The crowning of Poi E as Aotearoa’s favourite song in RNZ’s Waiata 100 has sparked a national celebration of New Zealand music, while also providing an opportunity for one of Māori music’s most influential voices, Moana Maniapoto, to reflect on a career that has consistently challenged convention.
Speaking with Radio Waatea’s Dale Husband, Maniapoto said Māori music has always evolved by pushing boundaries, observing that there were times when disruption was exactly what was needed to create space for new voices and new ways of telling Māori stories.
Her comments come as Poi E, the iconic collaboration between the Pātea Māori Club and Dalvanius Prime, claimed the number one position in RNZ’s listener-voted countdown of the nation’s greatest songs. The result has been widely celebrated as recognition of the song’s enduring cultural significance more than four decades after it first became a national phenomenon.
For Maniapoto, the success of Poi E represents more than nostalgia. It reflects the power of waiata to strengthen identity, celebrate te reo Māori and connect generations through music.
Over a career spanning decades, Maniapoto has been recognised as one of the country’s most influential Māori artists, blending contemporary music with kaupapa Māori while addressing issues ranging from identity and language revitalisation to social justice and indigenous rights.
She told Dale Husband that innovation has always been central to Māori creativity, with artists prepared to challenge expectations helping reshape the landscape of New Zealand music.
Her own career has followed that philosophy, producing music and television that has consistently encouraged audiences to think differently about Māori culture, politics and the place of indigenous voices within mainstream media.
Beyond music, Maniapoto continues to play a prominent role in public discussion through her television programme Kōrero.
Tonight’s episode turns its attention to one of the country’s biggest political and economic issues—the New Zealand–India Free Trade Agreement.
The programme will examine what the agreement could mean for exporters, Māori businesses, employment, immigration and the wider economy as New Zealand deepens its relationship with one of the world’s fastest-growing markets. The agreement forms part of a broader Strategic Partnership announced during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s historic visit to New Zealand and aims to significantly expand trade and cooperation between the two countries.
As debate continues over the future of international trade, Maniapoto’s programme promises to explore the opportunities and challenges through a uniquely Māori lens, asking how free trade can deliver benefits for iwi, Māori enterprises and communities.
From the enduring legacy of Poi E to contemporary discussions about economic development, Moana Maniapoto continues to demonstrate how Māori voices remain central to shaping the cultural and political conversations of Aotearoa.
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