He iringa kawakawa, he rau mahara, he hotuhotu manawa, he roimata ka maringi. Kua riro tō mātou rangatira a Moana ki tua. Heoi, e kore te mahara e makere noa engari, ka noho i te whatumanawa.

Te Hautū Kahurangi | Tertiary Education Union is deeply saddened by the passing of Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Porou elder, constitutional lawyer, activist and friend of the union movement, Dr Moana Jackson.

In the words of TEU’s Taua, Roimata Kirikiri, “Moana was a very gentle person but firmly focused on bringing about national political change for the betterment of Ngāi Māori, Aotearoa and Indigenous peoples internationally. His contribution to bringing about transformative change and open debate in Aotearoa cannot be measured.”

TEU Kaumātua, Hōne Sadler, says “Moana was a well respected constitutional lawyer who took issues concerning Māori all the way to the United Nations. He was very busy as a family man, as someone who was deeply respected by his people, in Kahungunu, across Aotearoa and around the world.”

“His contribution on the world stage was enormous - he was instrumental in drafting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Closer to home he conducted TEU’s Tiriti Audit 2015 which included recommendations such a developing Te Koeke Tiriti framework to advance our Te Tiriti relationship, and carrying out a transformative review of our constitution, of which the draft princples will go to Annual Conference in May this year. It’s a very sad day.”

Tumu Whakarae | National President Tina Smith has had the priviledge of working with Dr Jackson several times over the years and describes him as “our poutokomanawa that we held on to in our journey that helped us make great strides in advancing our Te Tiriti relationship.”

“He was a true educator and intellectual, his wisdom has guided much of the tertiary sector. His contribution was enormous, to the TEU and my profession of nursing where he fostered the importance of Te Tiriti and cultural safety.”

“Dr Jackson was and will continue to be instrumental in shaping both the tertiary education sector and the TEU as we continue to draw on his profound wisdom now and into the future. The findings of his Tiriti Audits, conducted for both TEU and our predecessor union ASTE Te Hau Takitini have been enormously beneficial to our Tiriti journey and the last of his reccommendations, a rewrite of our constitution, is currently lighting our path towards the 21st century Te Tiriti-led union we strive to be.”

Our thoughts are with Dr Jackson’s whānau, hapū and iwi at this difficult time.

Moe mai rā e te whatukura i te urunga tē taka, i te moenga tē whakaarahia, takoto, e moe, okioki.

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