Maori Party saddened by passing of Lady Raiha

te-pati-maori

Tue Mar 23 2010 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)

Maori Party saddened by passing of Lady Raiha

Tuesday, 23 March 2010, 11:54 am
Press Release: The Maori Party

POROPOROAKI
The Hon Tariana Turia
Maori Party Co-Leader
March 23, 2010

E te kuia rangatira, haere ki to iwi, haere ki to whanau, haere ki o tatou tipuna. Haere ki te kainga tuturu mo te tangata. Aue te pouri, te mamae e! Haere, Haere, Haere!

Maori Party saddened by passing of Lady Raiha

The Maori Party is saddened today by the passing of Lady Raiha Mahuta – one of Tainui's co-negotiators for its Waikato river settlement deal.

“Lady Mahuta was the heartbeat of her whänau, a staunch follower and minder of the Kingitanga and our aroha goes out to her children, her mokopuna, the people of Tainui and also her Ngapuhi people in Kawakawa,” Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia said.

“Her husband the late Sir Robert Mahuta committed his life to the people of Tainui and when he passed on, she stepped up to the mark by leading work aimed at creating a ‘brighter future’ for the people of Tainui.”

Mrs Turia said Lady Raiha’s work included negotiations to get a $310 million deal for Tainui over the river signed in December and her representation of the Kaahui Ariki (Royal House) on the Tainui executive.

“Kotahitanga of the people and always being mindful of the ‘real issues’ facing them were also strong points of Lady Raiha and we praise her for that.

“Today is sad day for the Mahuta whänau, Tainui, Ngati Manu, Ngati Rangi and te iwi Maori because today we say farewell to a very rare breed of woman – a whäea rangatira who lived and breathed her whänau.

“I recall Lady Raiha’s involvement in Maori access and Maori business development back in the 1980s when we were both engaged in job creation in our respective rohe. I had huge admiration for her,” Mrs Turia said.

Ends

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