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Hamilton City Council has recognised master carver, cultural leader, and long-serving community advocate Rei
Mihaere with a prestigious Hamilton Kirikiriroa Civic Award, acknowledging more than forty years of service to
whānau, schools, marae, and the wider community.
“To be honest, I am still in shock about it. It’s a humbling experience, as I wasn't expecting it,” said Rei Mihaere.
“I have always believed that when we reconnect our tamariki to their culture, their whakapapa, and their own sense
of worth, they stand taller. It has been my privilege to walk alongside them, their whānau, and our community. This
award belongs to all of us who believe in lifting our young people and helping them thrive.”
The revered whakairo expert and Kaumātua for both Te Kōhao Health and Kirikiriroa Marae, Rei has dedicated
his life to strengthening cultural identity, supporting disenfranchised whānau, and reconnecting tamariki and
rangatahi with te ao Māori. His impact spans generations and reaches deep into the cultural fabric of Kirikiriroa.
“We absolutely applaud Rei for being recognised with this Civic Award. His contribution to this city, and to almost
every community within Kirikiriroa, has been immense,” said Lady Tureiti Moxon, Managing Director of Te Kōhao
Health.
“Through his carving programmes, cultural leadership, and unwavering service, he has uplifted whānau for
generations. It couldn’t have happened to a better person, and we are thrilled that Hamilton City Council has
honoured him in this way.”
Likewise one of his three nominators, artist Hakahaka Tāne describes Rei as “a taonga to our community and most
deserving of the 2025 Civic Recognition Award,” highlighting the profound cultural value of his lifelong dedication.
Through the Tipuaki Programme recently featured on SevenSharp, first established at Hillcrest Primary School
and now expanded to fourteen schools in the Hillcrest Rōpū, Rei has created alternative educational pathways for
young people, particularly those for whom mainstream schooling has not met their needs.
These carving programmes foster cultural identity, aroha, awhi, confidence, and intergenerational pride,
transforming lives across the Waikato. Schools involved in Tipuaki report improved attendance, engagement, and
academic outcomes for participating tamariki.
“Rei’s Tipuaki Programme has changed outcomes for tamariki across our schools, improving attendance, restoring
confidence, and giving them a sense of achievement and cultural pride. His impact is real, measurable, and
profound. He is truly deserving of this recognition,” said Project Manager Andrew Roche another nominator backing
the Kaumātua.
Rei has also championed gender equity in traditional arts, creating opportunities for wāhine and tāhine to
participate in whakairo through the use of compressed fibre board. By challenging historic boundaries and fostering
inclusivity, he is reshaping cultural participation and paving the way for a more equitable community.
Board governor Denise Kingi also in the trio of nominators said: “Rei’s leadership comes from deep cultural wisdom
and a lifetime of service. He empowers tamariki and whānau with gentleness, humility, and unwavering dedication.
His work has healed, inspired, and transformed our community for more than 40 years.”
The Hamilton Mayor noted in the official letter that Rei’s leadership has “enriched the wider life of our city nd
strengthened Hamilton’s cultural vibrancy.
He will receive his Civic Award alongside 16 other honourees at the Civic Awards Ceremony on Monday, 17
November 2025, at the Central Court Pavilion, Hamilton Gardens, from 3.30pm to 6.00pm.
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Under the morning skies of Kirikiriroa, crowds are expected to gather as part of the Hīkoi for Our Health
nationwide movement calling for urgent government action to fix Aotearoa’s broken health system.
Led by Lady Tureiti Moxon, Managing Director of Te Kōhao Health, today’s hīkoi will travel at 10AM from Hamilton
Lake Playground to Waikato Hospital, carrying the Buller Declaration on the State of the New Zealand Health
System, now signed by more than 100,000 New Zealanders.
The Declaration, which began in Buller on the West Coast in 2024, calls for decisive government action to address
the health crisis affecting rural, Māori, and low-income whānau.
It urges immediate investment in training, recruiting, and retaining nurses, doctors, midwives, and allied health
workers and calls on the Crown to meet its obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
“Te Tiriti o Waitangi is a blueprint for partnership and accountability,” said Lady Tureiti Moxon.
“When the Crown makes decisions about Māori health without Māori, that is not partnership. We need structural
change. This hīkoi is about calling the Government to honour Te Tiriti and build a system designed with, by, and
for our people.”
Malcolm Mulholland, Chair of Patient Voice Aotearoa and national hīkoi organiser, said the message is being
echoed in every community along the route. “New Zealanders are united in saying our health system is in crisis,”
he said.
“We’re walking for the people behind the statistics those waiting in corridors, those turned away, and the health
workers holding the system together. This hīkoi is our call to those in power: fix it now, before more lives are lost.”
The Hīkoi for Our Health began in Westport on 1 November, retracing the path of the original Buller march that
sparked this national movement. It has now been through the South Island and up the North, and will reach
Parliament in Pōneke Wellington at 12PM on Monday 18 November, where thousands are expected to gather in
solidarity.
Today in Kirikiriroa, the message was one of unity, mana motuhake, and hope, for a system that values people
over bureaucracy, and equity over excuses.
“We walk not just for ourselves, but for our tamariki and mokopuna,” said Lady Tureiti. “For our hauora. For our
future.”
Event Details:
Friday 14 November 2025
10:00 AM From Hamilton Lake Playground to Waikato Hospital
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Today, in an unprecedented move, Lady Tureiti Moxon has filed a comprehensive 42-page “urgent action/early
warning complaint,” supported by 185 footnotes, with the United Nations, seeking urgent intervention in Aotearoa
New Zealand under the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
She has requested the opportunity to meet with the five-member working group responsible for the Early Warning
and Urgent Action procedure in Geneva, before or during the Committee’s upcoming 116th session, scheduled
from 17 November to 5 December 2025, when Aotearoa New Zealand is due for review.
Lady Tureiti, a Māori leader of Ngāti Pāhauwera, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa, and Kāi Tahu descent and Chair
of the National Urban Māori Authority, has been advocating for Māori health and rights for over three decades.
“What has been outlined in this complaint demonstrates serious violations of the Convention that require urgent
attention,” she said. “It raises serious questions in relation to the standing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi within the
Constitutional arrangements in Aotearoa New Zealand.”
The lengthy submission presents extensive evidence showing that, since late 2023, a series of Coalition
Government actions have reversed decades of progress towards fulfilling Aotearoa New Zealand’s obligations
under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has issued only one other specific decision under
its urgent action and early warning procedure for Aotearoa New Zealand in March 2005, concerning the New
Zealand Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004. The Committee concluded that the legislation appeared to discriminate
against Māori in exercising their rights to own or possess ancestral lands and resources.
“The evidence shows a significant and persistent pattern of political racial discrimination against iwi Māori. That
removes the rights of Māori to live as Maori in own land. This has been a deliberate and intentional strategy to
remove all references to Te Tiriti o Waitangi in their legislation, policies, and procedures,” Lady Tureiti said.
Her submission documents repeated instances of unconstitutional overreach by the Coalition Government,
including:
• Extensive use of urgency to bypass public participation
• Pursuing legislation against overwhelming public opposition
• Undermining the separation of powers by overriding judicial decisions recognising Māori rights
• Introducing bills just before Waitangi Tribunal hearings to deprive it of jurisdiction
• Removing the requirement for schools to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi from bill after select committee
process already completed
• Granting Ministers powers to override laws with little transparency
• Excluding opposition Māori politicians from Parliament for performing a traditional haka
“These actions represent a pattern of serious breaches of human rights and international obligations. Urgent action
from the UN Committee is necessary to address the systemic discrimination and ongoing harm experienced by
Māori communities across Aotearoa New Zealand,” Lady Tureiti said “It clearly highlights hostile policies and grave statements by political leaders that intentionally target Māori causing
harm, trauma and inequity.”
Her evidence illustrates how the Coalition Government’s regressive actions since 2023 have undone fifty years of
rebalancing in areas including land, language, children and youth, justice, health, science, and self-determination.
Copies of the complaint have also been sent to Crown Law, Human Rights Commission (including the Race
Relations Commissioner), The Ombudsman, The Auditor-General, Te Tari Whakatau The Office of Treaty
Settlements and Takutai Moana, and The Public Service Commission.
ENDS
Media liaison: Sarah Sparks 021318813 sarah.sparks@sparksconsulting.co.nz
Background:
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) decisions and recommendations are
internationally authoritative and often create significant pressure for states to reform discriminatory laws and
practices. Its work has contributed to the recognition of systemic racism, accountability for minority rights
violations, and protections for vulnerable populations around the world. Examples of observations and
recommendations in the past include:
• Australia (2012, 2018): CERD criticised Australia for high rates of incarceration of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples, urging urgent reforms in policing, justice, and health.
• United States (2014): CERD condemned racial profiling, excessive use of force by police against
African Americans, and called for accountability mechanisms.
• Myanmar (2006, 2013): CERD issued urgent calls for the protection of the Rohingya population,
highlighting risks of genocide and ethnic cleansing.
• Sri Lanka (2009): After the civil war, CERD urged investigations into abuses against Tamil minorities.
• Migrant workers in Israel (2000s): CERD considered complaints regarding discriminatory laws against
African migrant workers and urged reforms.
• Racial discrimination in education (various cases): CERD has pressed governments to end racially
segregated schooling or discriminatory admission practices.
The CERD recommendations are highly influential in shaping international law, domestic policies, and human
rights jurisprudence. Examples include:
• GR 25 (2000): Focused on combating racial discrimination in the criminal justice system.
• GR 31 (2005): The prevention of racial discrimination in the administration and functioning of
the criminal justice system.
• GR 35 (2013): Addressed combating racist hate speech, including online and media-based
hate propaganda.
• GR 36 (2020): Emphasised racial discrimination against indigenous peoples globally