Former Manukau City deputy mayor and councillor Anne Candy (Ngāiterangi, Waikato-Tainui) is especially touched that today’s King’s Birthday Honour recognises her efforts for Māori.
Candy has been appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) for services to Māori and local government. It comes more than two decades after she was recognised for her public service in the 2002 New Year Honours.
“I feel honoured that this appointment extends beyond my public service (for which I was appointed a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order for Public Service) and that this appointment goes beyond the boundaries and comes from the efforts I have made to address accountability, equity and equality to Mana Whenua and Mataawaka communities within Tāmaki Makaurau.”
Candy’s efforts for Māori have included contributing in various ways to Ngāti Te Ata, supporting parents and whānau in education, health, housing, te reo Māori, cultural heritage, the wellbeing of tamariki, and environmental protection.
“One does not know the source of nomination but with particular emphasis upon service to Māori, I feel absolutely humbled that ngā Iwi Māori o Tāmaki Makaurau, who have walked alongside me in so many aspects of community and marae development, permit me to receive and uphold this mantle for and with them.”
Candy was Manukau’s deputy mayor from 1998 to 2007, a councillor from 1995 until 2010, and chaired the council’s environmental hearings committee from 2007 to 2010. She has been a member of the Manurewa local board since 2019.
She was an elected member of the Counties Manukau District Health Board from 2008 to 2010 and a panel member for the external review of maternity care for the DHB in 2012.
Of all her mahi, Candy says offering care and educational opportunity to teenage mothers and their tamariki has been the most heartwarming for her.
“With the cost of living crisis, urban rental costs, increasing gaps in ‘have’ and ‘have nots’, I am most proud of the late Whaea Rose Whaiapu and myself 22 years ago developing Taonga Education Centre Charitable Trust - a programme for teenage mothers and their tamariki in Manurewa, which has meant lifestyle changes, retained care of their pēpē, independence and sustainable career pathways,” she says.
“Alongside a teen parent unit (enabling completion of NCEA levels 1 to 3), a 7 day-24 hour supported house and seven early childhood centres in high deprivation communities, it is a legacy of transformation and opportunity that has been intergenerationally life-changing that I hope will be sustained into the future.”
Many “wonderful” people and communities have helped her navigate career and life, says Candy.
“I have never walked alone. I have had the advantage of some very special role models and mentors, not only from Pākehā and Māori, but also from Pasifika and many other wonderful ethnicities, who so generously share with panache their beautiful cultural rituals, songs, dances and kai with us.
“I shall not name any, as there are many, but they continue to be part of my karakia if they have passed, or continue to be part of blessing my life journey to this day.”
