Leaders pay tribute to Sir Wira Gardiner: 'His legacy has helped shape Aotearoa'
Thursday, 17 March 2022
Moe mai rā, e te rangatira. Kua hinga te tōtara i Te Waonui a Tāne.
Decorated Māori leader and dedicated public servant Sir Wira Gardiner has died, aged 78.
A descendant of Ngāti Awa, Te Whakatōhea, Whānau-a-Apanui and Ngāti Pikiao, Gardiner was a highly respected leader who had made significant contributions to Government, iwi and served in the New Zealand army in Vietnam.
He had been ill for some time. His whānau and wife, former education minister Hekia Parata, announced his death late on Thursday in a statement.
He died peacefully at his daughter, Mihimaraea’s home in Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa (Gisborne), just after 5pm on Thursday, a family spokesman said.
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In August, it was confirmed Gardiner had a brain tumour, the spokesman said.
In the statement, his whānau said he had been “dedicated to the nation of Aotearoa New Zealand and faithful to the Maori people ahakoa he aha”.
“In accordance with his express wish that public health be prioritised, and the demands on frontline workers be recognised, there will be no tangihanga for Wira at the marae,” they said.
“We thank the people in the public health system in Waikato, Tauranga, Whakatāne and Gisborne for their care and support these past eight months.”
Leaders from across Te Ao Māori, politics, the public service and academia have paid tribute to Gardiner.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said he was a “tireless advocate for his people”, and had worked to advise “all shades of government”.
“Tā Wira leaves behind a legacy that cannot be measured,” she said. “His legacy has helped shape Aotearoa.”
The Kīngitanga marked his passing, and Public Services Commissioner Peter Hughes also acknowledged his impact, saying “he influenced generations of public servants”.
Gardiner was the founding director of the Waitangi Tribunal and the first chief executive of Te Puni Kōkiri. He also worked as the head of Te Papa. His first role after retiring from the army was as director of Civil Defence.
Most recently, he served as interim chief executive of Oranga Tamariki.
He stepped down in October, after taking more than a month of medical leave.
He took the role in February 2021, after the agency faced heavy scrutiny for its controversial practice of “uplifting” predominantly Māori infants.
Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis shared his admiration for Gardiner, and grief on Friday.
“Sir Wira Gardiner was the embodiment of the type of Māori male I aspire to be,” he said.
“I loved the man, and hold a huge amount of respect for him.”
He recalled when, just weeks into the role as Oranga Tamariki chief executive, Gardiner delivered a “straight up” update on the state of the agency. “He told me, ‘The organisation is stuffed.’ That was him, no nonsense, and this was exactly what I needed to hear,” Davis said.
In 2009, Gardiner was made a Knight of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori.
He achieved the rank of lieutenant-colonel, after 20 years of service to the army. He was a lieutenant when deployed to Vietnam, and stayed with the defence force until 1983.
When he left the military, he was the highest-ranked Māori officer in the army.
Matthew Tukaki, chairman of the Oranga Tamariki Ministerial Advisory Board, said it was hard to summarise just how large an impact Gardiner had made.
“For me, Sir Wira wasn’t simply a leader of men, he was a change agent, a servant of the people and someone who made a real difference in Te Ao Māori and Te Ao Pākehā,” he said.
He remembered him as “a man taller than the sky”.
Outside of Government, Gardiner was an author and historian. He published books on the Māori battalion, race relations in New Zealand, and the art form of haka.
He also published the book Fiscal Envelope: Return to Sender. Gardiner left Te Puni Kōkiri, in 1995, in response to the Jim Bolger Government’s “fiscal envelope” cap on Treaty of Waitangi settlements.
The “fiscal envelope” was hugely divisive for Māoridom, and would have capped compensation for all Māori at $1 billion. As head of the ministry, Gardiner copped personal attacks and, when he left, said he’d been stood up for “personal vilification and abuse”.
He grew up in Whakatāne, before attending the University of Canterbury and King's College London.
Although Gardiner grew up in a household that could kōrero Māori, he did not learn to speak te reo until he was in his 40s. In his career, that fluency led him to become chairman of Te Māngai Pāho and work in governance roles with wānanga.
Figures from across the political spectrum paid tribute to Gardiner on Friday.
National leader Christopher Luxon said Gardiner was an “exceptional man dedicated to serving New Zealand”.
“Not many people have or will ever make the kind of contribution to this country that Sir Wira did,” he said.
“Sir Wira’s passing is a great loss to Māori, to Aotearoa New Zealand and to his iwi and whānau, to whom he was devoted. He will be very missed by all.
“On behalf of the National Party, our thoughts go out to Hekia, his children and the wider whānau at this very sad time.”
Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson said he would remember Gardiner as a storyteller, a man who loved literature and a “trailblazer” who was willing to give his life for Aotearoa.
NZ First leader Winston Peters said Gardiner was an inspiration.
“Coming from a very large family and economic hardship, he nevertheless distinguished himself in academia and in the many roles he filled,” he said.
”Wira had great plans for Māori youth and his record of achievement when examined closely is an exceptional one. If there are great role models then Sir Wira is certainly one of them.”
The Māori Language Commission also paid tribute to the late leader:
“He rangatira a Tā Wira i ngā rangi katoa i takahia e ia te mata o te whenua. Mai i te pae o te pakanga, te rūma poari tae noa atu ki te paepae. Ka rongo te motu katoa i te mamae i te mea mahue mai i a ia he whakareretanga i huri ai te pāpori o Aotearoa,” hei tā Ngahiwi Apanui, tumu whakahaere o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori.
“Throughout his extraordinary life Tā Wira was a great leader. From the battlefield, to the boardroom, to the paepae. He will be greatly missed and leaves behind a legacy of social change that all New Zealanders are the better for,” said Māori Language Commission chief executive, Ngahiwi Apanui.
“He motuhake a Tā Wira i te mea ko ia tērā e kōkiri whakamua ana ahakoa te uaua, te māmā rānei o te kaupapa. Pērā anō hoki tana whai kia ako i te reo Māori. Nonā i tohua hei tumu whakahaere mō Te Puni Kōkiri, kāore i a ia te reo, nōna i mutu ai kua mōhio ia ki te kōrero.”
“Tā Wira was exceptional because he led from the front in all he did. Te reo Māori was no exception. When he took on the role leading the newly established Ministry of Māori Development he could not speak te reo Māori, by the time he left, Tā Wira was fluent.”
“Nā āna mahi i whakaatu mai ia, ahakoa te pakeke o te tangata mēnā e ngākau titikaha ana te tangata ka mau i a ia tō tātou reo. Tae atu hoki ki te tumu whakahaere e whakaiti nei i a ia ki te ako i ētahi mea hou.”
“By his actions he showed us all that if a person can learn te reo at 40: it is never too late for a Māori person to embrace our language. Even a chief executive can humble themselves and learn new things.”
The whānau statement said there would be no tangi, for public health reasons. A memorial service was expected to be held at a later date.
He was a father of seven children, Jeremy and Amy, Ainsley, James, Rakaitemania and Shannon, Mihimaraea, and koro to eight mokopuna.