The Hon Tariana Turia
Maori Party Co-Leader
27 July 2011
Poroporoaki: Meagan Joe
E rere te manu, ki te mau a te rau…
It is with heartfelt sadness that the Maori Party sends its respects to the whanau of Meagan Joe, who passed away
yesterday evening. She had a long battle with breast cancer and she will be a huge loss to the Maori Women’s Welfare
League of which she has been President since 2008.
Meagan was an outstanding woman who strove on a daily basis to make a significant contribution to her community, the
country and to her whanau.
Meagan had over 25 years experience in the public sector and she was instrumental as one of the early figures in
Atawhaingia Te Pa Harakeke, a parenting programme driven from a model that encompasses Maori child-rearing practices and
whanau structures, with and from a Maori cultural framework. This model was trialled in the Rimutaka and New Plymouth
prisons.
Meagan was involved with the Ngati Kahungunu Violence Free Strategy. She was also a member of the Whanau Reference Group
for the Families Commission.
“It is these ideals and people like Meagan Joe who are intrinsic to the whole Whanau Ora approach”.
She was a loving partner, mother and grandmother.
“Our aroha goes out to Meagan’s whanau, the whole of the Maori Women’s Welfare League and Ngati Kahungunu, Ngai Tai, me
Tuwharetoa.
She will be remembered by her colleagues and whanaunga everywhere and I would like to think that her whakaaro and
korero, her legacy, will be embodied in the tamariki and mokopuna that she has worked with over the years, reaching the
fullest of their potential.
ENDS