July 19, 2013
University honours Te Heuheu
Former cabinet minister Georgina Manunui Te Heuheu is to be given a distinguished alumnus award by Victoria University.
Mrs Te Heuheu, from Tuwharetoa, Te Arawa, Ngāti Awa and Tūhoe, was the first Māori woman in New Zealand to graduate in law and in 1972 the first to gain admission to the High Court as a barrister and solicitor.
She was on the Waitangi Tribunal before entering parliament on the National Party list in 1996, serving for 15 years including time as minister for courts, Pacific island affairs, disarmament and arms control and associate Māori affairs.
She now chairs the board of Māori Television and is deputy chair of the Tuwharetoa Māori Trust Board.
The awards ceremony will be held at Victoria University in Wellington on July 31.
Copyright © 2013, UMA Broadcasting Ltd