4 November 2016

Metiria Turei awarded for her work on Māori hauora

Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei is delighted to today accept the Public Health Association’s Tū rangatira mō te Ora award 2016 for her work on addressing equity issues for Māori and reducing child poverty in New Zealand.

Previous award winners have included Dame Tariana Turia, and National Rheumatic Fever Co-ordinator Helen Herbert.

“I am pleased to accept this award, but there is still a lot of work ahead to end child poverty in Aotearoa,” Mrs Turei said.

“No New Zealand child should die or end up in hospital because their parents don’t have enough money to house or feed them properly.

"Child poverty is not inevitable. It is solvable in this generation but we need to have a government that commits to that goal, which National won’t do.

“I have just introduced a member’s bill which would set an official measure of child poverty. All political parties could agree to support it today.

“The Green Party is open to working with all political parties to reduce child poverty in New Zealand, and there does need to be cross party agreement on this important issue.

“New Zealand has hundreds of thousands of kids going to school hungry every day, living in cold, mouldy houses, and getting sick with poverty-related illness,” said Mrs Turei.

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