December 05, 2023
Puketapu rangatira Grant Knuckey set the table
Te Atiawa and Puketapu rangatira Grant Knuckey is being praised as a dedicated servant of his people and a precedent-setter for Māori everywhere.
Mr Knuckey died on Sunday aged 75.
Te Aitawa kaumatua Peter Moeahu says his activism stretched back to the 1960s, when he opposed the taking of Māori land under the Public Works Act.
In the 1970s he successfully argued for Māori ancestral land to be taken into account when setting plans under the Town and Country Planning Act, and he was involved in the 1981 Motunui Claim to the Waitangi Tribunal opposing the discharge of sewage and industrial waste into the sea between New Plymouth and Waitara.
He played a prominent role in organising Taranaki’s 1990 land claim hearings at Owae Marae, and he rallied opposition to New Plymouth District Council’s plans to sell confiscated land at Waitara.
“More than that he established the Te Atiawa Business Centre, he set up work schemes for our young people, he also established three medical clinics in New Plymouth, Bell Block and Waitara. He led the push for Māori wards in the New Plymouth area. He was dedicated to improving the lot of Māori whether it was here or nationwide. He set the table so others may now dine from it,” Mr Moeahu says.