June 06, 2022
Ms Denise Messiter-Queen’s Birthday and Platinum Jubilee Honours 2022
To be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit MESSITER, Ms Denise
For services to Māori and health
Ms Denise Messiter (Ngāti Pūkenga ki Waiau) has been a long-term advocate for Māori owned and controlled health and social services.
Ms Messiter has been key in the development and delivery of kaupapa Māori family and sexual violence support and prevention services, including the programmes the Poutama Mauri Ora, Mauri Tu wānanga. She played a key role in establishing Te Whāriki Manawāhine o Hauraki Māori Women’s Refuge in Hauraki and is currently the General Manager. She led the establishment of the Hauraki Housing Network and the Pātaka Kai food rescue service based in Paeroa. In the 1980s she helped coordinate the establishment of the Hauraki Māori Trust Board. She led the establishment of the Hauraki Māori-owned health service Te Korowai Hauroa O Hauraki in the 1990s and was inaugural CEO, overseeing primary and mental health services and home-based care for kaumatua, and participating in the deinstitutionalisation of Tokanui Hospital. She is currently involved with advisory groups to government agencies regarding services for and the elimination of sexual and family violence. She refocused Hauraki Māori Trust Board’s social services into the Whānau Development Group, establishing Hauraki Family Start and extending Court Managed Care. She led the establishment of Whānau Ora for Hauraki. Ms Messiter has supported indigenous communities and organisations in South Africa and Australia on a voluntary basis.