For the most part honours awarded at King’s Birthday and New Year are to recipients who have distinguished themselves individually.
In the honouring of Taku Parai – Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit – the Porirua community itself is honoured.
Porirua has not always been an easy place to grow up. Porirua, and its people, have faced many challenges over the nearly six decades it has been a city. Taku Parai has lived and worked through those challenges and we are all the better for his efforts.
For his services to Māori, governance and the community Taku Parai stands tall among us.
The award citation reads:
“Dr Taku Parai (Ngāti Toa, Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Tama) is a Ngāti Toa kaumatua who has contributed to the Porirua community for more than 50 years, including as mana whenua representative to Porirua City Council since 1999.
Dr Parai has held numerous roles for his iwi, chairing the Ngāti Toa Kaunihera Kaumatua and contributing to preservation of histories and genealogies, wananga waka and wananga reo.
He chaired the Board of Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira for six years, overseeing the Treaty settlement and the immediate post-settlement period. He chaired Porirua Council’s Treaty Partnership Group from 2002 to 2010 and has been Council Kaumatua since 2011. He has presided over hundreds of cultural occasions, including blessing the pou and city centre in 2019 when it was renamed Te Manawa as a gift from Ngāti Toa.
He has provided leadership on the Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour and Catchment Joint Committee since 2013, implementing the Porirua Harbour and Catchment Strategy and Action Plan. He has regularly organised pōwhiri and Māori culture teaching sessions for Council staff and people newly resident in the Porirua area.
He has been an advisor and kaumatua for Tu Ora Compass Health for more than 20 years.
Dr Parai has held various advisory and committee roles with local organisations including Women’s Refuge, Porirua RSA, the Royal New Zealand Police College, sports clubs and various primary and secondary schools.”
They missed out the bit about Taku being a popular student at Mana College.
A message that will be as important to Taku and his whanau as the Citation is that from Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira.
“Tēnei te mihi ki a koe Uncle Taku. Through your hard work, dedication, and aroha for the people of Ngāti Toa Rangatira, you have been honoured by the nation. Your recognition as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit is a testament to your service to the community, to your people, and to the whenua.
“This is a significant achievement. For us, you are our Rangatira, a source of wisdom with a touch of humour and a pillar of strength. Today, we honour you, we celebrate you, and we acknowledge you. Tēnā koe i tō whakatutukitanga, e pa. Kia kaha tonu i ngā mahi a te rangatira.”