June 25, 2018
Wetere set benchmark for Māori ministers
NEVILLE BAKER TRIBUTE TO KORO WETERE
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SANDRA LEE TRIBUTE TO KORO WETERE
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WILLIE JACKSON TRIBUTE TO KORO WETERE
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NEVILLE BAKER TRIBUTE TO KORO WETERE
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MAANU PAUL TRIBUTE TO KORO WETERE
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A former senior Tari Māori official says Koro Wetere set the benchmark for ministers of Māori affairs.
Mr Wetere died on Saturday aged 83 and is lying in state at Turangawaewae Marae in Ngaruawahia.
Neville Baker was depuity secretary for the Department of Māori Affairs in the 1980s whern Mr Wetere was a minister in the Lange Labour Government.
He says he was a magnificient minister to work with, showing good judgment, a sense of humour and a deep understanding of Māori people.
His starting point was to listen.
"He ran the Hui Taumata and that was his attempt to glean the direction Māori people wanted to take so out of that came the Māori Development Corporation, out of that came the course at Massey University for business graduates and some 80 young Māori went through that course and many are prominent today in terms of the aftermath of the settlements," Mr Baker says.
He says Koro Wetere did a lot a lot of his best work on the golf course developing critical relationships.
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