For immediate release

18/08/2006

Passing of Te Ariki Dame Te Atarangikaahu

16 August 2006

Young Labour New Zealand wishes to express their deepest condolences to the whanau and iwi of Dame Te Ata and to all Maori at the loss of their Queen who achieved so much for Maoridom.

Dame Te Ata led by example and was respected by both Maori and Pakeha. She worked hard to bring Maori and Pakeha together. One achievement was the Land Settlement between her own tribe of Tainui and the Crown. Her leadership and respectability resulted in an outcome that has since opened the floodgates to settlements around the country, and allowed Maori to move foward.

Dame Te Ata has done a lot of work for Maori organisations and worked tirelessly to promote Maori culture and language. This has had positive effects for Maori and New Zealand and this work will have effects that will continue to flow on for generations.

Young Labour appreciates all the work that Dame Te Ata has done for Maoridom and Aotearoa, New Zealand, as well as working on ties with Pacific Communities. She will be sadly missed, but her legacy will live on.

ENDS

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