The Hon Tariana Turia
Maori Party Co-Leader
27 July 2011

Poroporoaki: Meagan Joe

E rere te manu, ki te mau a te rau…

It is with heartfelt sadness that the Maori Party sends its respects to the whanau of Meagan Joe, who passed away yesterday evening. She had a long battle with breast cancer and she will be a huge loss to the Maori Women’s Welfare League of which she has been President since 2008.

Meagan was an outstanding woman who strove on a daily basis to make a significant contribution to her community, the country and to her whanau.

Meagan had over 25 years experience in the public sector and she was instrumental as one of the early figures in Atawhaingia Te Pa Harakeke, a parenting programme driven from a model that encompasses Maori child-rearing practices and whanau structures, with and from a Maori cultural framework. This model was trialled in the Rimutaka and New Plymouth prisons.

Meagan was involved with the Ngati Kahungunu Violence Free Strategy. She was also a member of the Whanau Reference Group for the Families Commission.

“It is these ideals and people like Meagan Joe who are intrinsic to the whole Whanau Ora approach”.

She was a loving partner, mother and grandmother.

“Our aroha goes out to Meagan’s whanau, the whole of the Maori Women’s Welfare League and Ngati Kahungunu, Ngai Tai, me Tuwharetoa.

She will be remembered by her colleagues and whanaunga everywhere and I would like to think that her whakaaro and korero, her legacy, will be embodied in the tamariki and mokopuna that she has worked with over the years, reaching the fullest of their potential.

ENDS

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