Ngapuhi champion and broadcaster extraordinaire Kingi Taurua dies

One of the strongest voices for Ngapuhi, He Wakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni and Te Tiriti o Waitangi has been silenced.

Kingi Taurua died yesterday of cancer aged 80.

MP Shane Jones says as a kaumatua of Te Tii Marae in Waitangi he was one of the most colourful figures in Waitangi Day politics, probing and challenging official manuhiri.

He embodied all the influences of his generation, serving in the army in his youth including in Vietnam, working in the bureaucracy including in corrections and as an advisor to then prime minister Jenny Shipley, and also being caught up in the renaissance of Maori culture and politics later in his life.

In his work with Radio Waatea he had an extraordinary ability to shock, amaze, amuse and inform.

Tamaki Makaurau MP Peeni Henare says it was a sad day for Ngapuhi, Taitokerau and the motu.

"One of my favourite memories of Uncle Kingi was when he was interviewing me on Maori Television and we were stopped for talking too much Ngapuhi lingo and he was staunch in saying ‘No, this is te reo Maori that he was raised in and te reo Maori that I was raised in.’ A man of so many different talents and he will truly be missed," he says.

Kingi Taurua will be taken back to Te Tii Marae at Waitangi.

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