Queen's Birthday Honours: Te Uru O Te Whetu Frederick Whata

Te Uru O Te Whetu Frederick Whata has been appointed the Queen's Service Medal Photo/Ben Fraser

It takes a Queen's Birthday honour for Te Uru O Te Whetu Frederick Whata to sit back and reflect on the work he has done.

The 80-year-old has been appointed the Queen's Service Medal for his services to Maori having been nominated by his sister. He said he wouldn't have achieved what he had without the support and love of his late wife Rea Merengainoi Whata.

"Well, I was really surprised, I didn't expect it. Until you sit down and look at everything, one doesn't realise how much one is involved in life," he said.

Mr Whata has spent more than 50 years as a trustee of various Maori land trusts and incorporations and was chairman of Te Karaka Inc for more than 20 years and chairman of the Ngati Pikiao Environmental Protection Society from 2011 to 2014. The former engineer for the Ministry of Works became a court attendant and kaumatua of the Rotorua courts at the age of 50 and spent 25 years acting as a mentor for Maori staff and installing protocols for the protection of Maori taonga used in violent cases.

He started a cultural group and they began hosting a pohiri for the appointment of judges and lawyers being admitted to the bar. "That's the best thing I ever did during the 25 years, we became known throughout New Zealand, you'd have a pakeha and they wanted a pohiri and they loved it and their families. Before, it was just a dry ceremony."

Mr Whata said knowledge was passed down to him from his ancestors. "It was all about what the old people did, sitting down and walking the talk with the old people, it became rather interesting to me as one was growing a bit older," he said. "I was impressed by the way the old people handled things, they did things with dignity and were always willing to sit and listen to the young people in their lives."

He has been chairman of Te Takinga Marae Trust for more than 20 years and has worked towards bridging the cultural gap between iwi and non-Maori, hosting many non-Maori groups on the Te Takinga Marae and improving bicultural relationships with councils and government agencies.

He has been an iwi spokesman on environmental issues, succeeding in engaging councils with iwi to find solutions for pollution issues and the protection of the environment. He has been a member of the Okere Scenic Board for a number of years.