KEY POINTS:
The Maori Party was today in mourning following the death of Te Tai Tonga general election candidate Monte Ohia.
Mr Ohia, who was selected as the candidate in February, died suddenly this morning, NZPA was told.
Mr Ohia spent over 30 years working in the education sector, including as a consultant to national and international organisations
He had occupied senior positions in wananga, polytechnic, university, New Zealand Qualifications Authority, Ministry of Education, and a range of independent research organisations, boards and councils.
At the time of his death he was Te Pou Matua/Kaiarahi for Te Wanaka o Otautahi (Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology).
The Maori Party will now have to find another candidate for the huge Te Tai Tonga electorate, which takes in the South Island and Wellington.
The other two contenders in the initial selection process were lawyer Rahui Katene and sheep and beef farmer Edward Ellison.
Polytechnic chief executive Neil Barns said the news came as a profound shock to all at the institution and his loss would be deeply felt by everyone.
"Monte was an eminent New Zealander, learned and highly experienced who made an incredible impact on many lives and will be missed by all who knew him," said Dr Barns.
"This is a day of great sadness for the whole CPIT community."
Mr Ohia started work in 1969 as an assistant teacher at Queen Charlotte College at Picton before joining the Canterbury Education Board as adviser on Education of Maori and Pacific Islanders.
He went to a similar role with the Department of Education in Wellington in 1988.
He held senior roles with the Ministry of Education in the Bay of Plenty until was appointed as the general manager Maori at the New Zealand Qualifications Authority in 1990, a position he held until 1996.
In 1996, he became Director of Maori Education at the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, until commencing a consultancy on national and international indigenous organisations.
In 2004 he was appointed general manager, strategic policy, at the troubled Te Wananga O Aotearoa, before joining CPIT at the end of 2005.
"Monte was a learned and scholarly man who believed in working with people respectfully and constructively," Dr Barns said.
"His warmth and equitable treatment of people of all walks of life made his outstanding contribution to our country all the more significant.
"He will be missed all the more because of who he was as much as for what he achieved."
- NZPA
