Three Māori healthcare advocates have been recognised for their services to Māori and health in this year’s New Year Honours.
They are Dr. David Tipene-Leach, Teresa Olsen and Donna Matahaere-Atariki.
Tipene-Leach is a General Practitioner who has spent his working life promoting Māori health in rural and urban Māori communities around Ruatoki, Whakatane, Gisborne, East Coast and Hastings.
He has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
Tipene-Leach has spent the last two decades finding innovative approaches to address sudden unexpected death in infancy, including leading the design and development of wahakura (flax bassinet) and actively lobbying to obtain funding for wahakura to be provided as part of an infant safe sleep programme.
He has also researched, published and presented widely on diabetes among Māori, which led to his being awarded a Distinguished Fellowship from the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners.
Dr Tipene-Leach was inaugural chair of Te Ora, the Māori Medical Practitioners Association, has been a member of various medical review committees, has taught Māori health to medical students and public health to trainee medical officers in Micronesia, and is Chair of the Heretaunga Tamatea Treaty of Waitangi Claim Board.
Ms Teresea Olsen has been awarded the Queens Services Medal for her services to Māori and health.
Olsen has founded, managed and supported community health projects for 35 years through her ongoing involvement with Kōkiri Marae Seaview, New Zealand’s first Kōkiri centre.
Ms Olsen established the marae’s health services arm in 1992 and has since been the marae’s Health and Social Services Manager. Within this role she has initiated and overseen programmes in women’s health and cervical screening, immunisation, diabetes outreach, sexual health, smoking cessation and lifestyle education.
She has in addition supported the development of a range of affiliate projects including the Whai Oranga Health Centre, the Tu Kotahi Māori Asthma Trust, family support agency Naku Enei Tamariki, and the Kōkiri Marae Māori Women’s Refuge.
She is a Trustee of the Te Awakairangi Health Network and from 2004 has been Chair of the Whaiora Whanui trust, which oversees ‘by Māori for Māori’ community-based health serves in the Wairarapa region.
She is General Manager of Takiri Mai Te Ata Whanau Ora Trust and Chair of Mana Wahine, a collective of Māori health providers whose focus is on Māori women’s health.
Ms Donna Matahaere-Atariki has also been named a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to Māori and health.
Matahaere-Atariki has contributed to the health and education of Māori for more than 20 years and has represented Māori at a national level in a range of public forums.
In her early career Ms Matahaere-Atariki taught at the University of Otago prior to being Education Manager at the Ngāi Tahu Development Corporation and Executive Officer in the office of Te Runanga o Ngāi Tahu.
In 2007 she was Executive Director and a founding Trustee of the Dunedin-based integrated health, education and social services provider Arai Te Uru Whare Hauora. From 2012 to 2014 she was Chief Executive of Ngāi Tahu’s former health subsidiary He Oranga Pounamu.
She is a former member of the National Strategy Group for Early Childhood Education, the National Strategy Group for Race Relations, and the Ministry of Social Development’s National Advisory Council for Families and Community Services.
Ms Matahaere-Atariki is Chair of Te Rūnaka o Ōtākou, a Trustee of Well South Health Network, University of Otago Council member, and a Trustee of Te Whare Pounamu, her local women’s refuge.