Naida Glavish

Dame Rangimārie Naida Glavish DNZM JP (/ˈɡlævɪʃ/ GLAV-ish) (born 1946)[1] is a New Zealand politician and Māori community leader from the Ngāti Whātua iwi.[2] From 2013 to 2016, she was President of the Māori Party.[3]

Dame Naida Glavish

DNZM JP
Glavish in 2017
President of the Māori Party
In office
2013–2016
Personal details
CitizenshipNew Zealand
Political partyMāori Party

Early life and career

Glavish is affiliated to Ngāti Whātua and also of Croatian descent.[4] Her Croatian grandparents arrived in New Zealand in the 20th century, settling near Kaipara Harbour and changing the spelling of their name from the original Glavaš. Their son, Frank (d. 2013), is Glavish's father; her mother is named Nohotakitahi. Before the Māori language revival of the 1980s, it was common for children with Māori first names to be called an anglicised name instead. Glavish's mother's name was abbreviated to Nora; she herself was called Naida rather than Rangimārie.[4][5]

When Glavish was twelve she was placed into state care after admitting to stealing clothes from a washing line; in a 2015 interview Glavish said it was actually a cousin who did this.[4] She was not returned to her family until she was sixteen.

At seventeen, she married and had six children. Eventually she would separate from her husband.[4] In 1975 she went back to work as a telephone operator for the New Zealand Post Office.

The Kia Ora incident

Glavish first came to national attention in 1984, when she was a telephone operator for the New Zealand Post Office, and used the Māori language greeting "kia ora" when dealing with callers. She was threatened with dismissal by her supervisor, but the prime minister of the day, Robert Muldoon, supported Glavish's use of the phrase.[6]

Advocacy work

After "the Kia Ora incident" Glavish trained as a Māori language teacher before beginning a career as a Māori cultural advisor predominantly in the health sector.[1][7]

Political career

A member of Mana Motuhake, Glavish stood for the Alliance in the Te Tai Tokerau electorate at the 2002 general election, finishing third out of nine candidates.[8][9] She was ranked tenth on the Alliance party list,[8] and consequently was not elected to Parliament as the Alliance's party vote did not reach the five percent threshold. When Tariana Turia left the Labour Party over the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004 and subsequently formed the Māori Party, Glavish became a "staunch supporter" of the new party.[7]

At the 2008 general election, Glavish was a list-only candidate for the Māori Party, ranked at number eight on their list,[10] but was not elected to Parliament. She was President of the Māori Party from 2013 to 2016.[3][7] She stood again on the Māori Party list, with a ranking of 11th, at the 2014 general election,[11] and once more was unsuccessful. As party president, she did not favour reconciling with Hone Harawira's Mana Movement, which had broken off from the Māori Party in 2011.[7]

She did not seek re-election to the presidency in 2016 and was succeeded by Tuku Morgan.[12]

Honours

In the 2011 New Year Honours, Glavish was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to Māori and the community.[13] In the 2018 New Year Honours, she was promoted to Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DNZM), also for services to Māori and the community, and therefore granted the title dame.[2][6][14] Glavish commented that she is the first dame in her hapū.[2] Acknowledging that use of te reo Māori and Māori names is now more commonplace in New Zealand, Glavish is styled as Dame Rangimārie (rather than Naida).[5]

References
  1. "Trailblazers: Dame Rangimarie Naida Glavish". NZ Herald. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  2. "Rangimarie Naida Glavish: 'It's the first dame for my hapū'". Radio New Zealand. 30 December 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  3. Rutherford, Hamish (13 July 2013). "Flavell named new Maori Party co-leader". Stuff. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  4. Husband, Dale (5 September 2015). "Naida Glavish – she wouldn't comply". E-Tangata. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  5. Hayden, Leonie (7 August 2019). "The Kia Ora Lady: Dame Rangimārie Naida Glavish in her own words". The Spinoff. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  6. "'Kia ora lady' made Dame Companion". Stuff. 30 December 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  7. "Maori Party appoints new President". NZ Herald. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  8. "Alliance list announced". Scoop Independent News. 10 June 2002. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  9. "Official Count results - Te Tai Tokerau,2002". 2002. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  10. "Maori Party list". Scoop Independent News. 22 August 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  11. "Maori Party announces list order". Rotorua Daily Post. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  12. "Tuku Morgan: 'One goal' for Māori Party". RNZ. 16 July 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  13. "New Year honours list 2011". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  14. "New Year honours list 2018". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 30 December 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Pem Bird		 President of the Māori Party
2013 to 2016		 Succeeded by
Tuku Morgan


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