government ministers were joined by Labour leader Chris Hipkins to mark the passing of a wonderful aunty, mum, grandmother and great-grandmother.

Wilson said his Aunty Tari’s final days surrounded by her children and over 80 mokopuna was “just stunning”.

“Just feeling the love everyone had for her was stunning, especially through the kōrero, the waiata and the karanga,” Wilson said.

Today, whānau and her iwi will reflect on the outstanding contribution Turia has made to Aotearoa New Zealand.

“Aunty Tari came from the era of we are Māori therefore we should help each other,” Wilson, the Turia whānau spokesman said.

“She was ahead of her time and it was always about how do we find a way.

“If she didn’t enter politics, I think she would have kept protesting.”

But instead she did enter politics as a Labour list MP in 1996.

“Not necessarily in the protest sense but challenging the status quo because she hated mediocracy and she just didn’t want to moan but actually do something about it.”

And do something she did when in 2004, she split from Labour over its controversial foreshore and seabed legislation.

That marked the end of her Labour days but it also ignited a new passion among Māori – the birth of the Māori Party.

The foreshore and seabed march to Parliament saw thousands take to the streets to voice their opposition with their feet.

Whānau Ora CEO John Tamihere. Photo / NZME

Her then Labour colleague turned Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere said Turia showed more courage with that move than most politicians show in a lifetime.

“Tariana will go down in our political history as a person of immense courage,” he said.

“It took a catalyst issue like the foreshore and seabed - which is different from the Treaty Principles Bill - to crystalise the establishment of a Māori party.

“Tariana gets the kudos for having the courage to stand up for her principles.

“That was what happened at that moment of time and she also had an endearing manner. She could tell people to go to hell in such a way they would buy the ticket.

“She had courage and on top of that tenacity.”

Fast forward 10 years and rollout of Whānau Ora in 2014 – despite bureaucrats trying to derail and put providers under enormous and difficult reportage – Tamihere said will be her long-lasting legacy.

Turia showed that if you are not at even at the top of the table – the Māori Party, Turia and Tā Pita Sharples became part of the National-led Government – you get nothing.

“She was the example of faith and belief,” Wilson said.

“She had faith in people and believed in our own Māori magic.”

Wilson said the past few years had been tough on Turia following the death of her beloved husband of 58 years George in 2019.

“Uncle’s death was very destabilising and her heart was broken when he passed and she was never the same,” Wilson said.

“She has lamented him for so long and just wanted to be with him.”

The service for Turia will start at 11am before she is carried to the urupā where she will be placed by her husband George.