Mayor Andy Watson on the passing of Dame Tariana Turia

We received the incredibly sad news to start the year that Dame Tariana Turia passed away on Friday, 3 January 2025.

Much has been said about Tariana these past few days, and the outpouring of love and admiration for her is not at all surprising. She was a trailblazer as a wahine Māori politician, who held numerous portfolios and achieved many great things for Māori and the wider communities she represented.

Regardless of which side of the political spectrum people are on, Tariana holds great mana for her service to people and politics. She was a skilled and principled politician who could get deals done with both Labour and National, which over the years has been a rarity.

During the 2015 floods in the Rangitīkei and the wider region, Tariana was instrumental in helping us with the response, and opened doors that otherwise would have remained closed. It demonstrated her passion and care for the community from which she came from.

I’ve spoken with Tariana many times over the years, and the last time I spoke to her was following Council’s decision to retain Māori wards back in August 2024. Tariana attended the meeting, which showed that she still was active and involved in politics, even at a local level.

I was privileged to attend her tangi at Whangaehu Marae to pay my respects to her and pass on condolences to her whānau. It is by far the biggest and most attended tangi or funeral that I have attended. She is a great loss to our region and the country. But her legacy is there for all to see and will remain for many years to come.

Mayor Andy